Homecoming weekend brings alumni of all ages back to their Hanover "home" to see old friends, dorms and fraternities, as well as to spend time with current students.
"Just as you would go home for Thanksgiving," Director of Alumni Relations Nelson Armstrong said, "Homecoming is an opportunity for alumni to come home and be part of a great ceremony."
Armstrong said that while the exact number of returning alumni is unknown, there will be about 10,000 people on the Green on Friday night, and "a significant part will be alumni." He said he believes most alumni are drawn back to campus by the "pure sense of the spirit of dear old Dartmouth."
For some alumni, including Ken Wagner '77, the bonfire is the main attraction, while the football game is the highlight for others, including Art Lussi '83. Watching Dartmouth beat Harvard in a rainy-day Homecoming game with fellow alumni is a poignant memory, Lussi said.
"You have to be pretty loyal to be sitting in the stands on a miserable fall day," Lussi said.
Alumni also visit the Greek houses and dormitories where they once lived to reminisce and sometimes to join current students in partying and pong.
Wagner recalled an elderly alumnus' untimely visit to Topliff while he was an undergraduate resident. After a Friday night of drinking, Wagner's hallmate had knocked over his bookshelf, leaving the room a wreck. Early the next morning, he answered the door to an elderly alumnus who scanned the room and concluded, "Yup, just the way I left it."
Greek houses across campus enthusiastically welcome alumni visits.
Brad Tavares '05 of Alpha Theta said that most alumni who return to his house are brothers and sisters who graduated in the past 10 years, although some have been older members.
Recent College alumni, like Evan Tong '01, said they enjoy returning to the Dartmouth party scene on Homecoming weekend.
"You feel so at home when you get to Dartmouth and go to Early '80s at Sigma Nu and stuff," Tong said.
Visiting friends, the bonfire, Dartmouth spirit and the football game were the most important aspects of Homecoming weekend, according to Tong.
Younger, rowdier alumni are likely the ones involved in the alumni misconduct that Safety and Security has dealt with in past years.
College Proctor Harry Kinne said there have been some "issues with behavior" of alumni in the past. Kinne was unable to share any specific incidents, but said that alumni, like any campus visitors, have "responsibilities to keep their activity within the confines of what is acceptable and what is within the limits of the law."
In addition to the football game and bonfire, Alumni Relations has a packed schedule of activities for alumni.
On Friday night, alumni are invited to march with other members of their class in a parade. On Saturday and Sunday, they are invited to many other sporting events, as well as a visit to the Baker Bell Tower and a family gathering at Top of the Hop.
Spouses and children of alumni reportedly also enjoy the bonfire and atmosphere of Dartmouth. Lussi said his wife and children enjoy hiking around Storrs Pond and trick-or-treating during Homecoming visits.
Wagner identified the bonfire as a highlight for his kids. He recalled an earlier Homecoming during which his young sons, one of whom is now a '06, ran around the bonfire with the freshmen, miraculously without being trampled.
Different aspects of Homecoming attract different generations of alumni and their families. According to Wagner, "it means different things to different people -- I wouldn't call it nostalgia so much, but a very enjoyable reminiscence."