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The Dartmouth
July 10, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

'The Gauntlet' hopes to replace field-rushing tradition

This Homecoming weekend, the Dartmouth administration will again attempt to deter freshmen from rushing the field during halftime of the football game by offering alternative events.

Sam Hopkins, the Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing and Promotions, explained that his department's plans for this year include hosting a lunch for students in the Alumni Gym on Friday afternoon, at which pizza will be served and Dartmouth football T-shirts will be distributed. At the lunch, students may formulate cheers for performance at the game, where they will be encouraged to wear their shirts and sit together in a certain section of the stadium.

"What we're trying to do is come up with positive ways for the student body to show support...without disrupting the game or putting any other fans in danger," Hopkins said.

In a similar tactic designed to dissuade students from rushing the field during last year's game, the Marketing Department invited students to form "the Gauntlet," a tunnel through which the football team ran as they reappeared from the locker room after half time. However, the Gauntlet did not live up to Department hopes.

"We had wonderful success [with the Gauntlet] at the first home game against Colgate," Hopkins said. "When we tried to replicate that [at Homecoming], it was not successful."

Hopkins noted that if students at the luncheon wish to organize the Gauntlet, the Marketing Department would be happy to help, but as it stands no plans to reinstitute the tradition have been made.

The formation of the Gauntlet was once a staple of every home football game, but it has since fallen out of use.

Although Head Football Coach Buddy Teevens '79 hoped that the Gauntlet's re-establishment last year would reinstitute the tradition at each home football game, he has been disappointed to discover that the resurgence of the tradition "appears to be more of a one-time thing."

"We would love and certainly appreciate the support of the student body [through the creation of the Gauntlet]," he said. "If there is anything we could do to [help with its creation] we would be happy to do it."

Mike Shannon '06, a center on the football team, agreed that the Gauntlet was an excellent addition to last year's game.

"It was way cool," Shannon said of last year's Gauntlet. "[The Gauntlet] got everyone more involved in the whole Homecoming atmosphere...It's something new, but [students] used to do it back in the day, so it's also bringing the tradition back," Shannon said.

Shannon noted that, for the football team, customs like this one have more impact than the controversial tradition of rushing the field.

"I've never seen [students rush the field]," he explained, "We're always in the locker room."

Sheldon Miles '09, who participated in the Gauntlet last year, enjoyed her part in the tradition and deemed the experience "amazing". Students were clad in green, singing "Sweet Home Alabama," Miles said.

"It was [the '09s] first awesome college experience," Miles said.

Despite this, some students are disappointed to think that school-sponsored spirit events, like the Gauntlet and Friday's upcoming lunch, might take the place of rushing the field as the quintessential freshman Homecoming game tradition.

"Obviously the whole point is for the freshmen to do something [that will cause] anarchy," Andy Wells '10 said.

Taylor Holt '09, who chose to rush the field rather than participate in the Gauntlet at last year's game, believes that this year, freshmen are less likely to rush the field.

"Sadly, I think a lot fewer '10s will rush," he said. "There's not a lot of pressure on them."

Holt wished that this was not the case.

"It's kind of sad. Traditions are a big part of Dartmouth... You feel like you're preserving something."