The Dartmouth Spring Issue 2023

Editors’ Note

Table of Contents

Welcome to Green Key weekend 2023! Just a few weeks ago, the grass was still brown and the sun rarely showed its rays behind the overcast skies. Now, we lounge on the Green doing homework and eating takeout with friends as we anxiously await the biggest weekend of the term: Green Key.

The College has changed in many ways since the first Green Key Weekend took place in 1929, and so have the College’s initiatives regarding sustainability, education and the arts. In this issue, we take a deep dive “beneath the Green,” investigating the systems and practices that not only allow the College to operate, but also define it as an institution. We consider Dartmouth’s recycling initiatives, report on the evolution of how women have celebrated Green Key and look behind the scenes at some of Dartmouth’s everyday dining processes. We hope to spark conversations about sustainability, the outdoors and what makes Dartmouth truly “green.”

We also hope our readers walk away from these stories with newfound gratitude for the many things Dartmouth does well, along with insights on where it may be lacking. Most importantly, we want readers to think about how we — as students, faculty and other members of the Dartmouth community — can make it better.

As the campus comes together for Green Key Weekend, excited to hear live music and make memories with friends, we hope you take a few quiet moments to appreciate the College for what it was, is and will continue to be. Stay safe and have fun!

Rock on, Addison, Gianna and Will

‘A tough nut to crack:’ Dartmouth faces ongoing recycling challenges

BY JACOB STRIER

The Dartmouth Senior Staff

Dartmouth’s rural location and persistent issues with producing contaminated recycling have proven an ongoing challenge for the College, according to the Sustainability Office and student groups on campus. Meanwhile, College offices and student groups have pushed for ways to recycle more effectively.

According to director of sustainability Rosi Kerr, the College employs a single-stream recycling system — designed to allow users to dispose of materials like plastic and paper together — which is then sorted by the College’s industrial waste management partner, Casella Waste Systems. In practice, however, Kerr said that contamination with food and beverages leads recyclables to be diverted to landfill at multiple points throughout the waste management process. The College sends food waste, like that produced by the Class of 1953 Commons, to an industrial composting facility in Lebanon, Kerr said.

Casella director of communications

Jeff Weld wrote in an email statement that material from the College is first brought to Casella’s facility in White River Junction, where it is inspected for contamination before being reloaded into larger transfer trailers bound for the Material Recovery Facility in Rutland, Vermont. If possible, Weld explained that prior to recyclables arriving at the recycling facility, contaminated material is isolated from the recyclables and sent to the Lebanon Landfill for disposal.

Weld declined to share information about Dartmouth’s annual budget with Casella.

According to an online portal maintained by the Sustainability Office, Dartmouth sent 966 tons — or 24% — of its waste to single-stream recycling in 2016, and 1,939 tons to landfill. Meanwhile, by fiscal year 2022, Dartmouth sent only 8% of its waste to single-stream recycling.

Sustainability Office assistant director Marcus Welker said that this decline was due to the decreasing value of recyclables in 2016 and 2017, which led Casella to implement stricter contamination thresholds to deal with higher costs. It was no longer as profitable, Welker said, for Casella and other waste management companies to accept large amounts of contaminated waste in hopes of sorting out key recyclables, a strategy which used to yield high profits.

Kerr added that policy shifts in China and other countries, which formerly accepted large amounts of recyclables from the United States, led to this change in the

recycling market value chain. The lack of competition between waste management companies in the Upper Valley leads to custodians being unable to recycle bags if they don’t have a “limited amount of contamination.”

“Part of the challenge in this environment in the rural Upper Valley is there is not a lot of competition [between waste management companies],” Welker said. “What Casella told us is that the contamination threshold is zero. When a custodian looks at bags of recycling, they are looking for a very limited amount of contamination in a bag.”

Weld wrote in his email that Casella faces competition from WM — the largest waste and recycling hauler in North America — and several smaller companies in the region.

More generally, Dartmouth represents a “microcosm” of the “fundamentally broken” American recycling system, according to Kerr.

“When you recycle a piece of plastic, it often moves through [the] recycling chain until it becomes unrecyclable,” Kerr said. “Recycling may make us feel better, but does not solve [the] human waste problem on earth, [as] only a tiny fraction of recyclables are recycled due to contamination.”

According to Kerr, the College faces fines if it sends recycling with contaminants to Casella. As a result, she said that the College trains custodial staff to inspect recycling bags for contaminants before sending them onwards. If they find contaminants like food, Kerr said, they have been trained to divert the recyclables to trash. This process may contribute to the “rumor mill” that the College does not have a recycling program in place, Kerr added.

The persistent rumor on campus that custodial staff combine trash and recycling is untrue, according to Julia King ’23, who learned about the recycling process from Kerr during a guest lecture in ENGS 2: “Integrated Design: Engineering, Architecture and Building Technology.”

I’ve been telling my friends about that because it is a common misconception,” King said. “I have been rinsing plastics before I recycle them in the hopes that I could help.”

King said that Dartmouth could improve on its messaging about recycling and the requirements for single-stream recyclables to be accepted.

“There is basically no information about recycling here,” King said. “I learned the accurate situation at a lecture during my senior year.”

Multiple dimensions of a dynamic undergraduate community make sustainable recycling education

difficult, according to Kerr. First, students come from a variety of recycling backgrounds — items recyclable in some metropolitan areas, for example, may not be processed by Casella.

“People come from all different climates and places variously impacted by climate change and pollution,” King said, adding that in her hometown of Indianapolis, her family practices rinsing items before recycling.

“I always did that and never thought about it,” King said.

Widespread student confusion over recyclable materials may be due to how products are labeled, according to Welker. Certain packages which say they are recyclable may be recyclable in some parts of the country, Welker said, but not by Casella in the Upper Valley.

Even “well-intentioned” community members often pause and hesitate over landfill and recycling bins across campus, both Kerr and Welker reported.

According to Kerr, the College has experimented with “every sign you can think of,” and a variety of messaging efforts and bin-types to improve its recycling output. The transient nature of the D-Plan and turnover of student leaders further complicates the situation, she said.

“A big challenge — an additional

challenge that Dartmouth faces — is the D-plan,” Kerr said. “We have to educate every term to reach every person.”

The Dartmouth bike shop is a pocket of campus dedicated to improving its recycling track record, according to Wendell Wu ’23. He said that the shop has learned about waste management through conversations with the College Facilities Operations and Management office.

“This term we created this new waste management role responsible for learning about how we generate waste — like tubes from tires, how we recycle tires, how to coordinate with FO&M and res-ops in general [and] how to handle waste coming out of the bike shop in general,” Wu said.

Wu said that the shop used to send used inner tubes — which hold air within bicycle tires — to the landfill. The bike shop created a new waste management role, according to Wu, to learn how to better recycle waste coming through the shop. The shop now sends the bike inner tubes to a center in Colorado with the specialized equipment to process the rubber in inner tubes.

More broadly, Wu said the shop practices product recycling by taking used and abandoned bikes from campus and making them “rideable” again — a small contribution to

campus sustainability.

Given our current situation, Kerr said there is room for the College to make “radical” changes and reimagine our waste management processes. For example, she suggested a pilot program where the College stops buying recyclable plastics and glass and focuses on items which can be composted, such as corn plastics, paper and wood. That way, Kerr said, students could dispose of compostable containers and organic contaminants in a single bin.

Weld wrote that Casella is working on a pilot program with TerraCycle in Burlington, Vermont on ways to “easily recycle items that are traditionally difficult to recycle” while investing its infrastructure dedicated to putting waste to a higher use.

“We’re currently piloting a program with TerraCycle in the Burlington, Vermont market that seeks to easily recycle items that are traditionally difficult to recycle and don’t belong in a single-stream process,” Weld wrote. “We’re also working with large manufacturers throughout various industries in helping them achieve their own sustainability goals and exploring opportunities to move their production to a more circular economy.”

The Office of Facilities Operations & Management did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

CAROLINE

HANNAH LI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Q&A with sustainability director Rosalie Kerr ’97

BY ISABELLE HAN

The Dartmouth Rosalie Kerr ’97, the sustainability director at Dartmouth, is responsible for leading the College’s sustainability eforts and overseeing the College’s Green Energy Plan. The Dartmouth sat down with Kerr to discuss past, present and future sustainability initiatives at Dartmouth.

Can you tell me about current sustainability initiatives at Dartmouth?

RK: I think it’s an exciting time for sustainability at Dartmouth. One of the things we’re currently working on is called the “Our Green Future 2.0 process.” It is a report from outgoing College President Philip J. Hanlon to incoming College President Sian Leah Beilock, with a series of recommendations surrounding sustainability leadership and updated operational sustainability goals for Dartmouth. We are excited about the increasing interest in sustainability demonstrated by the incoming class. We just did admitted students’ weekend, and there are a lot of incoming ’27s who are super fred up about sustainability.

What are some of Dartmouth’s strengths in sustainability?

RK: First of all, we’re a liberal arts school and sustainability is a complex problem that requires more than one discipline. We’re also undergraduate-focused, and we have a strong history in experiential learning with undergraduate students, from our Foreign Studies Programs to lab-based classes like agroecology to just students doing really cool projects, such as the Big Green Bus, the Sustainable Living Center and the O-Farm.

Can you tell me more about the Dartmouth Green Energy Project?

RK: Dartmouth is a microcosm of any city because we have a lot of energy needs.

You can think about all of Dartmouth’s spaces — from Collis to the labs to the gym — that use tons of energy to keep them going. We have cold winters, meaning that we use the most energy then. So our cold, rural location presents some interesting challenges in providing sustainable energy. We are trying to fgure out how to provide energy in a low carbon way, and that means a total transition of our current energy system. The frst step is converting our energy distribution system from steam to hot water, and then generating that hot water in low carbon, highly efcient ways. The step after that is taking existing buildings and making them much more efcient.

What are some of the most pressing sustainability challenges that Dartmouth currently faces?

RK: Providing students with the incredible educational, research and living experience that we want in a low- or no-carbon way is challenging. Another challenge is feeding 4,200 to 6,000 students in a way that’s sustainable in an environment that doesn’t grow food year round and where food is expensive. Another really interesting challenge is waste. The recycling system in the United States is broken. The consumer-single-use orientation that we have functioned with in American society for the last 50 years is adding up. Landflls are flling up, and we can no longer export waste to China to be recycled or sorted. This is also true for Dartmouth. As much as Dartmouth students care about climate or care about sustainability, our sorting behavior is zero. If we audit any three trash bins on campus, we will discover that they’re not sorted at all. So how do we develop a system that takes into account human behavior, sustainability, cost and real-world circumstances?

How are these challenges being addressed?

RK: We always have really interesting initiatives that originate with students. Right now, a student intern is working on clothing waste — a small, but growing portion of the Dartmouth waste stream. Fast fashion has contributed to that; you can order a pair of leather pants and a mullet wig instantaneously on Amazon, and then throw that away after you wear it once to the event that you ordered it for. There’s also a student who’s working on both educating students about fast fashion and how they could avoid buying unnecessary clothing. We have students who are doing similar things with bikes, students who are looking at the waste system and a student who is really passionate about reusable cups.

How can interested students get involved in sustainability at Dartmouth?

RK: There are a lot of interesting courses that focus on sustainability. I’m meeting with groups from ENVS 12: “Energy and the Environment” who are doing projects connected to campus and these issues. There are fabulous faculty who are doing research in areas related to sustainability, and they all employ undergraduate students. From a co-curricular perspective, getting engaged in the Sustainability Ofce is one easy way to get involved in sustainability on campus. We have ofce hours every week with homemade baked goods, so it’s always an easy way for students to just stop by and chat about their passion projects. For example, Green 2 Go was originally a student initiative that came from a student who came to ofce hours.

What role do you see Dartmouth playing in the broader sustainability movement?

RK: We have an opportunity to contribute in really meaningful and distinctive ways because of our unique combination of strengths. We produce two really important things: scholarship, such as research, and our students. Our students change the world. They disproportionately control how resources are consumed and how decisions are made. I think we have an opportunity to bring our existing strengths to prepare our students to go do that in a way that transitions our planet to a low carbon, sustainable future.

What are some of Dartmouth’s long term sustainability goals?

RK: We have goals in each of six operational areas — water, waste,

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PROVOST

landscape and ecology, energy, food and transportation. Reducing our carbon emissions to zero or near zero is our ambition from an operational perspective. We also have goals that relate to how we empower the community in which we’re situated. Dartmouth is obviously a huge part of the surrounding community. In each of those areas we are kind of whittling down how we take these recommendations and turn them into real goals that we can aim at. They all have to do with contributing to a brighter and greener future for the College, the Upper Valley and for the world.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Baltic LEAP FSP to run for the rst time this summer

to encourage students to seek out cross-cultural experiences, Fridays and weekends will be reserved for excursions in the region, according to Graham.

