The First Year Harm Reduction Policy, also known as “frat ban,” is officially over, having concluded on Nov. 6. As members of the Class of 2028 begin to explore a new social scene, I want to reflect on how the frat ban — the restriction on first-year students from attending non-Greek Life Council approved events in Greek spaces for the first eight weeks of the fall term — has shaped our social lives and college careers so far. Based on my experience, I would argue that the frat ban has enriched my perspective on Greek Life at Dartmouth, allowing me to engage with Greek spaces in ways that often go unnoticed in typical college discourse.
Dartmouth is unique in that it, unlike many other U.S. universities, restricts first-year undergraduates’ involvement in Greek Life during the first eight weeks of the fall term. The First Year Harm Reduction Policy stipulates that “From the first day of the return of Trip ‘Section A’ through noon on the Wednesday following Halloween every year, unless Homecoming is later, no Greek organization may allow First-Year students to attend events at which alcohol is served.”
Many people in my social orbit would agree that being restricted from such a significant component of Dartmouth student life sometimes adds to the ever-present fear of missing out. On Wednesday and Friday afternoons, as you sneak into Baker-Berry Library to get some work done, your eye suddenly catches a notification on your phone: another glamorous Greek Life event you are not yet allowed to attend. We have all found ourselves in that particular moment, feeling excluded from what we’re told college social life is supposed to be: the thrill of exclusive party scenes. The perceived significance of such events, often regarded as the highlight of college life, eventually leads to an overabundant freshman population looking for “dry” — alcohol-free — events on Friday and Saturday nights. Most of the time, we ’28s are forced to return to our dorms after finding a lack of social spaces. This naturally evokes a sense that the frat ban prevents us from having fun at Dartmouth.
While I recognize and agree with these frustrations, I would argue that the issue is not with the ban itself but instead with the narrow way we view Greek Life. We are so focused on parties that we miss out on the frat ban’s broader contributions.
Instead, I suggest we reframe Greek Life to look beyond the parties. As an international first-year student, I initially felt nervous about Greek Life, thinking its prevalence at Dartmouth might create a social pressure to fit in. Yet, my experience over the past few weeks has shifted my perspective.
As a result of the frat ban, my first encounters with Greek Life were through non-party events. On Oct. 21, I attended a performance by The Dog Day Players, a campus improv comedy troupe, at Sigma Delta sorority, where they presented their new freshmen recruits. Another day that week, I went to The Tabard coed fraternity to watch my friend’s performance with Ujima, a student dance group. These moments — watching friends perform in intimate settings — have been some of my most memorable experiences on campus so far. Sitting right next to the performance space on a nearby sofa, the players would sometimes mistakenly graze your bag or feet while the casual scenery of the performances felt very sincere. In those moments, I thought about how genuine our community was, enjoying art and celebrating friends’ excitement as a group. These experiences made me see Greek Life as inclusive, supportive spaces for shared joy. It reminded me that we often either glorify Greek culture as a hub for alcohol-fueled events or dismiss it out of hand. In my mind, neither view fully captures what Greek Life can offer to our Dartmouth experience.
By defining Greek Life solely as a party space, I’d argue that we overlook its more profound contributions to the campus culture and the genuine connections it fosters. Greek spaces are more than venues for nightlife — they’re places where students share diverse, meaningful experiences on a daily basis through events that bring us together as a community. When we insist on viewing Greek Life through the narrow lens of party culture — with which we so often think we must be affiliated to fit in — we miss out on the everyday joys it offers, like the thrill of laughing together at a 30-minute improv show.
The frat ban doesn’t have to stop us from enjoying Dartmouth. Instead, it challenges us to redefine what we see as enjoyable in college life. I would suggest we recognize that affiliation and parties are not the only way to engage with Greek Life. By broadening our perspectives, all of us freshmen can discover a more balanced and fulfilling experience that embraces both celebration and connection in all its forms.
Opinion articles represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
