Considering how ardently the Greek system loves pong, it's odd that there is no formal tournament where the houses could compete against each other. Clearly if it existed such a competition could never occur during sophomore summer because the majority of students on campus are under 21. Yet, in the off chance that a tournament like this ever did take place, it would be far more than a simple friendly competition.There are an almost infinite number of factors that affect the fairness of a tournament single versus double elimination, how or if teams are seeded, the rules of play, the location of the event and how the draw is designed. But, even more fundamental than any of these more minor rules is who would get to play. With both the Greek system and pong being so dominant in our social scene, the tournament's participants would speak volumes about campus culture.
The structure of this hypothetical tournament would really depend on the goal of its organizers. If the organizers wanted to find the best pong team in the Greek system as defined by the Greek Leadership and Panhellenic Councils then only those teams would compete. But, this eligibility criterion seems a little odd. Clearly this theoretical tournament wouldn't be a school-sanctioned event; it would be an informal tournament organized and run by students.
Perhaps the organizers' goal might be to find the best pong team out of the major "houses" on campus, regardless of their status as defined by the College's Greek system. Some might argue that this could lead to an avalanche of groups protesting to be included. But "houses" on campus are usually defined by similar characteristics, such as paying dues and having a rush process. Although "house" may not be a perfect definition, it's better than arbitrarily limiting the entrants to only those within the "Panhellenic" classification. Attempts to restrict non-Greek inclusion would be an attempt to make an elitist statement regarding the legitimacy of non-mainstream houses.
But even more radical, some may decide that the tournament's aim would be to find the best pong players on campus. This could be logistical pandemonium, but nothing that a few math majors probably couldn't handle. There exist infinite possibilities between a smaller, Greek-only tournament and a campus-wide free-for-all. Minority fraternities, off-campus houses, recreational clubs all of these groups could, theoretically, be included.
The Greek system, like all social interaction, is exclusionary. It doesn't include everyone, and there's no reason it has to or should. But, those who would cringe at a Loveshack versus Ledyard Canoe Club first round match in such a tournmanet should ask themselves why the idea is at all preposterous.
Although pong is a keystone of social life here, it's still just a game. On the surface, an inter-house tournament would, theoretically, just be a group of students playing this game, which does not deviate too greatly from any other night at Dartmouth. But a tournament's makeup and rules would reflect the organizer's judgments of what groups of people belong and don't belong in the campus social scene. To deny a house's entry or arbitrarily limit its number of teams reflects and reinforces feelings of privilege and entitlement.
Thankfully, though, we don't have to worry ourselves about power relations as they relate to some hypothetical inter-campus pong tournament.
