Tag Archives: Bonfire

Walking Around Bonfire on Homecoming Weekend (Nick Hepburn)

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General Information about the item:

Title: Walking around the Bonfire on Homecoming Weekend

Form of Folklore: Customary/Ritual (Freshman Tradition)

Language: English

Place of Origin: Hanover, NH, United States

Informant: JG

Date Collected: November 11th, 2021

Informant Data: JG is a 20 year old freshman at Dartmouth College. She is originally from Boston, MA and played lacrosse at Phillips Andover. JG is older than most 25s because she decided to take a gap year last year. During her gap year she worked as a ski instructor at the Yellowstone Club in Montana. JG currently resides in Hanover, NH.

Contextual Data: 

– Social Context: Dartmouth holds true to its strong community that goes back centuries. Graduated students remain close to the College and often come back to visit on Homecoming weekend. Part of the reason that graduated students will return is to see the next generation of Dartmouth students walk around the fire and become part of  the community that the alumni so cherish. It is apparent just how many alumni come back when looking at the great amount of people that surround the outer ring of the bonfire. 

– Cultural Context:  Dartmouth prides itself on its long standing traditions and tries to uphold these traditions to the best of its ability. The bonfire has been a staple in these traditions and is one that is most looked forward to by the freshmen class. Walking around the fire resembles the students entering the Dartmouth community and it promotes cohesion among the freshmen class as they walk around the fire together. 

Item: Every year on homecoming weekend, a bonfire is built at the center of the Green on Dartmouth’s campus. The bonfire is lit at night and the freshman class gathers and walks around the fire while alumni and other students cheer them on. 

Associated File (courtesy of Dartmouth College, The Dartmouth):

Homecoming Marks Dartmouth's Birthday, Rekindles Friendships | Greek Life and Societies

Transcript:

Collector: “Why did (or didn’t) you take part in the homecoming bonfire? What made it worth taking part in?”

Informant: “I think a lot of us here are drawn to Dartmouth because we want to be part of a school that has a deep sense of tradition/history — at least I know that was one of the biggest pulls for me to apply here. The persistence of traditions like the homecoming bonfire are demonstrations of how fiercely spirited/attached Dartmouth students and alumni are to this school – getting to be a part of these traditions feels kind of like the first step in really becoming and bonding with that tight-knit network which is the Dartmouth community. During the bonfire, I was really able to see this come to life. As I walked one circle around the fire, I was able to see the faces of so many older students and alumni standing around the outer ring. It was comforting to know that they all came to show support for my class as we begin our years at Dartmouth ”

Collected by:

Nick Hepburn 20

Hampton, NH

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS 013

Running Around the Bonfire (Homecoming Weekend)

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General Information:
Title: Running Around the Bonfire
Form of Folklore: Customary, bonfire festival
Language: English
Place of Origin: Hanover, NH, United States
Informant: H.A.
Date Collected: November 1st, 2021

Informant Data: 
H.A. is a 21-year-old member of the Dartmouth class of 2022. He studies neuroscience and wants to be on the cutting edge of mental health research, eventually pursuing a PhD. He was born in San Francisco, but moved to Washington DC in 2004. At Dartmouth, H.A. is the co-founder of the recently approved Dartmouth Undergraduate Psychedelic Society, and otherwise pursues neuroscience research with mice. In his free-time, H.A. enjoys reading scientific articles, listening to scientific podcasts, cooking, and spending time with friends. 

Contextual Data: 
– Social Context: Every term Dartmouth has a ‘big weekend’ of celebrations, and in the fall this is ‘Homecoming Weekend’. While many instantiations of traditions are aimed at the freshmen during this weekend, the whole weekend stands as a yearly tradition for all students and a lot of alumni who will come back and visit for the weekend. The weekend features Dartmouth’s football team playing the ‘homecoming game’, and the school organizes parades, speeches, and a large bonfire that all alumni and students gather around. The bonfire itself is used as part of a freshman-specific tradition every year, where the freshmen class walks a lap around the fire in front of the audience. It is the first ‘big weekend’ that freshmen get to experience, and because they typically hear a lot about it from upperclassmen they often look very forward to it.
– Cultural Context: The bonfire, specifically, features a freshman specific tradition where the whole class walks a lap around the bonfire. Typically, they are heckled by upperclassmen who are watching the bonfire lap, and these upperclassmen were again heckled by their seniors when they were freshmen. Notably, Henry is a member of the class of 2022, the first class to participate in this tradition after Dartmouth updated the safety restrictions surrounding the event. The class of 2022 was the first class who was prohibited from running their lap around the fire and were instructed to only walk one lap. Past classes were both allowed to run around the fire, and they ran the same number of laps as their class year. The bonfire lap is a once-in-a-Dartmouth-career experience, and because all students have participated once it stands as a well cemented and anticipated tradition every year. 

