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PRINCETON: Tigers fans celebrate with bonfire

By Ellis Liang, Special to the Packet
   ”Hip! Hip! Rah, rah, rah! Tiger, tiger, tiger! Sis, sis, sis! Boom, boom, boom! Ah! Bonfire! Bonfire! Bonfire!”
   The cheer emerged from the roaring crowd as the Princeton University football team prepared to light up a large bonfire on Saturday night.
   The bonfire, like the unusual locomotive cheer, represents the timelessness of Princeton’s traditions but also the evolution of those traditions throughout the years.
   The bonfire, in particular, is one of Princeton’s most anticipated and sporadic customs. Only if Princeton’s football team triumphs over both Yale and Harvard in the same year does Princeton earn Big Three bragging rights and the privilege to set Cannon Green ablaze.
   Before Saturday night, there had only been four bonfires since 1967. But with a riveting comeback victory against Harvard and an exciting win at Yale, the Tigers were able to bring a bonfire to Princeton for the first time in six years.
   At 7 p.m., a crowd of Princeton students, alumni, and firefighters gathered around a tall wooden pyre topped with an effigy of John Harvard and the Yale bulldog. All eyes were fixed on senior football co-captain Mike Catapano as he approached the pyre with torch in hand. The crowd waited with bated breath as senior co-captain Andrew Starks gave a final rousing speech.
   ”We’re the number one school in the Ivy League, and we have the number ones fans in the league. One of the best moments was at the Harvard game when you guys stormed the field, and we joined at the 50-yard line as students, as athletes,” said Starks. “Now we’re here tonight, celebrating this bonfire together.”
   The bonfire is about more than just bringing current students together. Judging from the hordes of alumni who traveled from other states to catch a glimpse of the fire, the tradition also connects Princeton present with Princeton past.
   The university dug into its archives and posted on its website bonfire photos from as early as 1897. Banners representing “Bonfire years” were also hung around Cannon Green to echo the historical perspective.
   ”We celebrate two football victories, but we’re also celebrating much more than that. You see the banners of the classes that have also secured a bonfire and understand that this tradition goes beyond the Class of 2013,” said Joe Ramirez of the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students. “It’s neat to see Princeton students connect to generations of Princetonians through the building of a bonfire.”
   But while the bonfire preserves its ties to tradition, this year’s event also had a modern twist. For the first time, the university webcast the event and utilized social media to hype up the celebration. (The bonfire even has its own Twitter account.)
   Even the Princeton Model Congress conferencing in Washington, D.C., and the women’s field hockey team competing in Virginia tuned into the spectacle, said Thomas Dunne, associate dean of undergraduate students.
   ”You have some nice traditions and new media innovations that make a nice blend,” said Dunne.
   By 9 p.m., the crowds had dispersed and the flames were dying down, leaving all to wonder when the next bonfire would be and what changes would come with it.