For the College's Southern population, life may be soon getting a little steamier, if not downright juicy.
Students who have felt overwhelmed by the sight of snow for the first time or confused about how to order a winter coat that will guard adequately against the Hanover cold may now be able to find solace by joining a young extracurricular organization known as the Dartmouth Citrus Alliance.
Established in the winter of 2002, the Citrus Alliance was the idea of Floridian and Class of 2002 Class President Jen Tutak '02. According to Colleen McCaffrey '05, the group's current vice president, the Alliance desires to help students adjust to life in colder climes, and to increase Dartmouth's visibility in the South.
"It was my first encounter with seasonal cold," McCaffrey said, adding that she was unprepared for the experience.
While most of the group's first members hail from Florida, the Alliance has sought to broaden their base as much as possible. Many students from other warm states, including California and Texas, have joined, as have some from mid-Atlantic states like New York. The group has also worked on recruiting international students from countries with warm climates.
"We think of ourselves as a group for warm-weather people and our cold-weather allies," said Nate Cardin '05, the group's president.
The group's recent projects have included drafting pamphlets to send out to prospective students about northern New England weather and holding educational events about how to enjoy the cold climate.
Some efforts have involved teaching new members how to dress for the cold; both McCaffrey and Cardin noted their lack of knowledge of what Gore-Tex was before arriving to campus, and McCaffrey came to Hanover with no winter coat. Accordingly, Cardin recalled a presentation at one meeting by a student from New York about the uses of fleece-lined pants.
Other projects have involved teaching students about cold-weather outdoor pastimes like skiing, sledding and ice skating. Others have involved serving the community in a general way. For example, the group recently co-sponsored a dinner with Alpha Xi Delta sorority for students in the Summer Enrichment at Dartmouth program.
But officers are quick to point out that members enjoy getting back to their warm-weather roots when possible -- the Citrus Alliance is working on putting together a trip to clean a Maine beach this summer.
Longer-term goals include building stronger connections with alumni organizations in warm areas and working to recruit more students in the South, where Dartmouth is perhaps not as widely known as in the New England or Mid-Atlantic states. McCaffrey mentioned that she had not heard of Dartmouth until relatively late in high school, and that some people have asked her if it was a junior college.
About 32 percent of Dartmouth's students come from the Mid-Atlantic states, 20.1 percent of from New England, 17.3 from the West, 12.7 from the Southwest and 12.5 from the South, according to the Admissions Office.
The group settled on the name Citrus Alliance because it to refers to the agricultural products of both Florida and California, according to McCaffrey. Cardin said, however, that the name has led some students to think that the group is primarily about promoting eating fruit, or about "telling everyone to eat more oranges and avoid scurvy."
Cardin acknowledged that some students have viewed the group as a joke -- he recalled watching a number of skeptics pass by the group's booth at a recent activities fair -- but he remained optimistic about its purpose.
He maintained that the group is about helping students to have fun in their new environment, first and foremost.
"We're not a serious, stern-faced group," Cardin said. "We just laugh it off. The people who are most interested in us will hear about it through word of mouth."
