Fire and Skoal

Fire and Skoal (also known as F&S or FnS) is a senior society at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. It was the college's first co-ed senior society.^[1]

Fire and Skoal
FnS
Founded	1975; 50 years ago (1975) Dartmouth College
Type	Senior society
Affiliation	Independent
Status	Active
Scope	Local
Chapters	1
Headquarters	29 South Park Street Hanover, New Hampshire 03755 United States

History

Fire and Skoal was founded by five students at Dartmouth College in 1975.^[2] Its founders were:

• Jim Bildner
• Tom Denison
• Scott Lochidge
• Tom Quinn
• Tom Thomson

They wanted to established a coeducational senior society based on Elihu Club at Yale University.^[3] Fire and Skoal received college recognition and was Dartmouth's first coeducational senior society.^[2][3][4]

Fire and Skoal is currently a secret society, although it used to be a non-secret or public society.^[2][5][3] Its purpose was to establish an environment to discuss economic, political, and social issues, as well as providing a way for future leaders to be involved in those issues.^[2] The name, Fire and Skoal, came from the "Hanover Winter Song" and refers to the spirit of camaraderie and friendship.^[3]

Weekly, Fire and Skoal's members meet to discuss and debate campus and world issues.^[3] The society invites professors and guest speakers to their meetings.^[3][6] It also hosts social events.^[3]

Fire and Skoal House, 2007

House

The society moved to a house at 29 South Park Street in the fall of 1978.^[2][3] The house built between 1893 and 1896.^[7] It was the residence of C. H. Richardson and Edwin Case in 1896.^[7] W. H. Moore was its owner by 1931, followed by Dartmouth College in 1978.^[7][3][8]

Membership

Fire and Skoal membership is co-ed, secret, and exclusive.^[2][5] It has around thirty active members who are seniors.^[2][3] Active members select the next year's members during their junior year in a college-wide selection process known as tapping.^[5][3] Every winter and spring, juniors are tapped for the senior societies through a process semi-coordinated through the college.^[1][5] Members carry identifying canes or walking sticks at commencement.^[5][9]

Notable members

• Kirsten Gillibrand, New York Senator and 2020 Presidential Candidate
• Tara S. Holm, mathematician and professor at Cornell University^[10]
• Bob Kempainen, Olympic long distance runner^[3]
• David M. Shribman, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist^[3]