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 The Green is the physical and emotional center of campus life. Originally used for herding cattle, the Green is now used for anything from snow rugby to ultimate Frisbee to picnics, political rallies, parades, sunbathing, snowshoe races and wood chopping.
During Dartmouth's three big weekends, Homecoming in the fall, Winter Carnival in the winter and Green Key in the spring, alumni and students crowd the Green to run around the bonfire, help build the snow sculpture or listen to campus bands. Dartmouth is famous for its school spirit, which is evident through the active student and alumni involvement.
The Senior Fence
Residents of the town of Hanover used to let their cows graze on the Green, until one day the students rebelled and herded all the animals into the basement of Dartmouth Hall. In 1836, the college erected a fence around the Green to avoid future town-gown tension. The senior class soon assumed control of the fence and forbade anyone to sit on it. Until World War II, any underclassman caught sitting on the fence was carried by the seniors for a dunking in the granite watering trough which was on the sidewalk just across from the Hanover Inn. If you look across the Green, you can see remnants of a fence by the flagpoles. By the 1930s there was no need for the fence and the College decided to tear it down. Alumni protested and persuaded the college to keep a portion of it, and then the senior class established a fund for its maintenance.
On your left is Dartmouth Row.
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