On campus, it would probably be more fitting to say that the robbed that smiles appreciates how tricky it is to fit a pong table through that narrow door in the fraternity basement and secretly admires their peers' technique.
Over sophomore summer, some of our favorite traditions are arguably questionable, and the common practice of stealing things out of fraternities and sororities is no exception. While house bonding and warm weather make the feat easiest in the summer, it all begins during the fall pledge term.
"Last fall, boys from a few different fraternities tried to steal Kandy from my room," Taylor Magnuson '15 said, referring to an owl figurine owned by Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Upperclassmen are known to send their new members on missions to retrieve valued symbols from other houses.
But regardless of the intentions, theft of private property is a serious crime if you get caught.
An early instance of inter-Greek house coveting occurred back in 1999, when a few members of Gamma Delta Chi fraternity initiated a "panty raid" by climbing the fire escapes of Kappa Delta Epsilon and Alpha Xi Delta sororities to steal clothing from sisters' rooms. As a punishment, GDX received a $200 fine and was placed on year-long probation. Institutional memory prevented a similar incident from happening for a few years, but several '09 male students attempted a raid at Kappa in 2008, though the incident went unreported.
Given that many of the items taken from Greek houses have only symbolic or personal value, not reporting the crime is fairly common. Sarah Caughey '15 was bequested a flag by a sister in KDE last spring, which had been taken off a bedroom wall of a fraternity.
Other items, however, are significant to a house not only for their historical value, but for their monetary expense. Composites cost upwards of $2,000 each year but provide an ideal challenge for the adrenaline-seeking thief, since they can't be snuck out under a sweatshirt. Extra credit if it's the house's original chapter, or the most recent. Typically, composites that are successfully stolen are returned the next day, since it's impossible to be discreet about where it came from if you end up getting caught.
While inter-Greek competitiveness might fuel much of this practice, Soma Kobayashi '15, a member of Phi Delta Alpha fraternity, claims that a tradition of theft isn't always the underlying force.
"It's less about rivalry I think, and more about being drunk and seeing something cool," he said.
A stag head trophy that used to be mounted on a wall in Phi Delt is a prime example of Kobayashi's sentiments.
"Someone tried to take it a while ago and ended up breaking it in the process," Phi Delt member Evan Landau '15 said. "It's very heavy and they probably didn't realize that, so they left empty handed."
Phi Delt had its 2012 composite stolen at the end of the spring, an impressive feat given that the house typically bolts or locks them to the walls. Luckily, it was returned the next day,
Conor Cathey '15, Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity's summer president, said that the house also experienced several similar instances of theft at the end of last spring. Flags were stolen off of the house's porch, as were two composites, one of which has yet to reappear. The incidents have shaped how the fraternity views the bandwagon custom.
"Since they're very expensive and sentimentally significant to the brotherhood, we now take a strong stance against our brothers stealing other fraternities' property," Cathey said.
Alex Velaise '15 noted that there is a clear distinction between taking something that will offend a house and stealing an individual's belongings.
"Stealing a cool t-shirt or something small is different than purposefully doing something to upset an entire house," he said. "It's a little messed up."
Though we might be more inclined to turn a blind eye to theft within our own Greek system, perpetrators outside of campus receive far less lenience. In 2004, Hanover police arrested a group of eight Middlebury College students for stealing various items from Dartmouth Greek houses. According to the police blotter, the group was participating in "some sort of scavenger hunt," and those charged were heavily fined and banned from returning to campus.
So to those Hanover High students I heard were messing with unlocked cars on frat row a few weeks ago you better keep your hands to yourselves. We're watching you.
Landau is a former member of The Dartmouth staff.
