Social and Relational Wellness
Establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships with yourself, other individuals, groups, and communities fosters your social well being. Social connections can help us cope with hard times, stress, anxiety and depression. Take the time to meet new people and invest in long-lasting friendships. We can improve our community by connecting with others, establishing open social networks, and creating safe and inclusive spaces.
All Students (Undergraduates, Graduates and Professional Students)
Developing hobbies for yourself or sharing them with friends can be satisfying and fun.
- Book Arts Workshop Studios –
- Letterpress –Sign up to attend an introductory letterpress training and then come back to do more on your own
- Book Binding – Sign up for a small-group bookbinding workshop or come to an open studio session, which does not require advance sign-up
- Ceramics Studio – Sign up for a workshop; materials fee payable with Dash
- Donald Clafin Jewelry Studio – Reserve a spot during open hours for jewelry and metalsmithing; supplies such as beads and stones available for purchase on-site
- Film Society – Join fellow cinephiles for free films, meals, and discussions
- Harold Edward Cable Makerspace – Complete required training for safe and proper equipment use, then get creative with tools like 3D printers, laser cutters, sewing machines, and more
- Hood Museum – Make plans with a friend to visit for free
- Hopkins Center – Generally, student tickets to performances and films are $5 or $10; use the “free” search feature on the events calendar to identify no-cost events
- Hopkins Center Resident Ensembles – Join an instrumental, vocal, and dance performance ensemble
Ensembles open to any interested student, with no audition necessary are:
- Dance Ensemble – Students, staff, and community members of diverse experience levels learning and performing choreographed pieces
- Marching Band – Students with all experience levels welcome, including beginners; uniform and instruments can be loaned for free
Ensembles that entail an audition to join, are the Coast Jazz Ensemble, Glee Ensemble, Gospel Choir, Handel Society, Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble
- Jones Media Spaces – Get creative in these free, reservable spaces designed for high-quality audio and visual recording and editing
- Library Concert Series – Enjoy free live music on a study break or apply in advance to share your musical talent with others as the featured performer
- Music Practice Rooms – Open to all students
- Woodworking Shop – Complete an orientation training for safe and proper equipment use, then come back during open studio hours; supplies such as wood and glue available for purchase on-site
Your name and other identities are personal, and Dartmouth has processes by which you can formally communicate to others how you would like to be addressed.
- Dartmouth’s Chosen Name and Identity Policy and Process. Dartmouth recognizes that some students wish to identify themselves by a name other than their legal name. Dartmouth enables students to use a chosen name where possible during their Dartmouth education. Students may also indicate their gender identity and pronouns.
- Legal Name or Legal Sex Changes. Students can bring necessary documentation and have their legal name and/or legal sex updated with Dartmouth via their undergraduate, graduate, or professional school’s registrar’s office. More information pertaining to updating legal name and/or legal sex and the documentation needed for undergraduate students can be found on the undergraduate registrar’s website.
Engaging in community service can strengthen sense of purpose, interpersonal connectedness, and bring out other postive emotions. Through volunteerism, you may find that you become happier, better connected to communities in the Upper Valley community and across the globe, and more satisfied with and in control of your life.
- Volunteering in the Upper Valley – The Dartmouth Center for Social Impact (DCSI) maintains a list of local agencies that accept volunteers. The DCSI can also advise any Dartmouth student (undergraduate, graduate, or professional student) on which might be a good fit for their time, skills, and interests, as well as how to connect with those entities.
Undergraduate students can learn about other community engagement and service opportunities through the Dartmouth Center for Social Impact in the undergraduate-specific resource section below.
Dartmouth maintains an events calendar with many academic and social events submitted by departments across Dartmouth.
Major annual events open to all Dartmouth students, employees, and the general public are often listed on that calendar and other forums such as the daily VOX.
For example:
- Homecoming Bonfire (Fall)
- Christmas Tree Lighting on the Green (December)
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (February)
- Powwow (May)
Many events are also listed on Dartmouth Groups. On Dartmouth Groups, some departments and student organizations post events that are open to all Dartmouth students. Other events may be limited to select student populations, such as the members of a particular organization. A Dartmouth Groups account is automatically created for undergraduates upon their matriculation at Dartmouth. Graduate and professional students can set up their own accounts using their Dartmouth NetID.
Every undergraduate and Guarini graduate student is automatically assigned a house membership prior to the start of their first fall term. Other graduate and professional students can opt in.
As a House Community member, you can participate in on-campus and off-campus House programs. These events can provide a fun, free way to connect with peers, faculty, and staff.
Examples of programs might include: lunches or dinners with guest speakers or musicians, group sports or outdoors activities, or off-campus outings around the Upper Valley or beyond.
House Centers provide a space to hang out, study, and attend gatherings.
You can choose for yourself how much you want to be involved!
In Fall 2024, the Division of Institutional Diversity and Equity will be adding global inclusion to its portfolio, including support for international students. Please reach out to the Division of Institutional Diversity and Equity for more information and support.
Developing and sharing hobbies with friends can be satisfying and fun.
