Green Key Weekend may be a tradition distinct to Dartmouth, but many of the College's peer institutions share in the tradition of a spring weekend devoted to parties, music and free-flowing refreshments, according to student coordinators at other colleges and universities.
Brown University celebrated its 49th Spring Weekend from April 16 to 19, a four-day celebration packed with parties and centered around two outdoor concerts. This year, hip-hop star Nas and indie-pop band Of Montreal headlined the Friday and Saturday concerts, respectively.
Almost 4,500 people packed Brown's Main Green for each show, according to senior Stephen Hazeltine, the Brown Concert Agency's administrative chair.
"This crowd is crazy," Nas said during his performance, according to The Brown Daily Herald. "A crowd like this, with it, you don't want to go home."
Students consume alcohol "very publicly" during Spring Weekend, Hazeltine said, but open partying is always "within reason."
This year, emergency medical services transported eight Brown students to a nearby hospital, The Herald reported.
This year's Spring Weekend was the first to feature a foam dance party, Hazeltine said, which drew approximately 600 people to four giant foam pits and also included a dance floor and DJ.
"In terms of attendance, enthusiasm and funding, [Spring Weekend] is, in order of magnitude, larger than anything else on campus," Hazeltine said.
Duke University's annual Last Day of Classes concert and celebration, held this year on April 22, featured performances by Gym Class Heroes, Ben Folds and Girl Talk. In acknowledgement of the event's "Go Green" theme, organizers purchased organic event T-shirts and modified the LDOC Great Hall meal, according to The Chronicle, Duke's student newspaper.
Having three concert headliners increased the event's hype and may have fostered more drinking throughout the day, junior Zachary Perret, Duke University Union president, told The Chronicle.
This year, six students were transported to Duke's Emergency Department, 26 students received EMS treatment and 36 calls to EMS -- more than twice as many as during the 2008 LDOC -- were made, junior Caitlin Sacha, director of Duke University EMS, told The Chronicle. Several of the students treated were not Duke students, The Chronicle reported.
Like Green Key Weekend at Dartmouth, Colgate University's four-day Spring Party Weekend features pig roasts, cover band performances and many Greek-sponsored parties. From April 23 to 26, Colgate students attended concerts, barbeques, a charity soccer tournament and even a root beer keg party, according to The Colgate Maroon-News. On April 25, students crowded Colgate's Whitnall Field to see rapper Lupe Fiasco perform.
Spring Fling, a series of concerts held on the first day of spring reading period, is Yale University's biggest celebration of the year, according to junior Rich Tao, president of the Yale College Council. This year's Spring Fling featured performances by Girl Talk, The Decemberists, NER*D, Wale and Colin Munroe.
The events began at noon on April 28 and lasted until 11 p.m., with 370 total minutes of music, Tao said. Tao estimated that approximately 3,000 to 4,000 people packed Yale's Old Campus for the concerts.
The organizers' decision to extend the running time of what is usually a six-hour event proved very successful, Tao said -- three student bands also performed before the contracted artists. E
Excessive alcohol consumption was not a prevalent issue, Tao said.
"I think it worked out well because people came to actually enjoy the music as opposed to just coming out and getting really drunk," he said.
Cornell University's Slope Day, an afternoon celebration on the last day of classes, is one of Cornell's biggest events of the year, according to senior Mandy Hjellming, president of the Slope Day Programming Board. On May 1, approximately 15,000 students covered Cornell's Libe Slope to watch performances by the Pussycat Dolls, Asher Roth and The Apples in Stereo, Hjellming said.
Carnival games, various food options, free water bottles and $2 beers are also available throughout Slope Day, Hjellming said. Approximately 30,000 bottles of water were distributed to audience members this year, Hjellming estimated.
"This is really a celebration for all the students at Cornell to come together," she said.
