Green Key Weekend at Dartmouth College has not just been about parties. The weekend's name has its origins in the service and hospitality exemplified by the Green Key Society.
For the past 75 years, the Green Key Society, a group of 50 juniors, has been dedicated to the service of the College community. Despite evolution with the changing times and changing College, the central purpose of the Green Key society -- that of community service -- has remained the same.
The Green Key Society was formed in 1921 when two sophomore societies merged. The society drew inspiration from another university service organization at the University of Washington.
The society was established when the Dartmouth football team visited the University of Washington and was treated to the hospitality of their organization, Knights of the Hook.
The Knights of the Hook greeted the football team at the train station, provided transportation and guides and performed the vital task of introducing the team to women in the area.
Orton Hicks '21, a member of the football team who travelled to the University of Washington, was impressed by the hospitality of the group that greeted them, according to Dean of Student Life and Green Key Faculty Advisor Holly Sateia said.
"He is a man who has done a tremendous amount for us," she said. "He founded the Green Key as an undergraduate."
May 16, 1921, marked the beginning of the Green Key Society. Its first members were 51 sophomores.
"It is a rather striking innovation, the worth of which must wait upon time to tell," the editors of The Dartmouth said in an editorial the next day while wishing the new society, "the best of success."
The purposes of the organization as set forth in the original constitution were threefold: to provide for the entertainment of representatives of other institutions while guests of the College; to act as a permanent vigilance or freshman rule enforcement committee; and to select from its membership men who would compete for the offices of head cheerleader and head usher.
The original society was charged with the task of "keeping freshmen under control." It was the job of the society to enforce the rule of the freshmen "beanies." The vigilante function was dropped by Green Key two years into the founding and they turned to the duty of forcing freshmen to wear their hats to sophomores more interested in "service."
The newly formed society was named "Green Key" because, as The Dartmouth reported that year, "It symbolizes Dartmouth in Green Key because of the word green and the hospitality in the word key."
After two years, the society changed into an all junior student organization whose main function remained greeting visiting athletic teams. Over the next 20 years the group's affiliation with athletics diminished as it became increasingly service oriented.
The society became responsible for publishing the Freshman Handbook, helping during Orientation Week and working during the commencement exercises.
For ease of recognition, Green Key members, at the request of the faculty, wore uniforms -- white trousers, green sweaters and green hats with the key emblem. This made it simple for freshmen to recognize those who could assist them during orientation.
During World War II, the Society stopped its regular activities for two years to become the College's student government body. It resumed normal activities after the war and began to publish the annual Day by Day calendar with photos of various aspects of College life at Dartmouth.
The Society changed its focus when the Dartmouth College Athletic Council began taking over Green Key's role in welcoming visiting teams. By the late 1980s, the society had evolved into the College service organization it is today.
"This year we have a very good group," Green Key Society President Cristina Kuechmann '97 said.
"They have done an excellent job this year," Sateia confirmed. "I am always impressed with their energy and commitment to the College. They are called upon for thankless tasks and do it for the love of this institution."
The Green Key Society is composed of 20 at-large positions that are elected by students during the general elections held in April, Kuechmann said. The other 30 members are representatives nominated from organizations that are parts of the Committee on Student Organizations.
The College calls on the society if it needs students to facilitate activities or organize events, Kuechmann said.
Sateia said, "The Green Key plays a lot of unsung roles." She mentioned that the society helps with the various departments on campus such as the admissions office and public programs office.
Sateia said, "They visit students in Dick's House and help there. They help with the transfer student orientation. They have, in the past, had a reception for international students. They do a lot of things."
The biggest role the Green Key Society plays is during Orientation and Commencement, Kuechmann said.
"Orientation is a big fall thing," she said. "We act as road guards, directing people and help get things organized. At Orientation we sit at a number of tables and make sure that everyone has their forms signed and the forms they need."
Kuechmann said, "At Commencement we are involved in many organizational aspects. "We make sure everyone has the things they need. We help out with the candlelight ceremony and make sure everyone is heading in the right direction for all the activities."
In keeping with its community service oriented beginnings, the society has been working all year to develop a relationship with the Kendall Retirement Home on Lyme Road, Kuechmann said.
The Green Key Society is essential for the student elections, Associate Director of Student Life Linda Kennedy said. Until this year, the society aided at the ballot tables and in counting the votes. In addition to the services provided to the school, the Green Key Society also sells class sweaters and the Day-by-Day, their student calendar.
Kuechmann said Day-by-Day is an integral part of Green Key -- as the society's primary source of funding.
There are four officers and a set of committees that comprise the society, Kuechmann said. "Most of the committees are active all three terms. Commencement is only active in the spring and Orientation is only active in the summer and fall."
Currently the Green Key is working for a campus wide study break cosponsored with a class council for the end of the term, Kuechmann said.
