While the looming wooden rail architecture of today's Homecoming bonfire was carefully blueprinted by the Thayer School of Engineering in the 1970s, the original bonfire in 1888 consisted of nothing more than stray combustible materials, including mattresses and a rusty car bumper. Since then, many traditions surrounding Dartmouth Night and Homecoming have evolved, but those that have endured unite students and alumni each fall during a weekend of celebrations, including the signature bonfire and football game.
The Homecoming weekend is rooted in Dartmouth Night, which College President William Jewett Tucker founded in 1895 as a way to "perpetuate the Dartmouth spirit and to capitalize the history of the college," saying it would "promote class spirit and would initiate freshmen into the community."
Student body president Adrian Ferrari '14 said he looks forward to Homecoming because it is "something that all the students can unite around." Dartmouth Night originated as a celebration of the accomplishments of College alumni, and historically begins with a speech by the president.
While Homecoming celebrations were not officially sanctioned by the College until the inception of Dartmouth Night in 1895, the tradition of building bonfires began in 1888 in celebration of the baseball team's victory over Manchester College.
In 1907, the freshman class took over construction of the bonfire, a tradition that endures to this day. For over 100 years, an additional tier was added to the bonfire with every incoming class until the College administration capped the height for the Class of 1990. In 1984, the town of Hanover passed an ordinance limiting the bonfire to a height of 60 feet due to safety concerns. The tradition of running around the bonfire, however, did not begin until 1904, when Winston Churchill and the sixth Earl of Dartmouth William Legge visited the College on Dartmouth Night. The Class of 1908 first paraded around town and around the bonfire in only their pajamas, heralding the tradition as it exists today.
The freshman class traditionally runs around the bonfire a total of 100 times plus their class year. This year, the Class of 2017 will run up to 117 laps around the bonfire.
The inauguration of Memorial Field in 1923 introduced football rallies and games to Dartmouth Night celebrations, and football games became an official part of the night in 1946.
Amidst rising tensions within the student body over the Vietnam War, Dartmouth Night was canceled from 1969 to 1973.
In 1988, Dartmouth Night was officially renamed Homecoming Night now the most highly anticipated weekend of the fall and a defining memory for freshmen.
While the freshman class builds and runs around the bonfire, attempted sabotage by upperclassmen has been ingrained in Dartmouth tradition for nearly as long.
Alumni Association president John Daukas '84 said the students used to build the bonfire themselves, making the stacks as high as their class his class had 84 tiers. For safety reasons, this tradition has ended. Upperclassmen, however, still heckle freshmen running around the bonfire, encouraging freshmen to "touch the fire." Every year, a handful of freshmen attempt to break through the barriers of caution tape and Safety and Security officers in order to touch the blaze, usually leading to arrest.
Upperclassmen also pester freshmen to "rush the field" during the Homecoming football game, another illegal tradition discouraged by the College administration and Hanover Police.
When asked about the value of current students and alumni convening for Homecoming weekend, Daukas said, "We are all part of the same family now." He compared the weekend to Thanksgiving, when a bunch of different generations come together and share their love in the case of Homecoming weekend, it is the classes' love for Dartmouth.
