Since 1899, Dartmouth's Spring term has featured an annual celebration known as Green Key, in which Dartmouth students spend more than three days relaxing outside and enjoying the weather, appreciating friends and carousing on fraternity lawns.
But what exactly do Dartmouth students celebrate during Green Key? Traditions? Fraternities? Dartmouth? Something else entirely?
While Homecoming welcomes alumni back to campus and Winter Carnival festivities embrace the entire Hanover community, Green Key seems to be in a league of its own, commemorating almost nothing and no one except for the spirit of spring.
"[Green Key] is not like Homecoming where there's something really special about it," David Knight '10 said. "It's just sort of random."
Yet when asked about this "random" weekend, many Dartmouth students could not help but smile or mischievously grin in anticipation of the infamous school holiday.
"All of campus just closes down it's almost like coming out of winter hibernation," Michelle Reyf '10 said. "When it blossoms, and the sun comes out after such a long dark winter, everyone comes alive. I think we rejoice in it together."
Many students interviewed by The Dartmouth shared Reyf's perspective, gushing about the sunshine and opportunities for outdoor socialization that accompany Greek Key.
When asked what came to mind when she thought of Green Key, Katherine Peck '12 said "nice weather, being outside and going out during the day."
Students also use the weekend to justify putting their books aside in order to revel in the sun instead, according to Michelle Shankar '12.
"It gives people an excuse to get out of the library and go out and celebrate springtime," she said.
Kendall Weikert '12 said the library should be vacant this weekend.
"If I find anyone in the library over Green Key first off I won't be in there but if I find someone " Weikert trailed off, shaking her head.
With schoolwork on hold, a carefree, celebratory attitude descends on campus, according to Weikert.
While most students agree that the weekend is a chance to unwind, individuals choose to celebrate in a variety of different ways.
For Rob Avruch '11, Green Key is "a chance to spend some time with friends and to relax, socialize and dance."
Other students, however, expressed a different interpretation of the weekend.
When asked what Green Key brought to mind, Mike Milone '10 answered with one word "alcohol."
"[I think of] parades, drinking during the day and just completely disregarding any schoolwork or anything you have to do for three days," he said.
Tica Douglas '10 echoed Milone's description of Green Key, which she described as an alcohol-infused weekend.
"I think of a lot of outdoor drinking," she said. "That's what people do."
Other students went so far as to say that Green Key exists solely as a pretense to party during the day.
"It's just an excuse to get drunk in the nice weather," David Peterson '10 said.
The weekend's notorious reputation is not entirely negative, however, according to Hannah Baranes '12.
"It's an excuse to drink, but that's not necessarily a bad thing," she said. "Everyone's unwinding before finals start."
But for some students who consume alcohol more sparingly, Green Key's association with inebriation is somewhat alienating.
"I'm not really big on Green Key," Knight said. "It's known as a drinking weekend, and I don't really drink a lot."
If Green Key is nothing more than a celebration of springtime and drinking, why has the College legitimized the weekend as an official holiday? Is there some long, lost history behind this present-day "party weekend"?
Dartmouth students seem to have a variety of theories.
"Don't the alumni come back and give money?" Douglas asked.
Other students imagined a time when Green Key was interlaced with philanthropic efforts.
"I know that the Green Key Society used to be a lot more legit and used to do a lot more volunteer projects," Peterson said. "I assume that [Green Key's founding] was related to that."
Others said that springtime weather was an important enough foundation for a big weekend.
"I guess they needed something in the spring so they made Green Key," Avruch said.
In truth, Green Key has a storied history at the College, as distinctive and unconventional as the other big weekends at Dartmouth. Fifty years ago, fraternities competed against each other in chariot races around the Green, with brothers pulling each other in two-wheeled chariots as spectators pelted them with raw eggs. The Hums an interfraternity singing competition also engaged members of Greek organizations in friendly rivalry each year.
Concerns over student safety and propriety have led the College to discontinue these and other Green Key traditions over the years, however, leaving students of today with little understanding of Green Key history and feelings of disconnection from this Dartmouth holiday.
While Homecoming features a prodigious bonfire at the center of the Green and Winter Carnival would not be complete without the snow sculpture in front of Baker-Berry Library, noticeably absent during Green Key is the presence of a tradition held on the Green.
All this begs the question: where's the Green in "Green Key"? What, if anything, is quintessentially "Dartmouth" about this weekend?
Perhaps the better question is, does the lack of a cohesive theme for this weekend even matter?
For some students, like Pierre Guo '12, this colossal absence of tradition is at the very heart of Green Key's charm.
"Homecoming, there's all this structure you run around the bonfire, all the freshmen get riled up, [and] Winter Carnival there's all these events you go to," he said. "Green Key is more relaxed it's a good break from the stress of everything else."
Although some students may believe that Green Key has a limited purpose and negligible significance, many still insist that the weekend is an essential element of their Dartmouth experience.
"I think it's important to have times for the community to celebrate its Dartmouth-ness,'" Matt Forman '11 said.
Appreciation for Dartmouth in the springtime also gives the weekend some legitimacy, according to Shankar.
"[Green Key] is like Valentine's Day," she said. "You don't need a day to tell someone you appreciate them, but that day is still there to focus on them."
Attempts to give Green Key weekend some profound, underlying importance may be far-fetched and next to impossible, according to Molly Bode '09, presidential fellow and former Student Assembly president.
"I don't know if Green Key will ever have a true meaning outside of a weekend where students can relax with their friends," she said.
Green Key's apparent lack of a cohesive theme has not dampened the spirit of the Class of 2013, however, who said they are optimistic about this weekend's celebrations.
David Herron '13 said he expects to party "Wednesday through Sunday."
"I've heard that it's the best weekend of the year," he said. "I'll probably spend a significant portion of the weekend with my clothes off not that that's too different than any other weekend."
The promise of summer and the end of Spring term may also motivate students to celebrate over Green Key, according to Hannah Decker '13.
"I think [Green Key] will be even better than both Homecoming and Winter Carnival because of the weather," she said. "Everyone is on campus and ready to celebrate before we all have to go home for the summer."
As members of the Class of 2013 prepare their flair for their first Green Key, they should appreciate the weekend's history since freshmen were not even allowed to participate in the festivities in the weekend's early years.
While students of today are more likely to enjoy boat races in basements than chariot races on the Green, the flair many will wear this weekend is still vaguely reminiscent of the wild circus costumes worn by Dartmouth students at the Junior Promenade more than a century ago.
Whatever the reason, Green Key has retained its allure over the years. And though the traditions it once commemorated may have fallen by the wayside, the existence of the holiday seems to have become a tradition in itself.
Although a clearly defined purpose may be missing, perhaps it is enough just to celebrate that it is finally spring, that we are in the company of friends and that we are here, at Dartmouth, this Green Key.
