Editor's Note: This is the second in a three part series profiling the platforms of candidates for the College's Board of Trustees.
As opposed to having the Trustees hand down decisions without any consultation with the student body, trustee candidate Elyse Benson Allen '79, Tu '84 wants to emphasize the importance of student voice in directing the path of the College.
"I think with any decisions that the College makes, they need to make sure they have been consulting with students and looking at general trends at what people are doing and where they are going," Allen said.
Allen said she feels that the College needs to pay more attention to the needs of students, particularly the major national trends, so that Dartmouth can provide the programs and services students will most utilize.
"We don't build for today's students, we build for tomorrow's students," said Allen of potential changes to the College's. infrastructure.
Allen emphasized the importance integrating new and innovative learning experiences into the Dartmouth curriculum. She said the Rockefeller Center's blend of policy, economics and government is an excellent example of ways that Dartmouth students can apply the knowledge and skills they gain in the classroom to "real world" types of problems they will face upon graduation.
In the face of budget cuts Allen said that the College should maintain its commitment to increasing the availability of campus dormitory housing.
"We need to ensure that we have clear solutions and have housing available for students who are looking for it," she said.
The College should maintain its wide variety of athletic offerings, Allen said, something she saw as very helpful in providing students with leadership and team-building skills.
Allen said that "there should be room" for the Greek system at Dartmouth, though she said Greek organizations should be held responsible to "rules of accountability that any organization on campus should have."
Allen said that the Dartmouth's overall sense of community should be strengthened, especially the residential system. She said that she wasn't sure the direction the residential program would take, but that student input should play a large role.
She said she supported the College experimenting with such things as the East Wheelock housing cluster, so long as they are followed up by student surveys to make sure that the students are getting out of the experience what the College intended them to.
When she arrived at Dartmouth, Allen had plans to become a doctor, but she has found her niche working at high-powered positions in both the public and corporate sector.
She spent much of her early career working for General Electric, and is currently the first