Item: 
The homecoming bonfire is organized by the College, and it is built in the middle of the Dartmouth Green. The wooden panels are decorated by various student organizations, who send their freshmen members to paint a panel. The top of the wooden structure is decorated by wooden numerals of the graduating year of the freshmen. Surrounding the bonfire is a large audience of current students and alumni. While the fire burns on the Friday of homecoming, the freshman walk a lap around the fire and are heckled by upperclassmen. Various traditional heckles are yelled, like “you are the worst class ever” and “touch the fire”. The latter emerged a few years ago, when the school took strict action to ensure that students didn’t run close to the fire. 

Associated File:

Image courtesy of Dartmouth, the Dartmouth Review

Transcript: 
Collector: “What is your attitude towards Homecoming Weekend and the Bonfire tradition?” 

Informant: “I really enjoyed the bonfire tradition and generally thought it was a lot of fun. But I had heard a lot about the bonfire tradition from upperclassmen and I learned that we [the class of 2022] were the first class who only were allowed to walk one lap around the bonfire, instead of the traditional running the number of laps of your class year which all the students before us had done. I learned the school implemented this measure for safety reasons, but it sucked having to be the first class to experience it. It felt like a rupture in the lineage of Dartmouth student experiences that is passed down from one class to the next. To be on the other edge of that tradition break was an odd position and I was left always wondering what it would be like to run 22 laps and what I missed out on. I felt that I was getting a different experience than all the students who preceded me and had gotten the Dartmouth experience.”

Collector Comment:
As a fellow class of 2022, I felt very similarly about being the first class ever to only walk one lap around the bonfire. I remember a lot of upperclassmen commenting on how we were ‘missing out’ and ‘not getting the real experience’, and it made me feel slightly isolated from the Dartmouth experience, especially as this was my first term at Dartmouth.

Collected By:
Una Westvold
Oslo, Norway
Hanover, NH
Dartmouth College
RUSS 013
Fall 2021

Bonfire (Homecoming Weekend)

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General Information:
Title: Homecoming Bonfire
Form of Folklore: Customary, bonfire festival
Language: English
Place of Origin: Hanover, NH, United States
Informant: M.S.
Date Collected: October 30th, 2021

Informant Data: 
M.S. is a 19-year-old member of the Dartmouth class of 2025, the most recent class at Dartmouth. She is currently undecided on her major but wants to potentially study economics. She is from New York City and very excited to have moved to the more slow environment of New Hampshire. She enjoys to ski and is part of the apprenti class that is trying out for the Dartmouth Ski Patrol.

Contextual Data: 
– Social Context: Every term Dartmouth has a ‘big weekend’ of celebrations, and in the fall this is ‘Homecoming Weekend’. While many instantiations of traditions are aimed at the freshmen during this weekend, the whole weekend stands as a yearly tradition for all students and a lot of alumni who will come back and visit for the weekend. The weekend features Dartmouth’s football team playing the ‘homecoming game’, and the school organizes parades, speeches, and a large bonfire that all alumni and students gather around. The bonfire is used as part of a freshman-specific tradition every year. It is the first ‘big weekend’ that freshmen get to experience, and because they typically hear a lot about it from upperclassmen they often look very forward to it.
– Cultural Context: The bonfire, specifically, features a freshman specific tradition where the whole class walks a lap around the bonfire. Typically, they are heckled by upperclassmen who are watching the bonfire lap, and these upperclassmen were again heckled by their seniors when they were freshmen. The bonfire lap is a once-in-a-Dartmouth-career experience, and because all students have participated once it stands as a well cemented and anticipated tradition every year. 

