"Because Frat Row is so dominant and also so large, a significant [portion] -- if not a majority -- of Dartmouth students can just go to Frat Row on any given party night and expect to see their friends there," Alex Mercado '11 said. "So wanting to follow the crowd socially, Frat Row is a very simple default."
Tucker Ward '12 said that the Dartmouth social culture is heavily influenced by venues where students can easily obtain alcohol.
"I think [the social atmosphere] is skewed incredibly onto the drinking side," he said. "And I know that most Dartmouth students don't drink in excess -- I see this every weekend. There are a few that do, but most don't. But I do think that overall the social scene is skewed towards those who drink."
In a community of over 4,000 students, then, this social scene can neglect a large portion of the student body that does not drink or chooses not to socialize within the Greek system.
"I'm sure there are plenty of other people, other than my group of friends, who don't hang out at the frats, but to me it seems like everyone else does. So I'm sure, for a lot of people, it seems that that's what happens," Diane Fleck '10 said.
The Abstainers and Light Drinkers Study, conducted by Student Assembly's student life committee during Fall term 2008, noted that the 2008 Dartmouth Health Survey reported that 18.2 percent of the 2,172 students who participated in the survey described themselves as abstainers, while 40.5 percent described themselves as light drinkers (though no specific parameters were provided for these categories).
Many of those students who do not consume alcohol instead socialize and spend their time in what are often referred to as "alternative social spaces."
"We've done a lot of research into the non- or light drinkers on campus, and it might be surprising to some people, but a lot of students might consider themselves light drinkers or non-drinkers," former Student Body Vice President Nafeesa Remtilla '09 said. "If that's the case, then we need to have programming after midnight geared towards those constituencies."
Some students, like Mercado, said that they do not feel limited by a supposed lack of alternative spaces on campus.
"Pretty much all of the social spaces I use, as Dartmouth would put it, are alternative social spaces, and I really haven't had any problems," Mercado said. "I hear from a lot of people who say there are no alternative social spaces, they have nowhere to meet, it's all dominated by the frats, there aren't even female-dominated social spaces they can go to, it's all male fraternity spaces -- I haven't had trouble with that."
These "alternative" spaces often include dorms, residential lounges, off-campus houses, the outdoors, spaces within student organizations, the Hop, Fuel, Collis, and the Assembly's alternative social space parties -- parties with dancing and alcohol for those over 21 -- in spaces such as Hovey Grill in the basement of the Thayer Dining Hall, Fahey-McLane Residential Cluster and Cutter-Shabazz Hall.
In addition to organizing alternative space parties, the Assembly also sends out a "T.G.I.A.F." e-mail every week to inform students of different social options over the weekend. Student Assembly has also started an inter-community development fund that is intended to bring together groups that normally don't interact with one another by supporting events collaboratively thrown by the groups, according to former Student Body President Molly Bode '09.
But the term "alternative social space" is in itself problematic, carrying implications about normal social spaces and typical social behavior, several students said.
"When Dartmouth says 'alternative social spaces,' what it really is saying is 'not Greek,'" Mercado said. "I think we've all experienced this. Even more than this, we find it necessary to specify female-dominated social spaces versus male-dominated social spaces."
Bode said that the term has become ingrained in the Dartmouth lexicon, but does not necessarily hold the connotations that one might expect.
"I think alternative social spaces has become a common word in the Dartmouth vocabulary now because we kind of pushed for it, but I don't really think it should be considered alternative to anything," Bode stated. "I think it should just be considered another social space."
The "alternative" terminology and social norms engendered by Dartmouth culture, however, have affected how some students view their relation to campus. Living outside of the "dominant" social scene, some say, can lead one's "Dartmouth experience" to deviate from the stereotypical norm. These differences become most apparent during weekends centered on Dartmouth traditions. some students said.
Take Green Key, billed as a weekend to celebrate, and virtually nothing more. While a portion of the population on campus eagerly counts the days until responsibility and work are put on a two (or six) day hiatus, others see the event in a distinctly different light.
"I'm still trying to find a sense of home and a sense of place on campus," said a female member of the Class of 2011 who wished to remain anonymous because of the personal nature of the subject. "But there are times that I look around at Green Key and I see my friends who are in [Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority]. They're hanging out at a lawn party, they're drunk and they're eating hamburgers, and they're like, 'Oh, I love my house,' and I'm sitting there thinking, 'I don't feel this connection to what's going on around me as you do.'"
Fleck said that he thinks it is strange that Green Key is a weekend that often encourages a lack of responsibility -- and even illegal activities.
"It just seems really weird to me that the College would be like, 'Have a weekend to party,'" said Fleck, who went on a camping trip with the Christian Impact group during Green Key weekend this year. "Just everyone seems to do no work, people go out on Thursday night and teachers cancel classes -- how did this happen?"
