The two prospective students in the Class of 2007 arrested by the Hanover Police over this year's Dimensions weekend are nearing completion in fulfilling their respective debts to society. Both students -- whose names have not been released more than a month after they were held in jail -- have embarked upon an alcohol awareness program in lieu of a heavy fine and an addition to their permanent records.
Safety and Security officers found the prospective students in question intoxicated and in possession of alcohol just after midnight on April 26, the first evening of the annual Dimensions weekend for admitted students.
But since the prospectives were not yet matriculated Dartmouth students, Safety and Security was forced to alert Hanover Police Department officials, who arrested the prospectives for unlawful possession and detained them in the Grafton County Jail. An admissions officer bailed them out later that evening.
Both students have since enrolled in what is called the Diversions program, an alternative to a court proceeding for minors caught in possession of alcohol, said Hanover Police Chief Nick Giaccone. The program consists of two extended alcohol awareness training sessions, exclusively devoted to minors. Although the cost of the program is commensurate with the maximum fine possible in a court proceeding, minors who choose Diversions have the record of their arrest expunged from state transcripts upon successfully completing the course, making the program popular.
If a minor chooses to have such a case adjudicated before a court, a maximum fine of $250 can be applied, and a conviction is recorded by the state. Nearly all minors caught with alcohol elect to undergo the diversions program, Giaccone said, adding that a rap sheet for alcohol-related offenses can obstruct minors from obtaining a driver's license.
Giaccone said that instances of prospectives who ran afoul with the law have occurred with some regularity in past years, and that a prospective has also been the victim of sexual assault.
However, according to Assistant Director of Admissions Chris Bradt, though there have been problems with alcohol in previous years during the Dimensions program, no prospective students have been arrested before.
To date the College has never retracted an offer of admission on account of an alcohol-related infringement by a prospective during Dimensions, or any other occasion for that matter. The prospective students, however, may have faced a post-acceptance review that may have resulted in the withdrawal of their admission to the College.
According to the admissions office, "the College reserves the right to rescind offers of admissions where the final record is significantly lower than the record on which admission was offered, or for misrepresentation or misconduct."
This year, about 400 high school seniors who had been accepted to the College participated in the annual four-day Dimensions program , held just days before the May 1 decision deadline for accepting admission.
Administrators in the Admissions office could not be reached for comment after repeated phone inquiries.