Melanie Schechter '02 never pictured herself leading the governing body of the College's Greek system.
Not until the weekend before last Sunday's Coed Fraternity Sorority Council elections did the thought cross her mind, when Sigma Delta sorority's summer President Lauren Smalkowski '02 and a good friend of Schechter's proposed the idea.
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Schechter, a Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sister, said she "hemmed and hawed" over the notion for the next few days and eventually decided to run for president of the CFSC.
Last Sunday night, the summer presidents of Greek houses chose her to lead them in what could be a tumultuous time of change for the Greek system.
Just two days after being elected, Schechter received the official mandate from Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman that all beer taps and most bars must be removed before Sept. 18, 2000.
But Schechter took this decree in stride, saying she is up to the challenge the position presents her.
On a different note, as president of the CFSC Schechter said, "I'd love to try to lessen the competition between houses," referring to the often unpublicized rivalry among individual fraternities and sororities that leads to stealing and vandalism.
"It's really getting ridiculous," she said, alluding to the recent cherry tree prank-gone-wrong at Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity and the fire set in Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity during the winter.
Besides being CFSC president, Schechter is the formal chair for her sorority and has also served as Kappa representative to the Panhellenic Council, but Schechter's interests also lie outside the Greeks.
Since her freshman winter, she has been a participant in the Oxbow Mentoring Program and this summer serves as the organization's chairperson. The Oxbow Program sends Dartmouth women to Oxbow Junior/Senior High School in Vermont to counsel seventh and eighth grade girls there.
"A lot of them don't have anyone else to turn to," Schechter said of the girls. "I think in a lot of ways we definitely got through to them."
She said she and other Dartmouth women who participate in the program have become instant friends with many of the Oxbow girls.
"I've definitely learned about myself," she said. "It's made me realize how lucky I am."
Indeed, as she herself describes it, Schechter's younger years were charmed: "I grew up in a pretty affluent town with two parents who loved me -- all that stuff."
As one of the highest achievers in her class of around 175 students at Roslyn High School in Roslyn, New York, not far outside of New York City, Schechter naturally looked to the best colleges, but one stood out. She was drawn to Dartmouth initially by her cousin, Eric Serotta who graduated from the College in 1997.
"I spent four years hearing [from Serotta] about Tubestock, Homecoming, Winter Carnival," and other Dartmouth-related things, Schechter said of her high school years.
"It was so intriguing," she said of her cousin's Dartmouth stories. While applying to schools, Schechter visited the campus and said she absolutely loved it.
"The rest," as Schechter said, "is history."