In addition to maintaining leisure reading books and films in their collection, the Dartmouth Libraries offer equipment loans, such as:
- Video, audio, photography, and lighting equipment
- Board and video games
- Computer programming equipment
Public libraries, like Hanover’s Howe Library, can also be a great resource. Current Dartmouth students can obtain a Howe Library card and borrow:
- Books, framed art, and other media
- Equipment like sewing machines, musical instruments, and games
- Museum passes for free or discounted admission to local/regional sites
The Howe Library in Hanover also offers free programming. For example, student-parents can make use of free events designed for their small children, tweens, and teens.
Dartmouth has lots of communal spaces where you can mix study with socialization.
For example:
- Collis Student Center – Many lounges and common spaces are available for students to gather, study, or just be in community together across Collis, Sarner Underground, and Studio Sudikoff (located in the Sudikoff building). Undergraduate student organizations may reserve spaces in Collis, Sarner, and Studio Sudikoff.
- Dartmouth Libraries – search available spaces based on multiple features, including level of permissible noise
- Get it Done sessions at the Academic Skills Center – timed, focussed intervals for getting work done, with breaks for mindfulness and mingling
- House Community Centers – multi-purpose spaces available to the members of each house community; all undergrads and Guarini graduate students are assigned a House community, and other graduate/professional students can opt in
Resources pertaining to religious and spiritual wellness, including opportunity to build social connection with others, are discussed on the spiritual wellness page.
A wellness check-in is a private conversation with a trained lister, offered through the Student Wellness Center. As explained on the Student Wellness Center webpage, a wellness check-in is different from counseling or therapy.
You can schedule a wellness check-in to discuss decisions you are trying to make or other life challenges and growth opportunities. These could be about interpersonal relationships (with roommates, classmates, friends, family, or anyone else!), time management, academics, or a completely different topic!
Undergraduate Students
- Celebrate a Birthday! Dartmouth Dining has birthday treats you can order for yourself or friends.
- Take a Faculty Member to Breakfast or Lunch. Once each term invite a professor for a meal and conversation outside of the classroom; the Undergraduate Deans Office will pay the bill.
Engaging in community service can strengthen sense of purpose, interpersonal connectedness, and bring out other positive emotions. Through volunteerism, you may find that you become happier, better connected to communities in the Upper Valley community and across the globe, and more satisfied with and in control of your life.
Undergraduate students can learn more about community service opportunities through:
- Dartmouth Center for Social Impact (DCSI)– check out the numerous opportunities available through the DCSI, including their leadership development programs, immersion trips, internships, and social impact career opportunities.
- Social Impact Practicum (SIP) Courses- Take a class that works with a local community agency and see how your academic work can make a real-world impact. SIPs are a great way to get involved locally while focusing on your coursework.
- Youth Education and Mentoring Programs- Share your time teaching or mentoring local youth through one of DCSI’s programs while learning about our region and building new relationships with youth and Dartmouth peers.
The First-Generation Office organizes programming for undergraduate first- generation and first-generation low-income (FG/LI) students.
This programming can help students to:
- Build relationships with one another
- Connect with faculty and staff who share those identities, and
- Increase familiarity with and confidence navigating Dartmouth and its resources.
Examples of First Generation Office programming that can help students build community (and skills, too!) are:
- First-Year Summer Enrichment Program (FYSEP) for incoming undergraduate freshmen
- The Kings Scholars Program for first generation international student recipients of the Kings Scholar scholarship
- Prepare to Launch for career development
- Community dinners, events, and programming designed to connect first-generation students with one another, alumni, and employees, as well as encourage ongoing personal and professional growth.
Connecting with others who have had similar experiences can strengthen your sense of belonging at Dartmouth. Finding a group of people who understand your identity or background, community strengths, and challenges can help you stay motivated through difficult times.
The Office of Pluralism and Leadership (OPAL), located in the Collis Student Center, offers resources and support to undergraduate students across many identities.
This includes OPAL advising across five areas where OPAL Deans can provide counsel, support, and resource referrals to students for many purposes, including helping you to identify social groups aligned to your identities and integrate into those.
The five OPAL advising areas, which also maintain campus resource lists specific to the interests of each community, are:
- Black and Pan African Student Advising
- Latine and Caribbean Student Advising
- LGBTQIA+ Student Advising
- Pan Asian Student Advising
- Women and Gender Student Advising
Together with student leaders, OPAL also organizes orientation and pre-orientation programming for incoming undergraduate students and annual heritage and history month celebrations.
OPAL also maintains close ties with many of the undergraduate Identity-Based Living Learning Communities such as:
The Pan Asian Community (PAC) Resource Room (Robinson Hall, 110) has served as a multi-purpose community space since 2001. This room is open 24/7 for use as a gathering and study space, as well as the home of the Pan Asian Community Library. Student groups and organizations may reserve the room for one-time use or regular meetings throughout a term. Reservation priority is given to student groups and organizations associated with OPAL's affinity communities.
