On a campus with 13 fraternities, only six sororities and a long history of being a "bastion" of male supremacy, one might think twice before using "Dartmouth" and "antimale" in the same sentence.
Accordingly, Dartmouth's rating as one of the 10 most "antimale" schools in the country in the September 2000 issue of Men's Health magazine came as a surprise to many students who spoke with The Dartmouth.
The article first described Dartmouth as "vibe: every guy's a rapist here." It then proceeded to highlight the luau party controversy from last Summer term, a "frats rape" chalked on a sidewalk and efforts of the administration to dampen the party atmosphere as evidence that the College is no longer "a bastion of bright, rugged, beer-drinking guys."
Six criteria were used to judge the campus atmosphere, including the school's position on fraternities, sexual harassment policy, the size of the women's studies department and the number of male sports cut.
Columbia and Brown were the other Ivies accompanying Dartmouth on the list of the worst campuses for males to attend while Princeton was featured as one of the 10 most male-friendly colleges.
Student reaction to the article ranged from disbelief that the word "antimale" was used to describe the College to anger with what was printed. The vast majority of those interviewed by The Dartmouth, however, agreed the article inaccurately portrayed the College.
"I'm disgusted," David Nelson '01 said. "The article was on which universities had support for their frats. That's not really a criteria for judging if a campus is good for a male or not."
The notion that it used to be a great thing to be a guy at the College and partake in stereotypical male activities like drinking is a "strange thing to be mourning," Giavanna Munafo, the director of the Women's Resource Center, said.
"The kind of impression one might get from reading [Men's Health] is that [political correctness] won the battle zone at Dartmouth and the old boy network lost," she continued.
Class of 2002 Dean Carolynne Krusi called the article "offensive" and "obnoxious to Dartmouth."
Members of the College administration and others rejected the article's claim, arguing it had little authority or insight.
"Magazines and newspapers employ many different strategies to grab readers' attention, and this is obviously one of those strategies," Director of Public Affairs Laurel Stavis said.
Senior Associate Dean of the College Dan Nelson agreed with Stavis. "That kind of article doesn't merit serious response or discussion," adding that the notion of Dartmouth being anti-male was "ludicrous."
The succinct description of the College and questionable criteria for judging its atmosphere came under attack.
"It was a backward way of looking at gender relations," David Nelson said. "Being 'hypersensitive' [to the luau party] has nothing to do with whether or not a campus is good for males."
"Gender relations on this campus are something that need to be looked at, and can be problematic, but they deserve more in-depth attention and analysis than a top 10 list in Men's Health." Amy Schnitzer '02 said.
Schnitzer further commented that the issues presented could never effectively be summed up in one paragraph.
"It often seems that these publications don't really look into the issues and understand their complexity, and they don't present them in a way for readers to understand their complexity," she said.
Munafo said while she felt nothing was wrong with being "rugged" or associated with other so-called masculine attributes, she did not think ruggedness ever accurately defined the College.
Although if it did, she said, maybe it is a good thing that the notion is no longer true in its entirety.
Despite prevailing images in college guidebooks of Dartmouth having a positive social and academic environment, the College is no stranger to being rated for an undesirable atmosphere in the popular press.
Last fall, Metrosource magazine -- which explores urban gay life -- listed the College as one of the 10 "questionable schools for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students."
Munafo said media attention on Dartmouth is too often shaped by some notion that the College is a haven for a particular kind of masculinity.
An institution of Dartmouth's stature and history merits much media attention, Stavis said, adding that much of the material is positive coverage.
Articles of negative publicity, even in efforts to grab readers, can have consequences for how the rest of the world perceives the College, and it is important not to discount such articles completely, Schnitzer said.
Dan Nelson, who graduated in the Class of 1975 and has subsequently served as an administrator for 14 years, said the gender environment has done nothing but improve for both men and women over the years.
"The biggest improvement was coeducation in early the '70s, and in the period of time that I've been affiliated with Dartmouth, there has been less pressure on students to conform to stereotypical gender behavior than there used to be -- and that's a good thing for men and for women."
Krusi said great efforts are made to ensure that Dartmouth is supportive of both men and women.
"The article implies that you can't be a strong man and also be supportive of diversity and sensitive to others, and I would disagree with that premise," she said. "I've found many men at Dartmouth to be all those things."
Nevertheless, Munafo said plenty of work still needs to be accomplished in order to make the College more inclusive of all experiences.
