In the 1950s, students crowned a Green Key Sweetheart at the prom, an honor bestowed upon the "prettiest lady" at the dance. The weekend inspired one Mt. Holyoke student to say, "Harvard men have the brains, Princeton men the clothes, Yalies the conversation but it's Dartmouth for the sex and stuff."
Dartmouth's beloved weekend of spring revelry could not escape the massive cultural shift of the 1960s. In 1963, the prom's formal dress code was dropped, allowing boys to wear shorts. Youthful, rambunctious rock bands replaced jazz bands that had previously provided students with musical entertainment. Perhaps the 1978 Grateful Dead concert held in Thompson Arena best exemplifies this shift. The Green Key dance took its fatal hit in 1967 when controversial Alabama Governor George Wallace, famous for saying "segregation today, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever," cme to campus. In his speech, Wallace told the crowd that "segregation is the law of nature from South Africa to New York."
As he departed from the College, 1,000 protesting students swarmed his car, preventing him from leaving. As punishment, the dance was canceled and never revived.
Some students decided to celebrate their Green Key weekends off-campus, outside of the fraternity system and in the great outdoors. Charles Sherman '66 was an active member of Cabin and Trail and served as director of ski touring from 1966 to 1967. In 1966, he, his friends and their dates all dressed up for a fancy dinner party at the Mitchell Lake Gun Club in Norwich.
On Saturday, the group spent the night at a lodge on the banks of Reservoir Pond. Sherman, a DOC trip leader, built the fire and cooked the meals for his friends.
Sunday morning, Sherman woke up before everyone else and slipped out for a lone canoe ride on the pond.
"The lake was blue and smooth as glass, but all else was white," Sherman said. "Smarts Mountain was gorgeous. Six inches of snow everywhere. Breakfast could wait. I wanted to savor the beauty of Dartmouth at its very best." Hums, a singing competition between different campus groups that started in 1899, became another beloved Green Key tradition as the competition became more humorous and satirical in the 1970s. Theta Delta Chi fraternity performed the winning song in 1976, titled "Our Cohogs." With original lyrics to the tune of "This Old Man," the song mocked female students, with lines like "Our cohogs, they play four/ They're a bunch of dirty whores." The song provoked widespread controversy on campus.
Patrick Connolly '85, an alumnus of Bones Gate fraternity, said that the Hums competition was the most memorable part of his Green Key experience.
He recalls one song called "Phi Delt Man" performed to the tune of The Beatles' "Nowhere Man."
Some of the lyrics included, "He's a real Phi Delt Man/ Your boot covered porch is at our command."
Much like today's Green Key weekend, Webster Avenue was bustling with outdoor parties and pong tables, live music and opportunities for relaxation. Phi Delta Alpha fraternity hosted a band on their porch, which students gathered around.
"The thing I remember most was the really relaxed atmosphere," Connolly said. "The weather was good. It's springtime. You're hanging out with friends. It was a good chance to let your hair down, a last hurrah before you had to buckle down for finals."
Still, some alumni view Green Key as insignificant part of their Dartmouth experience. Economics professor Charles Wheelan '88, an alumnus of Alpha Delta fraternity said it was far from a defining collegiate experience.
"I don't remember them very well," Wheelan said. "I do remember it being a happy ritual of spring."
