Recalling the Green Key Weekends he enjoyed as a student, John Gaston '85 said he was unsure if his memories of revelry and partying were appropriate for print.
"I don't know if they can publish anything I would say about Green Key [Weekend]," he said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth.
Green Key Weekend, with its sunny weather, band concerts and nights of revelry, has long been the favorite weekend of the year for many students, several alumni told The Dartmouth.
For John Myers '69, Green Key Weekend stands out as one of the few weekends where the festivities continued through Sunday.
"One of the things I enjoyed most were the Sunday afternoon bands," Myers said.
Sunday parties during Green Key Weekend were a distinctive way to "finish off the weekend," Gaston said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
Before the College became coeducational, Sunday afternoons also served another purpose -- many of the female students came to the College for Green Key Weekend from other colleges and universities for the weekend left on Sunday, according to Myers.
"If it hadn't been a great weekend with your date and she headed back to her girls' school, you could enjoy that Sunday afternoon band even more," Myers said with a laugh.
For Myers, the end of Green Key Weekend was especially memorable.
"I don't recall specifically if a potion served at one of the fraternities, called the 'Black Plague,' is still being served," Myers said, referring to a certain Sunday afternoon cocktail. "The Black Plague spared no one."
Gaston recalled that there was always beautiful weather during Green Key Weekend, which contributed greatly to the experience.
"Most of the stuff we did was always inside in a basement," Gaston said. "When [the weather] was really nice, it was just sort of awesome."
One of Gaston's most memorable Green Key Weekends occurred when his friend from high school came to Hanover and had his first real experience with the fraternity scene.
"It was his first big-time exposure to beer pong," Gaston said with a laugh. "We played best out of seven, out of seven, out of seven on a Sunday night. It's hard to believe, but I guess the beer never ran out."
Gaston and Myers both said that their Green Key Weekend experiences were very much centered on their respective Greek houses. Gaston was already a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity, now Chi Gamma Epsilon, for his first Green Key Weekend. Myers was a member of Chi Heorot fraternity.
"I definitely know that my social life revolved around the fraternity," Myers said.
While Myers and Gaston remembered the social aspects of the weekend, Ralph Manuel '58 said he spent his Green Key Weekend on the baseball field, not at the fraternities.
"I was a varsity baseball player, so we had to sleep in the Alumni Gym Friday night and Saturday night before our games," Manuel said.
After returning to the College in 1962, Manuel held several positions at the College, including assistant director of admissions, associate dean of freshmen and Dean of the College from 1975 to 1982. In these positions, Manuel said he had a very different perspective of Green Key Weekend and some of its more raucous events.
"I always held my breath for fear that someone would be hurt [during the chariot races]," Manuel said. "But it was always in good fun. It was the big weekend."