One of the excursions planned is a visit to Narva. Geographically, the town is located near the present-day Russian border, and Morse admitted she is “curious … to experience the feeling of looking at the empire from the outside.”

While the Baltic states preserve signifcant Russian-speaking minorities, younger generations — those who came of age after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 — are less versed in the Russian language, according to Morse. Given its proximity to the Russian border, Narva has retained a higher distribution of the Russian-speaking diaspora on average.

Morse stated that understanding “language politics” of the Baltics is a non-negotiable aspect of the program.

BY CHAEYOON OK

The Baltic LEAP, which stands for language, energy and politics, is a new interdisciplinary Foreign Study Program developed by the organizers of the suspended Russian FSP. It will run for the frst time this summer.

The program is run jointly by the East European, Eurasian and Russian studies department, the government department and the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society. Negotiations for the program initially began in 2019, according to East European, Eurasian and Russian studies professor Ainsley Morse.

Due to ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine, the original destination for the program, Moscow, was deemed unsuitable in 2022. However, all of the major contributors to the original program were dedicated to fnding a new host, Morse said.

Over the course of the 10-week program, 16 Dartmouth students will travel to the Baltics — the countries of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia along the Eastern Baltic coast — and attend specially-designed modules at Vilnius University in Lithuania and the University of Tartu in Estonia.

Academic director of the Irving

Institute and Baltic LEAP lead organizer Amanda Graham reported that the team behind the Baltic LEAP wanted to maintain the original idea behind a program that would synthesize Russian language, governance and energy. As the program would be the frst to “braid” three disciplines together, the directors looked for applicants who embodied a similar “intrepid” spirit, according to government professor and faculty director Charles Crabtree. Kara Davis ’26, who has committed to go on the program this summer, said she is “very unfamiliar” with the Baltics as a region.

“It’s not every day that you get to go to the Baltics,” Sophia Wallace ’26 said. Wallace added that she has also committed to participate in the program this summer, citing the novelty of the region as a motivating factor in her decision to apply.

“[The Baltics] is not exactly a region that many of our students — or their families — would have experience visiting,” Crabtree said. “Many of our applicants would already be fairly drawn to trying new things. But [we wanted students] who were not just … jumping to try something new, but students who could fgure out ways to explore [discomfort] that could include and beneft everybody.”

The organizing team for the Baltic LEAP program landed on the Baltics for a number of reasons.

“[The islands], taken together, can be compared to a laboratory … for understanding how to navigate energy transitions [and] the cultural and political dynamics unique to the region,” Graham explained.

Crabtree described the program as timely because there is currently a lot of activity in the region pertaining to international relations and energy due to Russian aggression. He added that tracing the Baltics’ chosen course of action against Russian aggression would be a “once-in-a-lifetime experience for the students.”

Graham said she believes it is especially important that Dartmouth students experience the Baltics now.

“There are lessons that we can only learn [from the Baltics],” Graham said. “Because for geopolitical and energy security reasons, they’ve had to accelerate their transition to stymie the challenges with their oil and gas supplies coming from Russia.”

The program consists mainly of two separate four-week modules. During the frst half of the program, students will receive instruction at Lithuania’s Vilnius University. Following a weeklong stop in Latvia,

they will fnish the remainder of the curriculum at Estonia’s University of Tartu.

Students will have a four-day workweek, during which they will be “fully immersed” in their studies in the classroom, according to Crabtree. All participants are required to take the course “Baltic History, Culture & Regional History” taught by Professor Morse and Professor Gronas in the East European, Eurasian and Russian studies department. From there, the students will diverge to take modules oriented around their chosen track.

Government students will be enrolled in “Politics of Democratization, Identity, and Regime Change in the Baltics,” and energy students in “Baltic Energy Systems & Transition Strategies.” According to Wallace, students on the Russian language track will take two Russian courses, in addition to the broad survey course on Baltic history and culture.

Morse said that the Russian language classes will be more intensive than the ones taught on Dartmouth’s campus, with four instructional hours per day compared to one in a standard Dartmouth language course.

The objective, however, is not for students to interact exclusively with others on the same track. In an efort

“[Students on the Russian language track] will be exploring, experientially, the Baltic postcolonial experience through language –– getting a sense for when Russian is welcome in public places and when it is less so,” Morse said. “We are confdent that locals will be kind and understanding about [language barriers], and I am quite excited to see what valuable and unexpected perspectives our students will gain from this mix of the familiar and unfamiliar.”

In similar fashion to the other experiential offerings planned, Narva has “something [of interest] for everyone,” Graham said. For energy students, this manifests in an examination of the underbelly of Estonia’s “robust” coal industry. Meanwhile, government students will get to observe a microcosm of postSoviet sociopolitical tensions. Finally, Narva will serve as a case study in how the Baltics “leverage and steward their local resources … to protect their people and their ways of life,” according to Graham.

Crabtree said he hopes that students will come away with a “renewed appreciation” of what they have previously taken for granted, since linguistic variation in the region will probably create some initial confusion for students.

“We’re so used to knowing everything and having all the information available at the tips of our fngers,” Crabtree said. “I would say there’s [something] soul-building about going to a place and being a little lost … and disoriented at times. Connection becomes valuable because it’s so hard to come by.”

The Dartmouth

ZHOUCAI NI/THE DARTMOUTH

A look back on the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on AI

BY KENT FRIEL The Dartmouth Staff

For six weeks in the summer of 1956, a group of scientists convened on campus for the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence. It was at this meeting that the term “artificial intelligence” was coined. Decades later, artificial intelligence has made significant advancements. While the recent onset of programs like ChatGPT are changing the artificial intelligence landscape once again, The Dartmouth investigates the history of artificial intelligence on campus.

That initial conference in 1956 paved the way for the future of artificial intelligence in academia, according to Cade Metz, author of the book “Genius Makers: the Mavericks who Brought AI to Google, Facebook and the World.”

“It set the goals for this field,” Metz said. “The way we think about the technology is because of the way it was framed at that conference.”

However, the connection between Dartmouth and the birth of AI is not very well-known, according to some students. DALI Lab outreach chair and developer Jason Pak ’24 said that he had heard of the conference, but that he didn’t think it was widely discussed in computer science courses.

“In general, a lot of CS students don’t know a lot about the history of AI at Dartmouth,” Pak said. “When I’m taking CS classes, it is not something that I’m actively thinking about.”

Even though the connection between Dartmouth and the birth of artificial intelligence is not widely known on campus today, the conference’s influence on academic research in AI was far-reaching, Metz said. In fact, four of the conference participants built three of the largest and most influential AI labs at other universities across the country, shifting the nexus of AI research away from Dartmouth.

Conference participants John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky would establish AI labs at Stanford University and MIT, respectively, while two other participants, Alan Newell and Hebert Simon, built an AI lab at Carnegie Mellon University. Taken together, the labs at MIT, Stanford and Carnegie Mellon drove AI research for decades, Metz said.

Although the conference participants were optimistic, in the following decades, they would not achieve many of the achievements they believed would be possible with AI. Some participants in the conference,

for example, believed that a computer would be able to beat any human in chess within just a decade.

“The goal was to build a machine that could do what the human brain could do,” Metz said. “Generally speaking, they didn’t think [the development of AI] would take that long.”

The conference mostly consisted of brainstorming ideas about how AI should work. However, “there was very little written record” of the conference, according to computer science professor emeritus Thomas Kurtz, in an interview that is part of the Rauner Special Collections archives.

The conference represented all kinds of disciplines coming together, Metz said. At that point, AI was a field at the intersection of computer science and psychology, and it had overlaps with other emerging disciplines such as neuroscience, he added.

Metz said that after the conference, two camps of AI research emerged. One camp believed in what is called neural networks, mathematical systems that learn skills by analyzing data. The

idea of neural networks was based on the concept that machines can learn like the human brain, creating new connections and growing over time by responding to real-world input data.

Some of the conference participants would go on to argue that it wasn’t possible for machines to learn on their own. Instead, they believed in what is called “symbolic AI.”

“They felt like you had to build AI rule-by-rule,” Metz said. “You had to define intelligence yourself; you had to — rule-by-rule, line-by-line — define how intelligence would work.”

Notably, conference participant Marvin Minsky would go on to cast doubt on the neural network idea, particularly after the 1969 publication of “Perceptrons,” co-authored by Minsky and mathematician Seymour Paper, which Metz said led to a decline in neural network research.

Over the decades, Minsky adapted his ideas about neural networks, according to Joseph Rosen, a surgery professor at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Rosen first met Minsky in 1989 and remained a close

friend of his until Minsky’s death in 2016.

Minsky’s views on neural networks were complex, Rosen said, but his interest in studying AI was driven by a desire to understand human intelligence and how it worked.

“Marvin was most interested in how computers and AI could help us better understand ourselves,” Rosen said. In around 2010, however, the neural network idea “was proven to be the way forward,” Metz said. Neural networks allow artificial intelligence programs to learn tasks on their own, which has driven a current boom in AI research, he added.

Given the boom in research activity around neural networks, some Dartmouth students feel like there is an opportunity for growth in AI-related courses and research opportunities. According to Pak, currently, the computer science department mostly focuses on research areas other than AI, with each AI-related course typically only offered once a year.

“A lot of our interests are shaped by the classes we take,” Pak said. “There

is definitely room for more growth in AI-related courses.”

There is a high demand for classes related to AI, according to Pak. Despite being a computer science and music double major, he said he could not get into a course called MUS 14.05: “Music and Artificial Intelligence” because of the demand.

DALI Lab developer and former development lead Samiha Datta ’23 said that she is doing her senior thesis on neural language processing, a subfield of AI and machine learning. Datta said that the conference is pretty well-referenced, but she believes that many students do not know much about the specifics.

She added she thinks the department is aware of and trying to improve the lack of courses taught directly related to AI, and that it is “more possible” to do AI research at Dartmouth now than it would have been a few years ago, due to the recent onboarding of four new professors who do AI research.

“I feel lucky to be doing research on AI at the same place where the term was coined,” Datta said.

Behind the Belt: Sustainability Efforts in the Dish Washing Process at The Class of 1953 Commons

BY CHARLOTTE HAMPTON The Dartmouth Staff

Every day, students who dine in the Class of 1953 Commons drop their dirty dishes off on the conveyor belt, which leads to the dish room. To students, the belt makes it seem like leftover food and dirty dishes simply disappear. However, employees of Dartmouth Dining Services explained how they deal with high water use and food waste as they consider ways to make dining on campus more sustainable.

The dishwasher, for example, runs for 15 hours every day, according to ’53 Commons general manager Brandon Crosby. The amount of water used in this process and composting large amounts of leftover food brings the issue of sustainability to the forefront, Crosby said.

As part of their efforts to make ’53 Commons more sustainable, Dartmouth Dining Services utilizes green chemicals — chemicals that reduce pollution through hazard-free substances — in their dishwashing process to clean the dishes. Although they may be less effective at cleaning, they are better for the environment, Crosby said. The dish washer also regulates its temperature to optimize minimal use of hot water, he added.

“I want to teach people now the importance of being good stewards of the Earth. The little things that you do as students here at Dartmouth have a big impact,” Crosby said.

Crosby said one way students can incorporate sustainability practices into their daily lives is by being mindful of how much food they think they’re going to eat before filling their plate.

“I very much want to make sure that [the students] have all the food they want to eat, but it pains me to see how much food is brought to the dish room,” Crosby said. “What we learn

from a sustainability standpoint and waste consciousness point is learning to eat what you take and go back if you want more.”

Some students, including Orlando Fernandez ’26, work “behind the wall” cleaning dishes. The workers who aren’t Dartmouth students are often temporary workers bused in from Concord in the morning, according to Manager Holly Dolloff.

Fernandez said he thinks that the treatment of food at ’53 Commons is part of a “larger culture” of “an intrinsic habit of privilege.”

“You see dishes with about seven pieces of pizza that people just throw away,” Fernandez said. “A lot of the people at Dartmouth won’t ever work in a place like this. They’ve never had to face food scarcity in any way, so their relationship to food is very negligent.

It’s a commodity which they always

have taken for granted.”

Fernandez said that an important way that the school engages in sustainability efforts is by donating leftover food to the Upper Valley Haven, which provides food and shelter for those in need in the Upper Valley.

