While Winter Carnival Weekend brings with it a multitude of snow-embracing events, it is the weekend's overall sense of relaxed inclusiveness, from the 99-cent ski day at The Dartmouth Skiway to the afternoon-long Occom Pond party, that draws all types of Dartmouth community members and all degrees of winter lovers out to celebrate the New Hampshire cold, according to members of the community interviewed by The Dartmouth.
"Winter isn't my favorite season, but Winter Carnival will make it a lot better," Ajay Kannan '15 said. "Homecoming seemed to be centered more on freshmen, but with Winter Carnival, it's more of a campus-wide celebration."
Cory French, a 20-year-old Hanover resident, agreed. As a child, he always enjoyed watching the construction of the snow sculpture, he said.
"Everyone from the town would go out on Occom Pond and there would be competitions like pond hockey and ice sculptures," Jack Brown '15, who also grew up in Hanover, said. "It was a time when everyone else was out there and you could always find your friends."
Over the years, the three-day weekend has truly transformed into a community-wide event, according to economics professor Marjorie Rose, whose daughter is currently enrolled as a student and whose husband, professor Doug Irwin, also teaches in the economics department.
When Dartmouth was not coeducational, male students would invite girls from other colleges up to visit for the weekend. Now, "Winter Carnival has morphed into a community-oriented celebration of winter," Rose said.
Rose said she planned on urging her students to take advantage of the opportunity to meet different community members throughout the three-day weekend.
In addition to Hanover residents and Dartmouth undergraduates, students from Dartmouth's graduate schools also get involved, to varying degrees.
Valerie Jacobs DMS '14, president of the student government at Dartmouth Medical School, said in an email to The Dartmouth that many graduate students with spouses or children enjoy the family-friendly activities.
"Last year, I went to a hockey game," Nick Stadlberger DMS '12, social chair of DMS student government, said.
However, because second-year medical students have exams the Thursday and Friday of Carnival weekend, the majority of these students end up skipping the weekend's events.
"Once you get out of your last final, it's kind of an exodus," Stadlberger said. "Everyone takes off and goes to their home or visits someone."
Students at the Tuck School of Business, who are not in the middle of exams, enjoy watching the various events on the Green, according to Justin Garrison Tu '12.
"Last year, I lived on Lebanon Street, so every day when I walked to school, I walked by the construction [of the snow sculpture,]" he said. "It's always nice to have people out and celebrating."
The majority of Tuck students, however, end up taking part in Tuck's own Winter Carnival, which will occur this year on the weekend of Feb. 24, according to Daniel Philip Tu '12.
"It is a terrific place to live and an opportunity to celebrate the winter experience, enjoy the outdoors and have some fun," Garrison said.
DMS also runs its own version of Carnival, which includes an annual chili cook-off and various hockey and sledding competitions.
Since students are in the middle of classes, the event's activities are packed into lunch breaks or late afternoons, according to Jacobs.
Still, Dartmouth's Winter Carnival, now in its 101st year, emphasizes the undergraduate experience.
Yeshuto Shaw '15 said he is "truly excited" to partake in his first Winter Carnival.
Kannan said he is still waiting to see the official schedule before deciding on which events to attend.
"I heard it's a good time," he said.
Twins Jenny and Cindy Juarez '12 said they are more set with their plans.
They intend to watch friends take part in the Polar Bear Swim but will not jump in the freezing water themselves.
"No way," they said. "We're from Florida."
Undergraduate students enthusiastically participate in the weekend's events, Michael Perlstein '14 said.
"My favorite aspect is the fact that Winter Carnival brings out the tight community that Dartmouth is famous for," Perlstein, one of the 2011 Winter Carnival council's junior co-chairs, said in an email. "Seeing how many people showed up at the Polar Bear Swim, or to cheer for their friends at the Dog Sled Race, or to see the opening ceremonies was a reminder of that."
Shaw plans to take advantage of the traditional planned events.
"I'm going to try and do the Polar Bear Swim," Shaw said. "Hopefully, I won't chicken out in the end."
The length of the weekend also allows guests from other schools to visit, according to Rachel Carter '14.
Carter said that her friend from Boston University is traveling up to Hanover.
"I just use the time to hang out with people," she said.
Rose's graduate school friend and her children are also visiting for the weekend.
"We might go to the Skiway and do some downhill skiing, but for sure the snow sculpture and Occom Pond activities," she said.
Many students and professors said they believed that the weekend's events and overall atmosphere do not change year to year. Rather, weather is always the fluctuating factor.
"I think that people will have fun either way because it's Winter Carnival, but there are definitely more things that are weather-dependent," Devon Camp '14, social chair of the Dartmouth Mountaineering Club, said.
Despite being sick for most of the weekend, Camp said she still jumped into Occom Pond last year.
"It's something everyone should try to do once," she said.
Stephen Severson '74, a former member of the Dartmouth Aires and Glee Club and a Dartmouth parent, recalled some small differences between the Winter Carnival he and his children experienced.
"There was a professor named Roy Forrester who gave a lecture on the human body about drinking and going outside," Severson said. "It was always the day before the Carnival and very informative in the sense that you understood better what your physiology was up against and it helped you be prepared to help someone else in need."
Martha Hennessey '76, Severson's wife, estimated that over 100 students attended the lecture each year.
Winter Carnival can also help to alleviate the mid-term stress at Dartmouth.
"A lot of people kind of want to do outdoor stuff in an abstract way, but Winter Carnival provides that break from school and everybody's doing it at some point," Shaw said.
The weekend is special to a lot of athletes, especially those competing in Winter Carnival ski races, according to Brown, whose sister has previously raced in the Carnival representing Middlebury.
"It's a big deal for them," he said.
The weekend also tends to see more fraternity, sorority and affinity housing parities, according to Jenny Juarez.
In the end, though, the majority of community members will find some way to be involved in the 2012 Winter Carnival.
"Go and grab a sled," Rose said. "It just brings up your mood. Winter is one of the best seasons to be here, and Winter Carnival reminds us of that."
