The Coalition of Class Officers said a space like Webster Hall is important to the College as a programming facility in a report it released yesterday.
The report, titled "Report on the Usage of Webster Hall and of the Importance of a Medium-Capacity Programming Venue to Dartmouth College," will be sent to members of the Board of Trustees and upper-level administrators.
Webster is currently slated to be converted into a space for Special Collections before the Berry Library expansion.
"The elimination of a medium-capacity programming space will severely limit the diversity of programming at Dartmouth," the report concluded.
Class of 1996 Vice President Tom Caputo, one of the authors of the report, said he does not think the College will be able to accommodate the spatial demands of student programming and Mini-versity courses without Webster.
According to the report, Webster has not been used significantly less since the opening of Collis Common Ground last winter. But it has been used for different types of events.
There were 42 programming events in the last three years that could not have occurred anywhere but in Webster, according to the report.
Over the past three years, Webster was booked 52 percent of the days it was available.
In 1992, student programming made up 28 percent of Webster's use and Miniversity courses made up 20 percent, according to the report. After Collis Common Ground opened, student programming made up only 16 percent of Webster's use, while Miniversity's use jumped to 56 percent.
Caputo said after Webster closes, either student programming will move to Common Ground and Miniversity would lack a place to hold classes or Miniversity would use Common Ground and there would be no place for student programming.
"The programming is going to go somewhere," Caputo said. "It's a zero-sum game, so something is going to lose out and ultimately the students will lose out."
Five-hundred students are currently enrolled in Miniversity classes, he said.
The report also concluded that Collis Common Ground, Leede Arena and Alumni Hall will not be able to fill the void created when Webster is gone.
Caputo said about 85 percent of Common Ground is already booked. The remaining 15 percent of programming time was not at ideal times for student programming or Miniversity courses, he said.
"I think just about every Friday and Saturday night is booked," he said.
Access to Spaulding Auditorium, which seats about the same number of people as Webster, is very limited, the report stated.
"The scheduling of events in Spaulding Auditorium is planned at least one year in advance," the report said.
"Due to the frequent turnover of student leadership and the annual nature of student groups' budgets, is unknown for student groups to have the opportunity to schedule events so far in advance," it continued.
The Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts is unusable because there are few days when the auditorium is available for student programming and the permanent seating in Spaulding makes the auditorium less versatile, the report said.
Leede's capacity is too large for most student programming events and it costs $7,000 to set up most events in Leede, according to the report.
"Leede Arena is booked completely in fall and winter and only about 30 days are available in the spring," Caputo said.
Caputo said Alumni Hall is the best option they found because it is not a booked as the other auditoriums, but that auditorium has its problems as well.
"While it can accommodate 600 people for dancing, its limited seating capacity of 300 precludes it from being an adaptable venue for many student events," the report said.
Aside from the events that are scheduled for Webster, Caputo said people also need to consider the time and space necessary for rehearsals and set-up for those events.
"There are some events I can't do without rehearsal and set-up," he said. "If you want to hold Feast of Song, you have to hold rehearsals. In reality, a lot of the events dependent upon scheduling rehearsal and set-up."
The report said COCO obtained the majority of its data from the Events Office as well as the Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences, the Programming Board, the Student Activities Office, Miniversity and The Hop.