Alexander Jones ’23 also expressed concerns about food waste.

“I try not to waste too much,” Jones said. “I feel like I don’t usually throw away that much of my food, but I definitely think it is wasteful when people take a lot of food and put most of it on the conveyor belt.”

Crosby said he is talking with students about organizing a reusable cup program, saying that student effort is key to the success of sustainability efforts. He cited the Green2Go program as an example of the success of student engagement in past DDS reusability programs.

“Our Green2Go program is phenomenal, and it’s improved in the five years I’ve been here,” he said. “But it’s all been student-driven — all of the changes, all of the things that make it successful are because it’s a student-led initiative.”

Dolloff said that she “absolutely” sees food go to waste working behind the dish carousel, estimating that she alone composts “close to 100” pounds of food every shift.

“Kids are just kids,” Dolloff said. “They still have a lot of food on those plates when we get them. What can we do? I can’t sit there and force a kid to eat.”

Although Dartmouth isn’t a “zerowaste school,” unlike the University of New Hampshire, Crosby said that he wants to develop processes to make Dartmouth Dining Services better for the environment. This means

changing the way the school deals with some waste, including buying an eco shredder to dispose of paper goods.

Crosby said that some future initiatives could look like UNH’s agricultural program, which partners with farms to process and compost leftover food. The food from ’53 Commons is donated to Dartmouth’s Organic Farm in small portions, but their needs aren’t extensive enough to process all the food. Instead, most of it is composted and used to cover landfill, Crosby said.

Despite his concerns about waste, Fernandez said he enjoys working in the dishroom. The best part, he said, is the pro-complaint decoration. “I love the signs,” he said. “There’s one that says, ‘Every time you complain, God adds a year of life to you.’”

HANNAH LI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

MICHAEL BOND/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Dartmouth’s energy production: a history and look ahead

BY LAUREN AZRIN The Dartmouth Senior Staff

Recent developments, such as the opening of the Irving Institute, have sparked discussions about clean renewable energy on Dartmouth’s campus. The Dartmouth Hanover Heating Plant, which has been supplying campus with energy since 1903, is the oldest continuously operating co-generational energy plant in the country. Using cogeneration — heat and energy production — the plant supplies electricity and heat by sending low-pressure steam around campus. To create this steam, the plant runs of of No. 6 fuel oil, a type of residual oil characterized by both an extremely high-energy concentration as well as an extremely high rate of pollution.

Dartmouth initially began to set greenhouse gas targets as early as 2005, according to assistant director of the Dartmouth Sustainability Ofce Marcus Welker. Around that time, greenhouse gas and carbon impacts became the frst and most widespread environmental related goals set by colleges and universities.

“These questions of, ‘What are we going to do?’ ‘What’s the alternative?’ began being raised in late 2010, early 2011, when the current iteration of the Dartmouth Sustainability Ofce was founded with Rosi [Kerr] as the director,” Welker said. “The cogeneration plant is the largest single generator of greenhouse gasses at Dartmouth College by far, and so has been the focus of a lot of the work that our ofce has done.”

Since then, the College has been working to try to reduce fossil fuel emissions, as well as create more ecofriendly forms of energy production.

According to Dartmouth News, in April 2017, College President Phil Hanlon made an Earth Day pledge to transition Dartmouth to a low-carbon future by making strategic investments in sustainable energy. The pledge included reducing greenhouse gas emissions from 2010 levels by 50% by 2025 and by 80% by 2050, transitioning the heating system from No. 6 fuel oil to renewable sources by 2025 and establishing a better system to distribute energy across campus.

In 2019, according to Dartmouth News, the College began seeking proposals to build a biomass energy heating facility and transmission system to replace the existing central heating system.

However, Dartmouth News soon wrote that the plan was abandoned in 2020, with the College announcing that the biomass plan was “not the right path forward.” Instead, the College then began prioritizing the conversion to a hot-water system, in an efort to move away from a single, central generation facility and explore options for a distributed system that uses a range

of sustainable energy sources.

Welker explained that having a distributed system instead of just one central hub — which is the case of the current heating plant — would allow for more freedom in the types and amounts of energy in diferent buildings.

In 2022, Dartmouth News shared that the College was making strides in their plan, with their upgraded campus heating system drawing interest from other New England schools. Ofcials from schools like Williams College and Mount Holyoke College came to tour campus for a look at parts of the new, high-efciency hot-water heating system, according to the College’s press release.

In terms of how Dartmouth compares to other institutions, Welker explained that a metric called “energy use intensity” — the amount of energy used to heat, cool and electrify buildings, divided by how many buildings as indicated by square footage — is used to make this assessment.

“Amongst the 30 institutions that are a part of the Ivy Plus sustainability collaborative, we are, I would say, in the 40th percentile,” said Welker. “We’re not the best, we’re not the worst. We’re pretty average amongst our peers.”

On this year’s Earth Day, April 22, Hanlon sent a campus-wide email announcing updates and progress at the fve-year mark from his frst Earth Day announcement.

“We have charged the Our Green Future 2.0 planning team with reviewing the institution’s current state, re-examining our 2017 goals and recommending a new set of sustainability goals for Dartmouth,” he wrote in the email.

The latest science emphasizes that the world needs to do more to avert the most serious impacts of climate change, wrote Hanlon, citing that the science-based greenhouse gas emissions goals set by the College in 2017 are not enough.

“We are inspired to move more quickly and have made substantial investments in a low-carbon future,” Hanlon wrote. “In this and the next fscal years, for example, Dartmouth has committed more than $50 million dollars to upgrading our infrastructure to enable our low-carbon energy transition, most notably by converting from steam to hot water heating and cooling.”

Assistant anthropology professor Maron Greenleaf, a co-founder of Dartmouth’s Energy Justice Clinic and a working group member for Our Green Future 2.0, also emphasized the importance of ensuring the College’s energy initiatives align with scientifc advancements.

“There’s a need to update Dartmouth’s goals to be in line with both what the science says in terms of what we need to do, and also kind of think about Dartmouth’s role as a

leader regionally in the Upper Valley and beyond,” Greenleaf said. Transferring over to these lowtemperature, hot-water heating systems is estimated to save the College approximately 20% of heating and cooling emissions that are associated with campus operations, Welker said.

“It’s my opinion that this direction is the right direction,” Welker said. “And that is going to mean that the central energy plant — I don’t know when, two years, fve years, that’s still very much being fgured out — will be decommissioned, and they’ll stop burning the oil, and then they will heat, cool and electrify the campus using other technologies.”

Welker described that the upcoming change in presidents will also play a role in the implementation of the College’s sustainability goals.

“We’ve got all this great feedback from the community, and now it’s just working with this incoming administration to launch the specifc programs, projects and strategies for achieving the goals that the community has developed,” explained Welker. “By the end of this calendar year, I suspect that we will know a lot more about the future of Dartmouth’s operations and the trajectory of those.”

Greenleaf also emphasized the shift that may occur as leadership changes.

“With a new college president coming in who’s going to be making decisions about what she thinks is a priority

for the campus, this is a wonderful opportunity and moment for us to be bringing these sustainability goals to the table to support and encourage her to prioritize sustainability and particularly the transition from fossil fuels,” Greenleaf said. “There’s a real opportunity for Dartmouth to be a leader in the way that we need to be.”

In addition, “energy retrofts” will help to reduce campus energy emissions, especially when added up cumulatively over time.

Welker explained that he is “optimistic” that these changes will slowly but substantially change how much energy the College uses.

Switching over to this system is, however, going to necessitate a lot of campus construction in the next two decades. Welker said he believes this “disruption” will be worth it, as it brings with it a “massive opportunity” for the College to reduce its greenhouse gas impacts.

This “tiered process” involves massive teams of people to execute and a lot of “rearrangement,” Welker explained. Another limitation, Welker said, is the supply chain and labor challenges, which colleges and universities nationwide are running into.

Leader of the student-run

Dartmouth Energy Alliance Nathaniel Roe ’23 expressed appreciation for the recent eforts of the College.

“It seems that in the last fve years,

the College has really stepped up to the block on the topic of climate by more formally making strides to divest itself from fossil fuels and provide programming, learning opportunities and research opportunities that intend to serve students around the topic of energy,” Roe said.

Through Roe’s projects in the DEA as well as in his engineering projects, he has viewed the College as “openminded and fexible” to exploration in the energy space.

“I think Dartmouth College is going to be the leader in the energy space. There are some of the smartest, most well-published researchers related to energy and energy justice in the world in [the Irving Center], and I think a lot of people could really beneft from that,” Roe said. “That gives me so much hope for the future, and I think that’s what we should be really excited about. This place that we have, it’s an incredibly powerful basis that we can build a low carbon future on.”

Greenleaf emphasized that Dartmouth is at a critical point in its energy process as decisions are made about plans going forward.

“As someone who’s part of it, I think there was a lot of responsiveness, and they did a great job of including a lot of diferent voices and expertise,” Greenleaf said. “Now what the College does with that — Do they adopt these goals? Do they actually follow through with them? — That’s the next step.”

WISE advocates are here for the Dartmouth community every hour, every day. We are completely confidential and survivor-centered. We can answer your questions, help you find resources, navigate systems, and support you as you think through what you want next for your life.

We work with all people who have experienced genderbased violence, regardless of age, race, orientation, gender, or identity. Call the crisis line or chat with us online. You do not need to be in crisis to reach out to us.

wiseuv.org/dartmouth campus@wiseuv.org

213 Wilson Hall

MICHAEL BOND/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Verbum Ultimum: A Dose of Common Sense

The Editorial Board urges students to balance fun with safety this weekend.

This week, the College will host its annual Green Key music festival. Concerts will kick of early this afternoon at Phi Delta Alpha fraternity and Collis Center, followed by the Programming Boardsponsored show tonight featuring headliners Neon Trees and Cochise. Festivities will continue throughout the day tomorrow, with live music oferings practically every hour after 11 a.m. This Editorial Board hopes that students will take a well-deserved break from their studies to get outside, enjoy the music and soak up the sunshine with friends. However, we also hope students will keep in mind the potential risks this weekend brings, and we ask that everyone does their best to keep themselves and others safe.

Because Green Key is often thought of as the one of the biggest weekends of the year at Dartmouth, some students may feel pressured to drink more than usual or choose to experiment with new or larger amounts of drugs. To ensure the health and wellbeing of our campus community, as well as the sustainability of our beloved Green Key tradition, we encourage students to exercise caution this weekend. When safety is sacrifced, situations that start out fun can quickly turn miserable, or worse, outright dangerous. We want to stress that we cannot have fun if we are not safe. More specifcally, we recommend that students consider the types and amounts of drugs and alcohol they consume, take particular care in crowds and assess how their choices may afect others before they act.

During big party weekends like Green Key, Dartmouth students are especially at risk of consuming dangerous amounts of alcohol. Students shouldn’t feel pressured to “keep up” with others, or buy into the common belief that “everyone is drinking a lot.” For their own safety, students should consider what they are drinking and avoid mixing or drinking beverages when they don’t know what’s in them. According to CDC guidelines, one standard drink is equivalent to 14 grams of “pure alcohol,” which is found in 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces — equivalent to one shot — of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor (such as vodka, tequila or gin). Students should be especially careful when drinking “batch” — mixed drink concoctions often served at parties. If another student is making or pouring your drink, they’re probably not a bartender or a chemist, which means that the alcohol content could be higher than you’d expect. If you are going to drink batch, do so slowly and with caution, or ideally, avoid the batch altogether and open up a canned drink.

We also hope students stay aware of their own alcohol tolerance — and recognize that just because others are drinking a certain amount does not mean that amount of alcohol is safe. The CDC defnes “binge drinking” as alcohol consumption that brings blood alcohol content to a level of 0.08% or more — for men, this typically means consuming fve or more drinks on one occasion, while for women, this number is only four. However, students should note that the intensity of the efects of alcohol are diferent for everyone and can relate to factors such as someone’s size and whether one has eaten recently.

The prominent drug culture at music festivals like Green Key also puts Dartmouth students at risk of encountering fentanyl. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, is sold illegally for its pain-relieving, heroin-like efects, according to the CDC. It can be mixed with cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, MDMA, cannabis and other commonly used drugs — with or without the user’s knowledge — to increase the efects of the drug. With the rise of student drug use during Green Key, we want to stress the dangers of fentanyl and encourage students to take precautions to minimize the risk of an overdose.

