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<p>What are you referring to? I don’t remember noticing anything like this, but I was waaaaaaaay back in the bleachers, so I might have missed this.</p>
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<p>Many secret society members walk with their canes at graduation and carry the cane with them across the stage when their names are called (that is how you and others know the society they belong to).</p>
<p>The bridge is still under repair. Apparently the state would only pay for repairing the approaches, so the town had to vote a $1million bond to fix it. Or so H told me.</p>
<p>Yes, heaven forbid that “society” members would exit campus without seizing the opportunity to proclaim their social superiority to all assembled. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Wow, what happened at the ceremony that made you feel this way? The year I went to graduation, society members were very low keyed, people just walked across the stage with their canes (the same way that they walked in the processional because they pick them up the morning of graduation).</p>
<p>And what secret societies are there??</p>
<p>Dartmouth Senior Societies</p>
<p>[Senior</a> Societies](<a href=“Home | Office of Residential Life”>Home | Office of Residential Life)</p>
<p>From our vantage point and from the hour or so after the graduation, I did not see any huge display of the societies. Those members of these societies had their canes in tow during the ceremony and had them after the graduation while the grads were getting their picture taken. Heard from my son on trip with his buddies. His text to me was the following. “Rode a jetski for the first time. I feel like Kenny Powers”.</p>
<p>I find the carrying of canes at graduation obnoxious. The obvious–and only–point is to emphasize one’s social superiority over hoi polloi. The societies range from those with politically-correct missions, such as the empowerment of women, to those which frankly exist simply to assert one’s social superiority and provide current and future networking opportunities. I think that graduation ought to be free of such stuff.</p>
<p>If you look through the Dartmouth official graduation photos, you will find that only the societies with PC descriptions are actually acknowledged. The others are simply described as groups of “friends.” I was particularly struck by this because my son–the member of a non-A side, non-hard-guy frat, but nevertheless, a person with extremely high ideals and excellent character, but obviously not good enough for one of those oh-so-idealistic societies–and I can be seen in the background of a shot of a bunch of guys with brass or gold topped canes that the D just describes as “friends.” Yeah, right.</p>
<p>I think that it is a bit harsh to vilify the senior societies as whole and simply reduce them and the carrying of canes at graduation as process that emphasizes one’s social superiority over the rest of the class. Disclosure: yes, my kid is part of a society, so I am a little taken aback. From what my D told me, in her society there are some members were tapped through their line; her big sister was tapped when she was a little by her big sister. My D was tapped by her big sister, and she in turned tapped her little sister. </p>
<p>Have you considered that perhaps the person writing the captions maybe does not know what each cane represents and maybe why there was no description?</p>
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<p>Would you have felt differently if your son were a member of a society?</p>
<p>DH just returned from his 40th reunion weekend. He had a ball.</p>
<p>What a great place to have graduated from.</p>
<p>Wow, VH!! That is sooo cool… Just imagine, one day our kids will be going to Hanover for their 40th reunion.</p>
<p>Actually, sybbie, it gets even better. We were at graduation last week, and the first group to “march” in the processional was the geezers there for their 50th reunion! I kept reminding DH that that would be him in ten short years!!</p>
<p>sybbie, I said up front that supposed I might feel differently if he were.</p>
<p>What, pray tell, is the POINT of carrying canes at graduation other than to proclaim that you have been selected and others have not? And not because of any academic achievement, such as PBK, which arguably DOES have a place at graduation. Sure, some of the societies stress empowerment of women or some other worthy cause. Is it empowering women to tap big/little sorority sisters in an unbroken line? Or is it just excluding people who are members of the “wrong” house or independent? I’m sure that your daughter is a wonderful young woman. But what about all of the other wonderful young women?</p>
<p>At least with the fraternities/sororities/coed houses, everyone who wants to can participate and everyone who is willing to be broadminded is going to get a bid somewhere. And, of course, members don’t declare their affiliation at graduation. People aren’t graduating as ADs or BGs or Kappas or Zetes or Panarchy or Tabard. </p>
<p>What is the point of the big cane reveal, if not to proclaim oneself a member of the in crowd? Don’t you think that it would lose its luster if 75% or more of the class wasn’t being excluded? The point of an exclusive secret society is to make members feel exclusive.</p>
<p>I think we are going to have to agree to disagree on the subject. Are you saying that someone who gets tapped, should not accept the tap because the majority of the class is not going to get tapped? If we are going to continue along this line of thinking, should our kids have not gone to Dartmouth, when you consider that the majority of the pool, did not get admitted?</p>
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<p>Of course people break the line in the lines in their houses and even tap outside of their houses. However, what is wrong with tapping from within your own house if you have women in your house who contribute to the society’s mission? Since I can only speak about me and mine, I can tell you first hand, while she was happy about her bid, she took it for what it was and did not feel that she was part of an exclusive society.</p>
<p>D’s society is one of those empowering women’s groups that also has women, from other houses where no one house or group of people (athletes) has a lock on the society (actually there were only 2 from her house). </p>
<p>There is a really good cross section of women in her class from IB/medicine/law and consulting,teaching, public service and the arts.</p>
<p>They have a great cross section of women both affiliated as well as unaffiliated women. In her house 2 of her sisters are her Bff’s who have been her friends since freshman year (one her freshman roommate who pledged another house). Many of those other wonderful young women from her class including the Val, the class Marshall, senior class president also had canes.</p>
<p>No, I am not saying that they shouldn’t accept the taps if they want to join the society. I’m saying that they should not carry canes at <strong>graduation</strong>. I think that such social group distinctions should not be displayed at graduation, any more than Greek affiliation is displayed. Think about it: everyone IN a society already knows everyone in their society. What is the point of carrying a cane at graduation? Clearly, to inform everyone else of your status. Why? </p>
<p>Societies like your D’s at least have a mission that is intended to benefit the student body at large. But some others don’t even make a pretense of it.</p>
<p>I completely agree with Sybbie. My "10 was not tapped, was happy for friends who were and it was a very understated display at graduation, I thought. It seemed like a very nice tradition. </p>
<p>Consolation, did your child care as much as you seem to?</p>
<p>My kid’s opinions are his own and I am not speaking for him.</p>
<p>I gather that you think it is unseemly for me to dare to voice dislike of this particular tradition. You liked it. To each his own.</p>
<p>I was just curious Consolation. I don’t think it unseemly at all. I don’t share your view and wondered if other students felt that way, as mine didn’t. Just keeping an open mind.</p>
<p>Hi Gang, enjoyed the lively discussion over the canes. First I have learned anything about the secret societies, and still do not understand their significance. Maybe that is why they are called Secret Societies. My concerns would be, Is it something you can put on a resume? Will it help you get into graduate school?</p>
<p>On a totally separate topic, Does anybody place any significance on the fact that the number of posts and topics on the Dartmouth CC site is substantially less than the other members of the Ivy League? With only 62,256 Posts on 6,105 Topics as of today as compared to:</p>
<p>Brown University ( 107,119 Posts | 9,857 Topics )<br>
Columbia University ( 134,293 Posts | 12,485 Topics )<br>
Cornell University ( 241,998 Posts | 23,163 Topics )<br>
Harvard University ( 189,138 Posts | 14,352 Topics )<br>
University of Pennsylvania ( 198,406 Posts | 19,005 Topics )<br>
Princeton University ( 161,173 Posts | 11,212 Topics )<br>
Yale University ( 166,179 Posts | 11,212 Topics ) </p>
<p>Dartmouth CCers are certainly a quiet bunch. Probably a good thing. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Do the numbers correspond to the sizes of the schools?</p>