An unseasonably warm winter followed by a sharp drop in temperatures over the weekend did little to slow down Winter Carnival festivities. Classic events like the polar bear swim and the human dog-sled race went on with some modifications, while Safety and Security director Harry Kinne said that the department received 52 incident reports during Winter Carnival weekend.
In the spring of 2015 Safety and Security received 51 calls during Greek Key weekend from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. For the 2015 Homecoming weekend, the office received 52 calls beginning Friday morning.
From Friday to Monday, Safety and Security responded to calls about “a little bit of everything,” Kinne said, including medical emergencies involving alcohol and injuries. Eleven students were taken to Dick’s House, he said, though he was not certain that all of those students were admitted. In addition, one person was taken to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, though Kinne did not believe that they were affiliated with the College.
Kinne said he thought the number of “significant” incidents was lower than in the past, though not substantially so. He also said he believed the number of arrests made was lower than in past years, though he did not have an absolute number for comparison.
As preparation for the weekend, Safety and Security placed extra staff around campus on Friday and Saturday nights, Kinne said. They also posted staff at the athletic events around campus, he said.
The low temperatures in Hanover during the weekend may have influenced students to stay in one place, rather than moving from party to party, Kinne said. Temperatures dropped below zero on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, reaching a low of -14 degrees on Sunday.
The low temperatures could also be related to an increase in requests for Safe Rides from Safety and Security to travel across campus after dark. Though he did not have an exact number, Kinne said the department saw a significant uptick in requests compared to previous years.
“We were pretty much flat out from ten o’clock at night to four o’clock in the morning,” he said.
Though the weekend of Winter Carnival itself was cold, the weeks beforehand were unseasonably warm. This weather had an impact on the planned programming for Winter Carnival. For example, the Polar Bear Swim was relocated to the patio of the Collis Center because Occom Pond remained closed through the weekend.
Winter Carnival chair Lillian Zhao ’19 said that this led to a decrease in participation this year. Citing an email from Collis director Anna Hall, Zhao said that around 100 students participated in the plunge this year, compared to around 500 in other years.
One notable issue was the snow sculpture on the Green, normally a staple of Winter Carnival. The warm weather, combined with a lack of student participation in the construction, led the College and the Winter Carnival council to cancel the sculpture this year, though a group of students eventually decided to build their own in the form of the Cat in the Hat’s hat.
Zhao said the biggest difficulty for the sculpture this year was the lack of consistent cold temperatures, which are necessary for the sculpture to remain standing. The Winter Carnival council originally planned to create an ice skating rink on the Green to replace the sculpture, she said, but the weather was too warm for this.
Other events were less affected by the weather, she said. For example, around 19 or 20 teams participated in the ice sculpture contest. This number is consistent with participation from previous years, she said.
The human dogsled race also saw a good level of turnout, she said. She also noted the popularity of this year’s Winter Carnival shirts, which she said sold out quickly in smaller sizes.
Ruben Gallardo ’18 said that while he briefly went out on Saturday night, the cold convinced him to go back indoors. Originally, he planned to participate in the polar bear swim, but ended up not doing so because of its relocation.
Gallardo said he was not as motivated to participate this year because he had already experienced many of the events last year.
Khat Mirzan ’19 said she thought the weekend went well. She did not participate in any College-sponsored events, though she said that the campus seemed spirited overall, citing the Dartmouth Carnival skiing competition as an example of student enthusiasm. The cold weather influenced her to plan out her nights before leaving her dorm, she said, and to dress more warmly than usual.
Eun Kyung Yoon ’19 said that Winter Carnival was different than she expected, mentioning a lack of both snow and festivity. She said the weekend felt like any other party-heavy weekend. She attended the human dogsled race, the ice sculpture competition and the Dr. Seuss cartoon marathon screenings, she said. She also would have participated in the polar bear swim if it had been at Occom, she said. Though the weather was cold over the weekend, it did not have a major influence on her plans because it was easy to go inside and find shelter from the cold, she added.
