Homecoming is considered one of the definitive College events for a Dartmouth student to experience. From the bonfire to the football face-off against Yale, from the multitude of parties to the Freshman Sweep, Dartmouth spirit seems to come alive during Dartmouth Night and the following weekend.
Many alumni return to attend the events of the weekend and to watch the freshman class race around the bonfire.
The Homecoming football game is one of the most highly attended sporting events of the season, Deputy Director of Athletics Robert Ceplikas said.
Derek Chau '99 said Dartmouth "has a lot of tradition and people are really into that."
Chau said he was particularly looking forward to "watching us kill" Yale at the Homecoming game.
Kate Demling '99 said Homecoming was "just a big party," but "there's a lot of school spirit about the weekend."
Demling said as a freshman she ran around the bonfire "when everyone started and did not stop until the bonfire was out."
"I think I ran around it 99 times, but probably just as many as were possible in those two hours."
Emily Atkinson '99 said she did not make it 99 times around the bonfire last year.
"Maybe 10," she said. "You lose track, too."
Atkinson said she thought the weekend was mostly for the freshmen and the alumni who return.
"For upperclassmen, it's more of a party thing than the spirit thing," she said. "Last year, it seemed like our weekend."
Karen Anderson '99 said students visiting her from Middlebury College last year could not believe the events of Homecoming.
"They were amazed that there were such upheld traditions," she said. "I remember thinking, as a freshman, what a great place it was that upheld these traditions."
Anderson said her friends could not believe that the Homecoming traditions were supported by the College.
"They couldn't believe that [the bonfire] was going on on the Green, and they were actually going to burn that tower of wood the next day," she said. "They were amazed that went on. It really impressed me, too."
Anderson said the school seems the same as always at the start of the week, but the weekend seems to start once alumni begin trickling in towards the end of the week.
Daniel Paik '00 said he is excited for Homecoming to begin and plans to help construct this year's bonfire.
"It is definitely the bonding experience with the Class of 2000 and the tradition of the bonfire and everyone getting so excited about the game," he said. "I don't know if I'm going to run the 100 times [around the bonfire] or not, but I will definitely make one trip around."
Kelly Fender '00 said she would run around the bonfire "until I fall over."
"There is definitely a lot of tradition that is obviously still important to the students," she said.
Fender said she is planning to attend the Homecoming game and will probably help with the bonfire.
Erin Dornan '00 also said she was excited to be a part of the Dartmouth Night traditions.
Dornan said despite the amount of work she had to finish, she hoped to help build the bonfire.
"I don't know how many times all of us are going to run around, trying to touch the fire and everything else, but everyone is really into it," she said. "That's all I've heard about for the past few weeks."
"I'm going to try to run around it 100 times, although I'll be running around the outside," she said.
"The whole school is together and it is a really big and fun night," Dornan said. "Everyone is just so excited to be out together and taking part of the tradition together."
John Coleman '98 said Dartmouth is probably more spirited than most other schools.
"We have the running around the bonfire [and] the alumni coming up," he said giving examples.
"Everybody is psyched to just leave their work and just go the football game, the bonfire or party," Coleman said.
Alexander Buck '98, a transfer student from the University of Colorado, said he found Dartmouth attendance at home games this year "kind of pitiful."
"The games at the University of Colorado were so large that when you get that many people together, it becomes almost a riot," he said. "There is a lot of school spirit [in Colorado]. Probably about 65 percent of the school goes to those games."
However, Buck said the University of Colorado did not have a Homecoming like Dartmouth Night.
"It is much different," he said. "We had, I guess, a football game they called the Homecoming game, but it wasn't anything big, just another game."
"I've heard about the Homecoming here, and it sounds incredible," he said.
Demetrius Brunson '98 said Dartmouth was "extremely spirited" and "deeply rooted in tradition."
Brunson said Homecoming held different appeal for students and alumni.
"For students, it is the chance to party," he said. "That's what it seemed like in the last couple of years. For alumni, it is ... the football game more than anything."
Brunson said the one thing that seems to tie all the students and alumni together was the bonfire.
"I think [the alumni] like it, they don't get into it as much as the students, but if there is one thing that brings them together it is the bonfire," he said.
Brunson said he could not resist the appeal of the bonfire his freshman year -- despite warnings from his doctor.
"I wasn't supposed to [run around the bonfire] because I had a broken shoulder," he said. "I thought I ran around it 98 times. I touched it too ... with my good arm."
