The summer of 1998 was a quiet one compared with the event-filled academic year that preceded it. The administrative turnover and building and alcohol controversies were followed by a restful season for those students and staff who remained on campus.
Announcements and additions
In July, the College announced it will build a new math building in honor of former College President John Kemeny. Although a final location has not been chosen as yet, one proposed site is next to the new Moore Psychology Building, which is currently under construction.
Expansions to two of the College's residence clusters are also in the works. The College plans to add an 80-bed facility to the East Wheelock cluster, and a pair of 40-bed buildings in the middle of the Choate cluster. Work on these two projects will begin several years from now.
In a move that surprised many College community members, Dining Services hired Mitch Jacobs '94, founder and president of the Hanover Green Card, and Taran Lent '96 to manage the Dash program this year.
The Green Card, an independent corporation that offers a debit card for use in off-campus businesses, currently serves over 60 percent of the College's students. The decision to hire Jacobs and Lent will precede a complete merger of the two businesses possibly by the fall of 1999, according to the College.
Student safety
On June 10, a College graduate student was allegedly assaulted by former College custodian Thurman Moore on South Main Street. Moore allegedly attempted to drag the Master of Arts and Liberal Sciences student at knife point into the woods on the hill south of Hanover's central business district. The student's screams alerted neighbors, who called the authorities.
Moore allegedly fled into the woods and was later apprehended by a Hanover police officer after a search. On July 10, Moore was charged with first degree assault, kidnapping, attempted aggravated felonious sexual assault, criminal restraint, second degree assault and being a felon in possession of a weapon.
During the Fourth of July weekend, several local youths went on a spree of vandalism, slashing the tires of vehicles along Wheelock Street. Hanover Police reported over 25 vehicles had been reported damaged.
Several local youths were apprehended by Hanover Police, and confessed to the vandalism.
An outdoor art exhibit consisting of a collection of large balls was vandalized twice over the summer. In the second incident, vandals rolled a plaster and asphalt ball down the hill between the Hood Museum of Art and the Hopkins Center, crashing the piece into a pillar and destroying it.
The campus residence hall door lock policy remained unchanged after student protest vetoed the decision to support a new door lock policy made by the Student Assembly last May. The Office of Residential Life announced it would form a committee to discuss options with dorm locks.
Construction and renovation
Construction continued around campus throughout the summer. Richardson residence hall was renovated, and work on Webster Hall continued. Preparations for the construction of the new Berry Library led to the closing of North Main Street and the path behind Bradley Hall beside the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College. Renovations to the Chi Heorot fraternity house forced its members to live in the River apartments during the summer.
Renovations on Russell Sage residence hall began after a lightning strike damaged the roof and sent one student to the hospital. College officials said the renovations of the roof had been planned even before the incident.
Renovations on the roof of Thayer Dining Hall nearly resulted in disaster on July 21, when a large pipe fell through the ceiling of Westside Buffet, which was currently in use by younger students attending sports camps at the College. No one was seriously injured.
Other news
The big news of the summer was the accession of new College President James Wright, who officially took office on Saturday, August 1 but was not officially inaugurated until yesterday.
On July 9, The Nashville Network stopped in Hanover to shoot a music video program. For one hour, TNN broadcast host segments from in front of the Hopkins Center.
The annual Tubestock festival took place Saturday, July 18. Unlike the weather of the last two years, the weather was clear and warm. Hundreds of students flocked to the Connecticut River to sit in tubes or in rafts, drink substances of varying levels of legality and listen to music performed on the Vermont side of the river.
