The Pillar and the Shield: Fall 2021

Brothers,

This past fall was a crucial moment for maintaining the continuity of Tri-Kap. Due to housing restrictions during the pandemic, it was the first term that ‘22s and ‘23s were fully on-campus and living together in the house. The atmosphere felt quite different from this summer when the ‘23s had the house mostly to themselves, and the mutual culture shock caused some tension in the earlier weeks of the term. But nothing really, that our termly lock-in discussion and more time spent together couldn’t fix.

Many exec positions whose jobs had been stifled by pandemic restrictions were once again able to act in their full capacity. Our social calendar was even fuller than 20W, before the pandemic. Our programming chairs put on multiple brotherhood events throughout the term, as well as a house trip to Maine. Our rush chairs no longer had to put up with dreaded Zoom rush events, and our ‘24s got to physically shake out (not through a Google Form).

Homecoming

In October, Dartmouth held its first homecoming since the start of the pandemic. Tri-Kap alumni young and old flocked back to the house to reconnect with their friends and share stories with younger classes. At the house, brothers hosted alumni for a cookout, among other forms of merriment.

There are many things from homecoming I don’t remember, but I recall especially well talking to Bob Russell ‘81 and Ken MacKenzie ‘81 about how pong was played back in the day. Apparently, a brother who was on the tennis team once held table for 17 games! At next year’s homecoming, we’ll be sure to reserve tables for slam pong and keep the handles on a few paddles.

The Kappa Lodge, ready for the alumni cookout. Unfortunately, I had my hands full and didn't get any pictures during it.

Rush

Rush this year was mired in difficulty owing to the ‘24s rough introduction to Dartmouth. The ‘24s had no means to check out fraternity houses during their freshman year under the College’s COVID policies. Likewise, upperclassman brothers had few ways to meet ‘24s last year, so much of the rush effort fell to the beginning of this term. To give houses more time to scout out potential new members, the Interfraternity Council postponed shakeout by two weeks, to the fifth week of the term.

We packed many rush events into the five weeks we had. Thanks to our generous alumni, we managed to put together two bigger-ticket events: a catered barbeque from Big Fatties and our signature closed rush event, paintball at Adventure Games Paintball. The Big Fatties event and other outdoor events with food attracted some great guys just dropping by, some of which eventually shook out! The paintball event had great reviews and the majority of PNMs in attendance shook out.

Brothers and PNMs at Adventure Games Paintball in Weare, NH

This term, the following members joined the brotherhood:

Quentin Calhoun ‘24

Andrew Goyette ‘23

Luis Hinojosa ‘24

Ethan Lang ‘23

Vico Lee ‘24

Ben Levy ‘24

Nick Luikey ‘24

Kashan Mahmood ‘24

Jack McGary ‘23

Grayling Peterson ‘24

Mack Reiferson ‘22

Riley Schofner ‘24

Matt Skrod ‘24

Ethan Tam ‘24

Stephen Wang ‘24

Back row, from left: Ben Levy, Ethan Tam, Riley Schofner, Grayling Peterson, Quentin Calhoun, Vico Lee
Front row, from left: Stephen Wang, Luis Hinojosa, Kashan Mahmood, Nick Luikey, Andrew Goyette, Mack Reiferson
Not pictured: Ethan Lang, Jack McGary, Matt Skrod

The ‘24s did not hesitate to integrate themselves into the fraternity and create bonds with upperclassman brothers. Several new members I talked to recounted the same general story about their rush. Due to the pandemic, they found few social outlets their freshman year, and they came to accept that as normal. They came to Tri-Kap, hung out with brothers, and realized that their Dartmouth experience thus far was not even close to normal. They rushed, and then they mustered an extraordinary effort to get to know everyone during their new member term. I can tell that the ‘24s will be one of the most active and committed classes in recent memory.

Other happenings

In October, our distinguished alumnus Peter Robinson ‘77 came back to campus to deliver a talk with the College’s Political Economy Project. Robinson served as a speechwriter for President Reagan from 1983 to 1988, most notably writing the Berlin “tear down this wall” speech. Brothers were eager to meet him in a more casual setting, so we had him over at Tri-Kap beforehand. As we chatted with Robinson about Tri-Kap then and now, we were impressed by how many uniquely Tri-Kap experiences we share with him. When it came time for his talk, Robinson pulled up to Haldeman Hall accompanied by an entourage of Tri-Kaps – quite an amusing sight.

Peter Robinson '77 (center) poses with some current undergrads before heading off to the speaker event

Two weekends before finals, our programming chairs Aditya Choudhari ‘22 and Dan DiPietro ‘22 organized a trip to Baxter State Park in northern Maine. We went to Maine in lieu of our usual Montreal trip, which, though possible, would have been difficult with the border control situation. Personally, I think this worked out, as week 9 is one of the more stressful times during a Dartmouth term. We all needed a break. Being out in nature, physically and mentally removed from campus, was perfect.

On the second day of the trip, we hiked Mount Chase, a mountain about 25 miles northeast of Katahdin. Trail conditions were rough. Nearly the entire route was flooded and we made no attempt to keep our feet dry. At some points there was no trail, and we walked on the bottom of a brook. At other points, fallen leaves covered the trail in a layer so thick you couldn’t even see basketball-sized rocks underneath. Not everyone enjoyed the hike (city kids), but I bet even they agree the view at the top was worth it.