For three years, I've inhabited a social space that lies somewhere between the Greek scene and the DOC. When you are suspended in that space, you have to carve out your own social niche. But no worries if you are a new member to this scene; we proud outliers definitely enjoy our Dartmouth experiences. In fact, if you don't let yourself get too caught up in the hype, you might find that the Greek system is far from the beginning and end of the social scene. Once you throw the whole notion of "there's nothing to do outside the Greek system" out the window, you open up a whole new world to explore.
By now, you've all heard the standard spiel about "alternative" activities on campus. While a good overview of various concrete activities, that spiel neglects to address how to actually enjoy your Dartmouth social life off of frat row. Perhaps the most important factor in enjoying your Dartmouth life is to not feel limited by what other people tell you about the social scene and where it is and is not acceptable for you to hang out.
Because of its fairly structured environment, the DOC stands out as one alternative, though some people feel intimidated about venturing into DOC terrain. Admittedly, it can seem daunting if you don't think of yourself as particularly outdoorsy or if you don't know some one who can show you the ropes. I'm not really a DOC person, but I've learned that most of my "crunchy" friends assume that if you want to hang, you'll just join in without an invitation.
And that's pretty much the key to having a fulfilling social life outside the Greek scene or the DOC not waiting to be told what to do. Without a larger social structure providing us outliers with activities on a weekly basis, carving out a personal social scene might seem challenging, and a lot of people don't know where to start. That requires you to venture away from what everyone else is doing every once in a while, and often, all that requires is opening blitzes. There are so many cool opportunities of which people are completely unaware simply because they delete the blitzes without reading them. Whether you do it because you don't know the sender or because you don't think it is applicable to you, it's a habit that keeps people from milking Dartmouth for what it's worth.
If you think your race, gender, sexual orientation or religious identity precludes you from certain activities, it doesn't. For example, about half the members of the Vandana, the South Asian dance group, are not of South Asian descent. It can be intimidating to walk into a room in which you feel like an outsider, but what's the point of only hanging out with people like you, anyway? You came to college to learn, right? So why not expand your social horizons by meeting new crowds.
Compulsive dabbling has taught me some of the ins and outs of a broad range of campus communities and now I can comfortably chill with a lot of different groups on campus. I find this liberating since I am not chained to any particular hangout or group of people. Like many people I went through the rush process my sophomore year, but I realized that I was much more susceptible to thinking in the Greek system's stereotypes than I liked. I recognize that not everyone likes to mix things up as much as I do, but that's what's so great about not belonging to a more organized social structure. You can do whatever you want.
Our Greek system is relatively open and the crunchy DOCers are perpetually eager to introduce people to their world. Those options are always there if you want them. If you're like me, though, you rushed and realized that the Greek scene was not where you belonged. There are a lot of good reasons to want them, but not knowing what else to do isn't one of them.
