No students were arrested during this year’s Green Key weekend, marking a decrease from 2019’s four arrests and 2018’s 11 arrests, according to Hanover chief of police Charlie Dennis and past reporting by The Dartmouth. Safety and Security received 77 incident reports from Wednesday, May 18 to the morning of Sunday, May 22 — a slight increase from the 70 calls received in 2019 over the same number of days, according to Safety and Security lieutenant Gene Thompson and The Dartmouth.
Thompson said that the reports included incidents such as bike theft, lost items, injury, illness and, most commonly, intoxication. He added that the “majority” of calls occurred on Friday evening. In total, 15 students were taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center — eight for reasons relating to alcohol consumption and seven for injury or illness. In addition, nine students were transported to Dick’s House — six for reasons relating to alcohol consumption and three for injury or illness.
Four students were discharged to a “responsible party” on campus — such as a friend or roommate — after being examined for intoxication, Thompson said. He added that Safety and Security responded to two separate incidents concerning individuals unaffiliated with the College, one of whom sought support for a “mental concern” and the other for intoxication.
Dartmouth EMS executive director Kelly Rutherford ’23 said that Dartmouth EMS has a protocol to determine where they take individuals under their care. In order for students to be admitted to Dick’s House, they must be able to walk and maintain their own airway, among other criteria. If this is not the case, DHMC has additional capacities for advanced airway management to treat these students, she said. Rutherford added that cardiac calls and patients with anaphylactic shock are immediately taken to DHMC.
Thompson said that facility capacity also plays a role in deciding where students are taken. During the weekend, Dick’s House had a capacity of only five students, which was filled during the concert on Friday night.
While Thompson said he did not have information about the number of Good Samaritan calls made this year, Rutherford said most of the calls received by Dartmouth EMS were Good Sams. She added in a follow-up email to The Dartmouth that there were “a few” more calls made during this year’s concert than in 2019, which The Dartmouth said saw six Good Sam calls throughout the weekend.
Several measures were taken to ensure campus safety throughout Green Key. Student involvement director David Pack said that student involvement worked with the Collis Center to provide hydration stations for the community, implementing large water towers at the concert on Friday and outside Robinson Hall on Saturday. He said that the water towers were new additions to this year’s Green Key, as water has run out at the concert in past years. Pack added that Collis also planned several opportunities for students to get food, noting that no late-night dining options remained open during the weekend — a contrast to previous Green Keys, in which students could attend late-night dining after the concert.
“Realizing how hot it was supposed to be, we really focused on [providing water],” Pack said. “We’ve had water at the concert before, but we’ve always run out and this provided a continual source of water.”
Programming Board also implemented a new wristband system for this year’s Green Key. According to The Dartmouth, wristbands were sent to students in labeled envelopes in 2019, whereas students this year obtained wristbands by showing their Dartmouth ID at stations run by PB. Pack explained that the change primarily had to do with efficiency, noting that PB is “low on members,” and the envelope system was time intensive.
Thompson said the wristband system, in addition to having two main entrances to the concert monitored by Green Mountain Security — a hired independent security team — helped keep uninvited guests out of the concert. He added that Safety and Security collaborated with Green Mountain Security officers, Hanover police officers, Hanover fire department officers and Dartmouth EMS throughout the weekend, explaining that the various groups met “on numerous occasions” before Green Key to discuss operation plans. He said that Safety and Security also held a pizza meet-and-greet with “a few” Greek spaces in order to “build relationships and share information.”
Rutherford wrote in a follow-up email to The Dartmouth that 28 Dartmouth students were on shift throughout the Green Key week, with four EMS members taking more than 12 hours of shifts overall — Rutherford herself, director of operations Molly Rudman ’23, Gina Miele ’24 and Jacob Zarkower ’22.
“It was a lot of fun being on shift with a number of my close friends within the organization,” Rutherford said. “We did a standby at the concert as well, so we had a number of EMTs there who were able to kind of enjoy the concert while also responding to a bunch of calls and helping out.”
Thompson said the College also coordinated with the town of Hanover in order to obtain a permit and noise ordinance for the event. Dennis said that the College received “a few” noise complaints toward the end of the concert during KYLE’s set, but Pack said that these “didn’t really become an issue” since the event was nearly over. Pack added that he has not heard concerns from the town of Hanover about the impact on hospitals or emergency services, explaining that the College has meetings this week to follow up on the event.
This year also marked the first Green Key since 2019, as festivities were canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. Pack said it was a challenge to get new staff members and students — three-fourths of whom had never experienced a Green Key — “up to speed on how things worked,” but he said it was ultimately rewarding to put together a “really successful” weekend.
Rutherford added that Dartmouth EMS had to start Green Key planning “essentially from scratch.” Although the organization had transition guides, only two members had worked at Green Key in the past — neither of whom had previously been involved in planning for Green Key, she said.
Thompson, who started at the College in December 2019, said it was not difficult to organize his first Green Key because of his law enforcement background.
“I’ve put together operations before, so I look at it as, ‘Okay, I’ll take some notes that you might have had in the past,’” he said. “The way it came out, the troops were satisfied. The way it came out, [the] command staff was satisfied. All in all, we think it was a very good event because yes, I mentioned we had 77 reports, but nothing of any severity that we would say, ‘Oh my Lord, we really have to take action or we have to adjust this for next year.’”
Thompson also commended students’ role in maintaining order during the weekend.
“It was wonderful that people didn’t get carried away,” he said. “It’s nice that their behavior didn’t get to the extent of being arrested.”
Dick’s House did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.
Correction appended (June 1, 2022, 12:25 a.m.): A previous version of this article contained incorrect statistics provided by Thompson on the number of students transported to Dick’s House and Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital. After this article’s publication, Thompson corrected the statistics. The article has been updated to reflect these corrections.
