Protest, celebration mark women's role in Homecoming

The way that students fraternize during Homecoming has varied throughout the tradition's storied past, the weekend has always been an opportunity for men and women to mingle at the College. While Homecoming in the years after coeducation occasionally sparked gender tension, earlier celebrations were decidedly dominated by men. "For those men lucky enough, women played the role of dates," Jim Adler '60Tu'61 said. The arrival of women on campus for Homecoming, or Dartmouth Night as it was previously known, provided a respite from Dartmouth's monastic lifestyle, Adler said. Before coeducation was instituted, Homecoming was a rare opportunity for Dartmouth to be a destination for women, according to John Engelman '68.