The Class of 2000 has truly been at the College during an exciting time. Not since the implementation of coeducation in the early 1970s has Dartmouth undergone such revolutionary changes as those put forth in the Student Life Initiative, announced in the middle of the Class of 2000's junior year.
Join The Dartmouth as we take a look back at four years of major campus headlines.
Freshman year
The 1996-97 school year marked the 25th anniversary of coeducation at Dartmouth. The College celebrated by inviting famous women such as actress Meryl Streep to speak.
During the fall, the Dartmouth football team enjoyed an undefeated season, winning its 17th Ivy League title.
The College de-recognized Beta Theta Pi fraternity in December after a series of offenses that included having alcohol in its house during the Fall term of 1996, a violation of the house's probation.
In the winter, the women's basketball team won the Ivy League championship, earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
An unknown group wrote messages in chalk around campus accusing fraternities of rape and homophobia.
"Frats assault. Frats rape. Frats suck," one message said.
A student was anonymously accused of rape when posters bearing his face were put up all over campus.
A series of "Bear Bones" comic strips published in The Dartmouth sparked anger among some and considerable campus debate. Some students believed the strips perpetuated negative stereotypes of Asians.
Author David Berenson '99 defended the cartoons by saying he used the strips to expose the errors of existing stereotypes.
Perhaps the year's biggest controversy centered on a Dartmouth Dining Services proposal to mandate an $800 minimum declining balance account meal plan.
DDS claimed to have lost over $400,000, and DDS administrators explained to angry students that an $800 charge was the absolute minimum necessary to recover the losses.
The explanation led the Student Assembly to conduct a campus-wide poll to gauge student opinion. Students overwhelmingly voted to cut services at DDS and a revised plan was proposed, which included closing Collis Caf on weekends and offering several levels of nonrefundable DBA.
The College lost two well-known professors to tragedy in 1997. Native American studies department founder Michael Dorris took his own life in April, and chemistry professor Karen Wetterhahn died of dimethylmercury poisoning in June.
Sophomore year
The resignations of numerous Dartmouth administrative power-players marked the Class of 2000's sophomore year.
College president James Freedman announced in September that he would step down at the end of the academic year, ending 11 years of service.
College provost James Wright informed Freedman that he would also resign. The Board of Trustees announced in April that Wright would succeed Freedman as president of the College.
DDS Director Pete Napolitano resigned to accept a new position at Middlebury College in Vermont, and Tucker Rossiter took over as head of DDS.
During Winter term, Dean of the College Lee Pelton announced he too would resign at the end of the following year to accept a position as president of Willamette College.
College Vice-President and Treasurer Lyn Hutton and Dean of Residential Life Mary Turco announced their resignations at the beginning of Spring term.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees Stephen Bosworth was sworn in as the U.S. ambassador to South Korea in November. While many believed he would resign as chairman of the Board, he said he would stay in his position for the remainder of his term.
The Trustees asserted their will in one of the College's biggest controversies of the year. Despite opposition from the majority of the Design Review Committee, the Trustees accepted plans for the $50 million Berry Library project.
Several art history professors led a movement against the plans, presenting Bosworth with a petition that included signatures of 1,550 individuals, most of them students.
Berry library is the cornerstone of the College's northward expansion project, which also includes the now-complete Moore Psychology Hall and the not-yet-begun Kemeny math building.
Another major controversy arose as a result of the fall report of the College Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs. The CCAOD recommended to Pelton that the College restrict the number of kegs at parties and allow Safety and Security officers to monitor Greek events.
During Spring term, Pelton issued a new alcohol policy, a compromise between the CCAOD's recommendations and a Coed Fraternity Sorority Council response. Under the new policy, up to five kegs were allowed at open events, kegs were prohibited during sophomore summer, and Safety and Security officers, accompanied by student monitors, were allowed to enter Greek houses during parties.
In other campus news, two sophomores were seriously injured in October. Dan Becker '00 suffered injuries in a climbing accident, and Adam Dansiger '00 sustained massive head injuries in a car accident.
In November, five years after its construction was approved, the $4 million Roth Center for Jewish Life officially opened.
During the beginning of Winter term, the sisters of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority moved into the house at 6 Webster Ave. formerly occupied by Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
Two student publications drew fire for their content. The Jack-O-Lantern humor magazine printed several pieces in the fall that some students found offensive. Uncommon Threads, an alternative literary and cultural journal, printed an article about a lesbian encounter that some students felt was inappropriate.
Three-time Academy Award-winning writer and director Oliver Stone received the Dartmouth Film Award during Winter term. Stone was honored by a tribute in the Hopkins Center.
In February, Brian de Moya '00 alleged he was threatened and mistreated by Safety and Security officers. Then-Dean of the College Lee Pelton formed a panel to look into the complaint. The panel decided no action needed to be taken.