Item: 
The homecoming bonfire is organized by the College, and it is built in the middle of the Dartmouth Green. The wooden panels are decorated by various student organizations, who send their freshmen members to paint a panel. The top of the wooden structure is decorated by wooden numerals of the graduating year of the freshmen. Surrounding the bonfire is a large audience of current students and alumni. While the fire burns on the Friday of homecoming, the freshman walk a lap around the fire and are heckled by upperclassmen. Various traditional heckles are yelled, like “you are the worst class ever” and “touch the fire”. The latter emerged a few years ago, when the school took strict action to ensure that students didn’t run close to the fire. 

Associated File:

Image courtesy of Dartmouth, the Dartmouth Review

Transcript: 
Collector: “Why did you take part in traditions such as the Homecoming Bonfire?” 

Informant: “I think it just makes me feel more part of the community. Also it’s very fun. Like the bonfire, a lot of my friends were joking that it’s like an initiation into the Dartmouth cult. And it kind of felt like that, it was fun. It’s like, I did it now. I’m part of that community that walks around the bonfire. Also, growing up in the city I didn’t have a football team or any homecoming big experience like a lot of my friends here did. I was just super excited to go to a football game for a school, my school, and it was just a cool way to show school pride. And the bonfire added to that, making the whole homecoming weekend into a big and special event.”

Collector Comment:
Reflecting on my own homecoming bonfire experience, I felt very similar to M.S. I felt that I had participated in an event that all students before me had as well, welcoming me into the community. Like M.S., I had never attended a school with a football team or any homecoming traditions, and the bonfire made the whole weekend feel even more special and community-oriented, beyond just school spirit for the football team. 

Collected By:
Una Westvold
Oslo, Norway
Hanover, NH
Dartmouth College
RUSS 013
Fall 2021

Bonfire

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General Information:
Informant: Braden Mullen
Place: Hanover, NH
Date: November 2, 2021
Genre/Form of folklore: Customary/Ritual
Title: “Bonfire”

Informant Data: Braden Mullen is a 19-year-old Dartmouth student who is part of the class of 2025. He is from Glenview, Illinois, but he lives on campus at Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire since the beginning of the fall term. He is a student-athlete participating on the football team and has an interest in studying economics.  

Contextual Data: Every fall term at Dartmouth there is a Homecoming celebration, which consists of parades, speeches, a bonfire, and homecoming football game. The bonfire is built on the center of the green with the freshman’s class number displayed largely at the top of the fire. The freshmen are supposed to run/walk around the fire.

Social Data: Homecoming weekend and the bonfire are intended to welcome the freshmen class to the Dartmouth community, while also providing a time for alumni to visit. When the freshmen run around the fire, the upperclassmen shout for them to “touch the fire.”

Item: The homecoming bonfire built on Dartmouth’s green with the freshmen’s class number at the top. 

Transcript: 
Collector: “What is your attitude towards Homecoming Weekend and the Bonfire tradition?”

Informant: “The bonfire was a really cool experience since it showed me how important traditions are at Dartmouth, especially since I saw so many alumni enjoying the event. It was a little weird to have both the 24 and 25 on top of the bonfire since COVID prevented the sophomores from having their chance to run around the fire.”

Collector Comment: As an older student, I really enjoy homecoming weekend since many of the recent graduates come back for the event. Although I have never seen someone attempt to touch the fire, the stories of individuals making the attempt are often reiterated during homecoming weekend. It is also interesting to hear how the tradition has evolved from alumni.

Collected by:

Carson Reich 21

Houston, TX

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS 013

Fall 2021

“Touch the Fire”

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General Information

Informant: KF

Place: Dartmouth College

Date: October 9th, 2021

Form of folklore: Customary, ritual

Title: Touch the fire” & “Worst Class Ever”

Collector: Maria Angelino

Informant Data

The informant is a female Dartmouth student-athlete in the class of 2023. She was born in California and has two younger siblings, but spends a majority of the year at school in Hanover, NH. She is a student-athlete on the pre-med track and is not affiliated with the Greek Life system. 

