Campus response to the Monday release of the steering committee's recommendations has been mild in comparison to last year's raucous reaction to the announcement of the Social and Residential Life Initiative.
This week has been marked by critical discussion and debate, a sharp contrast to the protests, marches and rallies that characterized last year's Winter Carnival weekend following the release of the Five Principles.
"I'm not terribly surprised that it was more subdued," said Eric Etu '01, President of the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council. "We've been waiting for months. [The report] was very expected."
Last year the CFSC cancelled all Winter Carnival parties when the initiative was announced. Etu said the council did not even consider such a protest this year.
He described the council's first meeting following the release of the report as thoughtful.
"I expected more people to be upset," he said. "I was pleasantly surprised. There was a lot of good discussion ... people made a lot of positive suggestions."
Several campus leaders told The Dartmouth that they believe the manner in which the Initiative was announced contributed greatly to the uproar on campus last year. The report was released in a much more controlled manner this week.
Associate Senior Dean of the College Dan Nelson said he thinks the Dartmouth community appreciated receiving the news immediately from the College, rather than having their first impressions come from the media.
"I haven't heard any criticism about the way the report was shared with the campus and the larger Dartmouth community," Nelson said.
Over the past year there has been a great deal of debate over the method in which the Initiative was announced last February.
President of Psi Upsilon fraternity Dan Mahoney '01 said he believes that within the Greek system there is definite frustration with many of the recommendations, but that many are glad to see the specificity of the report in comparison with last year's vague Five Principles.
"It is a lot easier to work with something when you know what it means," Mahoney said. "I think this is the point in time when we need to have productive discussion."
Last year Psi U held a rally in support of the Greek system following the announcement of the initiative at which several Greek leaders spoke to a crowd of about 1,000 students.
Mahoney said he did not think such a response would be appropriate for this year's announcement.
"At this point it is less of an attempt to convince people of the merits of the Greek system," he said, adding that he believes people are done protesting the five principles and are now ready to have a discussion based on the specifics contained in the report.
Leaders of several Greek houses told The Dartmouth that their houses had met this week to discuss the report, and said they will consider issuing statements in the future.
President of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity Isaac Berniker '01 said his house met earlier in the week and will continue to discuss the report at several meetings throughout the term.
Berniker said that the discussion at Sig Ep was more level-headed than considerations of the Five Principles last year.
Greek opinion of the report was more moderate as well in comparison to last year's strong opposition to all changes to the system.
"Personally, I was not surprised by the recommendations made," Berniker said, "They were largely sensible, though there were some that were slightly ambiguous."
Nelson said he believes most people are reading the report carefully and giving it full consideration.
"While many people may disagree about strategies for achieving the goals, I think there is agreement that these are appropriate goals," he said.
In addition to the statements that may be issued by Greek houses, Etu said the CFSC will be releasing a proposal of its own, hopefully before the end of the term.
He said that the council wants there to be ample time for their proposal to be discussed and considered before it is submitted to the new task force.
The steering committee is formally known as the Committee on the Student Life Initiative.
