Twenty-two years after its prohibition, the infamous chariot race may finally return to Dartmouth this summer. At a Tuesday night meeting of the committee to plan the tentatively-named Fieldstock, campus representatives, largely members of the Greek system, took steps to resurrect the Green Key tradition at the new summer event.
"It's something that will get Greek houses involved and still have the competitive aspect they did with the rafts at Tubestock," Sophomore Class Council President Tess Reeder '08 said.
The chariot race was a staple of Green Key weekend for nearly twenty years. In the style of "Ben Hur," fraternity members would pull homemade chariots, driven by other, lighter members, around the Green three times while onlookers plastered the combatants with eggs, water balloons and beer.
"The corners provided a special challenge, and like the hairpin turns of the ancient Roman Circus, there were collisions and spills. Some poorly-rigged vehicles simply fell apart during the race," classics Professor Roger Ulrich '77 said. "The race was a pretty raucous affair, and it was certainly dangerous. Many of the participants were quite inebriated, as were many of the spectators."
"I suspect that given these developments, it was not a difficult decision to end the annual chariot races," he said, referring to their replacement with the short-lived Greek games in 1984.
Safety remains an issue for Fieldstock, currently scheduled for August 12 at the BEMA, and though it is too early in the development of the event to know whether the chariot race is actually feasible, Reeder says that early talks with the College's Office of Integrated Risk Management and Insurance have been optimistic.
"Our main focus is asking, what are the concerns based on what's happened in the past, and making sure that it's done in a way that eliminates any danger to the folks who are either riding in or pulling the chariots," Class Council Advisor for Student Activities Amy Newcomb said.
Since Spring term, Reeder has been responsible for organizing and leading the meetings to replace Tubestock. Members of the Class Council, representatives of the Greek system and several administrators have attended the meetings.
Reeder praised the administration for its overall cooperation in planning the event.
"This is sort of touching all bases of the administration because they've all been very supportive in trying to form some kind of sophomore summer tradition," she said.
