The guide, titled "GREEN: Words to Live By, Words to Drink By, Words to Succeed By," is a "satirical" look at the College's history and culture, Bowers said. Bowers, Cyrus Akrami '11 and Lyman Missimer '11 are co-editing the book.
"On our drive up to campus for [Spring] term, we were thinking about the feeling of seeing Baker Tower for the first time, for the last time," Missimer said. "We were just like, God, we love this place' we wanted to encapsulate our time here and hopefully make a good contribution to Dartmouth's culture."
Cody Kittle, a member of the Class of 2010 at Northwestern University who co-edited an unofficial student guide to life at Northwestern, approached Bowers, his high school friend, and suggested that he put together a similar project at Dartmouth, according to Bowers.
Kittle provided Bowers, Akrami and Missimer with a template that he used to create his book, which Akrami said is the only similarity between the two publications.
The editors characterized the book as "tongue-in-cheek" and emphasized that the guide would not be a expos of Dartmouth life.
"The book is satire," Missimer said. "By no means should a lot of it been taken seriously. People should see how much we make fun of ourselves. It's definitely self-deprecating in a lot of aspects."
"GREEN" opens with a section called "The Dartmouth Primer," which outlines Dartmouth's history and includes an overview of the College's traditions. The book contains editorials on the advantages and disadvantages of the D-Plan, advice on choosing a major and a summarization of study abroad programs. A section devoted to freshmen offers input on how to choose a First-Year Writing Seminar and details the course selection process. Advice on compiling resumes and writing cover letters is included in a chapter devoted to corporate recruiting, Akrami said.
"GREEN" also includes a section on College social life with blurbs about each Greek-letter organization, the rules of pong, Dartmouth drinking games and other "social nuances," Bowers said.
"There's stuff as nuanced as when you're flitzing with someone, the subject line is not actually the subject of the blitz," Bowers said. "It's going to be the first word or the first two words of the sentence you're going to start your blitz with. It's very specific to Dartmouth."
Although the editors received some criticism for publishing short blurbs describing each fraternity and sorority, they emphasized that the book was intended as humorous.
"Satire is making fun of something in order to benefit society and hopefully break down [the stereotype]," Missimer said. "We're not trying to further anything."
Sorority blurbs have not yet been completed, although sorority members have been contacted for comment, according to Missimer. Sororities that belong to national organizations will not be contributing to "GREEN," he said. Bowers said fraternity and sorority members' contributions will add to the book's "well-rounded" perspective on Greek life.
"The idea that we're perpetuating stereotypes we're talking about 20 pages in a 200-page book," Akrami said. "When you read through the descriptions, it's informative in a very straightforward, funny tone."
Representatives from Delta Delta Delta sorority, Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and Sigma Delta sorority declined to comment. Representatives from Alpha Phi sorority, Alpha Xi Delta sorority, Kappa Delta sorority and Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority were not available for comment by press time.
The guide is largely intended to inform freshmen, but will be relevant to prospective and current students as well as alumni, Missimer said.
"Looking back on our freshman year, we were comparing what we knew then to what we know now," Bowers said. "We pretty much knew nothing."
Each editor wrote different parts of the book Akrami authored a section about Hanover restaurants and Dartmouth Dining Services, while Bowers put together a "funtivities" portion describing activities to do around Hanover. Other students contributed to "GREEN" when the editors encountered topics "that we didn't feel we could do justice for," Missimer said. The contributors were mostly members of the Class of 2011, but also included members of the Class of 2012 and one member of the Class of 2013. Contributors also include writers for The Dunyun a student-written online humor publication and members of the editors' fraternities, according to Akrami.
Akrami is a member of Phi Delta Alpha fraternity, and Bowers and Missimer are members of Alpha Delta fraternity.
Students interviewed by The Dartmouth gave mixed assessments of the book's usefulness. Deborah Yeoh-Wang '14 said she would have "browsed through" the book had it been available before her freshman year at the College.
"When I first came to Dartmouth, I felt like I was thrown into it," Yeoh-Wang said. "I feel like it would have been a nice thing to have if there was substantial information that isn't normally stressed."
Emily Boggs '12 said "GREEN" could serve as a valuable resource for both incoming and current students.
"I think it's good to get a student perspective," Boggs said. "Sometimes it's awkward if you don't know people to ask about things."
Some students, however, will likely seek to learn various aspects of the College independently, according to Alexandra Heywood '11, who said she "probably wouldn't have looked at [the book]." Heywood said she primarily asked older friends for advice and learned by "figuring things out myself."
"GREEN" will largely be advertised online, according to Missimer. The editors plan to create a website for the book and market "GREEN" to incoming freshmen on Facebook and through other forms of social media, Missimer said.
All of the proceeds from the book will be donated to Kiva Microfunds, an Internet-based microfinancing institution that funds entrepreneurs in countries lacking economic resources. "GREEN" will be available for sale on Amazon's website and will be printed on an on-demand basis, Missimer said. It will sell for $17.69 to the general public and will be priced at $15 on the Dartmouth campus.
"Ideally, we want [readers] to know that this is literally the best place we've ever been," Akrami said. "These have honestly been the best four years, and whatever your experience is going to be, we hope that it's your best four years possible."
