Yesterday a panel of three Dartmouth graduates spoke to administrators and students about their experiences with student life at other institutions and compared them with their experiences as undergraduates at Dartmouth.
The panelists drew comparisons between residential housing at Dartmouth and other institutions. Candace Crawford '98, assistant director of residential life at Bowdoin College, works to "help advise the new college house system" created two years ago to replace the outgoing fraternity system. There are currently five houses and another is scheduled to be added next year.
Aurora Leute Matzkin '97, currently the coordinator of student life events and services at New York University, worked at Amherst College last year. She said that Amherst, like Bowdoin, has a house system but it not as structured like the system at Bowdoin. She said that at Amherst, housing "revolves around room grouping" with friends.
The panelists also discussed the role of the Greek system at Dartmouth. Matzkin was a member of a coeducational fraternity while a student at Dartmouth. She said her fraternity provided her "with a sense of space where she could feel comfortable immediately."
Dan Parish '89, associate director of admissions at Connecticut College, was president of his fraternity and president of the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council. During his senior year, the issue of delayed rush came to fruition. Looking back on his experience he wishes he realizes his strong opposition to the change was because he wanted to keep his "experience, as it happened, in place."
Parish said he believes that the best parts of his fraternity experience had "nothing to do with the fact that the fraternity was all male."
The role of alcohol at Dartmouth was another topic of discussion. At Bowdoin the college advocates a policy of "responsible drinking," Crawford said. She said there have been several death and near death experiences at Bowdoin which creates a feeling of fear that someone could die. Crawford also notes that the liquor enforcement agents are very proactive at Bowdoin.
Parish said that "alcohol abuse, sexism and objection of women will not disappear from campus, but the institutionalization" of those things is going to reduce incredibly if the fraternities are eliminated.
"People will still pound a beer, take shots but not under the pressure of a group of 200 people," he said.
The panelists also saw huge opportunities in the Trustees' principles because it wants student involvement -- something that was lacking at Bowdoin.
Both Parish, who studied the phasing out of the fraternities at Bowdoin in his higher learning, and Crawford, described the modus for change at Bowdoin. Crawford believes the Bowdoin students were more "limited" than Dartmouth students are because the Bowdoin trustees wrote a document and decreed a vision.
Crawford stated it is her job to "try to get students to buy into this philosophy," which she describes as "idealistic with its vision of inclusiveness that is difficult to obtain."
However, the panelists wonder if students will be able to think objectively about Dartmouth. Parrish described it as an opportunity to "cast off the negative aspects, but is unsure "anybody will be able to sit down and think about the organization without looking at what is already in place."
Concerns with Dartmouth centered upon the divisions that exist in the student body. Crawford noted there is a sense of "privilege without the feeling of being fortunate to be here." She said that, in tandem with a sense of self-focus heightens race, gender and sexual orientation clashes.
Matzkin also added there is a "fear of difference" in interactions between students on this campus. She notes that in Thayer all students sitting together look alike. This means students are "missing a lot of exposure to students who are different than" themselves. Parrish concurred and added that during his senior year at Dartmouth he began to see how "incredibly divisive this place is."
The panelists believe the Greek system plays some role in the division in the student body. Crawford stated the "Greek system helps negate commonalties of being a Dartmouth student." Parrish notes there is a division in the Connecticut College student body but he feels the division is greater at Dartmouth.
The panel offered suggestions such as Bowdoin's three floor pub, quads, and a policy of responsible drinking as suggestions to be incorporated into Dartmouth's future.
