Editor's Note: This is the third article in a five-part series exploring the disparities between how the College presents itself and the reality that students encounter on campus. In this piece, The Dartmouth examines social life.
Hundreds of students descend upon frat row each weekend -- and Mondays and Wednesdays, for that matter. But when they tour the Dartmouth campus, prospective students and their parents come to an abrupt stop at the edge of Webster Avenue before their guides duck into the Rockefeller Center.
Still, prospective students get the message -- the College is toning down the importance of the Greek scene in its tours and literature.
"I think they try to skirt around it. They're kind of embarrassed by it," said Helen Wey, a senior at Stuyvesant High School in New York City, after her admissions tour.
Kevin McDonald chose Brown University after experiencing Dartmouth social life during last April's Dimensions program, which is run for admitted students to encourage them to matriculate at the College.
McDonald agreed, noting that the Office of Admissions was "not completely forthcoming" about campus social life.
Hour-long admissions tours remain an important way the College communicates with prospective students and their parents. On tours, guides spend a few minutes running down the statistics on Greek organizations -- which roughly 45 percent of eligible students are affiliated with, according to veteran guide Dan Hui '05.
Hui said that unless prospective students have done prior research or have alumni parents, they often do not know what Greek life is.
"People are usually pretty satisfied with the general information," Hui said.
Tour guide Austine Kuder '05 agreed with other guides that they are told to be honest in talking about their college experiences with tour groups. Kuder spent two terms as a member of Sigma Delta sorority and said she addresses both the pros and cons of the Greek system on her tours.
"I don't think I sugarcoat it in terms of, oh, we have so many other things to do," Kuder said, but she acknowledged that "some people probably do sugarcoat it -- you sugarcoat everything to a certain respect."
Although she discusses some of her personal experience with the Greek system, Kuder said in the Office of Admissions, "they just don't talk about it enough, in the literature or when they're talking to prospies."
On tours, guides usually stress the fact that there are many other viable social options available to students.
"They're not coming here to see frat row -- they're coming here to see Dartmouth College," tour guide Brian Meyers '07 said.
But many current undergraduates cite their membership in a fraternity or sorority as an important aspect of their identity at the College.
Greg Juell '07, a pledge of Sigma Nu fraternity, said he believes that joining a Greek organization is crucial.
"It's like if you don't join a frat, you're going to be cut out of the main social circles," he said. "I think in my case at least, a lot of my friends decided to join, so that's the only reason I felt pressure to do it," Juell said.
As far as other viable social options go, though, Juell said there is really "nothing on a large scale. If you want to go to a party or meet a lot of people, there's not a whole lot of stuff."
Alpha Delta fraternity member Blake Johnson '05 said he thinks the Greek system is only important to about half the students on campus, but since he pledged, the Greek system has "kind of taken over [his] life."
"I think the administration uses Greek life -- literally uses it -- when they're recruiting students," Johnson said. "They portray it as this thing that they love, and they're happy it's here."
Once students arrive, "then it's like, not really," he added.
Overall, parties are very open, Johnson said, but for male students who decide not to pledge, houses can be less welcoming.
Other Greek members also felt that the administration glosses over the prominence of Greek life on campus, choosing to emphasize other less visible social options.
"I think that in their literature, the administration clearly underplays the Greek system," said Dan Linsalata '07, a brother of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. "While there are certainly plenty of other viable alternatives, the ones that get talked up most often seem to be the least popular among students."
Beth Onofry '02, senior assistant director of admissions, coordinates the tour guide program and said the fact that little time on tours is devoted to talking about Greek life has to do with depicting the College in a balanced manner.
"It's our job in admissions to try and portray a lot of aspects of college life here," Onofry said. "Of all the things that you can highlight on campus, it's kind of low on the priority list."
Onofry, a former member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority, named community service and bonding as key reasons to join a Greek organization. She said that Dartmouth is still answering to a lot of stereotypes about out-of-control fraternity antics, like those depicted in the movie "Animal House."
Not talking about such popular campus activities as beer pong is a matter of sensitivity that tour guides are expected to use their own judgment on, Onofry said. And although some of the parents on admissions tours are alumni who are familiar with the ins and outs of Dartmouth social life, others are concerned.
"My parents were kind of scared," tour guide Meyers said.
