Fraternity Etiquette at Dartmouth
Freshmen, read this BEFORE your first time going out
With the end of the frat ban shortly coming around the corner, I find it important to do my due diligence to educate the 19 class on some of social norms of our Greek System.
Pong lines are not promises
It is fine to ask for line on a pong table, but don’t complain if a brother ends up bumping you off table to let one of his friends on the table. Every house needs to have a brother on table at all times, so in the rare case that you actually win a game of pong as a freshman, be prepared to get kicked off table.
Jasper Bingham, Heorot 17’ stresses the importance of pong etiquette: “Understand the pong system and don’t argue if you get bumped . . try not to clog the areas around where people are playing pong . . . after a pong game make sure to say hi to the team you were playing against.”
If you want to play pong at a house without long lines head to Sig Nu. Not every house will have tails every night and you should do your best to make a plan to pong at one of these houses if you want to get on table at a reasonable hour. Co-ed houses like Tabard are also friendly about letting freshman play pong.
Say hi even if you aren’t trying to get a beer
I want to stress the importance of getting to know brothers outside of approaching them in their Greek houses (ie- through classes, clubs, saying hi on the green, sports teams, trip leaders, lunch/dinner).
Jasper agrees: “The vast majority of ways people meet brothers is through extracurricular activities. If you meet a brother through an extracurricular and want to get to know other brothers, you could set up a game of pong and meet some of his friends.”
It is always nice to an advanced notice that a bunch of freshman are about to show up, as opposed to showing up unannounced (which is still acceptable). In the end, the connections you make with brothers outside of their houses will prove to be the most important and meaningful in the long run.
Drink Responsibly
Far too many students are good-sammed every year. Try to limit the amount of alcohol you drink, or refrain from drinking altogether.
Respect the physical house
I can tell you that people often fail to do this after living in a Greek house for several terms. If you’re unsure, here are a few things that could be considered not respecting the house:
- breaking stuff
- trying to get access to the code/getting access to the code and barging in unexpectedly
- being rude (throwing beers)
- stealing stuff – especially composites
- setting off fire extinguishers
- going in brother’s only rooms to search for beer
An anonymous 17’, discourages 19’s from stealing from frats: “stealing stuff is a fast track to getting brothers to make sure that you never come back to that house again.”
Remember that although a fraternity house may host open parties, it also serves as a housing space for many brothers across campus.
Do not crash tails as a freshman
The same guy told us his opinion on freshman crashing tails: “Freshmen showing up to tails annoys me. . .coming with the sorority is also really frustrating. If you happen to get invited, definitely don’t dress up for the theme.”
You will frustrate many people if you attempt to crash tails events, and will not be allowed in. One exception would be if a brother invites you to crash tails, in which case welcome to the party.
It is acceptable to show up later in the night at around 11:30 PM to play pong.
For freshmen who don’t know what tails are, see below:
Tails: an event (usually starting at 10pm) typically at a fraternity and attended by one or more sororities,
usually with a theme and nicer alcohol than Keystone
Don’t wear nice jackets and shoes into houses
Despite the weekly cleanings that are supposed to happen at every house, fraternity basements are filthy, and your shoes will start to smell very bad the more time you spend in a basement.
After going out for a couple weeks, your shoes will stink and will be stained nearly black with dirt.
Also, there is a good chance that you will get several jackets stolen, so don’t wear your nicest one out.
The flipside of losing frackets as a freshman is elegantly stated by Chris: “since joining a fraternity, the number of jackets I own has increased significantly.”
Frackets up for grabs!!!