Spring Riot

The last ice melts from Middle Path. The breezes grow warmer. The mud dries. Tender leaves sprout, and birds warble their praises for the new green season.

A young person's thoughts turn, naturally, to--burning sofas.

The concept was simple enough. Build a bonfire in a central spot on south campus, and feed it with, well, anything. We're not sure when Spring Riot started, but the tradition lasted into the 1990s. The impulse probably owes less to hormones than to the need to purge the pent-up stresses of an academic year and shuck off the tedium of a long, dreary winter. Spring Riot was pure catharsis.

"It was a great way to blow off steam at the end of the semester, with comps and term papers looming," wrote Peter Whitcopf '90. "Scores of people would stand around the fire, most drinking beer (it was legal then if you were over eighteen), taking turns throwing stuff in. My senior year, I threw a copy of my comps paper in, and it felt great.

"Among the more memorable items I saw thrown into the fire were an ugly sofa and foosball table, and an ancient (for the eighties) computer terminal some physics major dug up somewhere. It is a wonder nobody was hurt when the thing exploded."

Indeed, safety became an issue, as did vandalism. Students began to throw things like fireworks and aerosol cans into the fire. They also threw in College-owned furniture. So the authorities decided to put out the fire, forever. Students still have their riotous moments, but Spring Riot ignites no more.

Do you have feedback on this page?