By most accounts, the newest members of Dartmouth's community do not quite know what to expect this weekend. The class of 2007 has heard vague mutterings about the bonfire, the parties and rushing the field, but details are apparently scarce.
"I asked upperclassmen, and they just said something about crazy parties and running around the fire. And touching it," Jeewon Kim '07 said.
The now-forbidden yet long-standing tradition of touching the fire never seems to lose its appeal for freshmen each fall. And as Don Daniels '06 attests, solemn consequences can ensue.
"I decided that I needed to touch the fire," Daniels said. "And I did."
As he was running away after his momentous feat, Daniels said he was tackled from behind, handcuffed and led away to a police mini-station that had been set up near the Green. He was then escorted to an armored vehicle.
"I was waiting in the car and then I heard them bringing someone else in, and when the door opened I saw that it was my friend," Daniels said. "We just started laughing."
When three more students were arrested and brought in, the group was reportedly driven to the Hanover police station.
"I did push-ups in my prison cell. It was awesome," Daniels said.
Andrew Biteen '04 related a similarly scandalous story. During his freshman year, following the annual team tradition of dressing up for the bonfire, he and his fellow swimmers donned military camouflage and Speedos before taking on the Green.
"We wanted to show our support for our troops," Biteen said.
The team's toy cap-guns, however, got them arrested. They were apparently mistaken for a man from town with a paintball gun who had been shooting at freshmen.
"Just make sure your costume is absurd enough," advised Biteen. "And it's probably better not to wear the Speedo."
One thing and one thing only seems concrete in the plans of this year's freshmen.
"I expect a lot of drunken debauchery, just because it's Dartmouth. I don't know how my slight claustrophobia will adjust, though," Karen Heighes '07 said.
Although most students will probably not plan their weekend around inebriation, some first-years told The Dartmouth that besotted revelry was high on their to-do list.
"We expect to be drunk, naked and arrested before the fire is even lit," Brent Butler '07 and Ben Zimmerman '07 said.
Famous last words, indeed.
