Circling the bonfire with the freshmen sweep amidst heckling calls from upperclassmen is not Homecoming weekend's only annual tradition. From hosting dance parties to roasting pigs, Dartmouth's Greek organizations hope to attract students and alumni for festivities that have, over the years, become synonymous with Homecoming itself.
"It's great to invite the friends you already have and meet other people, too," said Chris Woods '13, social chair of Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity, which will host a dance party Friday evening, with the theme "#OccupyTri-Kap."
The big weekend kicked off on Wednesday with "Tackies," a party hosted by Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority. During this event, which is hosted every term, KDE members and attendees dress in their "tackiest" clothes, according to KDE social chair Jennifer Williams '12.
"It's a tradition we've had since our founding to wear our uniforms' and have an open invitation to the undergraduates," Williams said. "It usually gets pretty packed. Homecoming gets pretty big because all the alums come back, so our basement's always hopping."
Attracting and entertaining alumni over Homecoming weekend is also a priority for Theta Delta Chi fraternity, according to Theta Delt social chair Anjelo Austria '12. The house's termly pig roast scheduled for the Saturday of Homecoming is one of TDX members' "favorite traditions," Austria said.
"It's a pretty awesome day," Austria said. "It's something you want people to come back to."
Although the event is expensive, Theta Delt's pig roast is worth the additional costs, Austria said.
"The pig roast costs a lot more than a typical night, [but] the food's awesome," he said. "Our honorary brother, [Facility Operations and Management employee Dave Jenks], is one of our favorite guys of the house," Austria said, adding that Jenks attends the event each term to roast the pigs.
As in previous years, Theta Delt also hosted Thursday's annual "St. Paddy's Day" party, Austria said.
On Friday, Alpha Theta co-ed fraternity's "Seven Deadly Sins" party, a tradition for approximately 10 years, will also attract Alpha Theta's alumni, according to Dan Mott '12, the organization's social chair. The event will cost Alpha Theta about $400, Mott said.
Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity will host its annual Homecoming dance party on Friday night, according to Chi Gam president Sean Schultz '12. DJ Chuck Chambers, more commonly known as Patrick Chen '12, will play dubstep music at the event, Schultz said.
On Saturday, Chi Heorot fraternity will throw its annual "Octogafest" party, an event which pays tribute to "Animal House" (1978), a comedy film inspired by Dartmouth's social scene, according to social chair Nick Resendes '12.
Octogafest is consistently popular from year to year, Resendes said, adding that Matt Knight '11 Th'12, also known as DJ Postman, will play amidst the toga-clad students filling the party.
Saturday night generally sees fewer Greek parties, making Heorot one of only three or four houses which will be hosting an event, Resendes said.
The popularity of Saturday's parties sometimes depends on the success of athletic teams over the weekend, Williams said.
"If soccer wins, [Alpha Delta fraternity] will throw a really good party," she said.
In addition to celebrating Big Green victories, Woods said he will use Homecoming as an opportunity to host first-year students in recognition of how upperclassmen in previous years opened their doors to him and his classmates.
"People remember being freshmen, going out and having a good time at the Tri-Kap dance parties, so we like to keep that going," Woods said.
Evan Landau '15 said he is looking forward to the weekend's parties but said houses did not promote events in the weeks prior to Homecoming.
"I haven't really heard of much yet, considering I'm a freshman, but I think Homecoming weekend is going to be something really special." he said. "I'm looking forward to making my own legends."
Because much of the campus attends Homecoming parties, a great deal of responsibility falls on social chairs, Woods said.
"People will show up, and they'll be very inebriated," he said. "You have to manage all these people. You have to make sure they're okay. It seems like more of a job at the big parties."
While Webster Avenue's fraternities and sororities will likely be packed over Homecoming, some upperclassmen will choose not to attend the Greek parties following the traditional Homecoming bonfire.
"I might go out with friends, but not necessarily to the dance parties," Jing Wei Pan '14 says. "I have a heavy course load. It feels like it would be a good stress reliever, but sometimes we can't afford stress relievers."
Sigma Delta sorority and Phi Tau co-ed fraternity will not host events, according to Sigma Delt social chair Hannah Jeton '12 and Phi Tau president Leah Nicolich-Henkin '12.
Representatives from Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity, Alpha Delta fraternity, Bones Gate fraternity, Gamma Delta Chi fraternity, Phi Delta Alpha fraternity, Psi Upsilon fraternity, Sigma Nu fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority and The Tabard co-ed fraternity were not available for interview or did not reply to inquiries by press time.