Contextual Data

Social Data:  Every term at Dartmouth has one big weekend of celebration, and in the fall this is “Homecoming” weekend for the incoming freshman and alumni. There are parades, speeches, and a large bonfire that the freshman class walks around. While the freshmen walk around the fire, the upperclassmen yell at them and tell them to “touch the fire”. This is one of the most well known traditions at Dartmouth that all students and alumni look forward to. At the time the folklore was collected, the informant was a junior and recorded her teammates as they passed by. A follow up interview was then conducted.

Contextual Data: Dartmouth was founded in 1769 and is one of the nine colonial colleges charted before the American revolution. Located in Hanover, New Hampshire, Dartmouth is a small, private liberal arts school and is a part of eight Ivy League institutions in the United States. The school is best known for its focus on undergraduate degrees, strong Greek life culture, and supportive alumni base. 

Item

The upperclassman taunt the freshman walking around the fire and tell them to “touch the fire”.  

Transcript: 

Collector: “Why do (or don’t) you take part in traditions such as the homecoming bonfire?”

Informant: “I love to participate in all of the homecoming events. I think the whole thing is kinda odd, but I love that about Dartmouth in general. I remember when I was a freshman and had to walk around the fire. I thought it was so weird and it kinda felt like we were in a cult, but it made me feel like Dartmouth was really my new home. I was so happy to be a part of a place where everyone was so supportive and excited to be here. My teammates and I walked around the fire while people yelled at us that we were “the worst class ever” and “touch the fire”, but it was pretty funny. We just embraced it and cheered back at them. So this year when our freshman were walking, the upperclassmen and I did the same thing to them, and they also just cheered back at us.”

Collector Comment

The bonfire tradition represents a form of the rites of passage experienced by the freshman at Dartmouth. They are separated from the rest of the classes when they walk around the fire, and the transition period happens as the upperclassmen taunt them. It is similar to a task or hazing- when the freshman completes the lap and can handle being called the “worst class ever”, they can finally be incorporated into the community of Dartmouth students.

Homecoming Bonfire

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General Information:
Informant: SH
Place: Hanover, NH
Date: October 9, 2021
Genre/Form of folklore: Customary/Ritual
Title: “Bonfire”

Informant Data: SH is an 18-year-old Dartmouth student who is a part of the class of 2025. He is from Washington State, but he lives on campus at Dartmouth in Hanover, NH for most of the year. He is a student-athlete participating on the football team and has an interest in studying economics.

Contextual Data: Every term at Dartmouth has one big weekend of celebration, and in the fall this is “Homecoming” weekend for the incoming freshman and alumni. There are parades, speeches, and a large bonfire that the freshman class walks around. While the freshmen walk around the fire, the upperclassmen yell at them and tell them to “touch the fire”. This is one of the most well-known traditions at Dartmouth that all students and alumni look forward to.

Social Data: The bonfire is a massive fire set on the green and designed to be run (or walked) around by the freshman class. Since it is during homecoming weekend, most of the campus plus many alumni surround the fire while the freshmen go around. The fire has the numbers of the graduating year of the freshmen class (24 and 25 this year because of COVID).

Item: The massive fire annually set on Dartmouth’s campus on The Green. 

Transcript: 
Collector: “What is your attitude towards Homecoming Weekend and the Bonfire tradition?”

Informant: “Homecoming was pretty cool. The fire was massive and I enjoyed feeling the heat from across the green. I did not expect it to be as large as it was. I appreciated that our class was able to make a lot of fun memories together.”

Collector Comment:
Homecoming weekend in general is a great tradition at Dartmouth. It is super cool to see all of the alumni come back and celebrate at the football game, bonfire, around campus, in their former frats/sororities, etc. Dartmouth alumni seem especially drawn to the campus after they graduate, and it is clear that homecoming weekend is a wonderful example of this.


Collected by:

Ross Parrish 20

Cincinnati, OH

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS 013

Fall 2021

Swim Team Wearing Swimsuits

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Title: Swim Team Wearing Swimsuits

Informant info: Cody Pennypacker is a member of the Class of 2018 at Dartmouth college. He is a Biology major.

Type of lore: customary, Genre: ritual

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

Social / Cultural Context: Homecoming is a major events not just to students, but to athletic teams as well.

Item: The swim team freshmen will run around the bonfire in just their swimsuits.

