Throughout the Ivy League and other prestigious East Coast colleges, the rite of spring is celebrated in a similar way to the College's annual Green Key Weekend.
The University of Pennsylvania sponsors an annual two-day Spring Fling, a celebration traditionally highlighted by outdoor concerts and activities on the main quad.
This year, Grammy award-winning hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean headlined the weekend with concert at Penn's Franklin Field.
"Spring Fling is basically a drinking weekend," Penn sophomore Jennifer Pavane said. "People start drinking in anticipation of the event on Wednesday or Thursday, and everyone is drunk in the afternoon."
Cornell University held its annual Slope Day on May 7 this year. On Slope Day, traditionally the last day of spring class, students converge on a giant hill on campus for concerts, barbecues and alcoholic beverages. This year, additional Slope Day features included carnival games, karaoke, free cotton candy and a dunk tank.
Cornell fraternities and sororities also tend to throw off campus parties on their own on Slope Day to celebrate the end of spring semester.
At Brown University, students partake in a series of parties and campus events during Spring Weekend, which took place this year from April 22 to 24. This year, Grammy award-winning artists Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, as well as Reel Big Fish, Blackalicious and Jurassic 5, headlined the weekend's events.
At the University of Virginia students celebrate the spring at the annual Foxfield spring races, a day of steeplechase equestrian competitions held a few miles northwest of the university's Charlottesville campus. In 2000, nearly 30,000 students and alumni attended the event imbibed and dressed in wear befitting of Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority's Kentucky Derby party.
Other schools host more toned-down spring events.
Harvard University takes a very family-friendly approach to Springfest, its big spring event. This year, a record 13,500 people, including prospective students, professors and community members, enjoyed carnival rides, games and food while listening to campus music groups.
Raphael Clark '06 attended the big spring weekend at New Hampshire neighbor Colby-Sawyer College, and noted that the enthusiasm of Colby-Sawyer student body during their big weekend paled in comparison that of Dartmouth students during Green Key.
"Nobody rages there," Clark said.
At George Washington University, Spring Fling is a one-day alcohol-free event that features concerts, a carnival, free food and free T-shirts.
"It's not really a highlight of the spring," GWU sophomore Joshua Rudawitz said.
