With the announcement of her resignation yesterday, Dean of Residential Life Mary Turco closed another chapter in the story of her 24-year relationship with the College.
Turco first arrived in Hanover in 1974 as a graduate student to earn the College's Master of Arts in Liberal Sciences degree. Turco recalls it was an "unusual" period in the College's history, during the early stages of the Dartmouth Plan, which was implemented to accommodate co-education.
Turco graduated with her MALS degree in 1978, the same year her younger brother, a member of the undergraduate Class of 1978, graduated from the College. The two Turcos were one of the first brother and sister pairs to graduate from the College.
"Everything that involved males and females was new and unique" back in those days, Turco said.
After earning her degree, Turco went to work for the Dartmouth Medical School as assistant director of admissions and financial aid. This was only the first of many College positions she would hold.
In 1982, Turco became assistant director of undergraduate admissions for the College. She served in this capacity until 1985, when she went to the Harvard Graduate School of Education to begin a doctoral program.
During her time at Harvard, Turco "periodically came back [to Dartmouth] and assisted in offices temporarily," she said. She filled in as acting assistant dean of freshmen and acting associate dean of alumni affairs during this period.
In 1987, the College asked Turco to serve as acting dean of residential life. At first, she declined the position.
"I initially said 'no,' because I wanted to continue with my academic work," she said.
The office of residential life was in the midst of large-scale projects at the time, including the implementations that arose from the controversial Wright Report, which was an attempt to reform the social and residential atmosphere on campus.
The Report, released in April of 1987, was named for then-Dean of the Faculty James Wright, who headed the ad hoc committee which made the proposals.
The goals of the Report included an effort to limit the influence of Greek houses and alcohol on campus. These aims were met with protest from the student body, including one rally in which 600 students presented a petition with 2,000 signatures against many of the proposals.
The Wright Report also called for the completion of the renovations and revamping the College's residential life system, including the coeducation of the residence halls, Turco said.
The College asked Turco a second time to serve as acting dean of residential life, and Turco again refused. The third time she was asked, she chose to take the position after being "persuaded she could make a difference on campus."
Turco was initially told she would serve as acting dean for one year. After a year and a half in the temporary position, Turco realized she was "doing a big job and making big changes," she said.
Turco said she felt compelled to put her doctorate plans on the back burner and apply for the full position of dean. She applied, was accepted and has served as dean of residential life since then. In addition to her duties as dean, Turco has taught women's studies courses over the last four years.
Initially, Turco said, she was doing "very unpopular things" as dean of residential life. A lot of students did not like the changes she was helping institute and she said she was "unprepared for what turned out to be an adversarial relationship between students and faculty." In her previous capacities in the admissions and freshmen offices, she had never encountered such opposition.
The College's efforts to decrease access to alcohol, including the decision in 1991 to ban kegs from campus, were met with strenuous student protest. In 1993, the College rescinded the keg decision, and allowed registered kegs back to approved social events.
Turco's tenure as dean of residential life has seen many changes in the College's social structure. The most notable changes were the addition of two non-Greek undergraduate societies, modifications of the sorority system and the derecognition of a fraternity.
Panarchy and Amarna, the College's two undergraduate societies, were created as an alternative to the Greek system. Panarchy was recognized in the fall of 1993 and Amarna in Winter term of 1994. These two societies hold no formal rush and do not have a pledge period.
In 1993, Turco oversaw the Panhellenic Council's decision to derecognize Xi Kappa Chi sorority due to its low membership and financial difficulties. Xi Kappa Chi was replaced with a new sorority called Kappa Delta Epsilon, which moved into Xi Kappa Chi's house on Webster Avenue.
Another new sorority, Delta Pi Omega, received formal recognition from the Office of Residential Life in 1996. In the summer of 1997, Delta Pi became a chapter of Alpha Xi Delta sorority.
Turco took a more active role in the derecognition of Beta Theta Pi fraternity in the Fall of 1996. Beta was reprimanded by the College five times between 1993 and the Summer of 1996, once for an incident where several Beta brothers confessed to chasing and attacking a member of Sigma Nu fraternity.
After violating their probation in the Fall of 1996, the fraternity was derecognized.
Although the Coed, Fraternity and Sorority Judicial Council, which is composed of students from the College's Greek houses, "was involved in every step of the decision but the final step," Turco told The Dartmouth at the time, the final decision was hers.
Turco has had many accomplishments in her time as dean of residential life, but there are a few accomplishments of which she is most proud.
"I'm proud of the way that I ended up addressing the dramatic changes that were being made," she said. She attempted to use as much student influence as she could in her proposals and actions.
"I empowered the students. It has made all the difference," she said.
By working with the students, Turco said, her office was able to make the Greek system more accountable. The CFS Judicial Council is an example of her policy of implementing peer review to accomplish this goal.
The Undergraduate Advisor and Area Coordinator programs have also been modified through student input. Turco sought student suggestions in changing the training and initial programs for UGAs and ACs, thus improving their performance, she said.
"I'd like to be remembered as an administrator who valued the participation and good judgment of undergraduates in making the department serve students better," Turco said.
