Picture Green Key weekend without beer. No, take away the liquor too. Now what would it be like?
"It would suck. There would be no reason to have Green Key," said one senior, who asked to remain nameless.
"It is a big party weekend. It is all drinking," he said. "It is great."
Although Green Key is famous for being the College's grand springtime debauch, many say the weekend is not entirely based on drinking. But students still tend to drink far more than normal.
"Outdoor bands and plenty of beer now define the weekend's reputation," according to a 1993 edition of The Dartmouth. Last year the Hanover Police and Safety and Security handled almost 40 alcohol violations during Green Key.
Alumni from the 1920s to the present are eager to describe the feverish pace their debauchery reached Green Key weekend.
Eric Konigsberg '91 wrote an article for Rolling Stone Magazine in September 1992 about Alpha Delta fraternity, using Green Key Weekend as its backdrop. An accompanying picture had a caption which stated, "Drink Till You Boot: Green Key Party 1989."
Employees of the Beverage King in West Lebanon, Murphy's on the Green and Stinson's Village Store all said they sell more alcohol to Dartmouth students during Green Key than other weekends.
And, if anecdotes are any indication, some students take drinking very seriously on Green Key weekend.
"Last year I got really bombed Friday night, puked like three times and passed out," the senior said. "I woke up at nine in the morning and puked. I went back to bed, and got up at 11 [a.m.] and puked."
"I got up at 12 [p.m.] and started drinking again. I got bombed at 'tails" at a fraternity," he said. "Then I got bombed at night ... it was great."
The senior said the drinking is part of the reason so many people visit the College during Green Key.
"That's why the alumni come up," he said. "They know there's parties going on."
Almost every Greek house sponsors a party Thursday, Friday or Saturday night. Some even throw parties first thing in the morning.
Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority will be sponsoring their second annual "Green Eggs and Kegs" party Saturday morning.
"We have breakfast and beer dyed green," Social Chair Angel Crain said. "Green Key gives people an excuse to start partying a little early."
Crain said people are definitely in the mood to drink.
"Last year we had a great turnout," she said. "All the food was gone quickly, and a fair share of the beer."
But alcohol is not the only drug students abuse during Green Key. One sophomore, who asked to remain anonymous, said students smoke more marijuana during Green Key weekend than other times.
"You see a lot of people smoking [marijuana] in public, on dance floors and lawns," the student said. "This year I plan on there being other drugs."
The student had a rough Green Key weekend last year.
"Friday I handed in a paper and started drinking around noon on the Green," the student said. On the lawn of Alpha Delta fraternity, the student smoked marijuana.
"I stayed wasted and stoned until 4 a.m., when I booted on Wentworth Hall, screamed 'I love this school,' and passed out in Hitchcock Residence Hall," the student said. The student said Sunday was miserable.
"I couldn't move. I stayed in bed until dinner time," the student said.
But some students say they will refrain from drinking or using drugs this weekend. And they say they will still have a great time.
Asgard President Richard Petty '97 said his organization "will be working with the [Afro-American Society] to put on a dance Saturday night. There will be no alcohol present, and it'll be as fun as anything else."
Asgard is a student organization that provides substance-free social options.
Petty said the booths on the Green and other Programming Board-sponsored activities will be alcohol-free.
Lisa Pogoda '98 said whether Green Key is based on alcohol depends on whom your friends are.
"For a lot of people Green Key weekend is an excuse to get drunk," she said. "For me personally, it isn't. And for most of my friends it is supposed to be a fun weekend," she said.
Pogoda said she will probably go to the dance sponsored by Asgard and the Aam Saturday night.
