Tag Archives: Bonfire

Freshmen Sweep

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  1. Freshmen Sweep
  2. Informant Data: Monique Walters is an 18-year-old, female, freshman student who attends Dartmouth College. She was born in Long Island, New York, and she now resides in Hanover, New Hampshire during the school year.
  3. Type of lore: Customary; Genre: Ritual
  4. Language: English
  5. Country of Origin: US
  6. Contextual Data: Monique Walters attends Dartmouth College, and was part of the freshman sweep herself her freshman year.
  7. Item: Every year during homecoming, the first year students are swept up from their dorms by upperclassmen and brought to the bonfire on the Green as a complete class. The freshmen sweep moves dorm to dorm in a predetermined route.
  9. Informant’s comments: It is a fun ritual.
  10. Collector’s comments: Dartmouth students want to encourage the first year students’ participation in the ritual as much as possible. This is one way to ensure they show up and continue the rituals. This ritual also is another bonding experience for all the classes. While the freshmen are being swept up, the alumni walk around The Green with banners that have their class year on it and upperclassmen surround the bonfire awaiting the first year students. Freshman walk over feeling as if this community is strange, and once they are incorporated through the bonfire ritual then they can join the Dartmouth community.
  11. Ritual, freshmen sweep, bonfire

Running Around the Fire

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  1. Running Around the Fire
  2. Informant Data: Ayana Whitmal is a 20-year-old, female, sophomore (’18) who attends Dartmouth College. She was born in Amherst Massachusetts, and she now resides in Hanover, New Hampshire during the school year.
  3. Type of lore: Customary; Genre: Ritual
  4. Language: English
  5. Country of Origin: US
  6. Contextual Data: Ayana Whitmal attends Dartmouth College and has experienced this ritual herself.
  7. Item: Every year during homecoming, the school puts together a massive bonfire in the middle of their outside common space: The Green. The freshmen class runs around the bonfire 100 times plus their class year. Often, however, freshmen will decide to do a different number of laps, such as two digits of their class year. The freshmen will run around in a cordoned off area. The general student body can participate as well; most of the students cheer and yell at the freshmen as they run. Also, every year, alumni and anyone who was ever a part of the Dartmouth community have the option of attending the bonfire. However, the ritual of running around the bonfire is primarily designated for the freshman class.

  8. Link to drone video of tradition

  9. N/A
  10. Informant’s comments: People, particularly freshmen, go through it in order to gain an experience or knowledge that everyone else in the community already has
  11. Collector’s comments: This ritual is significant because it is a way for the Dartmouth community to incorporate the freshmen into their world. It is something that bonds the community together even more than the acceptance letters that all incoming Dartmouth students receive. The ritual is a way for the Dartmouth community to impart their own meaning on what it means to be accepted into the community.
  12. Ritual, Bonfire