According to the National Institute on Drug Use, fentanyl’s efects can include drowsiness, nausea, confusion, sedation, unconsciousness, arrest, coma and death. Last year, New Hampshire recorded its worst year for overdose deaths since 2017. Ofcials confirmed 434 deaths from overdose, with a majority involving fentanyl. Deaths involving illegally manufactured fentanyl are on the rise, according to the CDC. The National Institute on Drug Use adds that 2021 saw 70,601 overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone (primarily fentanyl) — an increase from 2020. Fentanyl and other opioids are the most common drug involved in overdose deaths. Fentanyl’s high potency greatly increases risk of overdose, especially for people who are unaware a drug they are taking contains it: If they underestimate what they are taking, this can result in an overdose.

If you suspect someone has taken fentanyl or is in need of medical assistance, call 911 immediately.

According to the Student Wellness Center, all Hanover frst responders, including DOSS and EMS, can be reached by calling 911 and are trained in the administration of Narcan — which can be used to treat fentanyl overdoses when administered right away. The Student Wellness Center also states that New Hampshire and Vermont have Good Samaritan Laws, which prevent the prosecution of drug ofenses if emergency responses are called.

While the Editorial Board does not condone drug usage, we know drug usage at Dartmouth is inevitable and therefore believe strongly in measures that can minimize harm. We urge students who are planning to take drugs to purchase Narcan as a preventative measure: Students can get Narcan from the Student Wellness Center for free from 8:30 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. Students can also purchase Narcan from the CVS Pharmacy on Main Street in Hanover or at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center Pharmacy at Centerra in Lebanon without a prescription. Narcan will not cause harm even if it is not needed, so in a situation where an overdose is suspected, it is better to be safe and use Narcan than to be sorry.

The presence of large crowds at concerts like Green Key also creates potential for harm — and we ask students to learn to recognize when a crowd becomes dangerous and how to stay safe in such a situation. According to The Washington Post, some signs of a crowd becoming too dense include but are not limited to: the crowd moves, then suddenly slows; people in the crowd complain of discomfort or there is a feeling of confnement without a clear way out. The article also states that if the crowd ceases to move and people get stuck, there are some strategies to stay safe, such as moving with the crowd rather than against it and staying upright in a “boxer stance” with legs staggered, knees slightly bent and arms out. It is also helpful to grab your forearm with your opposite hand to create a chest-shield. These tactics can help prevent you from being trampled or sufocated by the mass of a crowd.

We also hope that students head into Green Key weekend with an awareness that their actions directly afect others. In past years, Green Key has placed a strain on the Upper Valley community. If too many emergency calls are placed due to the overuse of substances, all of the ambulances in the Upper Valley will respond to incidents at Green Key, which means people outside the Dartmouth community may not be able to get the emergency care they need. We encourage you to think about the quantity of alcohol or drugs you’re consuming to keep yourself out of danger and ensure that medical resources remain available for those who also need them.

This same care should also apply to the way you treat fellow concertgoers. Although some events, including the Programming Board concert, require a wristband and Dartmouth ID to enter, many Greek house concerts and other events have far less security, which could allow local high school students to sneak in. This year’s guest policy permits any student to invite a registered guest, so students may bring visitors into the concerts. Many alumni also come back for Green Key weekend and may participate in the programming. This combination of guests unfamiliar to the current Dartmouth student body could lead to risks: High schoolers are even more vulnerable than college students at events like these because they may have less experience navigating an environment with prevalent drug and alcohol use, making them more likely to push their limits and over-consume. In addition, the presence of alumni at the events could lead to interactions with even more severe power imbalances, and alumni also may feel less accountability for their actions than current students. Due to these risks, we want current students to ensure the environment is as safe as possible for younger or less experienced guests: Be careful about who you serve alcohol to, and watch out for others. If it seems like someone is uncomfortable or in danger, don’t hesitate to step in.

While Green Key is an event that brings the town and the College communities together, we must recognize the burden we place on the Town of Hanover, as well as the liability that the festival is to the many organizations — including the Programming Board, sororities and fraternities, the Dartmouth Organic Farm and others — that host these concerts for us.

It is possible for us to recognize these truths and simultaneously have a weekend flled with peace, joy and, of course, tons of fun.

Let’s make this weekend the best it can be. Here’s to this Green Key, and the many more to come.

Subsidizing Fossil Fuels Only Enrichens Big Oil

Fossil fuel subsidies are inefcient, fail to achieve policy goals and threaten the environment.

Fossil fuel subsidies are incredibly expensive; in 2020 alone, they cost global governments $5.9 trillion. Yet, these subsidies fail to efectively achieve the policy goal of easing the burden of energy costs. Instead, fossil fuel subsidies enrich the fossil fuel industry and waste public money, while harming public health and the environment. With the catastrophic efects of climate change looming, governments must eliminate the fossil fuel subsidies wreaking havoc on both Earth and the taxpayer’s dime.

These subsidies come in two forms: explicit and implicit. Explicit — or direct — subsidies are government money that goes directly to fossil fuel production or consumption. That money may be spent on exploration, extraction and development, or it may come in the form of low-cost federal land leases, regulatory exemptions or tax deductions and exemptions. In 2022, global governments spent more than $1.097 trillion on direct fossil fuel subsidies — an all-time high.

Implicit — or indirect — subsidies are the government costs and spending on infrastructure. They are incurred by the social and environmental costs of fossil fuel production and consumption. For example, fossil-fuel-induced local air pollution costs global governments $2.4 trillion each year due to excess mortality and morbidity, work and school days lost and damaged infrastructure.

Initially, policymakers hoped fossil fuel subsidies would protect households by preventing fuel price increases that would prevent low-income households from accessing energy. Unfortunately, fossil fuel subsidies are an inequitable, inefcient and wasteful welfare policy that largely benefts higher-income households. According to a 2015 research article from the International Monetary Fund, in low and middle-income countries, the richest 20% of households beneft six times more from fuel price subsidies than the poorest 20% of households. In the United States, 16% of Americans, or 5.2 million households, live in energy poverty, despite the United States’s total expenditure on fossil fuel subsidies and total subsidies per capita being the second highest in the world. American communities of color are 60% more likely to sufer from energy poverty than white Americans.

Reforms do not inevitably lead to restricted energy access. Instead, the reallocation of public funds can expand energy access and improve public wellbeing. Reform must be conscious of lower-income households and replace the subsidies with policies targeted at helping the most vulnerable. For example, Kenya undertook fossil fuel subsidy reform through subsidizing connection costs instead of energy costs with wild success. Kenya’s plan led to rapid rural electrifcation and a dramatic increase in electricity access from 16% of the population in 2003 to 71.4% of the population in 2022. Energy access soared without long-term increasing fossil fuel usage, and renewable energy generates over 80% of Kenya’s electricity in 2023.

Instead of achieving policy goals for the public good, in practice subsidies enrich Big Oil. The world’s fve biggest oil companies generated all-time record profts in 2022, totaling more than $199 billion. In

2022, global anxiety over the impact of global infation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine on energy prices led to soaring explicit fossil fuel subsidies around the world — an example of social welfare and energy security justifying fossil fuel subsidies. Yet, the biggest winners of policies intended to protect the vulnerable were fossil fuel executives and shareholders. The fossil fuel industry argues that large profts are essential to the security of supply, as the excess profts can be reinvested in industry development. However, more than half of 2022’s oil and gas profts went to company shareholders through dividends and stock buy-backs. Additionally, Big Oil backtracked on its previous promises to invest in clean energy, with BP lowering emission cut promises from its initial target of 35% to 40% to its current target of 20% to 30% by 2030. A federal investigation undercovered that Shell’s claims of investing in clean energy were intentionally misrepresented in an ofcial report to be renewables, when, in reality, those “renewable energy investments” went to natural gas.

Fossil fuel subsidies are an inefcient use of public funds, wasting taxpayers’ money and reducing funding for worthier causes. In 2020, the explicit and implicit fossil fuel subsidies cost the United States $662 billion, around $2,006 per capita. Cutting just two tax breaks for the fossil fuel industry — the intangible drilling costs subsidy and the percentage depletion tax break — could generate $17.9 billion in government revenue over ten years, according to Congress’s non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation. The Biden Administration’s fscal year 2024 budget proposes cutting tax subsidies for oil and gas companies, which, by the Administration’s estimates, would save the government $31 billion over ten years. The resulting estimated government revenues could then fnance healthcare, education, social security and other social services. Additionally, those savings could be invested into developing and promoting clean energy and energy-efcient technologies, reducing energy costs and decreasing reliance on fossil fuels.

Fossil fuel subsidies also encourage excessive production, overconsumption and inefcient use, leading to severe damage inficted on the public and the climate. The subsidies block efcient fuel pricing, resulting in a price that does not refect the true social and environmental costs. Fossil fuel combustion accounts for 73% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, signifcantly contributing to the increasing severity and frequency of extreme weather events like drought, heatwaves, wildfres, foods, hurricanes and more. Global warming leads to a whole host of problems that harm people — food security, poverty, population relocation and disease prevalence. Efcient fossil fuel pricing would prevent 900,000 local air pollution deaths per year and reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by 36% by 2025, a sufcient cut to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.

Fossil fuel subsidies are a waste of public money that beneft the fossil fuel industry to the detriment of the public and the environment. Governments must reallocate public funds away from fossil fuel subsidies to invest in social and environmental programs that remediate the harms of the fossil fuel industry and better prepare the world for the perilous future posed by anthropogenic climate change.

THADRYAN SWEENEY GR: FOOLSBALLERINA

GAIA YUN ’25: FINDING YOUR NICHE

Before The Show: Arts on Campus Green Key Weekend

immigrant, exploring the dread and pressures one faces in daily life and how to get through those struggles.

From 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m, The Tabard coed fraternity will host British producer and artist Mina & Bryte. The duo performs afrobeats, dancehall and UK Funky, a British genre originating from dance music.

At 3 p.m., ARIE will perform at Green Key at Collis. She is a HaitianNigerian-American singer-songwriter and producer hailing from Queens, New York and a member of the Class of 2022. Drawing influence from artists such as Mahalia, Olivia Dean, Pip Milet, India.Arie and Erykah Badu, ARIE brings a soulful tone and positive outlook to her songwriting.

BY SOPHIA LLIBRE

The Dartmouth

Friday, May 19

At 3:30 p.m., Phi Delta Alpha fraternity will host their annual block party. Shark, a student band, will open for Carpool Tunnel, an indie alternative band based out of California. Both sunny surf and psychedelic rock, the band takes inspiration from 1960s and 1970s classic rock singers like the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. The event will be dry and open to campus.

At 5 p.m., Minx, an all-female student band, will perform on Collis Porch. In addition, two yet to be announced student bands will perform

at 4 p.m. and 5:50 p.m., according to the Collis Center’s Green Key Schedule.

At 7 p.m. on Gold Coast Lawn, Frank, a student band, will open for headliners Cochise and Neon Trees. Cochise has a carefree, cloud rap sound, with popular hits like “Hatchback” and “Tell Em.” American rock band, Neon Trees, will follow Cochise’s performance. Their rise to fame includes top songs “Everybody Talks” and “Animal.”

Saturday, May 20

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Dartmouth’s Organic Farm presents Brewhaha. The event, organized by the Dartmouth Farm Club and Sustainability Office, will have freshly brewed kombucha,

snacks, local vendors, flower seed bombs and live music featuring Minx from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Frank from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.

The Saturday lineup for Green Key at Collis kicks off at 12 p.m. with a performance by Carpool, a student band.

From 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., the annual Green Key crawfish bowl will take place at Zeta Psi fraternity. Cutoff, a student band, will perform and crawfish will be cooked on-site. This event is dry and open to campus. At 2 p.m., I.You.She, a Boston-based alt pop artist, will perform at Green Key at Collis. Also known as Aayushi Kumar, her lyrics are written through the eyes of an Indian-American

Mint Green, an alternative indie rock group based out of Boston, will perform at Green Key at Collis at 4 p.m. Boasting 5 Boston Music Awards nominations, their debut LP “All Girls Go To Heaven” (2022) is sure to bring a colorful, punk-y vibe to the Collis porch.

At 4:45 p.m., Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority and Psi Upsilon fraternity will cohost Luude with Liam Warin & Friends at KDE. Luude is an Australian electronic dance music producer, best known for his 2021 cover of “Down Under.”

At 5:15 p.m., The Q-Tip Bandits, an indie-pop band, will perform at Green Key at Collis. After their debut single “Willow” was met with acclaim, the group released their debut EP, “Ain’t It Great.” The band was nominated in 2021 for “Best New Artist” by the Boston Music Awards.

