Just weeks after the announcement of the Board of Trustees' landmark social and residential life initiative, the Student Assembly saw a 25 to 30 percent increase in membership, with slightly more than half affiliated with the Greek system.
The Assembly has added 25 new members to its list of representatives since the announcement of an initiative that could end the existence of single-sex Greek systems at Dartmouth.
"We are expecting more representatives coming in before the end of the term from coed, fraternity and sorority houses," Assembly Vice President Case Dorkey '99 said.
Of the 14 new organizational representatives, half represent a coed fraternity or sorority organization. Eleven members applied as individuals, and while six of those are affiliated, they do not represent their house.
Overall, the distribution of affiliated and unaffiliated members within the Assembly remains even.
"The atmosphere on campus generated by the Trustee initiative has created interest across the board in the Assembly and has helped boost membership. People get involved for different reasons, and recent activity on campus has motivated some of them to join," Dorkey said.
New Assembly member Andy Trief '01, who votes on behalf of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity, expressed the general sentiment of new Greek members. "In a time of campus upheaval, we wanted to be kept in the loop. Alpha Chi, like many other Greek houses, wanted to have someone representing their interests," he said.
Last night more than 65 people attended the weekly Student Assembly's meeting -- an attendance higher than in the recent past -- where the Assembly unanimously approved two proposals to sponsor a campus-unifying event and contribute money to Sexual Abuse Awareness Month.
The meeting included five new Greek representatives from the houses of Kappa Delta Epsilon, Alpha Xi Delta, Alpha Chi Alpha, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Psi Upsilon.
The first resolution passed by the Assembly granted $1,000 to sponsor a multi-cultural block party as a campus-wide event for the upcoming Spring term. The party is intended to better unify the campus and its organizations. It will involve 31 student organizations, primarily affinity groups and Greek organizations.
"[Different] organizations would be planning the event from the beginning. The basic idea is a block party involving campus organizations interacting with Greek organizations so that it would be unifying in the planning and event stage," Chair of the Student Organizations Committee Dean Krishna '01 said.
The site and date for the party are yet to be finalized, although the proposal originally planned to host the event April 10 on Webster Ave.
The second resolution granted $500 to sponsor Sexual Abuse Awareness Month. The money will be channeled into a community dinner and publicity.
"This is the 10th year, and the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program is trying to expand Sexual Abuse Awareness week into a month, which means four times the programming and money," resolution sponsor Amanda Molk '01 said.
Dorkey said balance and diversity of the Assembly will not be jeopardized by the arrival of new Greek members because a diversity of perspectives exists within the Greek system.
"The fact that today's resolutions passed unanimously shows that people both affiliated and not affiliated wanted to see this happen," Dorkey said.
In an informal brainstorm session about ways to improve the volume and voice of students at the College, the Assembly created a list of possible solutions.
"Student responsibility for shaping the community is philosophical and logistical. We need to win converts one step at a time all the way up the ladder," Dorkey said.
Ideas generated at the meeting revolved around student influence: a student Trustee, student vote in Trustee elections, student run student space, influence in tenures, more student steering committees in departments, and intensifying faculty, administration and student relationships.
