What do you do for fun in a town with six stoplights? Where do you go when the thrill of meeting new people and discovering where they are from fades? For over 200 years, the enterprising students of Dartmouth have found ingenious ways to escape boredom.
And while Hanover is definitely not Boston, the College and its surrounding community offers its own unique escapes and pleasures.
The most prominent part of the social scene is the Greek system. Centered on Webster Avenue, you will no doubt have little trouble finding many people willing to help you procrastinate on most nights.
A recent resolution by the Student Assembly is attempting to change the current policy banning freshmen from attending parties their Fall term. The actual fate of the rule, however, is still up in the air. The administration will likely inform you of the current state of this policy when you arrive on campus.
Parties often feature DJs and offer alcohol. Safety and Security officers regularly patrol these parties to ensure compliance with College alcohol policies.
Besides parties, the mainstay of College social options offered by Greek houses is the game of pong, played in fraternity and sorority basements. Played on specially built tables, pong is probably the most popular game at Dartmouth, offering recreation and competition to party-goers.
Every term offers one big weekend -- Homecoming in the fall, Winter Carnival in the winter, Green Key in the spring and Tubestock in the summer. Probably the biggest of the four, Homecoming draws many alumni back to campus.
Tubestock focuses around tubing on the Connecticut river. Greek houses often build their own rafts to complement the collection of inner-tubes.
The infamous Green Key weekend inspired Chris Miller '63 in his film "Animal House," supposedly based on experiences he had as a brother at Alpha Delta fraternity. The current Greek scene bears little resemblance to the debauchery presented in the film, however.
In addition to Greek life, the College offers many other social options for students.
The Hopkins Center features many movies, shows and plays open to all students, usually at reduced prices. Every year it hosts many performing groups and nationally known performers, such as Sandra Bernhard, who visited campus last spring.
The Dartmouth Film Society showcases a series of films each term, shown on Spaulding Auditorium's movie screen. At $12 for nearly 20 films, a film pass from the Dartmouth Film Society is one of the best deals in town.
For those who prefer dance, affinity houses such as La Casa and Cutter-Shabazz Hall often throw dance parties, open to the entire student body. The College also boasts several dance ensembles, such as Sheba -- a hip-hop dance group -- that regularly perform at Greek houses and other campus locations.
For the more musically inclined, the College is home to a host of a cappella groups, both single-sex and coed, whose shows across campus draw large crowds and even dedicated "groupies."
The student-run Programming Board plans many different events each term, including free movie nights and performances by bands such as Wyclef Jean, Jurassic Five, Steve Miller Band and The Violent Femmes.
Many popular activities take advantage of Hanover's varying seasons.
In the winter, ice skating on Occom pond and skiing at many of the nearby ski areas draw many students. But with the winter sun often setting by 4 p.m., outdoor activities are quickly curtailed before the day's end.
During the warmer months, the College's social life moves outdoors even more so, with swimming in the Connecticut river and hiking and biking throughout the surrounding mountains. For those preferring to remain on-campus, frisbee and volleyball games on the Green remain a perennial favorite.