Zinadelphia, a singer and guitarist based in Philadelphia will perform at Green Key at Collis at 6:30 p.m. Combining elements from neo-soul, jazz, funk and folk music, Zinadelphia has made a quick entrance into the music scene with her debut single “Mirrorball.”

Green Key at Collis co-headliner Ariel & The Culture — a MexicanAmerican artist from Dallas, Texas — will take the stage at 7:45 p.m. Heavily influenced by Mexico’s musical genres, he makes indie pop and alternative r&b music. Ariel & The Culture is known for his breakthrough single “Dame Tu Amor” after it was made popular on TikTok. Ariel & The Culture is an upand-coming artist in the indie scene, as he continues to share the stage with big artists such as Boy Pablo, Lido Pimienta, A-Wall, Luna Luna and more.

At 9 p.m., Juice, the co-headliner and closer of Green Key at Collis will perform. The band — Ben Stevens, Christian Rose, Kamau Burton, Daniel Moss, Rami El-Abidin and Miles Clyatt — formed when its members met in college in Boston. Blending rock, pop, r&b and hip-hop, Juice released their first EP in 2018 and has continued to make new music ever since. “Superimposed,” “Girlfriend Song” and “Do You Really Feel?” are their latest singles.

At 9 p.m., Anthony Maniscalco, better known by his stage name “Hook n Sling,” will perform at Gamma Delta Chi fraternity. This Australian record producer and DJ is known for his exciting, genre-blending house music.

Review: Headliners Neon Trees and Cochise Offer Vastly Different Styles

BY CELINE CHOI

The Dartmouth signature sound and distinct style. From the first notes of the opening guitar riff to the explosive chorus, “Animal” grabs the listener’s attention and refuses to let go. The song’s upbeat tempo and catchy melody instantaneously transport you to a grassy field in the middle of summer, while a soft wind blows over your skin. Glenn’s powerful and emotive voice soars over the driving guitar and drums, delivering lyrics that are both relatable and catchy. The song is an instant earworm that is sure to stay with you long after it’s over.

On May 19 at 7 p.m., the longawaited Green Key concert will take place on Gold Coast Lawn featuring Neon Trees and Cochise. Neon Trees, with their infectious pop-rock sound and powerful vocals, has been a staple of the alternative music scene for over a decade, while Cochise’s blend of trap and Reggae pushes the boundaries of modern rap music.

Neon Trees — known for their highenergy performances and catchy pop hooks — is an American alternative rock band, formed in Provo, Utah in 2005. The band consists of vocalist Tyler Glenn, guitarist Chris Allen, bassist Branden Campbell and drummer Elaine Bradley.

The band’s music is characterized by its upbeat, guitar-driven sound and Glenn’s powerful vocals. Drawing on a variety of influences, including new wave, punk and pop, Neon Trees has developed a unique style that is both infectious and danceable. Their music usually deals with themes of love, loss and self-discovery conveyed through lyrics that are often infused with a sense of youthful optimism and energy.

Neon Trees first gained attention in 2010 with the release of their debut album, “Habits,” which featured the hit single “Animal” — a high-energy poprock song that showcases the band’s

The song was a massive success, reaching number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. “Animal” continued to grow in popularity along with the band’s dedicated fanbase. In 2011, the song won Top Alternative Song at the Billboard Music Awards and was nominated for Top Rock Song.

Neon Trees followed up “Habits” with their sophomore effort, “Picture Show,” which brought the hit single “Everybody Talks.” The album received critical acclaim and cemented Neon Trees’ place in the alternative rock pantheon. Overall, the band has released three EPs, 18 singles, and four albums.

Their most recent album, “I Can Feel You Forgetting Me,” was released in 2020 and features some of the

Green Key Weekend Tips

band’s most personal and introspective songs to date. From the opening track “Nights” to the raw and vulnerable ballad “Mess Me Up,” this album is a journey through the highs and lows of love and loss. Musically, “I Can Feel You Forgetting Me” is a departure from Neon Trees’ earlier, more pop-oriented sound. Instead, the band embraces a more stripped-down, atmospheric style that allows their lyrics and emotions to take center stage. The instrumentation is minimalistic, creating a dreamy, ethereal backdrop for lead singer Glenn’s emotive vocals.

Highlights of the album include “Used to Like,” a bittersweet reflection of a past relationship, and “New Best Friend,” a catchy and upbeat song about finding comfort in a friendship. The album closes with the title track, “I Can Feel You Forgetting Me,” a haunting song that captures the pain of watching someone slip away. This stunning labrum showcases Neon Trees’ artistry and ability to capture a range of emotion from heartbreak to healing, while also capturing the timeless spirit of rock.

Cochise, born Terrell Coxx, is a Jamaican-American rapper and singer who has gained significant popularity in recent years for his unique style and sound. Born in Palm Beach, Florida, Cochise’s music was influenced by his early exposure to Reggae and

Dancehall music. His music now is a blend of trap, R&B and lo-fi hip-hop. Cochise’s music draws inspiration from other rappers and artists such as Amine, Playboi Carti and Trippie Redd.

Cochise first gained attention on SoundCloud, where he uploaded his early tracks and quickly gained a dedicated following. He released his first EP in 2018 titled “Pulp,” followed by his second EP “Hijack” produced by Lousho in 2019. His later singles “Hatchback” and “Redhead” took on a more playful approach to his music and incorporated a higher-pitched voice that he is now known for. “Hatchback” in particular features a catchy chorus and memorable beat that quickly went viral on TikTok.

Since then, Cochise has continued to release music and collaborate with other artists in the hip-hop and R&B industries. He has gained a reputation for his creative vision and his ability to push the boundaries of what is possible in modern rap music. One of his most well known songs is the single “Tell Em” with fellow rapper $not which reached number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100. Cochise’s discography consists of 30 singles, two EPs, and two albums: “Benbow Crescent” released in 2021 and “The Inspection” released in 2022.

As heard in his top singles including

“Tell Em” and “POCKET ROCKET,” one of the most distinctive aspects of Cochise’s music is his use of distorted guitar riffs that give his tracks a punk rock edge and sets them apart from other trap-influenced rap songs. This combination of genres creates a sound that is both aggressive and melodic, with catchy hooks and memorable verses that stick in the listener’s head. Cochise’s rapid-fire delivery and ability to switch his cadence seamlessly, as well as his use of ad-libs and vocal effects, add another layer of complexity. These characteristics make his tracks feel dynamic and unpredictable even with a repetitive riff.

His most recent single titled “KANEKI” was just released this past week and is the first track Cochise has shared from his upcoming album, “NO ONE’S NICE TO ME, NO ONE’S NICE TO ME.” This song encapsulates Cochise’s signature style and vocals but presents a more melodic backtrack that simultaneously complements and clashes with his techno beats, creating a uniquely arranged track.

The Green Key concert promises to be a night of high energy and diverse music as Neon Trees and Cochise come together on the Gold Coast Lawn. By bringing together music of vastly different genres and styles, the audience is likely to stay engaged.

CRICKET CANNELL/THE DARTMOUTH

ELAINE PU/ THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Trends: Music Festivals Increase in Popularity and Create a Culture of their Own

BY JOE DAHER

The Dartmouth Staff refect this, with electronic music and rap dominating the charts for the past decade — the 2010s were the first decade that rap outsold rock. The rise of electronic music has been paired with an investment into elaborate synced visuals, lasers and pyrotechnics, where the awe of live performance has been replaced with the spectacle of audiovisual stimulation. But of course, acoustic and indie music has still retained a strong following as a popular counterculture to the maximalist tendencies of current pop music.

Music festivals seem to have become one answer to our generation’s short attention span and extravagant desire for live music. After a brief hiatus during the quiet times of the pandemic, music festivals are larger, more elaborate and more popular than ever before. These multi-day events cram hundreds of artists and thousands of attendees into an all-consuming escapist experience. The impermanence of the music festival signifes how millennials and Gen Z-ers value experiences over material purchases.

The largest of festivals — think Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo or Governors Ball — cater to a broad slice of music listeners by curating stages with diferent genres and promoting diverse headliners: One can usually expect a rap stage, an indie rock stage, an electronic music stage and, of course, a multi-genre headliner stage. Some festivals cater to a more specifc type of crowd: Electronic music festivals like Electric Daisy Carnival and Tomorrowland have exploded in popularity as EDM, electronic dance music, has gone mainstream in the US over the past ffteen years. There are also the rap-oriented festivals like Rolling Loud or country festivals like Stagecoach USA, as well as smaller festivals for classical, jazz or any other music subgenre. But it is the aforementioned large, multi-genre festivals that have become the household names and recognizable brands for music festival culture.

The brand of these music festivals is even known on college campuses. The Programming Board’s most anticipated event of the year is Green Key, a microcosm of music festival culture organized by and for college students. Other schools host similar events, like Cornell’s Slope Day and Yale’s Spring Fest. Dartmouth fraternities and sororities also appropriate music festival brands to theme their events — think Deltapalooza, Queerchella or WoodstocKDE.

While Coachella was once billed as a rock festival, over time, the most prominent headliners have become popstars, DJs or rappers. In general, the festival experience lends itself to more upbeat, party music like EDM. Mainstream listening habits

More than any other type of performance, festivals are cultural zeitgeists of their moment, with their infuence stretching far beyond the limited number of actual attendees. Woodstock in 1969 attracted half a million people to a small farm in upstate NY just once, but its legacy touched a generation. Today’s music festivals are spread through social media and the internet. Coachella has a daily attendance of about 125,000 people, but millions of spectators tune in to the livestream or broadcast specifc sets. But at a substantial general admission price starting at $549 before fees, and with most similar festivals charging a similar amount, music festival tickets have become a status symbol — not to mention the exorbitant costs of food and alcohol within the festival itself. But today, you are not just paying for the experience itself, you are also paying for the recognition and clout of your experience on social media.

Since the days of Woodstock, festivals have become far more corporate. Festivals are generally much safer and more luxurious than they once were, with regulations mandating proper amenities like adequate water, medical stations and bathrooms. But even today, poor planning can cause festival crowds to disastrously spiral out of control, such as during the infamous 2021 Astroworld festival stampede. Any mass gathering has the potential to degenerate into violence, but the plethora of drugs at festivals makes them even more precarious and complicated events to organize.

Dartmouth’s Green Key used to attract a large infux of non-college students, but tighter wristband guidelines and other increased regulations have ensured that Green Key is an event for Dartmouth students frst and foremost.

Live music is nothing new — before the introduction of the record it was all there was. But in the past 20 years, it has experienced a pronounced resurgence, if out of necessity: With the advent of music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music that pay less than pennies per stream, artists have had to turn to concerts and memorabilia to keep themselves afoat. Festivals have massively benefted from this industry shift, as they are more consistent and reliable as yearly business ventures than one-of artist tours.

Additionally, music festivals play an instrumental role in the exposure of up and coming artists. Attendees may buy a ticket because they know a few of the headliners, but will undoubtedly end up bouncing around the stages and may discover an artist they had not heard of before. Festivals also take the burden of organization and logistics largely of the artists, allowing them to perform in more locations more easily. Think of the festival as the middleman between the spectator and the performer — artists need not concern themselves with the typical logistical nightmares of planning

a tour whilst spectators can pick and choose which artists they want to see. Of course the sacrifce is the energy and dedication of the crowd — it can be harder for smaller artists to invigorate a festival crowd when they are unknown by the majority of attendees and are constrained by much shorter set times. For Green Key, the fame and notoriety of the Programming Board lineup is always a large point of contention, since it is impossible to make everyone happy with the resources at their disposal. In general, music festivals skew to a more youthful demographic than concerts, mainly because they are far more physically taxing. One concert is usually less than three hours long, but music festivals are open-air and can last upwards of ten hours for a single day. Most of the large festivals are at least three days long. Consequently, festivals attract lots of recreational drug usage beyond just alcohol and marijuana; specifcally MDMA and psychedelics have been staples of music festivals since the 60s. Drug usage is an important part of the festival experience for many, but raucous crowds and high

temperatures can make improper drug usage dangerous. Even so, only a small minority of festival attendees choose to remain sober. The same will be true for students at Green Key, undoubtedly the biggest party weekend of the entire year.

As is the case with many college music festivals, Green Key weekend is also a great opportunity for local and up-and-coming artists to gain exposure. While the PB mainstage concert features famous headliners, the Collis Patio concerts add depth to the Green Key lineup through diverse, lesser-known musicians. This year they will be hosting Juice, Ariel & The Culture, Zinadelphia and the Q-Tip Bandits, among other student bands and artists.

