My nephew is a recent Dartmouth grad and while he appreciated so much about Dartmouth, he was sufficiently turned off by the social climate that he discouraged my own sons from applying there. (And, for the record he was a fraternity member, so not biased against Greek life in general.) I admire Hanlon for addressing this very challenging issue, and hope it's a good sign that the trustees are behind him.

Anonymous wrote:If he's really serious, he would shut down the fraternities. Anything less is just talk. Other schools have done fine after getting rid of the fraternities.

No one should be subjected to hazing where they have to be in a kiddie pool filled with vomit. It's barbaric.

Not all universities' fraternities are as extreme as Dartmouth's stories have been. They don't need to be gotten rid of altogether, but the IFC really needs to get involved here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC visited, loved it, and is going to apply.

I am happy to hear that the Dartmouth is focused on making the school community inclusive, and setting high standards for student responsibility and behavior.

Hopefully DC has the stamina to tell the Frats to pound sand when it comes time for the behavior noted by Hanlon.

DC has always marched to their own beat. They are responsible, focused, kind, inclusive, and involved in their school and community. I doubt that DC will want to be part of the Greek system, only because it is not in their personality -- but they will be an asset to their university community in general.

Dartmouth without frats would just be Amherst.

Anonymous wrote:This is probably motivated as much by their sharp drop in applications more than anything else. I agree that abolishing frats would be the way to go but I suspect their alumni would strongly resist.

No kidding. File this under "doing the right thing after all other alternatives have been exhausted."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC visited, loved it, and is going to apply.

I am happy to hear that the Dartmouth is focused on making the school community inclusive, and setting high standards for student responsibility and behavior.

Hopefully DC has the stamina to tell the Frats to pound sand when it comes time for the behavior noted by Hanlon.

Yes, this is what always puzzles me about Greek hazing in general. Just Say No. It's really....not that hard.

Anonymous wrote:My DC visited, loved it, and is going to apply.

I am happy to hear that the Dartmouth is focused on making the school community inclusive, and setting high standards for student responsibility and behavior.

Hopefully DC has the stamina to tell the Frats to pound sand when it comes time for the behavior noted by Hanlon.

My DC visited, loved it, and is going to apply.

I am happy to hear that the Dartmouth is focused on making the school community inclusive, and setting high standards for student responsibility and behavior.

Question: Why is fraternity behavior so much worse at D than at many other schools? Or at least, at minimum, consistently on the extreme end?

This is probably motivated as much by their sharp drop in applications more than anything else. I agree that abolishing frats would be the way to go but I suspect their alumni would strongly resist.

Anonymous wrote:+1 ...while the school is a scholastic gem (and no one can really argue that point), the behavior of the students (some but not all) is disgusting. Fortunately, DD made her own decision to take a pass on the place.

She was lucky to have the choice to make. My DC was deferred then denied. Oh well.

+1 ...while the school is a scholastic gem (and no one can really argue that point), the behavior of the students (some but not all) is disgusting. Fortunately, DD made her own decision to take a pass on the place.

Seems like a move in the right direction. While I don't think Dartmouth's issues are unique to college campuses I do think there are some extremes that get exaggerated by the frats. I like the idea of housing communities. Glad this pres has taken a stand, even if it took the application drop to have some leverage against the old guard alums.

If he's really serious, he would shut down the fraternities. Anything less is just talk. Other schools have done fine after getting rid of the fraternities.

No one should be subjected to hazing where they have to be in a kiddie pool filled with vomit. It's barbaric.

This from the new President. I'm proud of my alma mater for acknowledging its problems and moving in the right direction. Let's hope all the other many many colleges and universities that face similar problems follow suit.

******************

To the Dartmouth community,

As you will recall, last month, Board of Trustees Chairman Steve Mandel ’78 wrote in a message to the community that the time had come for a serious discussion of social norms and community standards on campus.

We are a great institution, 245 years old, poised for an even better future. But Dartmouth’s promise is being hijacked by high-risk and harmful behaviors, behaviors that are hurting too many of our students, dividing us as a community and distracting from our important work of teaching and learning. From dangerous levels of drinking, to sexual assaults, disgusting and sometimes threatening insults posted on the Internet, and parties with racist and sexist undertones, our social scene is too often at odds with our mission and the practices of inclusion our students deserve.

We cannot let these behaviors stand between us and the College's amazing promise and potential—we must take actions that will bring them to an end.

It is the right thing to do, and the time to do it is now.

We've spent the last month planning the way forward and I am writing to let you know that this discussion has now begun. Last night, under the banner of Moving Dartmouth Forward, we convened a summit of student leaders, faculty, administrators, trustees and alumni in a conversation facilitated by Dartmouth Roots, a student group working to improve Dartmouth by bridging the gap between ideas and implementation. This was the first of what will be many conversations over the next several months as we generate ideas and evaluate steps that will bring a student experience to our College that is every bit the equal of the preeminent undergraduate education we offer.

This effort cannot be viewed as a mandate from the top; to be successful, we must all join in this discussion and I invite you to share your ideas and input from now through June 30 by sending a message to the following e-mail address: moving.dartmouth.forward@dartmouth.edu, or by online submission at this website.

To further the goals of the summit, I have formed a Presidential Steering Committee made up of students, faculty, administration and alumni and charged them with spending the summer gathering the best solutions to help us achieve a more fundamental level of reform that reaches every place on our campus where social activities occur. Primarily, they will concentrate on ways for ending harmful behaviors in the following areas: high-risk drinking, sexual assault, and inclusivity.

Among the many avenues the committee will pursue, foremost among them will be soliciting input from student organizations, individual students and every member of the Dartmouth family. They will then report their findings and propose concrete next steps to the trustees at the Board’s November meeting.

To be certain, we have taken a number of actions that have had a positive impact. Over the last three years, efforts to reduce incidents of excessive drinking have seen medical transports for dangerous blood-alcohol levels fall by 60 percent. And in the last year, The Dartmouth Bystander Initiative and creation of the Center for Community Action and Prevention are mobilizing our community against sexual assault, while a new disciplinary policy effective in June will include mandatory expulsion for offenders. A major initiative to create a house model within residence halls will help build community and a sense of belonging on campus. These efforts represent real progress, but we must not confuse progress with success.

We must do more.

The conversation has begun. By being a part of it—and part of the solution—we will move Dartmouth forward together.

Sincerely,

Phil Hanlon ’77
President