Circled by a self-flagellating cult of persistently counterclockwise freshman, the Goddess Bonfeu revels in the warm fetal glory of her worship. Ecce Homecoming.
At certain times in our Dartmouth lives, at rare times, we are consolidated into perfectly equal beings. The Vitruvian Heorot and the lowly opinion columnists can join hands in berating the worst class ever, while said worst class ever parades in self-conscious, slightly drunken reverie. And I think that Homecoming engenders a strong sense of patriotic love, a true fraternity, which transcends the petty squabbling of quotidian undergraduate life.
In the light of the fire, everyone's skin becomes the same color. We acquire a glowing burnt sienna hue and cast off our historical and ethnic associations for something more holy. It is a thoughtless process, and yet, at a school where everyone may pride themselves on intelligence, mindless participation may be remedial.
Whereas some may demand that everyone's personal cultural identity be protected, homecoming offers a microcosm of true equality in which these vehemently defended personal identities need not be relevant to a universal appreciation of a common goal. Specific identification is divisive. For once, we prioritize "Man or Woman of Dartmouth" in a timeless celebration of belonging. This is the meaning of Homecoming; identity.
The fire will fuse the masses into a melting pot of unthinking unity. Homecoming, and homecoming alone, may be what makes us all Dartmouth students, and what makes Yale and Harvard and Princeton all beacons of heartlessness and sterility. We are the last Ivy College; the only one that cares for undergraduates so warmly, with professors that reject higher incomes for lower student faculty ratios.
Perhaps with its arrival, we can finally appreciate how we might be more conservative in regards to The College, whom we love dearly. Just how Nat King Cole will forever remain better than Nas, some things are better left untouched.
The greatest sign of the administrative emasculation of tradition is the organized rushing of the field so that everyone may participate legally. Those responsible, if you think that this grossly inclusive policy is positive, I remind you that the Lindy Hop is no longer the bee's knees.
As our Board of Trustees grows ever more powerful, as some administrators and students continue to contest free speech in the name of political correctness, as summer term may face an undeniable castration, and as we change the ways we see Dartmouth in the future, we may lose what She represents: "It is, sir, as I have said a small college, --and yet there are those who love it."
This week is not just about getting drunk and going to Kuntry Kwencher, which, noble reader, is no particularly reprehensible pursuit. However, we are obliged to maintain the traditions of dear Dartmouth for ourselves and posterity.
This is not vitriolic anti-Progressivism, but simply a nostalgic lens through which we will look longingly in the not so distant future, as alumni. With a growing desire to improve life for students, we must look at who is guiding the process. And for now, it is an administration which could care less for the actual lives of its students. It is a game of politicking and pomp, without any acknowledgement of student concerns. If consent laws applied to public policy, Dartmouth College as Woman has been bureaucratically assaulted by her rapine guardian.
The pressure of World and News Report weighs heavily on the minds of James Wright and the Board. If we don't have a well funded research program, how will we make the list? If we don't have the brightest students, how can we compete with the other Ivies? Appearance to the outside world should not truly concern those who have become Dartmouth insiders.
Perhaps the administration forgets that their concept of their Hanoverian SPQR is greatly skewed. The body over which they govern is the main demographic for reality TV shows and O.A.R. concerts. Perhaps the administration, under the glow of the fire, amidst the belligerent cacophony of the governed, will recall who they were hired to advocate for. As students, we must remember for whom we must advocate.
This is our time at an institution much greater than we, and as we take part in changing Her persona, we must evaluate the effects on the future. Before we jump to make any changes in the name of liberalism and progressive ideology, we must remember that the "we" includes all students, current, past and future.
Before we change our mascot, our Board, our alumni involvement, our sports programs, our homecoming traditions, and our love of tradition, let us remember that the most revered things are often the longest lived.
May homecoming be a reminder of our common identity and our common promise to uphold the many traditions which are not ours to pervert in the name of progress.