Music festivals are certainly here to stay. Coachella’s advance tickets this year sold out an hour faster than years prior. Festivals are becoming safer, more luxurious and better organized, but that comes at the expense of the agency of individual artists. Expect to see electronic music and rap to continue to dominate the stage.

Examining e Hood Museum’s Environmental Art Collection

provides.

“It helps to give us a better connection to contemporary student concerns and priorities, as well as giving students the chance to be empowered, to feel some ownership of the collection, and to leave a physical mark on the college,” she said.

Classes focusing on environmentalism have begun to use The Hood’s spaces for students to directly engage with works of art, called the Bernstein Center for Object Study. Dartmouth faculty members bring their students to the Bernstein Center, which is also managed by Kahl, for exhibition tours and private customized classes led by museum curators who are intimately familiar with the pieces. These curators aid in guiding the students as they interpret and interact with the material observed, utilizing the fve-step “Learning to Look” process.

“[Learning to Look] allows students who may not be familiar with or even comfortable talking about images to be able to think through what an image says to us and how it might be useful to the content of a course,” Mattison explained.

BY RYAN YIM

The Dartmouth Staff participate in researching artists and selecting work to be permanently featured at The Hood. The theme for each year’s selection changes, with this year’s group focusing on landscape photography — a prominent genre within environmental art.

Dartmouth’s emphasis on nature is undeniable: From its slogan “vox clamantis in deserto” to its lone pine mascot to its nickname “The Woods,” environmentalism is relevant to the College. The Hood Museum’s Environmental Art Collection — consisting of photographs, models and landscape paintings — is another example of Dartmouth’s engagement with environmentalism.

The Hood runs a program called Museum Collecting 101, led by Curator of Academic Programming Amelia Kahl ’01, Associate Curator of Photography Alisa Swindell and Associate Curator of Academic Programming Elizabeth Mattison. The program selects 15 students from across departments to

Mattison described the Hood’s role as a “teaching museum” within the realm of environmental studies.

“We’re really excited about this opportunity to bring students into the process of acquisitions, particularly as it relates to the environment and the strong environmental art collection we have here,” Mattison said. “We almost always have a waitlist [for the program] because it really gives [students] handson experience, with students being able to acquire a work of art.”

Kahl also discussed the advantages of the frsthand exposure the program

“We fnd that this works really well with faculty across campus as a means of integrating art into teaching.”

Anthropology professor Maron Greenleaf said she has brought her students to The Hood for several years and discussed the importance of introducing art into the curriculum for her crosslisted anthropology and geography class GEOG 39, “Environmental Justice.”

“I think that art can help us understand issues, understand ourselves, understand our world, understand people who are very diferent from us or very similar to us … both as a complement to learning in other ways that are more traditional to academic classrooms, but [also on its own],” Greenleaf said.

Milanne Berg ’24 — an art history major with anthropology and sustainable energy minors — took Greenleaf’s class in the fall and said she still recalls their class discussions after nearly two terms. She also noted that studying art alongside

environmental issues strengthened her understanding of the subject.

“I kind of understood more about how, in a class that talks about environmental justice heavily, it’s really important to bring in art to visually capture ideas and concepts that are not as easily translatable through words,” Berg said.

In recalling a particularly resonant piece, Berg spoke about “Oxford Tire Pile #1, Westley California,” a landscape photograph by Edward Burtynsky, one of the most renowned contemporary photographers working today. The photo is of the Westley tire dump located in California, the largest in a state already notorious for massive tire fres.

“We were talking about the environmental impact of having all those tires and [how] there’s nothing really to do except incinerate them, and just how bad that is for the environment,” Berg said. “So, the justice part of it was about the location that it was in, and how it afects the communities that are nearby.”

Ali Bauer ’25 also stressed that observing the Hood’s environmental art collection was impactful. She highlighted one painting, “Living With Nature,” as particularly insightful.

“From frst glance at this large painting … I think, ‘Oh wow, this is so natural, it’s so untouched.’ And in reality, it is touched, if you look closely,” Bauer said. “Places that humans don’t often go to, we like to say that these places are untouched, [that] these places are not really subject to human damage and degradation. But that’s not true, because we still impact them whether we do it directly or indirectly.”

Environmental art, in this sense, seems to convey both the broader consequences of climate change and pollution while also subtly alluding to the everyday human decisions which underlie such efects. Professor Greenleaf illustrated how in Subhankar Banerjee’s piece “Known and Unknown Tracks,” the viewer is disoriented by the very large, green space that cannot easily

be discerned. Greenleaf explained that the photo was taken in Alaska, and it connects the issues of oil exploitation, animal migration and Indigenous rights, prominent interests within class.

Kahl called this facet of environmental art “making visible what is invisible,” referencing newer acquisitions from contemporary visual artist Michael Namingha, a Native American of the Tewa-Hopi tribes.

“He is using drones to capture these landscapes, and then he’s coloring them with colors that are not true to the landscape,” Kahl said. “This area is under a very high concentration of methane, so he’s thinking about how when [scientists] test methane using satellites, there’s a kind of faux color spectrum.”

In considering the Environmental Art Collection, the lingering question is: Why art? That is, why use photographs, portraits, paintings and models to teach about environmentalism — a subject that most wouldn’t associate with art?

“I think there’s huge importance in introducing art to non-art disciplines … Students can come up with questions they may not have otherwise and start to think about angles and approaches that are novel and new to them,” Kahl said. “They can [also] take a theory they’ve been reading about or a concept, and they can see how that might map on to diferent art objects and use that as a way to deepen and further nuance their thinking.”

Mattison emphasized the relevance of environmental art to all Dartmouth students.

“We have to think, too, about ways in which the landscape and the environment and natural resources have afected the land around Dartmouth, the economies around Dartmouth,” Mattison said. “[Dartmouth] has long had such strengths in its environmental studies … so it’s great to have a collection that can suit the needs and interests of courses taught on campus.”

ELAINE PU/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

COURTESY OF RANDALL KUHLMAN

SPORTS

NARPdom to stardom: Walk-on athletes share their experiences

BY AVA POLITIS The Dartmouth Staff

The College offers a variety of different athletic opportunities, with 35 Division I Varsity sports, 34 club sports teams and many intramural sports offerings. Although many athletes are recruited, any student can become a walk-on athlete with the right amount of talent and dedication. Several students shared their experiences on crossing the line from NARPdom to student-athlete after arriving at Dartmouth.

Women’s lacrosse walk-on Kourtney Bobb ’25 said she had a lot of experience playing lacrosse in her youth.

“I grew up playing lacrosse,” she said. “I started playing in middle school. I had a really good time and was excited to keep growing in the sport.”

While Bobb played club lacrosse and participated in her high school’s Varsity team all four years, she made academics her first priority.

“When I was in high school, I didn’t really care about being recruited for lacrosse,” Bobb stated. “I wanted to go to a place to prioritize my academics first.”

However, once Bobb got accepted to Dartmouth, she promptly tried to get on the team.

“I came up for the recruiting camp for middle and high schoolers, and then from there, I was invited back to a tryout,” she said.

Julia Fortier ’26 was also a talented lacrosse player in her youth, attending a high school with a very competitive program. Fortier said she knew she wanted to try to play lacrosse in college, as she spoke with the team’s coach prior to coming to Dartmouth.

“I reached out to the coach when I applied to Dartmouth to say that I was interested in joining the women’s lacrosse team,” she said. “I came to a summer camp that she recommended I go to. I was offered a spot at the summer camp before I came to school — I was technically a preferred walk-on.”

For men’s lacrosse player Kellen Seeley ’26, an injury during his senior year and the COVID-19 pandemic prevented him from playing

a considerable amount of games in high school. He didn’t get recruited to play men’s lacrosse at Dartmouth, so he underwent the walk-on process.

“I talked to [the coach] once I had gotten [into Dartmouth] and had to go through the whole walk-on process and tryout,” Seeley said.

Rowing walk-on Brendan Chia ’25 and track and field walk-on Mia Balestra ’25 had little to no experience in their current sports. Chia, who is currently in the men’s lightweight rowing program, never rowed in high school.

“Originally, I was going to join the triathlon club,” Chia said. “I had been training for triathlons during COVID-19 and senior summer. My mom said she wanted me to give rowing a chance, and I told her I would give it a try before the triathlon club. She was right about it.”

Balestra said she mostly focused on other sports in high school but dipped her toes in track and field.

“I did track only my senior year and threw javelin and ran the 400,” said Balestra. “I primarily played volleyball and soccer [in high school].”

Balestra joined club volleyball her freshman year but missed the lifestyle of a varsity athlete. After trying her hand at club volleyball for a year, she reached out to the track coach the fall of sophomore year and made the team.

According to Chia, the light-weight rowing team makes the walk-on process more accessible than some other varsity teams.

“They do a walk-on program every year,” Chia said. “You don’t have to have any experience rowing, they will teach you how to row. If you have picked up the skills, then you are asked to join the team for a winter training

trip. After that, you are merged into the team.”

Once these athletes officially made their respective teams, they worked hard to perform at the collegiate level.

“I had never played at the Division I level,” Bobb said. “My body had to get used to different speeds.”

“The transition was something I was nervous about,” Fortier said. “There’s a lot of support on campus for student athletes and the coaches are understanding,” Adjusting to a new team doesn’t just involve the coaches, though. To become a part of a team, the team itself needs to embrace its walk-ons.

“The captains did a really great job incorporating us into the team,” Chia said. “You really do feel like you are a part of the team.”

“Coming on as a walk-on, everyone made an effort to make me feel included

on the team and welcomed,” Bobb said.

The women’s lacrosse team had a great season this year, especially towards the end as they defeated Princeton University, ranked 24th at the time. Bobb and Fortier said they were excited to share this moment with their teammates.

“I loved being on the team and traveling,” Fortier said. “We did very well, and it was fun to be a part of that and contribute in the ways that I could.”

But for each of the walk-ons, simply joining the team was never the end goal.

“Over the next few years, I can hopefully get better and play more,” Seeley said. “We had a good start to the season, as we won our first Ivy League game in a long time. There is still a lot of room to grow, and hopefully we can play better as a team.”

A deeper dive into the varsity sports recruiting process

BY MAIA STEWART The Dartmouth Staff

For students across the country and around the globe, the collegiate studentathlete recruiting process kicks of in high school, when colleges typically recruit prospective students during their junior and senior years. Dartmouth’s unique location, coupled with its status as an Ivy League school, are two prominent components of the school’s Division I varsity student-athlete recruiting process. Two Dartmouth head coaches, two current studentathletes and two recruits from the class of 2027 shared their perspectives on the recruiting process.

At Dartmouth, academic excellence is tied with its status as an Ivy league institution. The ofcial Ivy League website states that to increase one’s chance of admission into an Ivy League school, prospective applicants “should take the most challenging high school classes available to you throughout secondary school.”

Given this standard for academic excellence, Dartmouth coaches take grades and academic performance into serious consideration. With increasing academic selectivity, Dartmouth varsity coaches also must be more selective, according to feld hockey head coach Mark Egner.

“At an institution like Dartmouth, we absolutely cannot sacrifice on something like their academics,” Egner said. “If you look at the performance of our feld hockey team, we have one of the top fve GPAs in the nation for the last four years, so we ensure that the student athletes we bring in are prepared for the rigor of a Dartmouth education.”

Some athletes cited that they chose to come to Dartmouth for academics and weren’t necessarily looking to play at the top school for their respective sports. For baseball player Jef Lee ’25, academics and attending a prestigious school were the top priority during his college search. “I always wanted to come to an

Ivy League school for the academic purpose,” Lee said. “I knew that this school means a whole lot more than just playing baseball at a Division I level.”

Jenna Martin ’24, a rower for the women’s rowing team, had a similar mindset going through her recruiting process, explaining that she “wanted to go to a good school” and “didn’t really care about how good the rowing team was.”

Student-athletes often get support during the application process from the team they are looking to commit to during the fall of their senior years.

According to Lee, several coaches “guided [him] through the entire application process,” which took away some of the stress from applying.

Ryan Hapgood ’27, a commit to the women’s lacrosse team, said she also had support from the women’s lacrosse team staf, who did a pre-read of her application with her. After that pre-read, she “felt really confdent and excited about the actual admissions.”

In addition to academics, coaches ensure that athletes will be a good ft for the team, taking character, potential and ability to ft into the respective team cultures into account. Egner explained he and his fellow coaches have criteria to guide them during the recruiting process, which consists of “fve key factors.”

“The fve key factors for us within the recruiting process are their academics, their technical, tactical and their physical capacity, and then their character,” Egner said.

