From the moment first-year students step on campus, they become part of a world of friends, academics, countless activities and, of course, traditions.
With 229 years worth of tradition to offer, the College gives its students more than their share of rituals -- from the moment they arrive in Hanover for their Dartmouth Outing Club trips until the day they graduate on the Green.
Although some traditions -- such as the Dartmouth Indian and the former alma mater "Men of Dartmouth" -- have gone the way of political correctness and coeducation, traditions are still a big part of life at the College, especially for newcomers to our institution.
In fact, one of the most prevalent traditions will determine how you are greeted at Dartmouth -- as a 'shmen.
At the College, freshmen are commonly referred to as 'shmen. Other related terminology has sprung up, including referring to a large group of freshmen as a 'shmob and calling the Green Book, your freshmen facebook, a 'shmenu.
DOC freshman trips
Even before freshmen matriculate to the College, they partake in an event that has welcomed incoming students for 60 years -- the DOC freshman trips.
This fall, if you signed up for a trip, and over 90 percent of students do, you will spend three days in the wilderness as a "trippee."
DOC trips began in 1937 as a group of informal hiking trips taken before classes began.
The DOC trips are widely regarded as one of the College's most successful orientation activities.
Admittedly, not taking a shower for several days is not exactly what most students consider making an ideal first impression. But the bonds that come from four days of trekking through the wilderness, down a river, up a mountain or in any of the DOC's eight trip selections are stronger than the stench of hundreds of unbathed and weary freshmen.
Hiking is the most popular trip, but new members of the Dartmouth community can choose between canoeing, climbing, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, kayaking, mountain biking and organic farming.
All trips will end at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge where the bedraggled first-years will feast -- hikers are especially hungry after three days of cous-cous -- and celebrate with a night of revelry trippees will not soon forget.
Dartmouth Night
The most impressive freshman tradition, and probably the most "traditional" tradition, is the towering 60-foot bonfire built by freshmen for Homecoming Weekend.
The bonfire tradition dates back to 1888, following a baseball victory over Manchester, N.H. The first organized bonfire took place in 1893 when students celebrated a football victory over Amherst College.
For many years after that, bonfires were built after football victories using anything flammable in Hanover, including fence posts.
Today, the building process is a little more organized. Bonfires are carefully constructed by freshmen as a celebration of Dartmouth Night, the annual gathering of students and alumni to listen to speeches in front of Dartmouth Hall and see the bonfire burn.
The tradition of running around the bonfire started in 1904. Each year, freshmen are urged to run around the bonfire the number of times corresponding to their year. For example, the Class of 1997 ran around the bonfire 97 times while the Class of 1999 ran around 99 times.
Two years ago, some members of the Class of 2000 went for 100 laps around the bonfire while others aimed for the admirable goal of zero.
Freshmen used to begin building the bonfire several days before the big weekend. Traditionally, upperclassmen would attempt to sabotage the structure during the night while freshmen stood guard.
On a fateful Wednesday night in 1992, that tradition turned violent when approximately 600 students stormed the structure.
The Hanover Police reported a full-fledged riot on the Green with students wielding baseball bats and hockey sticks.
Dean of the College Lee Pelton suspended construction of the bonfire for a full day, and although the bonfire proceeded as scheduled that year, the brawl of 1992 had a lasting effect on the bonfire tradition.
Since then, the bonfire wood has been delivered later, giving students fewer days for construction. Also, the bonfire is no longer guarded by freshmen at night, as all construction must cease at dusk and be abandoned until the next morning.
The Freshman Sweep
After the new restrictions on bonfire-building were imposed in 1993, the College invented a new tradition: the Freshman Sweep.
During the event, freshmen parade from residence hall to residence hall collecting fellow class members until the class is united marching through the campus and town and eventually down Main Street to the Green before the bonfire is lit.
The first sweep in 1993 was almost the last, thanks to the destructive freshmen in the Class of 1997.
Much to the alarm of townspeople and the College, the class had a wild stampede through the town, trampling cars and uprooting street signs in the process.
A picture in The Dartmouth from Homecoming Weekend in 1993 shows a member of the Class of 1997 running around the bonfire brandishing a stop sign.
After 1993, the College limited the time allotted for the sweep to 30 minutes and provided more careful guidance and organization to the march.
To Rush the field?
A third freshman "tradition" surrounding Homecoming Weekend involves the annual challenge to freshmen to rush the football field during half-time of the Homecoming football game.
Each year, upperclassmen chant, "Rush the field!" and "They can't catch you all!" to encourage freshmen to jump the guarded fence and race across the center of the football field.
Banned by the College since 1986, when a mad stampede resulted in a number of injuries, field rushing has become a rather pathetic sight for spectators.
At every football game -- especially during Homecoming Weekend -- police patrol the stands with a video camera to identify offenders and several fleet-footed officers stand ready to catch potential rushers.
Those who rush the field are usually immediately arrested and face three terms of College discipline in the form of probation. Also, violators are fined $100 by the police.
Several members of the Class of 2000 rushed the field two years ago, but only two members of the Class of 2001 rushed the field last year.
Freshman beanies
One tradition that no longer exists is the humiliation and degradation of new students by forcing freshmen to wear beanies.
The freshmen beanies, later called freshman caps, were irritating little pieces of headwear emblazoned with the class numerals.
The rule of freshmen beanies was enforced very seriously by upperclassmen.
"Many Dartmouth freshmen the past few days have been displaying distinctive Indian scalp-locks," an Associated Press article stated.
In the 1950s, Dartmouth Night offered a way for freshmen to escape the annoying headgear: a tug-of-war with the sophomore class.
If freshmen were victorious, they could shed the beanies. If they failed this mission -- and upperclassmen usually banded together to ensure failure -- the beanies had to be worn until Nov. 14.
In 1963, the tug-of-war turned violent when distraught freshmen, having lost the competition, burned their beanies and stormed Thayer Dining Hall.
The Class of 1973 appears to have been the last class required to wear "freshman caps," wrote College Archivist Kenneth Cramer in 1985.
