The bonfire has always been a highlight of the weekend, according to Peter Prims '77.
"The one thing that always stands out for me is the bonfire," Prims said. "That's the thing that I always think about when I think back on Homecoming."
Instead of engaging in the current tradition of running laps around the bonfire, Prims said that students in his day were intent on getting as close to the flame as possible.
Jacqueline Ackerman '77 said that College students and members of the Hanover community have always been excited for the Homecoming bonfire.
"I remember that I was overwhelmed by the spectacle of the huge bonfire and the gigantic crowd that covered the Green from end to end, making it seem like all of Hanover was there," Ackerman said.
Although the bonfire was among his favorite memories, Richard Wenzel '71 also recalls the Homecoming football game as a high point of the weekend.
"We would have 10,000 people jamming into the stadium, and the streets would be filled with cars," Wenzel said. "Just walking over to the game was always very exciting."
On the way over to the game, students would often visit a craft fair in front of the Hopkins Center, where vendors would hand out hot apple cider, according to Ackerman. The football game was especially exciting in years when the College was playing Harvard University because the entire student body would come out to the game dressed in green class shirts, ready to cheer on the team, she said.
While most students tried to get close to the flames of the bonfire or cheered on the football team, Brett Krantz '85 spent his Homecoming weekends performing in the alumni parade at the bonfire and football game as part of the Dartmouth College Marching Band. The 100-member marching band would usually hold practice on Saturday morning before the games, according to Krantz.
"During practice, we would always march through the fraternities and sororities playing Dartmouth songs because we figured that if we had to be up early, so did everyone else," Krantz said.
Alumni said that students always looked forward to parties and socializing during Homecoming weekend.
"Every fraternity had a party," Wenzel said. "Dorm life was also pretty big back then since most floors stayed together as a unit for three to four years, so dorms would also have parties in their common rooms."
Wenzel said that there was almost always a concert during big weekends when he was at the College. During one of his Homecoming weekends, the College brought Simon and Garfunkel to campus, which was especially exciting, according to Wenzel.
Although big weekends such as Homecoming provided many positive memories, Ackerman said that as members of the second coeducational class at the College, she and her female classmates felt an anti-coeducation sentiment among alumni and the mostly male student body.
"The campus was flooded with women from all-female colleges looking to meet Dartmouth men," Ackerman said.
Ackerman said that during one of her Homecoming weekends, a fraternity sang a derogatory song titled "Our Cohogs." The dean of the College then gave an award to that fraternity as part of a singing contest, which was even more offensive than the song, according to Ackerman.
"I recall being appalled at his extreme insensitivity at that moment," she said.
Prims agreed that the transition to coeducation was "very bumpy" and "made for some awkwardness at parties."
Many alumni said that although they participated in Homecoming for all four years, the excitement was never the same as it was their first year. Unlike in high school, where Homecoming was marked by a parade with class floats, at Dartmouth, the experience was "new and exotic," according to Prims.
Other alumni said that Homecoming weekend grew increasingly important over the course of their four years at the College.
"By senior year, the weekend is much more meaningful because you think it is the last one," Wenzel said.
For most alumni, the memories of Homecoming do not stop the year they graduate. Many spoke of fond memories from Homecomings they attended as alumni.
As a returning alumnus, one gains a better appreciation for how the weekend brings together undergraduates, alumni, faculty and staff, according to Prims.
"The green light calling alumni back home is a wonderful image," he said.
