We know who the ear-budded, YouTubing, Bluetooth-seeking denizens of the Dartmouth campus are. They’re Millennials, demographer-speak for anyone born since 1981. But what makes them tick? What do they want out of life? What do they think?

To find out, we asked them. In an online student survey conducted by DAM, we posed more than 50 questions about their attitudes, politics, sex lives, study habits and more. We also conducted interviews with another 85 students, some of whom appear on these pages.

The answers indicate a well-connected student body. “Our generation is best defined by the concept of a cell phone,” says Zhiqian “Chen” Li ’14 of Birmingham, Alabama. “It’s the constant connection to other people that defines how we operate.” They’re also full of motivation and optimism. “Our generation is defined by ambition—the drive, desire and confidence to change the world for the better,” says Trevelyan “Trevy” Wing ’13 of Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Although illuminating, the interviews and anonymous survey results are not definitive, and it would be a mistake to read too much into them. Our approach wasn’t overly scientific: Interview candidates were enticed with free food, and the survey was e-mailed—with help from Student Assembly—to the undergraduate student body in mid-October and garnered a 10-percent response rate.

In many ways, the students of today are just like those who crisscrossed the Green in decades past. They come to college to learn, and while in Hanover they come of age. But according to the formidable research conducted by the Pew Research Center, Millennials are more liberal, more diverse, less religious and more educated than those who’ve come before them. Today’s student body fits the bill, and although our look at Dartmouth students circa 2011 is but a snapshot, we hope you find it a revealing one.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW PDF OF THE SURVEY