Cal Shin

Inside Dartmouth's Undergraduate Societies: Amarna

50% of eligible students (sophomores, juniors, and seniors) are affiliated (that is, a part of at least one Greek organization on campus). That means the remaining 50% are unaffiliated and find community through non-Greek social spaces. One such space is an undergraduate society, of which there are two: Amarna and Panarchy. While I myself am not part of either society, I interviewed Marion Caldwell '25, who has been a member of Amarna since the fall of her junior year. 

What is Amarna? 
Amarna is a gender-inclusive, non-Greek undergraduate society. We host periodic events like Monday Night Dinner, where a member of the house will make a home-cooked dinner, and people can sign up to come and eat with us; Wine and Cheese, where we have wine, cheese, and a film playing in one of the rooms. People play board games or just hang out and chat. The sense of community you get from being part of Amarna, of having a building to come back to and call home is really meaningful. Amarna is a place where you can be yourself. It is a place where you can socialize without feeling pressured to drink or be really extroverted. It is a place where you can respect your boundaries and learn more about what you need and what you want from life and from your community. It is a place where self-expression is really encouraged. 

How can someone join Amarna? 
There is no rush process and there are no barriers to joining—besides being a sophomore or above. You simply come to the house and say, "Hello, I would like to join Amarna." You can then join Amarna. Our doors are open, and we genuinely want to welcome anyone who wants to join us. Our complete lack of a rush process makes us distinct from every single Greek institution on campus. Additionally, Amarna functions as a space where you can belong to, even if you also belong to other communities. It's not something you have to commit to, so you can be dual-affiliated within Amarna and within Greek houses. Being in Amarna isn't an exclusive identity. It's not something that you have to choose over something else. It only opens doors.

What drew you to join Amarna? 
I had friends who were joining, and I just wanted to continue to be a part of the same community, with the people that I felt closest with at Dartmouth. Additionally, there were some people that I didn't know that well, but I really did want to get to know better, who were also often at Amarna. I ended up joining at a similar time to a lot of them, including my now partner, who I did meet through Amarna. Once I was a part of Amarna, I really realized how welcoming it is. It really gave me a space to explore my identity, and it is also just a very, very lovely home base to go to. It's a really comforting space. It feels more like a home than any other space I've found on campus. 

Photo courtesy of Marion Caldwell '25.

What does being a member of Amarna involve on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis? 
It's actually super laid-back for the most part. If you want to cook for a Monday Night Dinner, you can sign up for that once or twice a term, and you might run on a shopping trip and cook for an evening. We have weekly meetings, but when I say that the meetings end up being 50% intro questions, I'm not exaggerating. I don't have any positions in Amarna, and it's extremely laid back. There are really no expectations. Even once you remember, there aren't really membership requirements. There are dues, but they're on a sliding scale based on what you can pay. Most of my involvement with Amarna has mainly to do with showing up to events, having a good time, and being welcoming to visitors to the house. But in terms of concrete responsibilities, it's very flexible, especially if you don't hold a leadership position, such as President,  Treasurer, Social chair, Alumni Relations, or House Manager.

What is the residential aspect of Amarna like? 
There are around 20 members, and the house has 12 beds. I lived in Amarna my senior fall, and I plan on staying there until I graduate. It's a little bit farther away from the rest of campus, which isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I like actually having to walk away from campus occasionally. I feel like that's good for my mental health. And it's a really, really cozy house. There is a living room area, a dining room, and a kitchen, and then there are dorms on the top two floors. There's always someone in the living room doing homework or watching TV. So it's really easy to find someone to hang out with.

What distinguishes Amarna from other residential communities at Dartmouth (e.g., residential halls and Living Learning Communities)?
Residential halls and Living Learning Communities are not student-run. Amarna is a community by the students, for the students. We are a little more self-directed. We still have the perks of having Residential Operations do our maintenance because our building is college-owned, but our organization is student-run. 

What is your favorite memory from your time at Amarna? 
It recently came to light that one of our members had never seen the TV show Gravity Falls, and we have a lot of Gravity Falls fans in the house. So over finals, whenever people were free, whenever people weren't studying, or whenever people needed a steady break, we'd all gather in the living room and binge-watch Gravity Falls. We watched the entire show in the course of a week. We'd finish our work for the day, we'd all just gather, and we would watch cartoons together until midnight. The living room was packed with people eating cookies, drinking apple cider, and watching cartoons. That's the sense of family and belonging that means the most to me in Amarna. 

How has being inAmarna shaped your Dartmouth experience? 
Being in Amarna has introduced me to a lot of other people, especially people outside of my graduating class, that I simply don't think I would have ever run into otherwise, and those people have made my life so much better in so many ways. As you move through Dartmouth, your social groups grow and evolve. Before Amarna, my social circle was a little too insular, and I don't think it would have sustained me very well throughout my junior and senior years. Having this inter-class community of people whose main similarities are that they want to be there and that they want to have healthy, friendly relationships, gave me a place to land. At Amarna, I can rest, recharge, and feel safe. 

What is something about Amarna that most people may not know? 
Phil Lord, who is best known for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Lego Movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, was a member of Amarna. Christopher Miller was not an Amarna member but was a friend of Amarna. In our dining room, we have paintings of each of them. We don't know who made the paintings, but they're there.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.