What began as an ad-hoc rally to protest revelations of a sexist and threatening newsletter published by Zeta Psi fraternity ended with internal disputes and a pledge by a high-level administrator that he supports a faster pace of change at Dartmouth.
The rally was originally planned to request the derecognition of the 48-member fraternity and call for official disclosure about College investigations into Greek houses, but at times became a forum for supporters and opponents of the Greek system to voice their opposing views.
But throughout the rally, one message remained clear: that those present strongly condemned Zeta Psi's actions.
News of the rally, which began at 11:00 p.m. last night outside of Zeta Psi fraternity and ended after an hour and a half on the sidewalk in front of the College president's house, was spread by email and at various meetings throughout the day yesterday.
"We invite ALL students -- male and female -- faculty, and administrators to protest the gross misconduct of Zete brothers tonight ... to voice our anger and need for drastic action and constructive measures," the email said.
The group of protesters began with about 50 students in its ranks, but quickly swelled to roughly 250 demonstrators and observers.
After an approximately 45-minute exchange between protesters and two members of Zeta Psi, the group walked down Webster Avenue to College president James Wright's home shouting, "two, four, six, eight, no more violence no more hate." It was unclear if Wright was home, but he never emerged from his house.
Once the protesters became aware that Dean of the College James Larimore was in the crowd, they asked him what he would do to prevent rape on campus.
"There are things I will do. Unfortunately, this is not a matter of what one single person will do. It's about whether people are able and willing to take a stance," Larimore responded.
"I'm pretty impatient with the pace of change that's happened here. I'm impatient with students because I think sometimes you have overly broad tolerance," he continued, adding: "I want to congratulate you for being angry enough to come here."
Outside of Zeta Psi, two fraternity members greeted the assembled protesters by telling them that they, too, were disconcerted by the content of the sex newsletters.
"It's not just the culture of our house," said member Kevin Smith '01.
Protesters called out such statements as "go coed" and said that members of the fraternity had passively condoned the newsletter.
One male protester said, "I will not stand by and let my female friends be assaulted because your house thinks it's funny."
At one point, one of the Zeta Psi members who spoke to the crowd, Ryan Krauch '01 said: "We're 20 year-old males. Testosterone runs." At that, many of the protesters jeered.
By the time the group reached Wright's house, a number of Greek members joined the demonstrators. Impassioned debate quickly emerged between friends and foes of the fraternity and sorority system.
After one demonstrator said the Greek system allows societal misogyny to fester, Nick Krasucki '00, a Bones Gate officer, said that the protesters were isolating potential supporters.
"You can't describe 40 to 50 percent of the campus monolithically as rapists," he said.
Katie Oliviero '01, one of the organizers of the rally, emphasized the importance for large-scale change at Dartmouth throughout the night.
"You can see this is bigger than Zete," she said.
