According to a 1986 article in The Dartmouth, there were three years in the early 1930s when Green Key was canceled as a result of the actions of Lulu McWhoosh, a date at the 1931 Green Key weekend who rode naked on a bicycle around campus.
When the weekend was restored in 1934, Green Key Society president Robert Michelet '34 wrote an open letter to campus published in The Dartmouth that requested that students remain on their best behavior.
"The granting of permission to hold the 1934 Green Key Prom was based upon a mutual understanding of good faith between the Administration and the Student Body," Michelet wrote. "It seems almost unnecessary to reiterate that not only the financial welfare of Green Key, but the reputation of the College is at stake."
The weekend also faced trouble when 166 students from Colby Jr., now known as Colby-Sawyer College, admitted to consuming alcohol on school grounds the weekend before the 1948 Green Key. Colby's president and the Colby Superior Court voted that all 166 students be confined to campus for a full week, despite the fact that 301 Dartmouth men signed a petition requesting that the girls still be permitted to attend. Needless to say, many fraternity brothers were disappointed.
In 1954, more serious violations of the law occurred when 69 students and their dates were found playing golf at 4 a.m. Hanover Police Captain Theodore Gaudreau closed the golf course under the charge of "misuse of the town's normally afforded pleasure privileges," and impounded golf coach Tommy Keane.
The arrests followed a tip from earlier that night.
"Chief Fergusen had been cruising about the area at his customary hour of 3 a.m. when he noticed the faint aroma of Seduction' hovering over the eighth green," The Dartmouth reported. "Stopping his horse and carriage, Fergie apprehended a student in the middle of the green roasting hot dogs. Fergie apprehended them and confiscated the hot dogs, rolls, mustard, cup cakes, coffee, Canadian Club, marijuana, heroin and Alka-Seltzer."
While Dartmouth Safety and Security and Hanover Police are currently the only organizations on patrol during Green Key weekend, extra officers from other counties were historically brought in to assist in keeping the peace and maintaining the safety of Dartmouth students and their guests. In 1954, an officer from Bellows Falls, Vt., was on duty at the College over the weekend.
Currently, Green Key weekend is a time of increased concern, though it is not the only time Hanover Police officers are on patrol, captain Frank Moran said.
"We don't want to turn it into a police state, but we want to be sure that we are ready to assist and answer any calls as needed," Moran said.
Efforts are made to ensure that all shifts are fully staffed. In recent years, the majority of troubles or incidences of lawbreaking have been alcohol-related.
In 2007 and 2008, seven and 11 students were arrested, respectively. In 2009, 11 students were arrested, five of which resulted from ambulance calls and nine of which were alcohol-related. Additionally, several students reported that multiple laptops and iPods were stolen from rooms in the McLaughlin residential cluster.
In 2010, no students were arrested after a policy change prohibited officers from accompanying ambulances to arrest underage drinkers. Students are instead given a week to enroll in Hanover Police's Alcohol Diversions program.
Last year, police arrested 17 students over Green Key weekend and responded to 36 emergency calls. Of the underage people that were arrested, half of them were not students at the College.
Safety and Security director Harry Kinne was not available for comment by press time.
