I remember back in the fall offhandedly flipping through The Dartmouth, skimming the columns when one caught my eye. Titled "Freshman Year Offers Numerous Opportunities and Hazards," by Lea Kelley '97 [The Dartmouth, October 2, 1995], it was a reminiscent and insightful discussion of the joys and especially challenges of being a first-year student at Dartmouth, specifically a first-year woman.
To illustrate her point, Kelley cited a conversation she had about the Greek system with an unnamed female '99 who was enthusiastic as well as naive. Reading the article back in October, I suddenly realized that '99 was me. I was shocked and a bit indignant.
I may have let my defensiveness overshadow a valid point of her column: that freshman year can be disastrous as well as wonderful.
Fast forward two and a third terms later. On Tuesday at the panel entitled "Dartmouth: A Culture of Violence," one topic of discussion I found personally relevant was the particular risk freshmen women face when it comes to sexual assault on this campus. As Rex Morey '99 put it, "I think that a lot of freshmen when they come into a new environment like this are naive."
And even now, I'm a little indignant. I wonder, "Naive? ME?" Was I really that girl? Am I still?
Perhaps it might be appropriate to quote here from a paper my UGA wrote for a class: "Studies have identified the time period up until the first holiday break at colleges as the 'Red Zone'-- the period when most assaults occur. This period of time is especially dangerous for first-year college women. They are new, naive, eager to test new limits for parentless life by drinking heavily and partying. Since this is also traditionally 'rush' period for Greek houses, there are many parties and a strong pressure to gain social acceptance. Since alcohol may facilitate bonding, it features prominently in campus interactions, especially in the fall term."
I do not wish to leave the impression that I fault the Greek system or alcohol as the be-all end-all cause of sexual assault. I at least walked away from Tuesday's panel with a sense that this truly is an issue with many grey areas.
But there is no doubt that freshmen women face a risk that their male classmates do not share. Dartmouth is different from other institutions in that, for the most part, we are safe from outside dangers which plague urban campuses. We need only to protect ourselves from each other.
However, there is a dichotomy in the impression which results from the disparity of opinion regarding this subject. Speaking of "parentless life," I couldn't help note the irony of the marked contrast of Tuesday's panel to one I attended with my parents just four days before. This one, titled "My Dartmouth," consisted of a diverse group of '99s discussing what they love about the College. For the most part, the few controversial questions that were raised were glossed over with the skill of an admissions tour guide, to the apparent relief of the timid parents who raised them. The form of the typical response was "Yes, that is a problem BUT..." It was a feel-good experience, as were all of the '99 Family Weekend events.
As they should be. My parents wanted to explore my new world, but only to a certain extent. The best favor I could do for them was to present them with a virtually flawless Dartmouth; they left feeling secure that I was doing okay, which I am. Personally I can't feel comfortable detailing problems to my parents when they can no longer realistically be a part of the solutions.
The question, however, still remains: how do we prepare freshmen for the dangers they are to be faced with? What can we say, if anything, to make them listen? As a future UGA, I think about this stuff all the time. Back in the fall, I read the Sexual Assault Peer Advisor (SAPA) signs on the bathroom wall as I brushed my teeth, and I received the requisite warnings from a multitude of concerned upperclassmen. Though I appreciated their concern, I'm not sure I listened. And maybe I'm lucky that everything has gone so well.
Kelley wrote in October that "The choices that I and my classmates made as freshmen were blind ones." Must they be?
President Freedman, in addressing "first-year parents" last Friday, mentioned something to the effect of, "You may have noticed some changes in your child already..." My friends and I joked that if anything has changed, it's that we all weigh more. But have we changed?
I think so. I truly think I am better equipped to make responsible decisions and hopefully better prepared to deal with their consequence.
In a letter last summer, my UGA wrote, "Welcome to the most exciting adventure of your life -- your freshman year at Dartmouth!" There is no doubt that this year has been an exceptional one for me and my classmates, with numerous opportunities for personal growth. Each class and each individual deals with issues such as sexual assault differently. Sexual assault is no longer a taboo subject, and personally, I am grateful for the attention and discussion it receives here. But as in many situations, one must wonder, "If I knew then what I know now..."
There has got to be a better way to learn about these issues, besides through personal experience, when it may be too late.
