Despite the plethora of events scheduled for the ninety-fifth Dartmouth Winter Carnival, many students are most anxiously anticipating only one aspect of the weekend: the parties.
Winter Carnival has certainly evolved from a weekend centered on sports competitions into one of the College's most fabled social events that draws visitors from far and wide.
The weekend became quite popular among students prior to coeducation, as it was a means of drawing female visitors to the male-only campus. Many Dartmouth students would bring their girlfriends or dates to the campus for the weekend, inundating the campus with visitors.
To satisfy the student body and the campus visitors, many fraternities began throwing parties during Carnival. However, unlike recent years where most houses only host one party, due to College regulations concerning party registration, Carnivals of the past often saw weekend-long parties at fraternities.
James Adler '60 was a member of Kappa Sigma (now Chi Gamma Epsilon) fraternity and remembers past Winter Carnivals as party-saturated events.
"What [existed] at Kappa Sig[ma] was a series of parties -- Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Saturday night and Sunday morning. We had live bands for the two evening parties and also for Saturday afternoon, I think," he said.
In spite of the numerous parties hosted during the weekend during Adler's time at Dartmouth, fraternities did not have to contend with the hordes of people that now characterize Greek parties.
"Since all 27 fraternities had a full schedule of social events for a big weekend like Carnival, we never had more than 150 or so people in the house," Adler said. "You'd spend most of your time at your own house and drop by at other houses to see friends for part of the weekend."
In recent years, a number of fraternities have not only continued the tradition of party-hosting, but also started some traditions of their own. The most famous of these was Psi Upsilon's keg jump.
The origin of the keg jump dates back to the 1980s, after which the event was held nearly every year until being banned by the College for safety reasons in 2000.
"In terms of Winter Carnival traditions, the keg jump was our premiere event," Psi U president W. Rawson Daniel, Jr. '05 said. "Over Carnival, we would host a contest in which brothers would jump over keg shells. The number of keg shells that were jumped would increase as fewer and fewer brothers could make it over the shells. Eventually, there'd be a winner."
Despite the absence of the keg jump, Psi U brothers still construct an ice rink on their front lawn on which brothers can skate.
"In years past, the rink would stretch from Food Court to Wheelock Street and block all the paths to Psi U," Daniel said.
Other houses traditionally hold theme parties during major weekends, such as Winter Carnival. One well-attended event is Sigma Nu's Early '80s party that, this year, will be held on Friday.
"What I love about Early '80s is that it has really become an institution of every big weekend at Dartmouth," Sigma Nu brother Troy Blanchard '05 said.
"It was started by the brothers in 1992 when the College banned parties sponsored by beer companies. Before '80s, we were known for our 'Moosehead Beer Party.' Alums will come back from the mid-'90s and say that the party has not changed one bit; it's still the biggest and best party of Winter Carnival or any big weekend," Blanchard said.
In addition to the Early '80s party, Webster Avenue promises to hold a hotbed of activity tonight, as several other fraternities including Chi Gamma Epsilon, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Kappa Kappa Kappa will be hosting dance parties.
Although most events, particularly the dance parties, are open to the entire campus, other houses choose to hold classier events for their brotherhood and guests. One such house is Sigma Alpha Epsilon, which hosted an invite-only champagne party with a performance by the Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble last night.
For those with a taste for live music, The Spinto Band will be performing live at Alpha Delta fraternity Saturday night. AD is known for bringing many live bands to campus during large weekends, and this Winter Carnival will prove to be no exception.
So whether you are seeking hot dance floors, live bands or merely a game of pong, one of Dartmouth's Greek houses will likely be able to satisfy your cravings.
