Dartmouth Hall

Baker Memorial Library

Baker Tower

Over Columbus Day Weekend I went on a trip north to Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH to meet family who wanted to visit during the time off. Dartmouth students had recently arrived on campus in September after a well-deserved summer break, and I followed the action by breaking out my camera and photographing a couple of my favorite buildings near the green.

Columbus Day Weekend is only a couple of weeks before Dartmouth Night. Every October prior to Homecoming, Dartmouth holds a tradition kept since 1895 called Dartmouth Night, which includes a parade, speeches, bonfire, and the next day, several athletic events. While the College held its first organized bonfire in 1893 after a football victory over Amherst, freshmen did not begin running around the fire until 1904.

As the tradition stands today, first-year students must run around the bonfire with their classmates however many times as the number of years that will have passed between 1900 and the year of their graduation. For example, on Dartmouth Night during my freshman year as an ‘05, our class had to run around the bonfire 105 times before we could stop. Each year the number of laps increases by one. This year, first-year students had to run around the bonfire 113 times.

I did not get a chance to return to the college during Dartmouth Night, but I heard it was just as wild as the ones from years past. Maybe next year I’ll have to make it an effort to be there.