Homecoming weekend is known not only for sporting events and visiting alumni, but also for traditional upperclassmen taunts to freshmen of "Touch the fire!" and "Rush the field!"
First-year students are goaded each year by upperclassmen to touch the bonfire on Dartmouth Night and rush the field at halftime during the weekend's big football game. These traditions have a long history at the College, and, in past years, a few freshmen have taken up these challenges.
Alex Duckles '11 is one of the students who "touched the fire" during his freshman Homecoming in 2007. Duckles is a member of The Dartmouth staff.
Duckles said he decided to "touch the fire" before arriving on campus for freshman year. Over the summer, he was inspired by an editorial that appeared in the Freshman Issue of The Dartmouth. The editorial discussed the importance of the traditions surrounding Homecoming. During his 35th lap around the fire, Duckles said he saw a gap where the caution tape had broken and Hanover police officers were scarce. He sprinted through the hole and reached out to touch a beam of the bonfire.
While Duckles was not injured in his attempt, he faced disciplinary consequences which involved "a couple terms on probation" and a citation of disorderly conduct from the Hanover police, he said.
"There were negligible physical consequences, so I was lucky in that respect," he said. "It was a really, really stupid decision, but I don't regret it."
For other students, however, these traditions can have more dangerous consequences. Nikolay Korotkov '12 was walking with friends back to his dormitory at the end of the night when they decided to warm up by the remaining embers of the bonfire.
"My situation was largely unintentional," he said. "I fell backwards into the fire and I had to roll out of it."
Unlike Duckles, Korotkov faced severe burn injuries on his hands and arms and eventually had to be transferred from the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center to a burn unit in Boston. Korotkov was not punished by the College because his situation was "technically an accident," he said.
"At the time it didn't seem like it was worth it, but now that I'm OK, I'd say that I learned a lot from it, so hopefully others can too," he said of the experience.
The less dangerous tradition of rushing the football field has garnered significant attention from the College administration during recent years. Freshman field-rushing dates back to the 1950s, when first-year students would march to the center of the field during halftime and form their class number. The administration officially banned the practice in 1986 after two spectators were injured by students during the 1985 season.
"Rushing the field puts the team at risk of getting a penalty and the [students] in danger," Keiselim Montas, interim director of Safety and Security, said.
In 2007, the College invited members of the freshman class to participate in a safe, organized rush during halftime. The College-sponsored field-rush was "an effort to allow the freshman to rush the field and follow the traditions of Dartmouth without interfering with the flow of the game," Sam Hopkins, associate athletic director for marketing and promotions at the College, said. This year, however, there will be no College-approved field-rush.
"It hasn't been as successful as we'd like so we're not going to be sponsoring one this year," Hopkins said. "There just wasn't enough participation."
Some students said that by sponsoring the field-rush, the College removed the aspect of rebellion from the tradition.
"The whole point was to defy authority, to just run out there and be a freshman," Korotkov said. "When the College institutionalizes a tradition like this, it loses its point."
As in previous years, the Hanover Police and Safety and Security will be on the lookout for freshmen looking to join the ranks of Duckles and Korotkov in upholding these time-honored Homecoming traditions.
"We aren't taking any extraordinary measures," Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone said. "There will be a contingent around the bonfire to make sure there are no injuries."
Officers will also be present at the Homecoming football game.
Montas said he thought that the number of students attempting these stunts has been decreasing in , though he still wishes that students would refrain altogether.
"I wish that students would demonstrate their intelligence, their smarts and potential, and refrain from doing something very dangerous," Montas said.
Some students perceive touching the fire and rushing the field as ways to make a mark early in their Dartmouth careers.
Korotkov said that both traditions are "a test of your individuality against the crowd."
Breaking school policies, however, may not be the best way to distinguish oneself during the first few weeks of school, according to Montas.