The recruitment process can be stressful and challenging for both potential student athletes and coaches alike. For coaches, one of the main challenges and frustrations is losing a highly-desired student athlete to another school. Egner commented that there are times when his team is competing with another Ivy League institution or another institution with a high academic standard for a player that they really want, and that that can create some frustration.

Egner and Xander Centenari, head

coach of men’s tennis, said that while recruiting can be stressful, it is also one of the perks of the job.

“We get the opportunity to potentially support people in pursuing their dream,” Egner said.

Centenari highlighted the lasting bonds that can come from the recruiting process.

“Even though it’s stressful, it can be very exciting because you’re creating a relationship with a young man and his family that hopefully lasts a lifetime,” Centenari said.

For players, the process can be quite grueling, as it can be months long with a lot of traveling amidst a busy schedule. Martin said she had a very busy fall of her high school senior year.

“Dartmouth was my very last ofcial [visit], and I did not want to go on it at all because I was so exhausted from the four other ones that I had previously gone on,” Martin said.

During the pandemic, these ofcial

visits were non-existent, and the NCAA put a moratorium on off-campus recruiting. Egner, who started his career at Dartmouth in March of 2020, said that it has been “invaluable” to get to watch student-athletes play in person and to invite them to come play on campus.

The end of the recruitment process marks the beginning of a collegiate sports career, which can have various benefits and drawbacks. Martin explained how her social life and personal time is impacted by her commitment to varsity rowing.

“I wake up very early and workout and then go to class, and then go back down to the boathouse later,” Martin said. “I can’t really stay up super late with my friends.”

Lee acknowledged that being an athlete creates a very different Dartmouth experience from those who do not play a sport.

“It’s an experience that so many

people want to have, and I am very appreciative of the opportunity,” Lee said. “But I will say that because baseball takes so much of my personal time, I don’t have much personal time to get along with non-athlete friends, or participate in a club or anything like that, so that kind of limits my Dartmouth experience.”

Despite student-athletes’ personal time constraints due to practices and games, some athletes shared that the pros of being a student athlete at Dartmouth certainly outweigh any cons. “I think that having four years to be really ft, and contribute not only to a team culture, but also to the speed of our boats is really cool, and I’ll cherish that for my whole life,” Martin said.

For Lee, he said he takes pride in representing his school on the feld.

“The fact that I get to represent this school, wearing the uniform that says Dartmouth across my chest every single day, is a huge honor to me,” Lee said.

ELAINE PU/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

ELAINE PU/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Dressed to Impress and Protect Our Planet

STORY

By Grace Beilstein

As the frst days of May in Hanover bloomed, fowers were draped from the ceiling and grass mats lined the foor of Collis Common Ground, transforming it into a scene from a mythical garden for the Fashion Et Cetera Spring Fashion Show on May 3. Swirls of colorful lights shifted above the stage, and students sat on all sides of the catwalk constructed for the event. Some audience members held champagne futes in their hands while others clapped. 42 student models walked down the catwalk in vibrant oranges and delicate whites, openfront shirts and plunging dress necklines. The show’s theme was Gardens of Babylon. According to Joshua Vorbrich ’24, a Fashion Et Cetera board member, the theme inspired the show’s aesthetic and decorations.

“Gardens of Babylon is a reference to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which are one of the seven wonders of

the ancient world,” he said. “We’re trying to incorporate these airy, mysterious and botanical elements into our aesthetic choices.”

Sina Wrede ’24, an exchange student from Germany who modeled in the show, said the experience was “really exciting.” She was one of the 42 students selected from the campus wide nomination to model for the show.

“I’ve never modeled before … I was nervous, but as soon as I went out, there were so many people laughing, screaming. It was really fun to wear nice outfts,” Wrede said.

Wrede modeled two pieces for the evening: a fery red dress and a shimmery, foral gown.

“I’ve never seen such an event, especially in a university setting,” Wrede said. “It was very impressive.”

Sheba Dance Group opened for the

models, dancing dressed in Babylon-esque blues, pinks and whites. However, Fashion Et Cetera’s visionaries had much more in mind than just a beautiful spectacle.

“We have two big-picture ideas we’re trying to address with this show: sustainability and diversity,” Vorbrich said. With most of the items rented from Rent the Runway or thrifted, the event sought to show Dartmouth students a sampling of sustainably-sourced items. Featuring mostly diversely-owned brands at the show, Vorbrich emphasized the potential for change from Fashion Et Cetera’s stylistic choices.

“Dartmouth students spend over $10 million on clothing each year, actually, so we are hoping by introducing them to sustainable options and minority-designed brands, we might be able to redirect some of that spending away from fast fashion and mainstream labels,” Vorbrich said. His

statistic comes from data collected from the National Retail Foundation, which reports average spending at $181 per student per month. He multiplied this average by the undergraduate student population and adjusted for infation.

Erika Huston ’26 attended the fashion show and refected that the show made her rethink spending money on fashion.

“I think showcasing diverse brands gave me a chance to think about where the money I spend on clothes really goes,” Huston said.

Huston also thought about how Sheba’s performance added to the experience of the show.

“It was magical to see dance combined with fashion all in one show.” Huston said. “It makes fashion — which I’ve always thought about as an art — feel like more of a performance. I guess I didn’t think about outfts as [emotionally] moving, but they really were.”

Fashion Et Cetera’s history as a club goes back to founder Kathryn Kurt ’23 and her freshman winter in 2020.

“When I frst came to Dartmouth, there wasn’t a fashion club,” Kurt said. “I had a passion for fashion and style, and I knew it was my calling to start it, which I did my freshman winter.”

Kurt is also responsible for founding the club’s Instagram, where they showcase Dartmouth students’ outfts of the day. She called this “OOTD-Dartmouth” the “seed” that started the club. She came up with the idea her freshman year and planned to launch routine Instagram posts with spring outfts around campus during spring of 2020. As we all know, the abruptly virtual 2020 spring term indefnitely postponed her campus-centered vision for OOTDDartmouth.

“When choosing which outfits to photograph, it’s quite simple — I photograph the outfts that bring me joy,” Kurt said. “As I go about my day, I’m always fnding delight in people’s outfts, as I compliment them in my head, if not out loud. Now, I go up to them and take their photo for the Instagram page.”

Because Kurt started the club during her

A Love Letter to the Sun Part II

By Selin Hos STORY

Dear Sun,

Where has the time gone? The weeks have bled into one another and suddenly it’s May. It was just a year ago that I was writing my frst love letter to you. I remember just how much I missed you that frst winter — how much joy I felt at your return. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the magic that accompanied your return, or the way the campus and everyone on it seemed to spring forth with life and vivacity. I saw the way you brought back smiles to faces who hadn’t cracked one in months, or how the trees began to bud and bring forth a new season of New Hampshire greenery.

Needless to say, my friends and I have been eagerly awaiting your return. I’m not sure we could have handled many more weeks of dreary, relentless drizzle for much longer. Personally, I was beginning to get a little worried that you wouldn’t show this year — that despite all of the hardships that we’ve endured this past winter we had been sentenced to a life of bleak, grey drizzle for the rest of our lives.

I think a part of me truly believed in this condemnation, too. It’s crazy the delusions one can begin to entertain after two weeks of straight rain. It goes without saying that we’ve missed you dear Sun. We’ve missed you a lot. I’ll be the frst to admit that I’m always grateful for your presence, but I also wish that you would stay longer when you do. I love you. But you know that already. I spend most of my time during the fall and winter lamenting your absence, which is just to say that I miss you dearly when you’re away. Your love letter from last year was rather well received, and I don’t know of a single person who doesn’t miss you when you are gone.

I always just seem to underestimate the role that you play in my life. Having grown up in Southwest Florida, I never felt a particular longing for you like I do now — you were always just there. It’s funny, I know that they say that dogs are a man’s best friend, but I almost wonder if I could say that about you. Perhaps the Sun is just a girl’s best friend. I can certainly say that you, my dear Sun, were my best friend for the frst 18 years of my life. You were a companion in every sense of the word, watching over me from infancy to

adulthood, and all of the beautiful chaos that occurred in between.

I’ve been thinking about that lately — about the way you’ve served as a constant in the lives of every human being that has ever lived. I wonder what you’ve been privy to in your special role as the Sun. How much could you possibly know? Whose secrets have you heard? What atrocities have you beamed over? And to think that you’ve spent eons watching as we fumble through our lives — to think that you’ll spend eons more. How could you possibly stomach it, staying passive as we’ve damaged, pilfered, murdered and polluted the world around us? How do you continue to share your warmth with us knowing that we do these

things still?

If I had to guess, it’s because of the fact that for as much as you’ve seen us destroy, you’ve also watched us create. You’ve watched us love. You’ve seen the good in humanity just as much as you’ve seen the evil. And perhaps it has been interesting for you to watch as the tragedies and horrors play out alongside all of the comedies and romances. You must really have a complete view of the world.

And you aren’t without your own faults too — the way you bubble and fare. I may miss you, but I certainly never miss the sunburns I get in your presence. It’s funny, you would think that I would be immune by now. I would have liked to think that

18

But alas, I still get burnt to a crisp when you’re around. It’s funny how often we fall deeply in love with what will inevitably hurt us.

For loving you is truly a double edged sword, Sun. I cherish you. I put you on the highest of pedestals, count down the days until your return and collapse in utter devastation upon your departure. But I can’t help but wonder if that is the true nature of love. I’ve understood more this past year than ever before that to love is to lose — for whatever, and whoever, you love in this world is subject to the same forces of entropy that seem to govern our

freshman winter, the OOTD-Dartmouth idea had to wait nearly three years to become a reality because of COVID-19. The club operated virtually during the fall of 2020, hosting meetings on Zoom, and then eased back into in-person events as the College began to bring students back to campus, Kurt explained. The club’s Instagram runs the gamut of fashion inspiration, highlighting the Japanese designer Dimda’s Prada-style handbags made of single-use face masks, blog articles written by Fashion Et Cetera board members or visiting guest speakers from the fashion industry.

In addition to their recent fashion show and Instagram presence, Fashion Et Cetera has found alternative ways to be active this term. Their week fve pop-up thrift shop in Collis Center ofered students thrift options galore, without having to drive to popular thrift stores in West Lebanon or White River Junction. The club accepted donations for the thrift shop on April 24 and 25 and undertook sorting all the clothes before their two-hour event on Wednesday, April 26.

“The thrift store was so well received. We were thrilled with the donations and turnout from the Dartmouth community,” Kurt said.

When asked about how the club plans to continue its sustainability mission going forward, Kurt brought up several long-term ideas.

“I wish Dartmouth could have a permanent on-campus and student-run thrift or consignment store,” Kurt said.

Whether organizing fashion shows or planning for long-term sustainability, Fashion Et Cetera fnds a way to bridge the aesthetic beauty of fashion with a social purpose. Of their fve-person board, two members, Kurt and Jesse Farraioli ’23, will graduate this year. As with all clubs at Dartmouth, new classes of students will bring their own vision and purpose. The ’23s departure, along with ever-changing trends and new forms of sustainable fashion, will transform the club. While Kurt leaves behind a glamorous pair of knee-high boots to fll, campus is excited to see where the club’s evolution will take us.

lives. Things change. By now that much is obvious. Things change and we react accordingly. Though, you knew this already — you must have gleaned at least this much from your old age.

And I suppose maybe that is what it means to love you, my dearest Sun. Perhaps the true act of loving is in doing so with the knowledge that it is inevitable that you get burned in the process. Perhaps in order to love with our whole heart, we must do so despite it all. Perhaps we must all continue to love, truly and deeply . . . despite, despite, despite. With love, SH ’25

ELAINE PU/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

ELAINE PU/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

years spent under a constant of 11 on the UV index would render me invincible to your vengeful rays.

Women at Green Key Through The Years

By Kaija Celestin STORY

In anticipation of this year’s Green Key weekend, I searched through the Rauner Special Collections Library to investigate the origins of our beloved spring celebration. As I fipped through fles of newspaper clippings and memorandum, I found that before women were allowed to study at Dartmouth, they were coming to Green Key. A new question thus arose: How did an event on an all-male campus become so centered on women?

It turns out that attracting female guests to campus has been central to Dartmouth’s spring events since the frst iteration of Green Key in 1929 — 43 years before the college would welcome female-identifying students into its classrooms. That year, the Green Key Society, a junior honorary society dedicated to performing service work at the College, hosted “The Green Key Prom.”

The Prom started of as an annual onenight dance that served as a fundraising event open to campus. However, it quickly evolved into a multi-day afair. As the event grew in popularity, campus fraternities began hosting parties on the two nights preceding the dance to entertain their dates. Not only did the weekend-long event yield higher ticket sales, but it also gave Dartmouth men an excuse to keep the coed party going.

