Don't look for a two-hour rally to replace the annual Alpha Delta fraternity lawn party or a protest march to the Green to start off this big weekend.
Green Key 1999 promises to be much like any other Green Key, unlike last term's historical Winter Carnival, obscured by Initiative-induced party cancellations, bitter speeches and a general mood of anger and resentment toward the Trustees and potential Greek changes.
While most Greek leaders say the actions of Carnival were appropriate for the time - just days after the Trustees' surprise announcement of the Social and Residential Life Initiative - they agree their cause of traditional Greek preservation is best served this time by hosting a traditional Green Key.
"I hope it's a Green Key like any other Green Key and I think it will be," Coed Fraternity Sorority Council President Jaimie Paul '00 said. "The reason there were so many protests during Winter Carnival was because there were so many people on this campus who were so mad, and rightly so, and the Carnival was a good way to vent that ... I don't think protests and rallies would be appropriate at this point."
Inter-Fraternity Council President Hondo Sen '00 said his organization is also not planning, at least not as of yet, any unusual Green Key event.
"I don't think this will be a significantly different Green Key ... The IFC isn't planning on holding any kind of rally yet," Sen said. "If we do it will be something relatively informal."
He said Carnival's protests were due largely to the manner in which the Initiative and its accompanying Five Principles were announced. Since then, Sen continued, the Greek organizations have tried to look closely at the system and fix problems they have encountered - something that might be apparent in their Green Key presentation this year.
"We're really trying to promote" the Greek system, Sen said. "We're trying to emphasize there is a diverse amount of things to do at Green Key."
Paul said she hopes this Green Key is done "in a classy way" and said students should not forget that their actions may impact the Initiative's effects on their houses.
"What I hope is that Green Key is a ton of fun and we celebrate with all our alumni, which we didn't necessarily get to do at Carnival, but at the same time act accordingly," Paul said.
Psi Upsilon fraternity President Teddy Rice '00, who told The Dartmouth earlier this term he was considering helping organize a rally during the weekend, said this week that does not look likely.
"I think the general feeling is that it's time for the campus to have fun again. Winter Carnival was an appropriate thing to do and I think the rally and the protests and the cancellations were right for the time," Rice said, adding Carnival "weekend remains the single most important tangible show of Greek resistance.
"I have no regrets about what we did and what the campus did. I think it was one of our finest hours, but I think it would be hard to fire up the same kind of thing now."
