Rushing the field: a tradition that should not be preserved?
Homecoming weekend is a weekend of traditions, including building the bonfire, the freshman sweep and the Homecoming parade. But one Homecoming tradition the College does not wish to preserve is "rushing the field." There are two sides to this debate: College administrators feel rushing is dangerous and they have been trying to eliminate the practice for safety reasons, while students believe rushing the field, whether or not it is sanctioned by the College, is a display of spirit and enthusiasm for Dartmouth and its traditions. A Brief History The debate on rushing the field elicits such passionate reactions from so many people, that it seems surprising that the practice, in its current form, has only existed for about 15 years. A precursor to rushing the field began in the early 1950s, when members of the freshman class would pour onto the field during half-time of football games and form their class numeral in the middle of the field. This tradition continued with the approval of the College until the late 1970s, when things began to attract the attention of administrators. While forming the class numeral on the field, some students began to get rowdy and linger on the field longer than they were supposed to. A New Tradition The actions of the then-freshman Class of 1984 forever changed the face of the numeral-forming tradition. Until 1980, the freshman class sat in the East stands of Memorial Field with the fans of the visiting team.