The Rainbow Room (Robinson Hall 105 and 107) is a space that centers LGBTQIA+ people. It has a small queer library with a variety of fiction and nonfiction titles and some study areas. The Rainbow Room is reservable on EMS. Since it is in Robinson Hall, it is open 24/7. For more information about the Rainbow Room, contact OPAL’s LGBTQIA+ advising staff.
Living with other students who share common interests, goals, and values can be an excellent way to find and develop a social support network. You can choose a community based around a shared identity, language and culture, or other mutual interest.
The Native American Program is a resource intended to support the well-being and success of undergraduate Indigenous students at Dartmouth through programming and initiatives dedicated to four main pillars:
- Academic Support
- Well-Being
- Community Engagement, and
- Personal and Leadership Development.
The Native American Program provides support to students through:
- Native and Indigenous Pre-Orientation and other community-building programming.
- Heritage and history events, like Indigenous Peoples’ Month, Powwow, and Lu’au.
- Advising and mentoring.
- Leadership development and support for several student groups
The Native American Program oversees and advises the Native American House in partnership with the Office of Residential Life. The Native American House serves as a living-learning community and as community space for the Native and Indigenous students.
Students can also use the Native American Program student lounge in Robinson Hall to socialize, study, and relax.
Participating in student organizations is a great way to build a social support network, connect with peers with similar interests, and help you take much-needed breaks to restore your mental focus and energy.
While juggling academic obligations, we encourage you not to overload your schedule; however, trying new activities or sustaining longstanding passions can be refreshing.
Student Organizations
- Club Sports Club Sports supports a wide variety of recreation activities ranging from skill instruction to intercollegiate contests from the local to the national club level.
- Council on Student Organizations (COSO) COSO manages most of Dartmouth’s undergraduate student organizations and covers a wide variety of interests from pre-professional to performance, and more.
- Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) DOC oversees dozens of clubs focused on outdoor activities and opportunities.
- Greek Life and Student Societies (GLASS) GLASS includes Greek-letter organizations, Greek honor societies, undergraduate societies, and senior societies.
Tucker Center Tucker Center is home to spiritual and religious student organizations
Leadership Opportunities
In addition to leadership opportunities within student organizations, there are a number of ways to get involved in leadership opportunities through to Dartmouth traditions, elected positions, employment, and more.
- Student Life Across Dartmouth The Office of Student Life maintains a list of leadership opportunities across campus. Through these leadership roles, students can help shape the Dartmouth community and culture.
- Collis Center and Student Involvement Opportunities with Collis and Student Involvement include Collis Governing Board, Collis Managers, Programming Board, Class Councils, and many large traditional events like Winter Carnival and Green Key Weekend
- Dartmouth Student Government (DSG) The official student government at Dartmouth includes elected positions that span all class years.
Undergraduate students are automatically added to Dartmouth Groups and the Campus Events Listserv. Check out either of these resources to find out what’s happening around campus or to discover new opportunities.
Additionally, many centers and departments across campus have electronic newsletters (e-newsletters) where they publicize upcoming events. If you want to deepen your connection with people who share those interests, consider signing up for those e-newsletters or following those entities on other channels they may maintain, such as social media.
Graduate and Professional Students
Studying in an advanced degree program can bring new or additional stresses related to academic pressures, cultural or geographic adjustment, relationship or family concerns, difficulties in dealing with faculty, and/or social isolation. Joining an organization can help you find a friend or group of people who you enjoy being with, who can help you stay motivated, and with whom you can share your concerns and challenges.
- Geisel Events Calendar. Find out what’s happening in the Geisel community at large, and which events you may want to attend.
- Geisel Student Events Calendar. Any Geisel student event is listed on this calendar.
- Geisel News. These features are a way to stay up-to-date on the happenings at Geisel
- Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement. The Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement (DICE) is responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing Geisel’s diversity programs and executing its mission of promoting unity and respect within its community.
- Student Organizations. Build connections with peers and deepen your professional connections by joining one or more student organizations.
Guarini Students can make use of the following resources:
- Dartmouth Postdoc Community Resources. Resources relevant to postdocs, including the Postdoc Buddy Program.
- Diversity Groups. Learn about ways to connect with fellow first-generation, LGBTQIA+, veteran, and women students, and about resources for students with disabilities that support inclusion
- Family and Partner Resources. Information to support the partners and family of Guarini graduate students, especially for building social connections and support.
- Graduate Student Council and graduate student organizations
- Guarini Grad Dialogue Programs. Connect with members of the Guarini community through coffee or tea breaks, campus walks, and other experiences.
Use the following communications to stay informed:
- Guarini Newsletter: Find out what’s happening in the Guarini community at large, and which events you may want to attend.
- Guarini Slack Channel. Find wellness events open to Guarini graduate students and postdocs.
Student Groups and Councils – Joining a student council, student group, and/or professional organization can support you in developing friendships, professional networks, and leadership skills. If you don’t see a student group aligned to your interests, learn more about how to establish an officially recognized student group.
Tuck has numerous clubs that can support you in developing friendships, professional networks, and leadership skills.