Sophomore year brought prominent figures in politics, religion and the arts to campus. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson was the Montgomery Fellow for an entire term.
Conservative pundit William F. Buckley gave a controversial speech in Rollins Chapel in late January. He said Dartmouth should not be afraid of the ideal on which he said the College was founded -- to Christianize its students.
Boxing promoter Don King discussed racism and the history of America in a February speech. King's speech included descriptions of "Indians running around the plains, shooting bows and arrows and smoking the peace pipe" that some found offensive.
April brought speeches by then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich and former presidential candidate Lamar Alexander.
Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed spoke on family values in May. Outside the speech, members of the Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance protested Reed's conservative views.
Locking residence hall doors was an another issue that galvanized the campus this year. The administration backed off door locking after a Student Assembly vote in favor of the controversial action caused considerable student outcry.
The Olympic victory of the U.S. women's ice hockey team, whose members included Dartmouth alumni and a Dartmouth student, was significant sports news.
Junior year
1998-99 saw many noteworthy events, including the inauguration of James Wright, Dartmouth's 16th president, and Wright's Winter term announcement of the Trustees' Five Principles.
Dartmouth also received national news coverage for the infamous "ghetto party" during Fall term.
The announcement of the Five Principles was perhaps the biggest news at the College since coeducation.
"TRUSTEES TO END GREEK SYSTEM 'AS WE KNOW IT,'" screamed a Feb. 10 headline in The Dartmouth.
In an often-repeated line, Wright explained, "This is not a referendum on these things. We are committed to doing this."
The news set off a torrent of unhappy responses that climaxed in a march to the president's house on Webster Avenue, where approximately 1,000 students gathered to sing the College's alma mater.
To protest the announcement and to prevent potentially embarrassing incidents from being broadcast to a national audience, the CFSC canceled all parties for the upcoming Winter Carnival weekend. A protest rally took the place of Psi Upsilon fraternity's traditional keg jump.
After the announcement of the Five Principles, a number of anti-Initiative groups sprang up. The Student Assembly passed a resolution supporting the CFSC's perogative in the matter, mimicking the style of the Five Principles.
A Dartmouth party in the fall gave rise to a widely printed Associated Press article and a discussion on ABC television's "Politically Incorrect." The so-called "ghetto party," co-sponsored by Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity and Alpha Xi Delta sorority, was criticized for being insensitive and racist.
Several editorials offering apology failed to placate some members of the Dartmouth community, and panel discussions were organized to discuss the issue.
Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenberg linked the event to a decline in the number of African-American applicants to the College. The College accepted only three African-American early-decision applicants last year.
James Larimore, the assistant to the provost at Stanford University and a former admissions officer at Dartmouth, was chosen to return to Dartmouth as the next dean of the College.
In the spring, former executive editor of the Washington Post Ben Bradlee came to finish the lecture series with a discussion of Richard Nixon, a president he helped to bring down by coordinating reporting on the Watergate scandal.
A round of hate mailings hit campus targeting homosexuals, Jews and other minority groups. Some campus leaders received the mailings, which consisted of offensive cartoon books mailed anonymously to their Hinman boxes.
The cartoons were mailed with the return address of the Campus Crusade for Christ, but the group denied all involvement. The College later discovered the identity of the sender but refused to release the name.
Jeffrey Sudikoff '77, who donated more than $3 million for the construction of the College's computer science laboratory, pleaded guilty in February to insider trading charges in connection with his Los Angeles-based communications firm. The College did not change the name of the building.
In April, the campus was saddened by the news that Leo Park '97 had committed suicide near his home in Queens, N.Y.
Also in April, Peter Goldsmith announced that he would step down as Dean of First-Year Students after six years at the position. He was replaced by current dean Gail Zimmerman over the summer.
Spring term saw a significant development in the implementation of the Student Life Initiative, as the steering committee for the SLI, which included student representation, was formed and held its first meetings.
The final major event on campus at the end of junior spring was the tragic and sudden death of Jenica Rosekrans '00 on June 17, four days before Commencement. Rosekrans was one of two students who contracted meningitis from of a micro-outbreak of meningococcus bacteria on campus which administrators quickly worked to contain by offering free meningitis vaccinations.
Friends described Rosekrans, a 21-year-old psychology major, as loving, introspective and strikingly beautiful.
During Summer term, the debate that had been raised by the "ghetto party" was revived when the Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity and Delta Delta Delta sorority planned a "Hawaiian-style" luau party for August 13.
The party was canceled because some said it reinforced stereotype of Hawaiians.
During the first week of August, the College purchased 19 properties in Hanover, including the off-campus residences of about 100 students, prompting concern by some over the College's role in off-campus housing.
Senior year
The term began with several community forums on the Initiative, in which the steering committee announced it had reached a "decision-making mode" and discussed possible recommendations for the future of residential and social life.
