Two members of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity have confessed to the crime of cutting down the David L. Wolfson '92 memorial cherry tree belonging to the Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity on Sunday.
Rohin Dhar '02 and Priam Dutta '02 approached the Alpha Chi fraternity with admission of their guilt hours after the tree was cut down, upon learning that the tree was dedicated to a deceased brother, according to a joint statement submitted to The Dartmouth.
Dhar and Dutta, their "judgment clouded by alcohol and [their] vision impaired by darkness," said they cut down the small cherry tree in the Alpha Chi yard at around four in the morning."We were inebriated, and at the time, it seemed like it would be a funny prank on them," Dutta said.
Neither student had committed a prank before, and claimed they did not see the plaque announcing the dedication to Wolfson.
"We did it as a harmless prank, not knowing for a second that it was a memorial," Dhar said. "It was a foolish prank at the time, done without properly thinking things out."
On Monday, Dhar and Dutta visited an Alpha Chi meeting and made a formal apology to the entire brotherhood, asking for cooperation in rededicating a replacement tree, which Alpha Chi accepted.
"We felt as a house that our response had to focus on eliminating the climate that had contributed to this vandalism, not on getting even," Nathan Sabel, summer president of Alpha Chi said.
"They were saddened by the incident. You could see it on their faces," Dutta said. "But at the same time they were really willing to listen to us."
Dhar and Dutta will replace the tree using their personal funds, in a ceremony currently being planned by Alpha Chi. No date has been set for the replacement, but Sabel said he hopes to have it before the end of July.
An alumni brother of the same year as David Wolfson '92 is planning to attend. Wolfson passed away in a car accident in 1991.
Sig Ep is imposing internal sanctions on Dhar and Dutta, requiring them to perform 50 hours of community service, revoking social privileges and placing them on member probation, meaning that they will be expelled from the house if they violate any house or College rules in the next year.
Dhar and Dutta have spoken to Dean of the Class of 2002 Carolynne Krusi, but no punitive measures have been decided.
This incident brings to light the problem of fraternity pranks and rivalries -- what Sig Ep President Andrew Langworthy called "the undercover yet conspicuous disputes among Greek houses."
Both presidents of the houses that were involved criticized the currently prevalent climate of antagonism between Greek organizations that commonly result in small acts of vandalism.
"I think pranks like this and pranks in general have no place at the College," Dhar said.
The Sig Ep Executive Committee is charged with conducting an internal review of the relationship between fraternity houses, Langworthy said. They met last night to begin discussions.
Langworthy added that Greek houses should maintain an honest and clean record especially in light of the Student Life Initiative.
"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 allows us to deal with one another when things go wrong," Sabel said.
Despite its unfortunate circumstances, the incident and the resulting inter-house cooperation seemed to have produced a positive momentum.
"The fraternity presidents handled this in an extremely mature fashion," Dhar said. "This was a potentially explosive situation and they diffused it very effectively."
"If anything, it has set the stage for improvement in these relations," Sabel said.
