With a little more than 1,000 students on campus, summer should have been a quiet term at Dartmouth. Instead, a presidential visit, a controversial new student publication and the death of a star athlete kept Dartmouth in the national media spotlight the entire term.
Dartmouth in the news
In his Commencement address to the Class of 1995 on June 11, President Bill Clinton stressed the importance of education in a rapidly changing global economy and the role graduates will play in society.
Although Clinton's visit to Dartmouth was upstaged by his highly publicized meeting with House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., in Claremont that afternoon, more than 12,000 people attended the graduation ceremonies, despite inclement weather.
"In the last 10 years, earnings of men between the ages of 45 and 55 have gone down 14 percent because in the global economy, if you live in a wealthy country and you don't have an education you are in trouble," Clinton told the graduates. "We cannot walk away from our obligation to invest in the education of every American."
"We have got to use our knowledge to become wiser about the things which we do not understand, and to find ways to use our knowledge to bring us together in ways that reinforce our common humanity," Clinton said, before shaking the hands of all the graduates as they received their degrees.
In her valedictory address, Kristin Cobb '95 also spoke of the importance of education and implored her classmates to make education a priority.
"In the midst of more pressing international and national crises, education always seems to take a back burner. This is a mistake," she said. "We will have to keep treating the symptoms of a diseased country and world until we address the root of the problem. Education is where it all begins."
Dartmouth also received national attention when three-sport varsity athlete Sarah Devens '96 committed suicide at her home in Massachusetts in mid-July.
A psychology major with a minor in Latin American studies and U.S. Hispanic Literature, Devens was a three-year starter on the women's varsity field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse teams.
Devens, "who touched so many people's lives and impacted them in so many ways with her warm smile and upbeat personality," according to friends, shocked the Dartmouth community with her death, which received attention from the Associated Press, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, Sports Illustrated and the Valley News.
Dartmouth was in the national news again in late July when the Council on Student Organizations denied official College recognition to the new student magazine "Snapshots of Color" based on the magazine's policy of only allowing membership to students of color.
Director of Student Activities Tim Moore said COSO only recognizes organizations that are open to everyone on campus.
Snapshot's co-editor in chief Jennifer Daniel '97 told The Dartmouth in July that Snapshots will go ahead with its planned first issue in the middle of Fall term, but it is not eligible for College funding.
Jim Brennan '96 also gave Dartmouth some national media attention this summer when he appeared on MTV with Gingrich, as one of six panelists who chatted with Gingrich about current political issues.
The 50-minute segment called "Newt: Raw," included discussions on women's reproductive rights, welfare reform and proposed cuts in student loans.
Comings and Goings
July 1 marked the return of College President James Freedman from his six-month sabbatical.
"It was wonderful in every way," Freedman said of his sabbatical, which he spent in Cambridge, Mass., where he finished work on his book, "Idealism and Liberal Education." The book is due to be published in January by the University of Michigan Press.
Freedman said he is feeling fine now that the cancer, with which he was diagnosed in April 1994, is currently in remission.
In mid-August, Alex Huppe, director of the College News Service for the past 10 years, announced he will leave the College to become director of public affairs at Harvard University on Oct. 1.
Roland Adams, former assistant director of the News Service will serve as acting director until a permanent replacement is found.
In July, Dean of Freshmen Peter Goldsmith announced French Professor Stephanie Hall will serve as the acting assistant dean of freshmen for the current academic year, replacing former Associate Dean of Freshmen Anthony Tillman who resigned from the position in the spring to become the executive director of student life at Drew University in Madison, N.J.
At the end of June the College announced Guilian Wang would be the next Director of the International Office, replacing former director Judith Mackenzie.
Formerly, Wang was the Director of the Eisenhower International Leadership Program at West Virginia University.
In July, Assistant Dean of Residential Life Alison Keefe said she would leave Dartmouth in August to become the new assistant director of residential life at Salem State College.
Two new Area Directors, Chris Chambers and Chris Foley, also arrived on campus this summer to replace Scott Brown and Sharon La Voy, who both left to study at the University of Maryland.
Greek News
One of the more controversial issues of the summer came up when brothers of Beta Theta Pi fraternity met with a group of women to discuss an allegedly racist and sexist poem that was written by a Beta brother and read aloud at one of the fraternity's Wednesday night meetings.
According to women who had seen the poem, it contained derogatory comments about women, specifically Native American women and referred to specific Dartmouth women, including one by name.
Beta brothers privately apologized for the incident to the group of women who obtained the poem but refused to confirm the existence of the poem.
Beta Summer President Tom Macejko '97 told The Dartmouth Beta would participate in "discussions and write articles in various campus publications to discuss and improve the way men and women interact in the Greek system and on the campus as a whole."
In July Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority reported that someone stole $600 from the sorority's social chair's room. The money was the sorority's slush fund, the money Greek houses collect from their members to purchase alcohol.
Office of Residential Life
The Office of Residential Life began its comprehensive review to examine students' housing needs this summer.
The main question ORL will address in the review is whether or not the College needs to build more beds and if so, how many, according to Dean of Residential Life Mary Turco.
In June, Dean of the College Lee Pelton said he hoped the review would be finished by the end of Summer term.
Also this summer, ORL managed to whittle its Fall term waitlist down to nothing. Assistant Dean of Residential Life Bud Beatty told The Dartmouth in August that ORL would even house students who applied on time and were assigned provisional housing status.
At the end of the summer, ORL placed student housing applications on-line, which allows students to apply for housing by computer.
Summer Happenings
But for most students on campus, Summer term provided a lot of good, clean fun.
The Connecticut River was host to an orgy of flesh and rubber during Tubestock at the end of July. The day was a success with no injuries or accidents being reported this year.
The Big Apple Circus came to town during the month of July as did the Shriners in August for their annual parade and football game.
The renovation of Robinson Hall also started this summer. The offices of the Dartmouth Outing Club were moved to Sherman House and incoming freshmen were forced to dance the "Salty Dog Rag" in front of the hospital rather than in front of the Green.
Reports
The College's Alcohol Task Force, commissioned last Winter byPelton, was due to release its final report at the end of Spring term. The report was released in the final days of summer term.
As of the end of summer term, College officials were still waiting for the "white paper" on the Greek system that former Student Assembly President Rukmini Sichitiu '95 promised to have ready by the College Board of Trustees meeting at the beginning of June.
Sichitiu had outlined the ideas she intended to express in her "thought piece" to administrators and Trustees but had failed to present a written copy of her statement.
Miscellaneous
Over the summer, the College announced students with a valid DarTalk account will have access to voice mail for a fee of $3.50 a month.
In August, students and administrators held a meeting to discuss campus sexual abuse issues, following the Spring term allegations by Emily Stephens '97 that the administration mishandled her sexual abuse complaint last year.
The group ultimately called for a new committee to address mediation and sexual abuse adviser training in abuse cases.
In July, the College's Will to Excel Capital Campaign surpassed its original goal of $425 million.
Last October the directors of the campaign decided to increase the goal from $425 million to $500 million. The deadline for the campaign is June 1, 1996.
