They also occasionally interact with Dartmouth students -- sometimes in settings not sanctioned by camp directors.
On July 16, riding on the Dartmouth Coach to Hanover for her first day of DDI, 17-year-old Lina Skandalakis said that she asked a sophomore male what there was to do for fun in Hanover.
Not much, he answered, according to Skandalakis, but she was always welcome to visit his fraternity.
Ken Strange, Director of Debate at Dartmouth and Director of DDI since its inception in 1984, explained that DDI campers are not allowed to enter any college-owned or college-associated buildings other than their residence halls, the buildings where they have classes, the dining halls, the libraries and the gym. Campers are not allowed in Dartmouth Hall, let alone in fraternity or sorority basements, he said.
Strange believes that the residence hall monitors, a group of high school debate teachers who live with the campers in the Choates, successfully regulate DDI campers at night. Campers have room check at 11 p.m. and must be in their own rooms by 1 a.m. Debaters are dismissed from the program if they are caught possessing or consuming of alcohol, and can also be dismissed for visiting fraternities. Conversely, College students or other visitors are not allowed into the Choates after 11 p.m.
"Somebody who wanted to take those kinds of risks might be able to do so," Strange said. He has had to dismiss campers for such behavior in the past.
Skandalakis has not acted on her personal fraternity invitation, but several people report that every summer a number of debate campers find ways to sneak into fraternities.
Several debate campers from the Dartmouth Debate Workshop, a less intensive three week-long camp of 44 rising high school sophomores and juniors held earlier in the summer and with the same rules, successfully sneaked into a fraternity basement. Once there, they saw residential advisors from the program, and then ran away, according to Skandalakis.
Camp staff members include high school and college debate coaches as well as current and former student members of the Dartmouth Forensic Union.
Fraternity attendance tends to be the exception rather than the rule, however. The majority of DDI campers have come to Hanover for the express purpose of working to improve their debate skills.
"Our opinion is that they have too much to do and too little time, and they'll have all the free time they need Aug. 13 [when DDI is over]," Strange said. Skandalakis agreed that DDI campers, especially those very serious about debate, spend most of their time working, rather than partying or hanging out.
"Some people think we work harder than college students," Skandalakis said. "It's almost as if we do as much research as a graduate student for their thesis paper."
DDI camper Yvette Ferrer explained that while she and her fellow campers work very hard, she doesn't feel stressed because she enjoys what she's doing.
"I do debate first and foremost for [the love of] debate," Ferrer said. Learning is just a bonus.
Skandalakis agreed that the work is more rewarding than stressful.
"The more work you do, the more you'll get out of debate," she said. "It's like a yoga class."
