It may have taken 230 years, but freshmen are finally getting some respect.
1769
Dartmouth is an upperclass paradise. There are no freshmen. Everyone in the newly opened College is a transfer student.
1799 A College regulation, known as fagging, requires freshmen to run errands for seniors who started at Dartmouth as freshmen.
1865
It is a tradition among sophomores to insult and abuse freshmen. The faculty passes a cease-and-desist resolution.
1896
A group of sophomores armed with a revolver kidnap a freshman. The faculty passes a hostage-release resolution.
1915
In an early attempt at decreasing the influence of fraternities, the College bans the practice of pledging young men before they become students. The fraternities comply. They pledge 76 freshmen on the first day of school.
1937
A new macaroni and vegetable salad is added to the dining hall menu. The intent is to make the food less boring. Freshmen take to the streets. They protest in favor of the status quo.
1945
Seasoned war veterans make up a significant portion of the freshman class. Hazing, as a tradition, lapses.
1950
The class of 1954 builds an outhouse on the Green as a "frosh dedication to the sophomores."
1953
Tug o' war replaces Football Rush. The injury rate drops.
1973
Freshman beanies are no longer required.
1991
The Outing Club drops the name "Freshman Trips" because of the title's gender exclusivity.
1996
Dartmouth, officially speaking, no longer has a freshman class. Members of the arriving class are now known as "firstyear students." Administratively the task of overseeing the pea-greeners falls to the "First-Year Office." m
This poor fellow wasahead of his time.