After having had 230 first-year classes walk through the hallowed halls of Dartmouth, upholding a slew of traditions has become a tradition in itself. And as luck would have it for the incoming class, many of these traditions center around the freshmen to welcome them into the community.
Technically, the very first tradition is the freshman issue of The Dartmouth. Attentive readers will know exactly what to expect upon their matriculation, from a translation of the most current Dartmouth lingo to, of course, a complete encyclopedia of the traditions.
From the moment the freshmen arrive on campus, they are in one way no longer freshmen. This is because they become "'shmen," the traditional name for first-year students, as opposed to the nickname "frosh" used at many other institutions of higher learning.
Most of the freshmen will also become "trippees" upon reaching Hanover if they choose to partake in a Dartmouth Outing Club orientation trip. A trippee is specifically what freshmen call the people who were on their excursion groups.
Trippees often become good friends of one another, having been bonded after four days in the woods without showers and other proper plumbing necessities.
The wildly successful DOC orientation program was inaugurated in 1937, and now about 90 percent of the incoming students participate annually. They can pick from a number of activities, including canoeing, kayaking, horseback riding, fly fishing, organic farming, mountain climbing, mountain biking and the ever-popular hiking.
The "Hanover Crew" sends everyone off after Salty Dog Rag dance lessons and a musical performance spoofing themes of safety and what to expect in the great outdoors. The "Lodge Crew" is waiting for the happy campers at Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, where the freshmen spend their last night enjoying Mt. Moosilauke and Salty Dog Ragging at the square dance.
Coincidentally, the orientation trips lead right into orientation week, during which time the incoming students take placement exams, meet their advisers, become acclimated to the College and find out what their fellow 1,100-odd classmates are like.
Toward the middle of Fall term, the most elaborate tradition yet takes place during Homecoming weekend. The central focus is the bonfire, a 61-tier structure built in the middle of the Green every year by the freshman class and ignited on Dartmouth Night.
The tradition dates back to 1888, when Dartmouth celebrated a baseball victory over Manchester. The first organized bonfire was put together in 1893 after the football team defeated Amherst College.
For awhile, the students just burned whatever was handy, sometimes fences and once even a farmer's barn. The resulting infernos were not always well received by the town of Hanover.
The Class of 1904 added the dimension of running around the bonfire to the tradition. Why they decided to jog around the flaming structure is unknown, but now freshmen are encouraged to run around it the number of times associated with their year of graduation.
Most of the Class of 2000 chose to make 100 circles as opposed to zero, and the class of 2004 will be expected to make 104 laps.
However, as the fire grows, the heat intensity pushes the crowds further and further back. Actually running 104 times around the resulting circle would amount to running 13 miles -- a likely reason why many freshmen quit after a few laps.
The class of 1970 decided they needed a tier for each year of their class, so they made their bonfire 70 tiers high. Each successive class followed suit, until the 1980s when the town of Hanover felt the bonfire was becoming dangerously high.
Thus, the town limited its height to 61 tiers.
In the past, upperclassmen used to try to sabotage the bonfire construction in the middle of the night, and freshmen had to guard their masterpiece in shifts.
In 1992, this particularly twist to the tradition was outlawed after 600 students stormed the Green with baseball bats and hockey sticks. Dean of the College Lee Pelton did not cancel the bonfire, but building restrictions were imposed.
All future bonfires were only allowed to be built on Thursday and Friday, from morning until dusk, to avoid destruction by rowdy fraternities after Wednesday night meetings. Safety and Security also were assigned to patrol the site Thursday night and during its ignition.
The Freshmen Sweep tradition was introduced to Dartmouth Night in 1993. Beginning at the River cluster, freshman "sweep" past all the residence halls, collecting their fellow classmates until they end up on Main Street, at the end of the Homecoming parade of alumni, and head for the bonfire.
Because of the violent, stampede-like nature of the first sweeps, the College limited them to 30 minutes.
Finally, during the Saturday Homecoming game, freshmen can uphold the tradition of "rushing" the field at halftime, though it has been banned by the College since 1986. Rushing the field involves running from the home side of the stands, across the football field, and up the visitor's side.
The daring ones who make the attempt are usually apprehended by the police -- who are all too familiar with the tradition -- and slapped with a $100 to $500 fine and three terms of probation.
Two members of the class of 2003 rushed the field at the Harvard game at Harvard. Unaware of the tradition, the Harvard security officers could not act fast enough to arrest the jubilant freshmen.
While rushing the field continues to exist as a freshman tradition, there are a few traditions that are no longer practiced. Upperclassmen used to make the freshmen wear brightly colored caps, called beanies, but the tradition has since fallen into disuse.
The Indian mascot was also revoked, and the alma mater "Men of Dartmouth" was changed when the College became coeducational.
