The Trustees Rule Against Students

By Matthew Tokson | Monday, April 24, 2000

'This is not a referendum,' promised Dartmouth College President James Wright two winters ago when the Five Principles were first announced, and last week he and the College's Trustees made good on that promise. The April 15, 2000 Statement by the Board of Trustees, released at a Trustee breakfast, supports the major principles of the Student Life Initiative Report despite the overwhelming opposition of Dartmouth's students and alumni to most of its reforms.

Many students had hoped that the Student Assembly's response, considered to be both (largely) representative of student opinion and yet moderate and balanced enough to be accepted by the Trustees, would have a significant impact on the Trustee's final decision. The Assembly itself was enthusiastic about the high number (2,211) of students who participated in the SA Response Poll. The overall student support for the SA Response was a whopping 87%.

Student Assembly President Dean Krishna announced, 'We want the Trustees to take this seriously, and these numbers prove to me that they will.' Krishna reiterated that belief the night before the Trustee Statement's release: 'The Board did read everything [students] wrote. I assume any decision they make will incorporate student opinion.'

Yet the Trustees' final decision seems to wholly ignore the SA's widely-supported proposals. Though the statement left several policy initiatives up to Dean of the College James Larimore, it did specifically support the SLI report and contradict the SA response in several areas. While the SA called for the establishment of a 7th sorority to accommodate the high student demand, as well as the establishment of a 30 organization cap that would allow new single-sex or coed organizations to replace those that are derecognized, the Trustees endorsed the SLI report's recommendation to continue 'the moratorium on the formation of any new residential, selective, single-sex organizations.'

While the SA called for maintaining fall rush and the CFS judicial system, the Trustees endorsed the SLI report's recommendation that rush be moved to winter, when student attendance is generally lower, and that the CFS judiciary be replaced with a campus-wide system. While the SA supported the maintenance of fraternity tap systems, calling them 'necessary for controlling the licensed distribution of alcohol', the Trustees mandated their complete elimination as recommended in the SLI report. And while the SA called for Greek houses to remain independent from the freshman-oriented UGA system, the Trustees again supported the SLI report's recommendation that UGA's should be required to reside in all Greek houses. The only effect that the SA response seemed to have was that the Trustees included a discussion of the merits of the D-plan in their statement. While this is a very important step towards improving student life at Dartmouth, the Trustees' outright refusal to adopt any suggested SA student life policies is embarrassingly evident.

Several of the unpopular SLI proposals that were not specifically enacted in the Trustee Statement could still be enacted by College Dean James Larimore, who will make several of the final decisions regarding the initiative. Larimore, however, seems to be more lenient toward the Greek System than the Trustees, perhaps because he is faced with the task of enacting rules opposed by over 80% of the student body. The Trustees allowed Larimore to formulate his own policies with regard to 'specific recommendations regarding residency and minimum membership requirements.'

In a memo released to the Dartmouth community, Larimore stated that 'CFS house residency will not be restricted to senior members and junior officers, and organization members will be eligible to apply for their house's undergraduate advisor position, though I have not yet decided when this new position will be created.' The no-residency restrictions policy is good news for Greek houses, who would have lost large portions of their rent income because of it. Larimore, however, has not yet decided whether he will allow affiliated students to live in Greek houses in the summer, a practice that if prohibited would hurt houses financially. An even bigger financial issue is the College's mandated building code improvements, which could end up costing Greek houses much more than they can afford.

Neither the Trustee Statement nor Larimore's memo addresses the SA proposal that the college financially assist the houses in making the required changes. Without a policy of financial assistance, houses could easily be forced into bankruptcy and to sell their facilities to the College, which has already begun to buy up off-campus properties in the area and has expressed interest in purchasing derecognized fraternities.

Larimore is also primarily in charge of coordinating the details of the new alcohol regulations, the new campus-wide judicial system, and the timetable for house renovations. While the Trustees have guaranteed that Greek houses will be significantly modified, Larimore and the administration may slow down and lessen the severity of the Trustees' unpopular reforms.

Surely, the future of the Greek system at Dartmouth is in jeopardy. The College's Trustees are strongly against it, and no amount of popular support seems to sway them. When the Five Principles were first announced, 81% of students (according to a Daily Dartmouth poll) were against them and in support of the Greek System, and they were ignored. 87% of students supported the Student Assembly's moderate proposal for compromise over the initiative, and it was ignored. Greek houses can expect to encounter financial troubles in the near future, due to facility improvement costs, fines, and loss of rent income. They can expect to deal with more stringent regulations on behavior and drinking, and can expect much tougher punishments for violations. Derecognitions will increase, as will probations, while the College will seek to punish whole houses for the actions of independent members (∑ la Gamma Delt).

James Wright, commenting on tap removal, has said that 'part of education is to provide an appropriate environment.' This principle will be employed more and more often against Greek houses. Though Dartmouth admissions have stayed level while other Ivies' have increased, and though the SA reports that the Class of 2003 supports the Greek system even more than upperclassmen, the loss of the Greek system will not significantly hurt Dartmouth's admissions. However, without a suitable social replacement or a local social scene, Dartmouth students will be left with less social options, fewer parties, and simply less to do on a Friday night.

Without a Greek system, what will students do for fun in remote Hanover? The Trustees focus their specific proposals on the Greek system, are very vague about social improvements, and also delegate much of the decision-making to Dean Larimore (Larimore is also in charge of the investigation into Dartmouth's selective Senior (Secret) Societies, which may yield restrictions for these institutions). The Trustees again follow the SLI Report, suggesting more dorms (500-600 more beds for undergrads, 110 more for graduates), bigger common houses, and 'additional residential-based programming,' supported by 'hiring additional residential hall staff and strengthening the residential governance structures.'

They support experimenting with first-year-only housing, calling for no more than 50% of the class to be housed this way by 2005. They encourage the development of a 'world cultures initiative,' which 'could provide educational and social programming.' They propose new social spaces, including 'an expanded student center, a recreational center, and a dining facility at the north end of campus, as well as a flexible flat-floor space that could be used for large events.' They also encourage the administration to 'move ahead aggressively in developing social alternatives for students, such as those already undertaken in the Collis Student Center.'

The effectiveness of such measures in replacing a student run social system is best demonstrated by Larimore's proposals for initiating Dartmouth's new residential cluster life: Increase the compensation for UGA's, hire professional staff who will 'work with students to create enhanced programming,' and 'review and possibly expand housing features' like smoke-free environments, substance-free residences, and 'quiet' floors.

Indeed, with the College's Student Assembly demoralized and its student body voiceless, Trustees, administrators, and faculty can look forward to a much 'quieter' Dartmouth.

The Trustees Rule Against Students

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