Hanover
Hanover police said nobody was arrested at the bonfire on Friday night, and none of the hundreds of students and alumni at the annual event tried to climb over a security fence and touch the massive bonfire.
“I thought from the changes that Dartmouth made to the homecoming event, it went well,” said Hanover Police Chief Charlie Dennis. “The concerns they addressed worked, and I think it went off very well.”
Dartmouth Safety and Security officials also said there were no incidents at the bonfire.
“The evening was a success. We are pleased to have been able to mark a special occasion while honoring our traditions with the Dartmouth and Upper Valley community,” Dartmouth spokeswoman Diana Lawrence said.
Hanover officials in May said they would not issue a permit for the bonfire unless several safety changes were made, warning that the student tradition of trying to touch the bonfire was one of the major concerns.
Fencing with a gate around the bonfire this year made it impossible for students to circle around the bonfire more than once — first-year students traditionally have run around it a number of times to match their class year — and an 8-foot chainlink fence guarded by security officials also dissuaded students from rushing the bonfire, though it had also been in place last year.
Dennis said other activities offered on the Dartmouth Green, including an entertainment tent and speeches, gave attendees more to do.
“No one tried to scale the fence,” Dennis said. “I think with the different activities they had, the entertainment and food … it made the event fun for all involved.”
It was a marked contrast from prior years. Three students were charged with disorderly conduct in 2017 for attempting to touch the fire, and one was charged in 2016, though more than 50 people tried to rush the fire that year, police have said.
Dennis said only one Dartmouth student was cited all of homecoming weekend, an underage student cited with unlawful possession of alcohol and intoxication around 1 a.m. on Saturday, hours after the bonfire event had ended.
While authorities hailed the event as a success, at last one sophomore mocked the first-year students in the class of 2022, writing on a satiric Facebook page popular with Dartmouth students, “22s fail to touch the fire (not even once), officially declared worst class ever.”
News staff writer John Gregg can be reached at jgregg@vnews.com.