Associated file: See interview file

Transcript: (Beginning is somewhat garbled) -There was a kid who thought it was a good idea to have like, a handle of vodka on him when he touched the fire. Also…(pause), yeah, so apparently, uhm, I’m not on either of the teams, but uh, when the freshmen run the laps around the fire…uh, apparently the swim team has to run in their swim suits the whole way, and the track team runs all the laps that they have to do (garbled)…2018, so 118 laps around the fire, which comes out to be a lot of miles around this hot burning campfire in the middle of the night.

Informant’s comments: This is somewhat of an initiation for the members of this team. Everyone has done it and so they must do it.

Collector’s comments: We believe other teams require similar tasks.

Tags/Keywords: Swim team, Swim suits, bonfire, homecoming

Initiation, Laps, Homecoming, Bonfire,

 

Airlifted to Boston

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Title: Airlifted to Boston

Informant info: Courtney Ligh is a current member of the class of 2016. She is 21 years old and from New York, NY. On campus, she is involved in Students Fighting Hunger and her sorority.

Type of lore: Verbal, urban legend

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

Social / Cultural Context: Courtney was interviewed in her dorm. She has experienced the bonfire three times (once her freshman year and twice her junior/senior years).

Item: A student from a few years before the 16s came to Dartmouth attempted to touch the fire. The student was running too fast and could not stop themselves. They fell into the fire and got very severe burns. They needed to be airlifted straight to Boston to treat their injuries.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript (if verbal lore):

“Freshman year, a bunch of times before running around the bonfire, I heard that a few years prior: somebody touched the fire and fell in and actually had to be airlifted to Boston.”

Informant’s comments: Informant remembered hearing about this urban legend from multiple people before her freshman homecoming weekend.

Collector’s comments: Collector remembers also hearing this urban legend. This story is often told as a warning about touching the fire.

Tags/Keywords: bonfire, urban legend, airlifted

Harassing the freshmen

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Title: Harassing the freshmen

Informant info: T.S. is a current member of the class of 2018. He is 19 years old and is from Weston, Connecticut. On campus, he is involved mostly with his fraternity. He is an Engineering major.

Type of lore: Customary, pranks

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

Social / Cultural Context: T.S. was interviewed alone in the Baker Berry library. He has experienced the bonfire two times (once as an upperclassmen and once as a freshman).

Item: Every year during the homecoming bonfire, while the freshmen are running around the bonfire, the upperclassmen do their best to confuse and harass the freshmen. Upperclassmen will gather at the edge of the boundary and yell “touch the fire” or “you’re running the wrong way” or “worse class ever” at the freshmen. Some upperclassmen will run laps around the bonfire themselves while harassing the freshmen. In previous years, harassment was much worse and more physical.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Informant’s comments: Informant later added that he had been harassed as a freshmen, but felt that it was mostly in good fun. He went back sophomore year, but only stayed a few minutes because he was not having fun harassing the freshmen.

Collector’s comments: This tradition/prank is one that is not really passed down in a concrete way, but still manages to happen every year.

Tags/Keywords: bonfire, freshmen, upperclassmen, pranks

Hair Caught on Fire Story

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Title: Hair caught on fire

Informant info: Fred Kim is a member of the Class of 2017. He was born in South Korea but has lived in Seattle for most of his teenage years. He plays the flute and is very involved in music in Dartmouth. He is a member of the Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity for men. He has participated in Homecoming three times, one for each of his years at Dartmouth.

Type of lore: Urban Legend

Language: English

Country of Origin: US

Social/cultural context: Fred was interviewed in one-on-one situation and he was recorded. He has participated in the bonfire and remembers hearing of several stories about the bonfire.

Item: There is an urban legend that a girl running around the bonfire a few years ago had her hair catch on fire even though she was not that close to the fire.

Associated file: Interview audio

Transcript:

Interviewer: Fred, do you know any stories, legends, myths about Homecoming?

Fred: Yeah, um, a couple of years ago, I heard that there was a girl that was running around the bonfire and even though she wasn’t that close to the fire, her hair caught on fire. I don’t know what happened after though.

Informant’s comments: None

Collector’s comments: Fred could not remember much about Homecoming because he was not prepared to be asked such questions. Also, he was not very talkative and only spoke for a short period of time before asking to leave.

Tags/Keywords: bonfire, Homecoming, fire, hair