Playboy Magazine photographer David Mecey finished his first round of interviews with Dartmouth women Tuesday and said he called back nine women yesterday to pose in two-piece bathing suits and lingerie.
Mecey said he was so pleased with the quality of the women who arrived during the preliminary interviews on Monday and Tuesday, he called back most of the 15 women who came to see him.
Of those 15 women, Mecey said he suspected three were not serious about posing. Mecey said he called back nine of the remaining 12 women for additional photos. Mecey said he can not divulge the identities of prospective models at this time.
During yesterday's second round of interviews, Mecey said he spoke with the prospective models to determine if they still want to appear in the magazine. He also took additional pictures of the women.
Mecey said he will mail those pictures to his editors at Playboy's offices in Chicago. He said in the next week, he and the editors will choose three or four women they would like to have pose.
Mecey and two assistants arrived at the Hanover Inn on Sunday to interview Dartmouth women who expressed an interest in posing for Playboy's upcoming "Women of the Ivy League" pictorial in its October back-to-school issue.
One of the women who met with Mecey on Tuesday was Student Assembly President Rukmini Sichitiu '95, a strong advocate of women's issues.
Mecey said he and Sichitiu acknowledged at the beginning of their meeting that she did not intend to pose for the magazine, and then engaged in a "very good dialogue" for about an hour about different perspectives on pornography.
"It was the first time in 16 years [of working with Playboy] that I've had the other side hold a forum with me ... I felt like I was in the middle of the Paris Peace Talks."
Sichitiu's position as Assembly president would have helped her in the selection process if she wanted to pose. During the interviews, women are asked to discuss their hobbies, special achievements, academic goals and aspirations.
Mecey said Sichitiu "is a very attractive woman. She'd probably have a good chance of appearing, if only her politics were different." Sichitiu previously told The Dartmouth that she made the appointment with Playboy to do an expose on the pornography industry for Spare Rib, a gender and women's issues publication. She declined to comment last night.
Mecey said his assistants have found some possible sites for the final shoots, including about three fraternities, one of which is Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
Marian McKeever '95 interviewed with Playboy and said she was treated in a very civil, professional manner. She posed in a bikini and several different dresses on Tuesday, she said.
"It seemed like an interesting opportunity to do something I may not [be able to] at any other point in my life," McKeever said.
Nakiah Cherry '96, who previously said she had interviewed with Playboy, could not be reached last night for further comment.
Another woman who interviewed with Mecey, Shannon Smith '96, appeared on the front page of the Valley News on Tuesday. In the picture, she is flanked by two camera crews from the Fox Television affiliate in New York, WNDS based in Derry and a photographer and reporter from the Valley News.
According to the Valley News, Smith said she hoped to keep it a secret from her parents until the issue is published.
"My mom will obviously be shocked," Smith told the Valley News. "She's an elementary school teacher in a small school in Maine."
But numerous radio stations from across the region began calling Smith's room around 7 a.m. yesterday, according to Smith's roommate Jennifer Frontera '96.
Frontera said when she returned to her room yesterday, the entire answering machine tape was filled up with calls from numerous radio stations -- and from Smith's mother.
But Frontera said Smith is not particularly worried because the excitement will subside. "It surprised her that it's gotten this much attention," Frontera said.
Smith could not be reached for further comment.
Elisabeth Barbiero '97 said she interviewed with Playboy, was called back, but decided to drop out of the process after talking to her parents.
