Freshmen rush field, touch fire

By Gavin Huang, The Dartmouth Staff

Published on Monday, November 1, 2010

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At least three students touched the bonfire and five students rushed the football field during Homecoming weekend, according to multiple students interviewed by The Dartmouth. Aside from the incidents at the bonfire and football game, arrest numbers over this year’s Homecoming weekend were “pretty average,” according to Harry Kinne, director of Safety and Security and College proctor.

“I’d say it was the same number of both arrests and offenses in general,” he said.

The events of the weekend were a return to traditional Dartmouth Homecoming behavior, after no students touched the fire or rushed the field last year, The Dartmouth previously reported.

Although Hanover Police arrested “several” individuals for intoxication before the Ke$ha concert on Oct. 25, the number of incidents and the number of Good Samaritan calls made over Homecoming weekend were similar to past years, Kinne said.

Two students were arrested on Friday night for touching the bonfire, according to Kinne. One of the students, Molly Stifler ’14, was charged with a disorderly conduct violation and fined $40, Stifler said in an interview.

Another student, Patton Lowenstein ’14, received a warning from a Safety and Security officer after touching the bonfire, Lowenstein said. Lowenstein was the last student to touch the bonfire, he said.

“I made it clear [to the officer] that I was sober and apologetic, so he let me off,” Lowenstein said. “Honestly, [touching the fire] wasn’t the best part of my night. The best part of the night was finishing 114 laps with my friend.”

Lowenstein is a staff photographer for The Dartmouth.

The students who touched the bonfire on Friday night did not sustain any serious injuries. In 2008, two students were hospitalized for burns caused by touching the embers of the Homecoming bonfire, The Dartmouth reported previously.

A third student, who wished to remain anonymous to avoid legal ramifications, touched the fire earlier but was able to elude law enforcement officials, according to the student.

2014 Class Council President Sebastian DeLuca ’14, along with four other members of his class — Mene Ukueberuwa ‘14, Freddie Fletcher ’14, Jay Dumanian ’14 and Reed Wommack ’14 — rushed the field on Saturday during the Homecoming football game and stole a “D” sign from the Harvard University cheerleading team. Soon after, a member of Harvard’s marching band attempted to take the sign back, DeLuca said.

“We figured it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we took the opportunity,” DeLuca said.

Following a struggle between DeLuca, another Dartmouth student and the Harvard marching band member, an athletics security officer told the students to return the sign, DeLuca said. The students complied, but a second attempt was made by another Dartmouth student to steal the sign.

The student was taken into custody by Hanover Police and charged with attempted theft.

DeLuca said the game’s atmosphere motivated him and his friends to rush the field.

“The team was down, and the moment just felt right,” he said. “We saw the sign that the Harvard cheerleaders were holding, and we knew we just had to take the ‘D.’”