Dartmouth College traditions
The traditions of Dartmouth College, an American Ivy League college in Hanover, New Hampshire, are deeply entrenched in the student life of the institution and are well known nationally.[1][2][3][4][5] Dartmouth's website counts the college's "special traditions" among its "essential elements",[6] and in his inauguration address, former College president James E. Wright said that the school is "a place that is marked by strong traditions".[7] Some of these traditions remain supported by the administration, while others are officially discouraged.
First-Year Trips[edit]
Established in 1935 to promote interest in the Dartmouth Outing Club, First-Year Trips is one of the largest pre-orientation programs in the country, involving over 90 percent of students in each incoming class. "Trips" has evolved significantly since its creation, becoming steadily more popular and intricate. During the 1960s, under the support of Dartmouth President John Sloan Dickey, the College renovated the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, made the Lodge the final destination for all Trips, and brought participation up to two-thirds of the incoming class.
Today, Trips takes place in the two weeks prior to the standard orientation week, and involves a three-night, four-day trip of hiking, kayaking, canoeing, biking, rock climbing, organic farming, nature photography, among other activities, culminating in a tradition-filled night spent at the College-owned Moosilauke Ravine Lodge. Run entirely by current students, these trips feature crews on campus and at the Lodge who welcome the incoming students and teach many of the traditional College dances, songs, and legends. Between six and ten incoming students are led by two current students on their trip. Trips is designed to welcome the incoming students to the college and to introduce them to various campus traditions. Up to one-third of the eligible current students apply to be a trip leader or a support crew.
The First-Year Trips program incorporates many traditions, including a screening of the 1937 ski film Schlitz on Mt. Washington[37] and the singing of the "Alma Mater" and the dancing of the Salty Dog Rag to a song of the same name by Red Foley (mp3). (The Salty Dog Rag, which is a traditional American dance, was brought to Dartmouth by Mary Heller '76, who learned it when she attended The Putney School.[38]
Commencement[edit]
Dartmouth's annual Commencement or graduation ceremony is its oldest tradition, dating to 1771. It has been held in some form each year since then, which makes it the oldest continuously-held commencement in the U.S. (the six institutions that have held more such ceremonies all were disrupted during the American Revolution). Except for a rare move to a rain location and the period from about 1932 to 1952, when Commencement took place in the Bema, the ceremony has always been held on the Green or in one of the spaces adjacent to it.
Commencement begins with the Class of 1879 Trumpeters playing fanfares from Baker Tower. Then the bells begin to ring. The graduating class walks in a procession up East Wheelock Street to the Green, where for more than 100 years they have formed a gantlet through which the faculty pass on their way to the front of the ceremony. A faculty member brings the Dartmouth Cup, a large piece of eighteenth-century silver given by Lord Dartmouth in 1969. The 50th Reunion Class is honored, and each student crosses the dignitaries' platform at the reading of his or her name to receive a diploma.
Class Day[edit]
The day before Commencement, the seniors walk in procession to the Bema, a natural amphitheater in College Park. After a humorous history of the class and other speeches, the class walks up the hill to the stump of the Old Pine, where they hold a farewell ceremony. Students began conducting such ceremonies at the Old Pine in the 1830s, according to alumni of that period. For more than 140 years, the ceremony included the smoking of what were designated "peace pipes"; the offensiveness of the practice of smashing the pipes on the pine, introduced in the 1880s, caused the seniors to omit the smoking element in the early 1990s.
Dartmouth Pow-Wow[edit]
The Dartmouth Pow-Wow has been an annual spring celebration since 1973, organized by the student group Native Americans at Dartmouth. The two-day gathering is marked by traditional dancing, crafts, music and art.[39] The Pow-Wow draws 1,500 people to Hanover each year, and is the second largest event of its kind in the Northeast.[40]
