For my first three years at Dartmouth, I wondered what role the President and the Trustees played in shaping this institution. Through participation in several organizations I realized that they were a group of people which were unknown to the students and paid little attention to campus needs. Time and time again, I have seen student groups complain about wanting more diverse social options. Despite the calls for change, the President and the Trustees failed to respond to the student population. Just as I, and many others, were becoming disillusioned with the Administration, a ray of light emerged.
The Inauguration of President Wright offered hope that student opinions would finally be heard, and action might be taken on behalf of the campus. I remember the shock on students faces when President Wright stepped into Thayer Dining Hall for the first time. It was hard to believe that the President of the College would come down to our level. The President's willingness to talk to real students suggested that the college had genuine concern for student opinions. Finally, it seemed that students would have a voice aside from the Student Assembly, which never accurately represents the feelings of the students. I was fortunate to meet with President Wright at Home Plate on several occasions. Having genuine conversations about social life, we agreed about many problems facing the Dartmouth Community, and we discussed actions to improve student life. President Wright established trust with me, as he did with many students on this campus.
Yesterday's announcement represents the most clear example of the Administration's apathy and disrespect of student opinion that I can imagine. It is rather shameful that the College released the details of decision to the Associated Press before it presented them to the student body. Not only have the Trustees shown that they have no appreciation of student sentiment, but President Wright has displaced all of the trust invested in him and revealed himself as a hypocrite in both actions and words. The decisions outlined in yesterday's announcement contain little if any student consultation. The overwhelming response by community members Greek and non-Greek, men and women alike, demonstrates the campus opposition to the ideas brought forth by the President and the Trustees.
Greek leaders have been working diligently to address problems of gender relations, diversity, alcohol education and other concerns within the system. At several meetings with the CFSC the President challenged the system to contribute to the campus effort to improve social options. President Wright even stated that it was not in his plans to destroy the system. Yesterday's announcement shows blatant disregard for any commitment made to the CFSC. In a similar way, he is discredited by his efforts to befriend the student population, and, in turn, make a decision that destroys the way of life for over half (a conservative figure) of the student body.
These acts of hypocrisy aside, the proposed changes in social and residential life have no merit. Ending Greek life "as we know it" does not address the true problems facing the campus. The problems associated with gender relations, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and all of the other divides which detract from community are not created in the Greek System. These problems may very well exist in Fraternities and Sororities, but they merely symptoms of the larger campus problem. These divisions in community have sources rooted in the admissions process, residence halls, the D-plan, the faculty, and the administration.
I have participated in many forums designed to address improvements in student life, and none have advocated an overhaul of the CFS system as recommended by the President and the Trustees. Certainly there are changes to be made, but who knows best what changes will result in a positive outcome? Is a group of sixteen alumni who venture into Hanover three times a year more capable of determining how to improve student life than students who are living the Dartmouth experience? At what point does the thirty thousand dollars buy the right for students to have a voice in decisions regarding student lifestyle? Are we not adults capable of making our own decisions? What is it that makes students so unable to decide the course of our careers here socially and otherwise?
That leads into my next question. Are gender relations here so impaired that we must change the CFS system? I would argue no. Maybe I am misguided, but I don't see how the single-sex organizations prohibit positive relations between genders. Gender relations take place on an individual level between individuals. I am certain that many Greek affiliated students will agree with me when I say that, through my own efforts, many of my inter-gender relationships have been maintained or improved through participation in my fraternity. It is also true that there are negative gender relationships in CFS organizations. However, there are so many ways in which we can improve these relations through a more intensive and devoted college efforts combined with programming in houses targeted at education and improvement in these areas. It seems that the college is quick to pass the blame and get rid of the scapegoat rather than make the effort to make positive change.
Lastly, what is going to happen when the system becomes coed? A shift to coed organizations will most likely collapse the entire Greek system. All students are presented the option of joining coed organizations, Undergraduate Societies or Affinity houses, yet the majority of students continually choose to join of single-sex fraternities and sororities. I doubt that college mandate is going increase the demand for participating in Coed organizations. With the death of the primary social scene in Hanover, NH, where are students going to go to meet people? What kind of social life will there be? I argue that this is another step toward creating a campus of "creative loners." While this image may work for some institutions, it is Dartmouth's unique character, which does not conform to any demeaning stereotypes, that attracted me to this college and has made my experience here valuable.
