Freshmen students are lacing up their running shoes for 112 laps around the bonfire, upperclassmen and alumni are anticipating a weekend of revelry, and Safety and Security, expecting massive crowds and raucous students, is preparing to keep the campus safe.
Homecoming festivities will call for extra officers patrolling on campus, but College Proctor and head of Safety and Security Harry Kinne said that there will not be any significant differences from Safety and Security's approach last year.
"We are gearing up the way we usually do," Kinne said. "Everyone works the bonfire, and there will be extra people on patrol both Friday night and Saturday night."
The football game will be heavily staffed as well, he added. The increase in men and women in uniform has prevented students from rushing the field, which was banned after multiple injuries were sustained during the field rush of 1986. Rushing the field is now punishable as disorderly conduct. Even if arrests are not made during the game, videotapes have been used in past years for identification purposes, Kinne said.
Safety and Security will work with the Hanover Police and Green Mountain Security, a company that usually secures concert venues and has been present at Homecoming for the past four years. According to Kinne, their officers are positioned at the bonfire alongside every Safety and Security officer available to help keep people from running against the crowd or getting too close to the flames.
Approximately 50 officers, the same number as in past years, will be posted around the bonfire to contain the crowd, which has historically ranged in size from 5,000 to 10,000 people, he added. Kinne anticipates that Friday will be slightly busier than Saturday.
Although members of the Class of 2012 will likely be urged to touch the fire, consequences of doing so have in the past included not only physical harm, but also a charge of disorderly conduct by the Hanover Police.
As a general rule, Safety and Security enforces College policies and the Hanover Police enforces violations of New Hampshire state law. When applied to alcohol infractions during Homecoming, this means that Hanover Police will assume control of underage students who are found intoxicated and issue appropriate charges. Once they are released from police custody, Safety and Security officers will take custody of the students to protect their safety.
Last year, 12 arrests of alumni and current students were made during Homecoming weekend, 11 of which occurred during or after the bonfire on Friday night. Nine individuals were charged with intoxication and possession of alcohol and two were charged with disorderly conduct. Last year's numbers, however, represented a decline from 15 arrests in 2006. Only one Good Samaritan call was made during the 2007 Homecoming weekend, according to previous reports.
Kinne said he has found Homecoming to be a fun weekend, and is enthusiastic about leading the Dartmouth Night Parade along with Hanover Police. While he said Safety and Security will be available for students who need help, he also urged students to take their own safety precautions.
"Everything in moderation," he said. "Watch out for each other."
Students are encouraged to call Safety and Security if there is any inclination that something is not safe, Kinne said, adding that students should utilize the Good Samaritan policy. The policy states that students or organizations that seek assistance from Safety and Security, along with the individual assisted and others involved, will not be subject to the College's alcohol disciplinary policy.