Yet, there are students who abstain from the prevalent (and borderline ubiquitous) frat parties, and appreciate the chance to celebrate the Dartmouth community.
"Even Green Key I enjoy, just because you get people to come out and celebrate Dartmouth -- the alumni come back," Robert Cousins '09 said. "The fraternity parties and the increase in drinking come along with that. While personally, that doesn't mean anything to me, because that's not a scene I'm involved in anyway, I like the institution of Green Key as a chance to celebrate Dartmouth -- celebrate spring."
What is often forgotten on a campus where the stereotypical social activity is often drinking and partying is that there does exist a social life outside of the Greek system, one that Cousins said can be active and fully satisfying.
"I think the Greek system is the biggest single player, but there are so many other things to do that I've never had the impression that people who didn't want to go to a frat or sorority would be starved for other outlets for social entertainment or interaction," he said.
Mercado echoed these sentiments, explaining that he is never at a loss for things to do.
"I have to prioritize where I am on a Friday or Saturday night, just like the next person does," he said. "And all of these places that I'm going to be are, if you will, alternative social spaces."
Students cited being involved in campus organizations, attending shows at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, going out to movies, watching a cappella and dance performances and spending time with friends as viable alternatives to the campus' Greek scene.
But for those looking for the excitement of frats and dance parties in a more "neutral" space, choices are limited.
According to the Abstainers and Light Drinkers Study, the Undergraduate Finance Committee distributed $104,439 during the 2007-2008 school year to student organizations and SEMP events for parties after midnight involving alcohol. By comparison, $11,750 was distributed for non-alcoholic events after midnight.
"There's only so much of that you can do," the female member of the Class of 2011 said. "Sometimes it comes down to 'I don't want to go to another a cappella show. I want to have fun, be with people.' Or, 'I don't want another quiet time at home making dinner. I want something more lively.' Sometimes I find it hard to find a scene like that makes me feel comfortable."
With the current economic climate, however, addressing the issue of creating spaces for students who feel socially unfulfilled on campus may face additional hurdles.
"We obviously do have [alternative social spaces] right now, but unfortunately due to budget cuts, the construction of new ones has been postponed," newly inaugurated Student Body President Frances Vernon '10 said.
Whether socially satisfied or not, many students still recognized a need for change in Dartmouth's social atmosphere.
"I think this is an issue that should be addressed," Mercado said. "What I don't know is who should be addressing it. Ideally, everyone would be addressing it, and everyone would care -- the administration would care, the students would care, the student organizations would care, the fraternities would care -- and we'd all be hunky-dory and everyone would be taken care of. But inevitably some number of these parties will not care or will care too little, and people get hurt."
Ward said that the College's deep-rooted drinking culture is in need of some reform.
"I would love to see people move away from the alcohol -- not even entirely, if people want to [drink], that's fine," Ward said. "Just move away from the excessive alcohol and the weekends focused on it -- move away from that. I would love to see more opportunities, a greater selection of events. Having said that, as I said, I think there's enough of a selection. It's workable, even if it's not ideal."
The issue, however, is not confined to the Greek system, and it is not necessarily derived from Greek life at Dartmouth either, Fleck said.
"I feel like when I was a freshman and when I was in orientation, the drug-alcohol talk was like, 'We don't care if you drink alcohol, just be safe,'" Fleck said. "And I was like, 'Wait, it's illegal, how are you saying this is OK?' I feel like it's giving students all the more excuse to do stuff and in some ways it's not respecting the rest of us. It's basically being like, 'Well, there's no real reason to decide not to drink alcohol, go ahead and do it, just be safe.'"
Fleck added that the College should take a different stance in its alcohol education programs, and that such a change would reduce the pressure on campus to imbibe.
"Well, you're not presenting the side of it that maybe it would be better not to drink alcohol and kind of just assuming that everyone will in some sense," she said. "Which I think just makes it continue worse because if everyone goes to that and is like, 'Oh, the College is telling me drinking alcohol is fine, that must mean that everyone does it and therefore I need to do it.'"
The female member of the Class of 2011 said that the lack of certain values and honesty in social interactions on campus only adds to the problems she sees in the Dartmouth social scene.
"I think the Greek system is just one part of it," she said. "It's not like take away the Greek system and our problems are resolved, because people are still interacting on this level on campus. I think the Greek system reproduces it in a different way. Put all this and put alcohol on top of it, put wealth on top of it, put whiteness on top of it, put guys being assholes on top of it, put girls being competitive on top of it, put sexuality on top of it, blacking out, raging -- put that on top of it."
