Over 90 years ago, a Dartmouth student named Fred Harris '11 believed that little Hanover, surrounded by mountains and blanketed by snow, could be a place where once a year the country flocked to. Harris, who also founded the Dartmouth Outing Club, knew what made Dartmouth special. It was the land, the people, the spirit of the school.
Winter Carnival may not be all that it used to be. The towering sculptures and ice villages are gone. Some would say the non-stop partying has cooled down. Busloads of women from New York will not be visiting. Nor will F. Scott Fitzgerald.
No matter. What makes Dartmouth special still remains. Some traditions have fallen away and some have been added. What matters is that the students, those who create Dartmouth at each moment, have remained. This weekend, we remember again why we came and what will remain within us.
