To the Editor,
It would be an understatement to say that the brothers at Alpha Chi Alpha were upset when we looked out our front door Sunday morning and discovered that our memorial tree for Dave Wolfson '92 had been sawed down. It was an act of disrespect both to the memory of our brother and to this community as a whole, which emphasized for us that the rivalry between Greek houses on this campus had reached an utterly intolerable point. As a house we were forced to consider the question of how to restore, as best we were able, what had been tarnished.
I am extremely proud of the manner our house handled this situation, active as well as alumni members. At length, we spoke as a house with those responsible and the president of their organization and together worked out a set of guidelines for reparation which were agreed upon in good faith. Our experience with this incident demonstrates that Greek houses at Dartmouth are capable of handling issues that arise among us in a mature fashion, even in a situation where the wound is deep. At a time when our system is changing, it is important that Greeks begin to cultivate the type of respect for one another, despite our differences, that will allow us to deal effectively with one another even when things go wrong. We all know that we stand for more than drinking and parties, and now is the time for us to express those positive aspects of our organizations which all too often go unnoticed by the larger community.
More important than how the matter was handled is the need to repair the damage that has been done. Alpha Chi Alpha plans to hold a ceremonial planting of a new memorial tree involving present members, graduates who knew Dave, and the campus as a whole. While the tree that has been cut down was sacred, what is more sacred and more important is the need to preserve the memory of our brother. The tree was originally intended to serve as a reminder of Dave's contribution to our house and to the Dartmouth community as a whole, and the spirit of that remembrance must be restored.
