At least nine members of the Class of 2009 rushed the football field during halftime at the Homecoming game Saturday, according to Safety and Security officials.
The students sprinted across the field, eliciting a roar of encouragement from the crowd as they carried on an infamous Dartmouth tradition.
Kimmi Kruge '09, one of the students who rushed the field, said her decision was entirely last minute and that she had never met the students who led the charge.
"I figured if a bunch of people were doing it, it wouldn't be that scary," Kruge said. "The first time I met the kid I ran across with was in the back of the police car."
Kruge said she ran "straight into the arms of H-Po," referring to the Hanover Police.
"They weren't thrilled, but they were understanding," Kruge said of the police. "They knew we were just trying to carry on the tradition."
Chris Koppel '09, who led the charge onto the football field, said he was proud of his actions.
"I enjoyed my time in the spotlight," Koppel said. "I came home to the applause of my swim team and the countless blitzes in my inbox. It's a story I'm going to tell my grandchildren."
Of the nine students, only four were arrested and taken to the police station where officers took their fingerprints and pictures for mugshots.
"There were actually fewer than we anticipated," Safety and Security Sergeant Traci Thibodeau said.
A rumor had spread that many students planned to rush the field at the beginning of halftime, Thibodeau said, but students did not actually rush the field until further into the break.
Thibodeau said police will continue to investigate the field rushers who were not arrested. Cameras filmed the incident, although some students wore masks to avoid identification by police.
In addition to College disciplinary action, students who were arrested face a fine and a violation on their criminal record, which can be expunged in one year for an additional charge.
There is some possibility that The Dartmouth Review will cover the fines for the students as the publication has in the past, Editor-in-Chief Michael Ellis '06 said.
"A number of students have contacted us about the possibility of paying their fines. We just want to talk to them first," Ellis said.
Some first-year students said they opposed the idea of punishing students for rushing the field.
"I think it's ridiculous that they fine people for it, I think they just ought to get rid of the consequences completely. It's a school pride thing," Ry Sullivan '09 said.
Elias Tapley '09 agreed.
"This used to be fine, no problem, and the whole class would go. I was sitting right next to some alums, and they loved it," Tapley said. "It's kind of embarrassing for our class if someone doesn't rush the field."
In an unrelated incident Saturday night, a number of items were stolen from Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. According to a BlitzMail message sent by House Manager Ned Schneider '06, the back door of the fraternity was kicked in and the chapter trophy display case was broken into. The confiscated items included a book of fraternity meetings from 1908.
Schneider asked officers from other Greek organizations on campus to contact their members, encouraging them to return the items today, no questions asked, so that the fraternity would not have to contact the police.
