As we approach the halfway point of sophomore summer — and of our Dartmouth careers — we are on the cusp of being upperclassmen and earning the responsibility that comes with that status. As a grade, we have gained the ability to set Dartmouth’s tone for the incoming freshman class. To do this, we must examine which Dartmouth traditions are valuable and constructive and which Dartmouth traditions are harmful and destructive. As we enter the second half of the summer, we must reconsider passing down the Dartmouth X. If we want to improve our community, we must discard this heteronormative and sexist value system before incoming classes inherit it.
I learned about the Dartmouth X before I had even matriculated. Thanks to my wonderful trip leaders, I was lucky enough to avoid learning about it on Dartmouth Outing Club first-year trips, though many of my friends did. Instead, I learned of the X in a fraternity basement during Orientation. I saw a bright, painted graph on a basement wall. The graph’s two lines, I learned, represent the changes in social capital that men and women possess at Dartmouth as they progress through the College. It’s another way that Dartmouth students rank and separate each other, and it does a disservice to every community member.
Few Dartmouth students will claim to actually believe in the X. After all, it is asinine to try to claim that the worth of human beings increases or decreases based on age and gender. Yet it persists in the Dartmouth subconscious. The X would have us believe that a woman is most valuable (i.e. desirable) when she begins freshman year and then declines in value until senior year. In direct contrast, a man begins his Dartmouth career at the bottom of the graph before reaching his “peak” senior year. These two diagonal lines combine to depict an X that ultimately harms students of all genders.
It should be evident how the X denigrates women, who reach the bottom of the graph as seniors. The X promotes the idea that the social scene has no place for senior women, which leads to the “SWUG,” or Senior Washed-Up Girl, phenomenon. While many have tried to reclaim this term, the X nonetheless designates senior women as worthless and less sexually desirable because of their age.
Similarly, the X labels freshman males as worthless, which makes the transition into college even more difficult. Conversations I have had with male friends have opened my eyes to the frustrations of first-year male students. On one hand, they want to enter the Dartmouth social scene, but it’s hard to enter a scene of which you’ve been led to believe you are at the bottom. I believe that the insecurity arising from this transition plays a large role in the fact that, as of winter 2014, 68.4 percent of male sophomores joined Greek houses. Freshman men mostly see affiliated upperclassmen in positions of social power, so it’s no wonder they associate relevance at Dartmouth with Greek life. And once men at Dartmouth do gain supposed social capital, perhaps they are far more likely to abuse it after their tough experiences freshman year.
In this vein, the Dartmouth X disadvantages even those at their “peak.” Men and women may feel pressure to hook up with as many people as possible in order to prove or disprove their position on the graph. And freshman women may feel extra pressure. They are instructed that they will never again be as desirable as they were freshman fall and might feel the need to take advantage of that desirability, fast. Even though the X casts them as the most desirable, freshman women have the least agency in Greek basements out of any group on campus. Not only are they unlikely to know many brothers serving them beer, but because the X pits older women against younger women, the X makes it less likely for upperclassman women to look out for freshmen.
Giving the X any sort of credence only upholds social hierarchies that hurt our community. Instead, Dartmouth students should dismiss the X any time it gets mentioned, especially around younger students. One of the best parts of sophomore summer is the decline in social stratification along age and gender lines. Reducing the X’s presence in the campus consciousness will help move our social relations forward into the new school year.
