College celebrates late Homecoming
By David Kung | October 31, 1997Dartmouth's annual Homecoming celebration -- which usually takes place during mid-October -- was pushed back this year for one reason: to accommodate a better football game. Football games are scheduled almost a decade in advance by the Athletics Office, but Homecoming is scheduled by Alumni Relations. Director of Alumni Relations David Orr said his office tries to build Homecoming around "what appears to be the most important Ivy League game." Associate Director of Athletics Josie Harper said both offices try to coordinate a good match for the Homecoming game -- "either Yale or Harvard, generally speaking" -- although the final decision has more to do with scheduling dates than who is a good team to play. Harvard University was a good choice because Harvard is the closest Ivy to Dartmouth and "we have the best chance to have an exciting atmosphere and a good crowd," Harper said. Orr said choosing the date for this year's Homecoming was rather simple. "Look at the games we played," he said.