The interim report issued this fall by the College Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs has sparked spirited reactions from the student body. Much to the dismay of many, a large portion of those reactions have focused on ways in which the status quo of Dartmouth's social alcohol culture can be maintained in spite of the policy changes. Plans to start parties one hour earlier and to reactivate basement S&S alarm systems have crossed the campus as more and more students admit to themselves that the recommendations might become reality.
Some have voiced suspicions that the process of tightening the alcohol policy is a small component of Dean of the College Lee Pelton's alleged "master plan" to eliminate the Greek system. These individuals confidently add that, should worst come to worst, the Board of Trustees and the alumni body will ride in to the rescue of the Greek system and rid the College of the anti-social influence of the Dean and his administration confederates.
Thus, no real discussion of how to address high-risk drinking environments at Dartmouth ever gets off the ground in the circles in which those environments are controlled: Dartmouth's fraternity (and to a smaller extent, sorority and coed) houses.
That being the case, allow me to issue an invitation to those members of the Dartmouth Community who fit the above descriptions ... Wake up! That may have been a poor choice of phrase ... perhaps "Grow up!" might better suit the current situation with regard to alcohol.
Many on the Hanover Plain are quick to remind the community, the nation and the world that the students who call Dartmouth home are among the brightest and most talented in America. Dartmouth's mission statement proudly indicates that it educates students who possess a high potential for leadership. How can the institution continue to make such lofty claims when many of those students share the seemingly sole concern of maintaining their easy access to cheap, bad-tasting beer in hot, smelly, crowded basements on Friday nights?
Even when confronted with state and federal laws which prohibit alcohol consumption by underage students and which penalize educational institutions for not ensuring compliance, the very same "bright" students dig in their collective heels and throw glorified temper tantrums about their supposed "right" to drink as much as they want, when they want, and where they want.
To ensure that no one jumps to false conclusions, let me assure you that I am not a member of Asgard, I do drink, and I even spend a reasonable amount of time doing so in the Greek system. I am, by no means, one who wishes to see the system become extinct at Dartmouth. I even rushed this fall. None of this, however, can mitigate the need to shed light on the fact that many Dartmouth students, as bright as they may be, behave like reckless children in the presence of alcohol.
One might reasonably assume students as intelligent and conscientious as those here would, upon hearing of the alcohol-related student deaths at MIT, LSU and other places last summer, take stock of the culture of alcohol consumption here at Dartmouth and see something askew. One might wonder why such concrete evidence of the danger of death had no noticeable effect on Dartmouth's drinking patterns. Few of those students who spend their weekends in drunken stupors stopped to think that the student who died at MIT six months ago could have died in Hanover. We have been nothing short of lucky that none of our fellow students have met the same fate, because the facts about Dartmouth students' drinking habits indicate it can't be too long before such a tragedy unfolds here.
To those who would rather treat the newest proposed additions to the College's alcohol policy as obstacles to get around to preserve Dartmouth's drinking culture, I can only warn you that several of your fellow students are becoming exasperated with the juvenile, immature and stupid image with which you portray us all to the outside world. We are also becoming more concerned that the next alcohol-related death will occur not in Boston or Baton Rouge, but in Hanover. You should also note that students aren't the only ones who are fed up with the drinking culture here and with the CFS system which is its vanguard. The mythical alumni and Trustee "safety net" which many imagine sits poised under the Greek system to keep it from falling off of the campus is just that -- a myth. Several Trustees have indicated that they are concerned with the unsafe and immature drinking habits fostered by many of the current houses and have stated that unless the students purge the system of its dangerous elements, the Board will take that task on and might decide that the entire CFS system is enough of a detriment to the campus to warrant its removal.
It is nothing short of tragic that more people who read this article will worry about the demise of the Greek system than will worry that a fellow student might die. That tragedy is the basis of the problem. While we do not need to eliminate underage drinking from the campus, a failure on our part to eliminate irresponsible use of alcohol will lead to one of two things: the death of a student or of a system. I, for one, pray that it is the latter and not the former.
