It's a Dartmouth tradition that dates back over a century. While most freshmen enjoy running around the bonfire, this tradition has come under fire (no pun intended) in recent years.
A giant mass of freshmen running circles around a colossal bonfire amidst a fair amount of heckling by their older peers seems to fit the Greek Letter Organization and Societies' definition of hazing.
According to the 2012-2013 GLOS handbook, hazing is defined as an action or situation involving new members of a group contingent on their membership in the group that would be perceived by a rational person as likely to produce discomfort, harm, stress or embarrassment. Furthermore, the handbook states, it does not matter whether or not the participants participate in the activity voluntarily. It's hazing nonetheless.
In my conversations about the bonfire, I have never spoken with someone who has felt humiliated or harmed from their experience running with their class. Of course, you will need immediate medical treatment for those third-degree burns you'll sustain if you touch the fire.
While the bonfire ritual itself is not a hazing activity, the way many students choose to interpret the situation can lead to harmful behavior said Aine Donovan, director of the Ethics Institute. The GLOS handbook probably goes a little too far erring on the side of caution in its definition of hazing.
"The intention behind it is a really good oneit kicks off the fall season, past classes are back," Donovan said. "The bad part is upperclassmen can go off the tipping point of doing something really stupid like encouraging them to do something that's harmful."
The danger of rituals surface when people have to prove themselves to be part of a community. However, this is a phenomenon that is rampant in all institutions and students need to have more active roles in shaping campus life.
"Our students really respond positively to dialogue and we don't have enough opportunity for that," she said.
Jamie Choi '15 expressed nostalgia over running around the fire amidst friendly jeering from older students.
"I still laugh when I think about the upperclassmen who ran after me for an entire lap begging me to touch the fire," Choi said.
While some people believe that the heckling counters the welcoming atmosphere the community should create, many students seem to be taking these concerns into consideration, Choi said.
"I noticed last year that there were significantly more students with supportive signs, cheering on the freshmen," she said.While the College should not condone unreasonable or cruel activities, GLOS's definition of hazing is too rigid, Choi said.
"Some of the practices defined as hazing, and therefore technically banned, are activities that a group of friends might decide to do on their own in order to get to know each other better or to foster group bonding," Choi said.
The bonfire is different than hazing because it is a tradition and rite of passage to represent your class rather than an initation into the school, Tori Dewey '16 said.
"There is no punishment or social stigma attached to not participating," Dewey said. "I had a great Homecoming and did not run around the bonfire."
The bonfire is the first time freshmen can see the strength of the Dartmouth community because it is one of the few events that almost the entire student body as well as a large number of alumni attend, Dewey said.
"Being an athlete the first year this rule [new hazing sanction] was instituted, I was disappointed," Dewey said. "Obviously people do not want to look stupid, but dressing up is a fun tradition and lets athletes bond as a grade on the team and show their pride for their team."
The bonfire is a tradition embraced by most of the Dartmouth community. There seems to be a flaw in the GLOS rules that this mostly harmless tradition would fall under GLOS's definition of hazing.
"The administration is having an identity crisistradition or political correctness," Xander Greer '16 said. GLOS director Wes Schaub did not respond to requests for comment.
