If it seems like Manley Weight Room empties out during Winter term, it might be because when cold weather comes to Hanover, the football team goes west.
In keeping with a long-standing, but informal, tradition, most sophomore football players and many junior athletes spend Winter term at the University of California-Santa Barbara. Although Dartmouth has no official exchange program with UCSB, the warm-weather winter alternative has proven a popular destination for a large percentage of the football team.
"It was great," said Mike Giles '04, who did a transfer term at UCSB in 2002. "I took four classes there and I got to really experience a bigger school."
Between 30 and 40 football players are at Santa Barbara this winter, a former athlete estimated. Giles recalled that "about 15" football players were at UCSB during his transfer term.
Scheduling similarities make it relatively easy for Dartmouth undergraduates to spend a transfer term at UCSB, College Registrar Polly Griffin said. Winter transfer terms are common among fall athletes like football players, who frequently must be in residence for both Fall and Spring terms.
"Santa Barbara is one of the few schools on the quarter system," Griffin said. "The quarter system and Winter term is a hard match-up."
Dartmouth undergraduates can apply to receive credit for coursework on transfer terms, but grades from other institutions do not appear on Dartmouth transcripts.
The team's annual migration attracted attention last week when news broke last week that four football players on a transfer term at UCSB had been arrested on charges of home invasion after a dispute at a party.
But the athletes dismiss any claims that the term is a chance to get easy credits and party. Football players who have gone in the past say the four-class course load is challenging and that the term allowed them to they form closer bonds with their Dartmouth friends and made many new acquaintances.
They also recalled following off-season weight-lifting and fitness regimens while away.
"We had a program that the coach gave us to follow and it was nice to stay in shape while we were there," Giles said.
Giles cited warm weather and a desire to see other parts of the country as further motivation for his transfer term.
"I'm from Boston originally and I had never been to California," Giles said.
The strength of the football tradition was a strong factor in Giles' decision to spend a term at UCSB.
"It's a tradition that's been passed on in the team," he said. "I was told from older players that your sophomore winter you do a transfer term."
UCSB is located on the Pacific coastline, about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Slightly less than 18,000 undergraduates are enrolled at UCSB.
