One hundred and thirteen years of Dartmouth pride and tradition will once again take center stage on the Green this Friday. Homecoming, originally dubbed "Dartmouth Night," is recognized by both the College's current student body and a world-wide network of loyal alumni as a time to re-establish their ties to the College on the Hill.
"The past stands for itself and has meaning for each one of us," Edward Gude '59 said in his Dartmouth Night Remarks 50 years ago. "This tradition has a strong influence on both the present and the future."
President Emeritus William Jewett Tucker first introduced the Dartmouth Night tradition in 1895 to welcome each new academic year with pride.
"Loyalty and affection for the College were instilled in the students," The Dartmouth reported in its 1895 coverage of the first Dartmouth Night. "No one present went away without a sympathetic appreciation of what worth college education possesses."
The College has used Dartmouth Night as an opportunity for dedication celebrations several times. Lord Dartmouth and Winston Churchill visited campus in 1904 to attend a Dartmouth Night held in the lord's honor. The two guests were welcomed to campus with a large bonfire and a host of speeches.
Lord Dartmouth addressed the student body, making references to the warmth of the community and his welcoming reception on campus.
"When you recall the events of the last two days, do not think of me as one who has received an honorary degree, but as one of the boys," he said.
The Night celebrated the newly constructed Webster Hall in 1907. President Tucker designated the Hall as a place "to preserve the honorable and inspiring traditions of the College ... to quicken within us the sense of a common inheritance and a common duty."
While Dartmouth Night originated as a formal celebration of campus spirit and values, the occasion quickly evolved to include a livelier and more spirited attitude.
The senior class, led by the College's marching band, celebrated Dartmouth Night in 1914 by parading for the first time around campus to Webster Hall.
Dartmouth Night celebrations were combined with a football rally preceding a Columbia University game in 1946. Two years later, in anticipation of a home game against Colgate University, the Manchester N.H. Union reported a raucous celebration where "the band blared, the bells rang, and the torches burned," adding that "there were cheers, songs, and speeches."
As the tone of Dartmouth Night changed, however, not all were pleased with the result.
"In recent years Dartmouth Night here has been limited by its celebration on the campus in connection with the rally before a home football game," President emeritus John Dickey wrote in a letter to the administration in 1952, adding that he hoped to "revive the greater meaning of Dartmouth Night."
As the focus and attitude of Dartmouth Night made its transition, local newspapers reporting on events of Dartmouth's Homecoming weekend remarked on the College's apparent efforts to balance formal speeches and school celebration.
"Dartmouth Night this evening was being celebrated by more than just a cheering throng of undergraduates in Hanover," the Manchester N.H. Union reported in 1948. "College alumni all over the nation and throughout the world are meeting to re-establish spiritual ties lest, as the late President Tucker once put it, 'The old traditions fail.'"
Recent years have seen students and alumni embracing the more informal tone of Dartmouth Night celebrations. J. B. Daukas '84, president of the Dartmouth alumni council, remembered the cohesive effect that Dartmouth's Homecoming weekend had on many students during his time as an undergraduate.
"People would sing Dartmouth songs around [the bonfire] late at night," he said. "Between fraternities, people would stop by to hang out and warm up."
Ellie Loughlin '89 remembered Dartmouth Night as a landmark event from which students were rarely absent.
"Dartmouth Night was the biggest night of the year because Homecoming was a time when it's all about Dartmouth," she said. "It's your first time, especially as freshmen, united as a class. You wore your '89 shirt and ran around the bonfire in circles."
As most members of Dartmouth's current student body sport similar class shirts around campus this fall, alumni recognize Homecoming weekend as a constant of the Dartmouth experience.
"The traditions of Dartmouth Night have remained unchanged," Loughlin said. "So many traditions of Dartmouth have gone away, but this one remains."
Several alumni said the attitude of community helps to make Homecoming weekend one of their most popular reunion occasions.
"Every weekend is for students. Homecoming is for alumni," Bob Barr '73, a 20-year resident of Hanover, said.
College organizations across the country celebrate Dartmouth Night as well.
"Alumni clubs everywhere in the country gather and send telegrams to Hanover," The Dartmouth reported in 1955.
Rick Silverman '81 is one of countless alums who has returned to campus over multiple Homecoming weekends since his graduation.
"It's always a fun thing to run into people you'd known from classes above and below you," he said. "Just being out in front of Dartmouth Hall, all lit up, the bonfire's going and the Glee Club is singing. It's a good place."
Some alumni take Homecoming weekend as an opportunity to share their Dartmouth experience with family.
"I brought my daughter [to Homecoming] when she was six weeks old," Daukas said. "I've gone back quite a bit and I've had friends come back from Texas and Florida just for Dartmouth Night. It's a great way to get people back up to campus."
Barr also said he has regularly returned for Homecoming weekends.
"Back when I was at school, we had bonfires for every home game," he said. "That was a way to show spirit."
Construction of the Homecoming bonfire, however, has always been the responsibility of the freshman class, Barr said.
"To make them, we used to get old railroad ties," he said. "It was a terrible environmental nightmare, but that's what we did."
Despite its misadventures and variations over the years, Homecoming and its traditions continue as part of one of Dartmouth's most animated and anticipated fall weekends.
"There's a lot of stuff that people think you wouldn't do because it was hokey," Daukas said, remembering the celebration of his Homecoming weekends as a Dartmouth student. "Putting your arms around each others' shoulders and swaying and singing. You didn't feel funny or self-conscious. You were all doing it together. This thing will last you your whole life."