According to the 1951 Green Key Society Handbook, the Prom flled a gap in the undergraduate social scene left after World War I and provided “a ftting climax to a year of college service and add[ed] much to an ever-increasing number of happy memories.” It appears that the emphasis on catering to female visitors was generally well-received, as

one 1939 editorial in The Dartmouth proudly declared, “Hanover is God’s gift to women.”

A 1936 headline from The Dartmouth states: “Green Key Festivities Draw Girls from Four Foreign Countries and 30 States.” Similar headlines graced several East Coast newspapers through the early 1930s to the 1960s. In 1935, the Boston Herald reported that Dartmouth hosted 800 “feminine” guests in its fraternities during that year’s Green Key. By 1953, that number had grown to 1,200. The history of Dartmouth’s past “importation” of women is preserved in publications ranging from The New York Times to the Valley News.

But was Green Key all it was cracked up to be for the hundreds of women lured to Dartmouth’s campus by the promise of non-stop partying and unending male attention?

According to one attendee in a 1942 issue of the Boston Herald, the answer was a resounding yes. In her article titled “Nothing Will Boost Morale of Girls Like Spending Week-End in Hanover, N.H.,” the author listed the many perks women can expect to enjoy as a Green Key “date.” She described shower rooms stocked up with makeup for every girl, and how much fun it was for her and the others to set up tables and cook for their dates. She recounted rushing between diferent frats, where beer was ofered at every turn.

“We women have just about everything we demand — and then too, we have other things,” she wrote.

In addition to having their photos displayed, the women’s arrival to campus was also announced by a full page spread

in The Dartmouth. The spread listed each woman, her hometown and which fraternity invited her. Local ads in The Dartmouth urged men to buy their dates jewelry, corsages and beer mugs as welcome gifts.

A 1935 issue of the Yonkers Herald explains how many women secured an invite to Green Key. According to the article, along with various news clippings from women’s colleges at the time, “women guests [were] from leading Eastern colleges, with Smith, Wellesley, Vassar and Mount Holyoke predominantly.” It’s unclear whether invites were extended at large to these schools, or if specifc girls who were already acquainted with Dartmouth men were selected. Numerous dates from across the nation and abroad are also included on The Dartmouth’s guest lists — likely women the Dartmouth men knew from their hometowns.

Some of the Green Key traditions were more blatantly sexist. Women could compete to be crowned Web Dartmouth College Radio’s Green Key Sweetheart, and the fnal winner would receive a spotlight in the campus paper along with the runner up and other honorary titles such as “Princess.” The Sweetheart’s name would also be carved on a commemorative cup to be displayed in the WDCR ofce.

In 1959, this award went to Julikia Balajty, described in The Dartmouth as an “attractive brunette dental student at Tufts University” and fance of a current student at the time. She beat out 20 “Green Key Week End Lovelies” to win the Sweetheart title. According to The Dartmouth, “each girl spent about three minutes talking with judges” before they made their selection. Clearly, the competition was not based on skill or talent but a subjective rating on personality and mostly looks. The allmale judges panel consisted of Green Key Society members, the WDCR manager, the President of The Dartmouth, two professors and the Dean of the College.

Green Key had its fair share of controversy aside from sexist pageantry, too.

The Prom was canceled in 1924 due to rowdy conduct from Dartmouth men and their dates. According to a 2003 article in The Dartmouth, titled “Women in Hanover,” one woman took a nude bicycle ride through campus after consuming too much alcohol in that same year. The dance wasn’t reinstated until 1929.

It didn’t help that Winter Carnival, which also imported female guests, faced many of the same behavioral issues. In a 1935 article entitled “Dartmouth Boys Must ‘Tone Down’,” The Vermont Standard reported the College’s warning that “social functions must be kept within bounds or dispensed with altogether.” The warning came in response to excessive drinking at the proceeding Winter Carnival.

The Green Key Prom organizers managed to salvage their relationship with the College until 1943, at which point the Prom was canceled due to World War II. After being revived in 1946, the College struggled to return Green Key to its former glory. Referring to the lackluster social scene, The Green Key Society President in 1947 commented: “We used to import girls” — lamenting a practice that didn’t materialize during that year’s spring celebration.

But by 1948, the women were back, and the Green Key antics continued in full force. That year 166 female students from Colby-Sawyer confessed to college ofcials that they drank on College grounds the weekend preceding Green Key, and were thus barred from attending the event. In response, 301 Dartmouth men signed a petition, requesting “special consideration due to low ticket sales.”

The petition didn’t work.

But Dartmouth students weren’t deterred. Through the 1950s and 1960s, some created a new tradition of camping out on the golf course with their dates — drinking, smoking and using drugs such as heroin in full view of Hanover community members. According to the 2003 article

in The Dartmouth, residents complained that their children were being exposed to the “less puritan aspects of Dartmouth men,” and the tradition was quickly put to a halt.

The fnal blow came in 1967 after former Alabama governor George Wallace gave a speech on the Friday before Green Key began, according to the 2003 article from The Dartmouth. Students rioted in response to his speech and encircled his car for six hours, which prevented him from leaving. After this, the Green Key Prom was never held again. By 1972, Green Key was back — this time, as a music festival rather than a prom.

Once the College became coeducational in 1972, it appears that the novelty of having women at Green Key had worn of for some men. According to an article from the 2013 Green Key special issue of The Dartmouth, Theta Delta Chi fraternity won the traditional “Hums” competition — a singing contest between diferent campus groups — for its performance of a sexist song called “Our Cohogs” in 1976. The winning song was selected by the former Dean of the College Carrol Brewster. “Cohogs” was a derogatory term that Dartmouth men used for female coeds at the time. The song attempted to mock coeds with lyrics like: “They have ruined our masculine heaven / Send the Bitch home / Our cohogs go to bed alone.”

This Green Key, as we celebrate the arrival of spring, dance to live music and enjoy time with our friends, we may keep in mind Dartmouth’s sexist and problematic past and appreciate how far campus culture has come.

Students in Frank Reflect on Their Band’s Formation

By Emily Wadlow STORY

My favorite nights always include a performance by a student band. The sticky fraternity foors transform into dancing and stomping grounds, vibrating from the music blasting out of the speakers. I dance in the mosh pit with my friends as sweat streams down our faces and strangers slam against us. During these precious hours I forget about my classes, commitments and stressors, but the musicians put in hours of work preparing their sets for the shows. They learn the music, coordinate with the venue hosts and do a pre-show sound check. Although each show matters, there is one that requires extra preparation and dedication: Battle of the Bands.

Every spring term, a select few campus bands — who students vote for to enter and perform at the competition — participate in Battle of the Bands for the chance to open for Green Key’s headliner. At this competition, each band plays about three songs for an audience of students lucky enough to get tickets — this year, the tickets were rumored to have sold out in 90 seconds. Frank won this year’s Battle of the Bands, and they will open for Green Key headliner Neon Trees, an alternative band with hits such as 2010’s “Animals” and 2011’s “Everybody Talks.”

Currently, Frank consists of eight members — singer Izzy Vratimos ’23, Isaac Weber ’22 on guitar, Ida Claude ’22 on electric violin, singer Sheil Sharma ’23, Eva Legge ’22 on piano, Eli Hecht ’23 on bass, Jason Wang ’22 on drums and Mateo Oyola ’24 on saxophone. Hecht and Wang met through Coast

Jazz Orchestra at Dartmouth in the fall of 2019, according to Hecht. They then started playing music together, adding others to their group over time.

“Isaac joined [Summer 2021], and then Mateo joined at some point last year. And then over the course of this year, we’ve sort of been like, ‘oh, I know this person who wants to jam,’ and then someone jams with us, and if we get along with them well, we bring them into the band.” Hecht explained. “This is the fourth year of it, which is crazy. But it’s had a lot of diferent versions over that time, and this is a really fun one.”

Several of the band’s current members are new to the group. Hetch explained that at the start of the year only three members of the band had not already graduated, and the group had to recruit new members Vratimos, Claude, Legge and Weber over the past two terms.

“We honestly weren’t even sure that we were going to do it this year,” Hecht said. “[But] we started playing music together again and it was like, ‘oh no, we really enjoy this,’ and we want to get started.”

Although this uncertainty is sometimes a source of stress, Weber said that he enjoys the fuid nature of Frank.

“I feel like there’s never been a really concrete plan of what [the] band’s going to look like,” Weber said. “But it always just worked out for the last couple years, which has been awesome.”

Each time they thought the band was dead, new friends-of-friends joined, helping revive the group while giving each iteration its own fresh spin. They may

In 1931, a strikingly similar incident took place. According to the 2003 article in The Dartmouth, a student at a nearby women’s college rode her bike nude around the Green before church services, “sending many Dartmouth men to church to ofer their thanks.” Green Key was consequently suspended for three years. still play under the name of “Frank,” but the Frank of today is almost completely diferent from the original Frank.

Despite the yearly changeover, the band has always been able to blend together and fnd their “sound” easily, according to Vratimos.

“I think we were all kind of surprised at how well we meshed musically together,” Vratimos said. “Without even really extensive amounts of practice, it just clicked. It’s kind of cool how it was all, like, happenstance.”

Their music may blend efortlessly, but their schedules do not, Vratimos said. They haven’t even found a time to celebrate their recent victory.

“It can be difcult to fnd a time that we’re all free because we’re all relatively busy people, and there’s eight of us,” Vratimos explained. “We do a lot of late nights and random pull-togethers if people can jam. We do like two hours a week, if that. And then we really use sound checks to our advantage.”

Flexibility is the key to Frank’s shows, according to Vratimos. A chaotic week before a performance may inhibit their ability to practice, but that limited preparation provides the band with more freedom to improvise during shows, which Sharma noted makes their performances particularly enjoyable.

“It’s a very fun way to play music. Instead of locking every single thing in, [we] just … jam it out,” Sharma said.

Even though the students have been playing with one another for diferent amounts of time, their strong technical

and artistic backgrounds provide a solid foundation for quickly building trust, Weber said.

Claude, a classically trained violinist, said that the deep respect and confdence they have in one another allows them to let go and have fun during performances.

“This is so fun because I only joined Frank halfway through the winter, and it’s much more improvisatory, which is a challenge,” Claude said. “It feels really creative.”

“We literally just have to relax and trust each other,” Weber added. “That’s been so much fun because it’s forced me out of my comfort zone, as somebody who really likes to know what’s going on. To have that uncertainty has been uncomfortable, but now it’s my favorite part of Frank. It’s so much fun to get on stage and know that even if we mess up, it’s gonna be pretty cool because everybody’s so talented.”

The audience also helps create a lighthearted atmosphere by dancing, cheering and singing along. Frank tries to promote a fun environment by catering to the audience at each concert, according to Vratimos.

“For frat shows, we try to choose a good amount [of songs] that are more dancey crowd-pleasers, [but] we still try to put our own spin on it,” Vratimos said.

For Battle of the Bands, Frank decided to play three fan-favorites: “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor, “Sir Duke” by Stevie Wonder and “Forget You” by Ceelo Green. Not only are these songs popular with the student body, but Frank has experience playing them at prior shows,

Hetch stated.

The week of Battle of the Bands was a chaotic week for the individual members of Frank, according to Hecht.

“It was one of those weeks where we just couldn’t really fnd time to rehearse,” he said.

However, he noted the positives of limited preparation, as “it led to a kind of freshness to the set.” Hetch explained that last year, Frank spent the entire week before the competition perfecting their set. They played well and made second place, but this year they approached the battle from a more relaxed stance.

“I think our attitude going into it was just to have fun and see what happens, and [we were] very pleasantly surprised and happy,” Vratimos said.

Legge summarized the band’s philosophy, stating that “sometimes … I forget that playing music’s supposed to be fun, and I’m doing this all for fun … Why stress about it? We’re all doing it because we want to.”

Frank enjoys performing in fraternities, but all members spoke highly about performing for Green Key. Opening for Neon Trees on a large stage with professional sound equipment is a dream come true, said Vratimos. Various members shared similar feelings, but the one word they all had in common was “excited.”

When the drums begin to tap out a rhythm and the guitar strums its frst chord on Friday’s Green Key concert, you can fnd me in a heated mosh pit, pushing to get closer to the stage.

HANNAH LI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

PHOTO COURTESY OF GREEN KEY SOCIETY HANDBOOK AT RAUNER LIBRARY

Photo Essay: Around the Green

By Hannah Li PHOTO