On Oct. 3, the 138-year bonfire tradition returned to the Green for the College’s 2026 Homecoming. Last year’s bonfire was replaced with a lightshow in response to a severe drought and state-wide burn ban.
Hanover Police chief James Martin reported zero arrests for the weekend. Dartmouth Safety and Security associate director Thomas O’Donnell Jr. reported six Good Samaritan cases from Friday night to Sunday morning.
Several organizations — including the Hanover Police Department, New Hampshire State Police, Dartmouth Emergency Medical Services and New Hampshire State Police’s K-9 Unit — coordinated community safety efforts during what Martin said was one of “the most successful Homecomings from a safety perspective” in his six years managing the celebration.
Cooperation among law enforcement agencies “plays a vital role” in ensuring student safety, Martin said. “It’s really a team effort.”
He also credited HPD’s zero arrests to “the planning, the safety briefings and the collaboration with Dartmouth student organizations in advance.” HPD held five preventative meetings with “partner organizations at Dartmouth” including Greek life chapters, providing safety guidance that was “well received by student leadership” and “taken back to their respective organizations.”
HPD received five calls from Dartmouth community members, according to an email statement from HPD’s Communications Center. Hanover Fire Department chief Michael Gilbert wrote in an email to The Dartmouth that the department responded to 14 fire and medical calls over the weekend that were “most likely College-related.”
Jim Rager ’71, who has attended the 15 most recent Homecoming weekends, said his experience of Dartmouth’s bonfire tradition as a student was “a little bit riskier” than the bonfires today.
“In those days … there were no fire trucks around, nor any fences,” Rager said. “The freshman class circled the bonfire, as they still do.”
Ethan Guo ’29 said most of his classmates were “pretty disappointed last year” because a lightshow “doesn’t compare” to a fire.
However, the execution of the bonfire impressed both Guo and Class of 2030 Council member Clare Peng ’30, who said she enjoyed taking photos of the bonfire and “being part of Dartmouth tradition.”
John Burnett ’71, another alumnus who has attended “dozens” of Homecomings since graduating from the College, said this weekend was “more than Homecoming — it was coming home.”
“Everybody’s feeling courteous and friendly,” Burnett said. “It’s just a good experience.”
Burnett and Rager’s alumni class sponsors initiatives providing “annual support” for current undergraduate students pursuing internships in domestic policy at the Nelson D. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, according to the Class of 1971 webpage.
“Every homecoming on the Friday evening before the parade, we gather at the Zimmerman Lounge,” Rager said. “This year, we had a young woman from the Rockefeller Center tell us what [she’s] up to with her internship, and we always appreciate that. It’s an important way for us to stay grounded with what’s going on at the school.”
Bonfire chair Ethan Sides ’30 said he enjoyed “getting the class together” and facilitating Homecoming events, including s’mores-making and building the bonfire structure.
“This year, there was a much tighter timeline because Homecoming in past years usually isn’t until late October,” Sides said. “We were meeting at least two to three times per week to get stuff together.”
Bonfire chair Vanna Lei ’30 said it was “surreal” to be part of the Homecoming experience.
“There’s so much spirit and energy, and there’s people around us screaming, ‘Touch the fire, touch the fire’” Lei said. “I loved just being able to be involved in the tradition itself.”
Rager said he also appreciates being able to “get a feel for what’s going on at the school” during Homecoming rather than learn about campus online.
“I talk to a lot of my classmates during those couple of days,” Rager said. “It’s an opportunity not to go just through digital communications, but to really see what kind of energy there is.”
For alumni, Homecoming “continue[s] to cultivate a love for the college,” Burnett said.
“Homecoming is more than Dartmouth,” Burnett said. “It’s the town. It’s the season. It’s the present.”
