Back in 2018, when faced with the prospect of losing the permit for Dartmouth's Homecoming bonfire due to ongoing safety issues, the College turned to engineering Professor Doug Van Citters '99 Th'03 Th'06 to help save a long-cherished tradition. "The re-engineered bonfire had to not only be appropriate for students to build while retaining its majesty but also fall in a more predictable fashion, despite nature’s unpredictability," says Van Citters. He built prototype after prototype to arrive at the current model. During the last week of October, for the fourth consecutive year, students followed Van Citters' bonfire manual to stack 290 6-inch-by-8-foot timbers to a height of 28 feet, with an additional 8 feet of first-year class numerals at the top, and fill the center with 650 pallets. The result? Another bonfire to collapse safely, as predicted. "Homecoming is bigger than any one experience, and this tradition is an example of building community," says Van Citters. "Also, nobody can beat me at Jenga anymore." (Photo by Christopher P. Johnson)