The living room at Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority came alive Wednesday evening as smiling sorority members mingled with temporary students from Gulf Coast-region colleges and universities over cider and Bundt cake.
"What's the deal with this?" one transplanted student wanted to know.
While events like the one at Kappa are commonplace for matriculated Dartmouth students -- especially freshmen -- displaced students who found themselves at the College in the wake of Hurricane Katrina have not had the same type of welcome that matriculated students receive.
"I got so many RSVPs that were so enthusiastic and so appreciative," said Jessica Magidson '06, who helped organize the event
Visiting students attending Dartmouth this fall noted their appreciation that the College accepted them, waived tuition and assisted in finding them housing in the Hanover area. One student even received $1,500 that the College had collected from a local church.
"They've been super welcoming -- really everyone has," Tulane junior Amanda Wilson said.
But many students, most of whom did not know each other at their home institutions, cannot help but feel alienated.
"It's weird because I feel like I'm in limbo," Damion Mathis said. "I'm between Tulane, which is my home school, and here. I'm not in dorms, so it's kind of hard to meet people."
Other students agreed that living off campus has impeded the social interactions typical of the college experience.
Kristan Saubert, a junior from Tulane, is living with an alumnus and his wife in their home on Choate Road. In order to meet other students, Saubert has decided to get involved in a theater production.
"It was reiterated to me that if I didn't get involved, making friends would be exceedingly difficult because it's such a close community," said Saubert, who grew up on Long Island and has family in New Hampshire. "I think the New England mentality is such that people aren't as open -- as effusive. That's just how we are."
Still, students who say making friends in class has been difficult said they feel welcome in the College's social scene, particularly at Greek houses, even if the basements of Webster Avenue are a far cry from the bars of Bourbon Street.
"Everybody has been very welcoming, introducing us to people and trying to get us acquainted," said Daniel Weinstein, who would have been a freshman at Tulane. "I've been partying every night that I didn't have class the day after. I've gotten really into pong."
Many students weaned on Beirut, a beer-drinking game that uses ping-pong balls but no paddles, have quickly learned that "pong" at Dartmouth implies paddles and complex rules.
Saubert, whose father was a member of Dartmouth's Class of 1976, said he brought up the drinking game before she left for Dartmouth a few weeks ago.
"I completely thought he was making this up, and I get up here and there's sawed off ping-pong paddles," she said. "My hands are so tiny, I can't grip the paddle!"
Perhaps best acclimated to the College's Greek scene is Aaron Gleiberman, a junior from Tulane who is living at Bones Gate fraternity. In addition to learning the finer points of pong, Gleiberman has become accustomed to checking BlitzMail messages and referring to himself as "an '07."
"I've come to find that the fact that it makes a noise when you get a message is pretty helpful, but I'd rather hear a phone ring," he said. "And I don't like the expression 'tails."
Though they seem satisfied overall, the students -- especially upperclassmen -- say they are eager to return to their home institutions, where they hope familiar faces and the energetic urban campuses of yesteryear will await them in January.
"It's an amazing city," Saubert said of New Orleans. "I've had nothing but good experiences at the school. It's my home."
