The Dartmouth Action Network has named its Executive Student Committee which will coordinate its on-campus recruiting efforts toward its larger goal of increasing the Dartmouth community voice in College decision-making.
Action Network co-founder Steven Sugarman '97 said he hopes the student committee and other student workers, who will be named this week, will be able to solicit the "active support of the majority of students on campus."
The committee members are Coed Fraternity Sorority Council President Jaimie Paul '00, Assembly President-elect Dean Krishna '01, former CFSC President John Muckle '99, Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity President Thad Glowacki '00, Dartmouth Asian Organization President Rick Su '01, 2000 Class Council Vice-President Zoe McLaren, Tim Danford '01, Meg Smoot '01, and Shelley de Alth '02.
The Action Network, recently founded by alumni Sugarman and Richard Yeh '97 and current student David Hawkins '99, all members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, hopes to "make the Trustees accountable to the opinions of the greater Dartmouth community."
While not a single-issue organization, the Action Network will focus its initial work on opposing the Trustees' Social and Residential Life Initiative.
Sugarman told The Dartmouth the group sought to balance the Student Executive Committee between Greek-affiliated students and unaffiliated students, but 66 percent of the committee members belong to a Greek house. Only McLaren, Danford and de Alth are not affiliated.
"We didn't have a litmus test," Sugarman said. "We provided four spaces on the committee for leaders of Greek organizations and otherwise we tried to find campus leaders who are respected by the students and we have no control over whether those students are Greek or unaffiliated."
Sugarman said "a few" additional students will be added to the executive committee in the coming days.
In the coming weeks, Sugarman said he expects to assemble a large team of "campus captains" that will each be responsible for a relatively small number of students.
These campus captains will personally reach out to each of their assigned students and spread the word about the Action Network.
The Action Network hopes to speak for more members of the Dartmouth community than just students, but Sugarman said the alumni portion of that mission will take place only after student support is solidified.
Whether the group's goals can be met at all will depend on the amount of support they receive - and that large question has yet to be answered.
While unable to give specific numbers of students who responded to the Action Network's initial mass BlitzMail message two weeks ago, Sugarman said "over 500" students have expressed their support for the group and that 20 percent of the upperclass responses were from unaffiliated students.
