Casler: Taking the (Cup)cake
Unlike the majority of students here, I would actually consider the Winter to be my favorite Dartmouth term. Winter gets a pretty poor rap on this campus, although as an avid snowboarder, I am hopelessly biased toward cold temperatures and lots of the fluffy white stuff. So while a shocking number of my '14 classmates fled to Barcelona, Rome or Australia this term, I chose to duke it out with the elements (come at me, wind chill), not just to quench my craving for powder, but also for that crown jewel of winter at Dartmouth Winter Carnival weekend. Ask the average non-Dartmouth person what they know about the College, and after mentioning our sterling academic reputation and the Greek system, they'll probably make some remark about that big and crazy winter festival we've hosted since 1911. There's nothing quite like Winter Carnival I would challenge readers to find another winter celebration anywhere with the same mix of history, camaraderie, snow and, for better or worse, alcohol. As far as our big weekends go, Winter Carnival unquestionably takes the (cup)cake. Homecoming is a largely freshmen-centric event that tends to lose steam after the bonfire and football game, while Green Key is mainly about intoxication and enjoying the spring weather. But Carnival is the perfect and happy medium between the two it's that wild fusion of the tradition of Homecoming with the party-until-Sunday-morning mentality of Green Key.
