Crime and institutional change defined Fall term, as a string of robberies struck pizza delivery drivers in the Upper Valley, the Board of Trustees approved the second expansion in its history and students searched for a new school mascot.
Dartmouth also became heavily involved in national politics, as Democratic presidential candidates came to campus to rally support in the weeks leading up to the nation's most-watched primary. They capitalized on anti-war sentiment, proposed policies and reacted to political controversies.
As the New Hampshire primary drew closer, four major Democratic candidates visited campus last term. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean's November visit to Alumni Hall came in the wake of comments he made indicating his desire to be "the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks."
Dean's education plan, which he unveiled during the speech, was overshadowed by eight or nine students including Xi Huang '06, who unfurled Confederate flags upon Dean's entry. Huang said he decided to go ahead with the Confederate flag waving because Dean's comments were "elitist, condescending, stereotypical and arrogant."
Dartmouth also saw visits from Retired General Wesley Clark, Senator John Edwards, D-N.C., and Senator Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., as well as Republican presidential hopeful Robert Haines of Manchester, N.H., who was asked to leave campus by Safety and Security officials for allegedly harassing students.
The College also saw a dramatic change in the composition of its Board of Trustees. The Board will add six seats over the course of the next decade, to go from 16 members to 22, and the trustee's terms will be cut from five years to four. College President James Wright and Board Chair Susan Dentzer '77 said the expansion would allow the Board greater flexibility to seek members from diverse backgrounds with specific skills and expertise.
Alumni officials also proposed a plan to restructure alumni representation and governance. As a result of fears that it would limit alumni voice, the proposed change to the Association of Alumni's constitution was defeated in a December vote.
The Student Assembly's search for a new College mascot, which began last spring, came to an end this fall when a majority of students the Assembly polled expressed their disapproval of the moose, which had previously emerged as the most popular choice for a new mascot.
Nic Duquette '04 and Chris Plehal '04, both of the Jack-o-Lantern humor magazine, responded to the Assembly's mascot search by creating Keggy the Keg, whose appearance at the Homecoming football game made him an overnight sensation and whose popularity got him mentioned on ESPN and in national news outlets.
But not all students supported Keggy. At the end of last term, a group of anonymous students stole the Keggy costume from Sigma Nu fraternity. Fearing police intervention after the robbery, a member of the class of 2006 emailed Keggy's creators with his location, where he was subsequently found with a damaged nose and mouth and in need of a new paint job.
On Sunday evening, Oct. 24, C&A pizza delivery driver Jim Dupuis was held up at gunpoint outside Alpha Delta fraternity. The robbery was the last in a string of three assaults, the others occurring in Lebanon and Claremont, N.H. Three teenagers were arrested several weeks later after a multi-agency police investigation. Dartmouth students reacted to the event by expressing their concern for Dupuis.
The term saw another campus burglary as well, as an intruder broke into the offices of the Dartmouth Review at Zeta Psi fraternity on Nov. 17. Hanover Police Chief Nick Giaccone said that the scattering of more than 1,000 newspapers, including some of which were tossed in a dumpster near the facility, was a concerted effort to destroy the Review's archives.
Even more controversial were allegations that Safety and Security broke a lock to find alcohol at Bones Gate fraternity's physical plant. Although Bones Gate filed a police report, College officials denied any wrongdoing.