In his Oct. 18 1999 address to the faculty, College president James Wright promised "comprehensive and bold" recommendations from the steering committee.
"I do not wish to repeat the history of previous attempts to change" the College, Wright said.
The term saw a group of five seniors -- Ben Berk, Josh Green, Teresa Knoedler, Noah Phillips and Janelle Ruley -- form the first organized and vocal support from students.
In the first of a series of presidential primary debates, Democratic and Republican candidates -- with the notable absence of Texas governor and eventual Republican nominee George W. Bush -- engaged in "town meeting"-style forums in the College's Moore Theater Oct. 27 and 28.
At the end of the term, Hanover Police arrested Peter Cataldo '00 for trespassing on College property. Cataldo had been evicted from his Topliff residence and banned from College property after allegedly writing several anti-Semitic threats, including "KKK, Kill Kosher Kikes" on the message board of the undergraduate advisor on his floor.
The long-awaited steering committee report was released Jan. 10 after a year of preparation. It recommended drastic changes to the College's Greek system to bring it in line with the Board of Trustees' vision for student life.
While single-sex Greek houses will continue to exist, the steering committee's recommendations made good on President Wright's promise to end the Greek system "as we know it."
The steering committee recommended that CFS houses be held to stricter standards, which could lead to the de-recognition of some houses.
Wright, Larimore and several Trustees hosted weekly "fireside chats" -- informal, interactive public forums for Dartmouth community members to express their opinions and critique aspects of the report.
CFSC president Eric Etu '01 presented a response to the recommendations that disagreed with some key provisions in the report but supported many others, including some affecting the Greek system.
The Student Assembly created a Student Response Task Force to handle the bulk of a student response to the report.
Faculty members voted 81-0 to urge the de-recognition of the Greek system.
A cheating scandal erupted in a Computer Science 4 class taught by visiting professor Rex Dwyer of the University of North Carolina. Dwyer reported that mass cheating had taken place on a take-home assignment when students accessed a non-secure website on which answers were posted.
After weeks of speculation and controversy, 78 students were implicated in the scandal, of whom 63 were to face COS investigations, capturing headlines nationwide.
Unsatisfied, Dwyer left Dartmouth before the end of the term.
Dean Larimore announced at the end of the term that all charges against the students would be dropped because of insufficient evidence.
In sports, the Dartmouth women's basketball team captured its second straight Ivy League Title and won a trip to the NCAA tournament, where the 13th-seeded Big Green came up just four points short against fourth-ranked Purdue in the first round.
Rock musician Sheryl Crow came to Dartmouth as a Montgomery Fellow. She answered questions and talked about the lyrics of her songs, which she performed in front of approximately 800 students in Spaulding Auditorium.
Phi Delta Alpha fraternity made headlines in the middle of the term when it was de-recognized by the College for at least two years on charges that it violated College and CFSC regulations by allowing freshmen to join the house in a "dirty rush," serving alcohol to underage students, tolerating drug use, providing false information to the College and using techniques of peer pressure and coercion during its pledge period.
Phi Delt was also charged with failing to take action when four of its members broke into Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity in December and started a fire there. Phi Delt unsuccessfully appealed the decision.
Psi U was placed on probation for six weeks beginning at the end of March for alcohol violations during its annual Winter Carnival keg jump.
In April, a Student Assembly poll of the student body overwhelmingly supported the Assembly's recommendations, which were generally opposed of the Initiative.
On April 19, the Trustees announced the first wave of changes to be implemented as part of the Initiative. The decision, which was met without much strong student reaction, included decisions to move rush to Winter term, to ban taps and permanent bars from Greek houses, to build enhanced cluster programming and to implement freshman-only housing on a trial basis, beginning with some members of the Class of 2004.
Later that month, Sam Webb, chair of the American Communist Party, spoke to a packed house at The Tabard coed fraternity.
In May the Class of 2003 fell victim to the largest housing crunch since 1994, leaving 389 angry first-year students without housing, at least for now.
At the end of the month, the campus Christian group Voces Clamantium sponsored a controversial speaker. Yvette Schneider of the conservative Family Research Council gave a speech about her experiences as a former lesbian who says she gave up her homosexual lifestyle when she became a Christian.
DRA members, Gay-Straight Alliance members and their supporters held a protest rally before the speech, which was attended by over 400 people. The incident provoked a broad range of letters and columns in The Dartmouth both before and after the speech.
At the end of May, Delta Delta Delta sorority announced it would withdraw from the CFSC because its goals were "not in accordance with those of the CFSC," although Tri-Delt declined to comment further on its reasons for withdrawing.
In sports, the baseball team had a phenomenal regular season, finishing a best-in-Dartmouth-history 29-14 with a second-best-ever Ivy record of 17-3 before losing two heartbreaking games in a row and the Ivy title to the Princeton Tigers.
