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The Dartmouth
August 15, 2026
The Dartmouth
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A Unified Community

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Given the recent discussions on campus about reviving the Indian symbol, I thought it might be helpful to share with the newer members of our community a statement former Dean of the Tucker Foundation Warner Traynham made regarding the Indian symbol.




News

Editors' Note

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Tonight, as the Class of 2000 takes its turns around the bonfire on the Green, they will be thinking many things, but the least of their worries will be where they are. But after the parties have discharged their last disoriented stragglers, and the bonfire is reduced a few smoldering beams, each Dartmouth student, faculty member and alumnus will have created a personal memory of this year's Homecoming. For the members of the class of 2000, it will be their first, and probably their most powerful, Homecoming experience.


News

Examing the anatomy of a bonfire

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Crawling over a sixty-tier wooden tower, members of the Class of 2000 will have worked for two days on the Homecoming bonfire by the time it is set ablaze tonight. The structure, which looms over the Green, has come under restrictions in recent years. Ken Jones, the assistant athletic director who has overseen bonfire construction since the 1970s, said the restrictions are primarily for safety. The structure is made up of a 33-tier six-pointed star base which closes in to a 22-tier hexagon and tapers to a 7-tier square with class numerals on top, he said. The College regulates the shape and height of the bonfire and supervises its construction. Jones said the supervision of the bonfire creation was originally the responsibility of the First Year Office, but a former athletic director later accepted the responsibility. The shape of the bonfire structure may have originated in the Thayer School of Engineering, Jones said. "The structure of the bonfire is chosen for stability and is determined by the size and shape of the beams used," Engineering Professor Francis Kennedy said. "The goal was to build something tall without nails that can hold fill inside," he said.




News

CUAD seeks return of Indian

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The Conservative Union at Dartmouth passed a resolution Monday night to back the Indian as the College's mascot in the name of tradition. CUAD passed its resolution with a 28-0 vote and two abstentions, according to a CUAD press release. Michael New '97, chairman of CUAD, said the resolution was passed in response to the recently instituted web survey requesting student suggestions for a new mascot for the College. "If it weren't for the survey, we wouldn't have brought the issue up," New said.


News

'00 class officers named

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The 2000 Class Council last night elected Peter Cataldo as its president when it elected its officers for the rest of the year. Catalado beat 10 other students for the office of class president.



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College to honor coeducation

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The College has planned several activities to commemorate the 25th anniversary of coeducation at the College and to encourage the Dartmouth community to reflect on changes at the College over the past 25 years. "I think the anniversary is the perfect opportunity to assess where [the College] has been and where we are now and begin to envision where we want to go next," Women's Resource Center Director Giavanna Munafo said. Munafo, who is chairing the 25th Anniversary of Coeducation Commemoration Committee, said she hopes the commemoration activities will also help the Dartmouth community look at the College has changed over the last quarter century. "One of the things we have been stressing is that this is not only the 25th anniversary [of coeducation]," Munafo said.


News

Fraternity rush numbers released

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Fall rush provided the fraternity system with 29 more new members than last year, but pledge class sizes varied widely among the houses. According to numbers the Interfraternity Council released yesterday, 229 men joined houses this fall compared to last fall's 200. "All in all, I think we accomplished our goal as the IFC to increase the numbers of people who participated in the fraternity rush process," said Mike Armstrong '97, president of the Interfraternity Council. He said he thought "the distribution of the IFC Rush booklet and IFC helped increase awareness." But the size of the pledge classes of the 14 houses that held formal rush this term ranged from 31 to four . Alpha Delta and Chi Heorot fraternities each had 31 men sink bids.


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Caplan defends affirmative action

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Lincoln Caplan, senior writer for US News & World Report and one of America's leading observers of legal and public affairs, defended affirmative action last night in a speech titled "A Pragmatist's Case for Affirmative Action." Caplan spoke before more than 50 people in the Rockefeller Center. "Affirmative action was born of a national sense of duty," Caplan said.



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Freshman members get intro to Assembly

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Recently elected freshmen representatives gathered with upperclass members at last night's Student Assembly meeting, the first such meeting after the implementation of last week's attendance resolution. The meeting was dedicated primarily to introducing the freshmen to the Student Assembly. The Assembly also discussed student service projects. Campus phones were placed in all dormitory lounges and student phone books produced by DarTalk are now available at Collis Center, said Dominic LaValle '99, vice president of student affairs. Student Advantage discount cards were distributed to every student through Hinman mail, LaValle said. In addition to the distribution of Mugshots, the upperclass students facebook, to freshmen, copies will be sold in lobby of Thayer Dining Hall starting tonight, said Assembly President Jon Heavey '97. Other service plans include a local dining guide for students and subsidized bus transportation to Boston and New York City for students during the Thanksgiving break, Heavey said. The faculty relations committee is working on placing a student representative on the Board of Trustees, said Meredith Epstein '97, chair of the committee. Lunches with faculty members organized by the committee are open to all interested students, Epstein said. The academic affairs committee will be meeting with the and Associate Dean of Faculty George Wolford this week to discuss the professor tenure process, the non-recording option and the current situation of the Latino Studies and Korean Studies programs, said Sarah Cho '97, chair of the committee. The Assembly has plans to organize an Ivy League blood drive, Heavey said. Although there is a separate mascot committee, the Assembly will help coordinate the recently announced search for a new mascot project, Vice President of Communications Jonah Sonnenborn '99 said.



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NOW VP decries radical right

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Vice President of the National Organization for Women Rosemary Dempsey outlined the history of the women's movement since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in a speech last night, placing strong emphasis on the continued need for support today against the "ungodly radical right." Speaking to a crowd of about 30 women and five men, Dempsey delivered a speech titled "A Woman's Place is in the House (And the Senate)" held in the Rockefeller Center. Dempsey opened with a short video that briefly summarized the methods employed by NOW to put more women in Congress and enact legislation.


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Bonfire construction will start tomorrow

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Beginning tomorrow morning, industrious freshmen will be scrambling around the Green to have the Homecoming bonfire ready by nightfall on Friday. Prior to the lighting of the 62-tier bonfire, members of the Class of 2000 will sweep the streets of Hanover and gather on the Green.


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Sororities release rush numbers

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While more women rushed sororities this year, fewer women actually accepted bids at houses. More than 266 women rushed this term compared to 220 women last year, but just over 160 women accepted bids to join houses.