Although all Dartmouth students make their own impression on the school, certain '04s, it is safe to say, "rocked the boat." Through campus controversy, debate and persistence, these four seniors will not soon be forgotten.
Here are their stories.
Katie Greenwood
Not long after the controversially mandate that rush be moved to Winter term in 2002, Katie Greenwood, 04 wrote a letter decrying the sorority rush process and its subsequent institution of the sorority system that was published as a guest column in The Dartmouth.
Though Greenwood herself did not rush, four of her friends had just gone through the rush process, one of whom did not receive a bid to a house. Greenwood said her column was "a personal and angry reaction to what I watched friends experience and what I experienced with them in the sorority rush process."
Greenwood's column generated a powerful response, the least of which were numerous letters to the editor that were printed in the paper. The months following her column's appearance in the paper "turned out to be a brutal time in my life," said Greenwood.
"I got hate e-mail, overheard people saying what they'd like to do to me and felt very unsafe," she said.
But she also received over 300 e-mails from students, faculty, alumni and administration that were "really supportive."
"People were saying, 'thank you for saying what I never could," Greenwood said, noting that she was surprised by the number of people who agreed with her views on the Greek system.
"Before my article came out I had strong feelings but I felt they were fairly personal," Greenwood said. "After I got all these e-mails about other people's experiences I came to see it more and more as a political issue than a personal issue."
"It's remarkable how threatened people are when speaking out about the Greek system. I was getting e-mails saying, 'I've been in the system and I agree with you, but don't tell anyone I wrote to you.'"
Greenwood said that the threat of violence for speaking out against the Greek system decreases each time a person speaks out.
"The power is lessening with each generation of students," said Greenwood. "I hear '07s criticizing the system or a house and they don't feel they're making a major political statement."
Some of her desire for changing the Greek system was lost in her column and the response it generated.
"I wish I had known how to handle it better," said Greenwood. "I think if I had said things differently I could have been more effective in my long-term goals."
Still, even though her column created some difficult repercussions, Greenwood looked towards the positive effects the controversy generated.
"If it was helpful to anyone, I don't regret it," she said.
Steve Zyck
Since the spring of 2001, the Men's Project, a division of the Center for Women and Gender, has been working to increase awareness in males and females about sex, gender and sexuality. Steve Zyck '04 has been the co-student head of the project, as well as an intern for the program since the winter of his junior year.
The program addresses issues such as sexual assault and pornography trough programs like Tuesday Night Dinner Discussions, and increases awareness about sexual assault through presentations in fraternities and on campus.
The project, however, funded for the past three years by grants and solicited funds from various campus organizations, is in a precarious state.
"The project is revolutionary to a degree," said Zyck, "but it's also commonsensical. It's getting men involved in working towards goals that women have been working towards for years."
Assessing the response of men to the program on campus is difficult, primarily because it differs from person to person.
"Response varies so broadly," Zyck said. "To some men, it seems threatening, but the most heartening response I've seen is men who have been looking for something like this, looking for what they can do to improve the lives of women around them."
In this way the Men's Project is an acceptable outlet for men who want to be involved in helping prevent sexual assault.
"I think some men wrongly felt they had no part in women's liberation, like bystanders to a great social change," Zyck added. "Many men are realizing this is not the case and several feel they have a moral responsibility to tackle issues such as violence against women."
Working on the Men's Project has also been a significant part of Zyck's Dartmouth experience.
"It's given my time at Dartmouth a strong sense of purpose and pride," Zyck said. "It's personally challenging as well as a challenging project for the campus. My work with the Men's Project and my experience on campus -- in classes and otherwise -- are inseparable."
While it may take a while before discernible shift in thought occurs on campus, Zyck said any efforts made are a step in the right direction.
"I do feel that in the long run this is something that can change culture on campus," Zyck said. "I don't think our work is ever done."
Chris Plehal and
Nic Duquette
In the fall of 2003, an age-old Dartmouth question was answered by '04s Chris Plehal and Nic Duquette: Who or what is Dartmouth's mascot? The days of the Dartmouth Indians are long gone, and Dartmouth had been mascot-less for several decades, until one fateful day when Plehal and Duquette were hiking and discussing the mascot search.
"All the choices on the Student Assembly survey were tied to really stereotypical Dartmouth things," said Plehal. "I said it should be a beer mascot."
And thus, Keggy was born.
Keggy debuted at the Homecoming football game against Columbia.
"It was meant to be a one-time joke with a really long build up," said Plehal. "We thought we'd get kicked out of the stadium."
Why does Keggy succeed when so many other mascots have failed?
"It's self-parody," said Plehal, who is also a cartoonist for The Dartmouth. "People like to make fun of the Ivy League."
"We gave them a really easy road to a joke about Dartmouth drinking," said Duquette. "The only people who don't like it are parents of prospective students. And that's because they're the most humorless people alive."
Both Duquette and Plehal said that Keggy has been successful with respect to school spirit.
"Keggy's been cool in that it's fun to see school spirit is there," Plehal added. "It's kind of like the bonfire feeling -- you can see the campus having a great time with one thing."
Duquette and Plehal will relinquish all ties to Keggy when they graduate, and the Jack-O-Lantern will take over.
"Keggy technically belongs to the Jack-O intellectually. It's a lot harder to punish an organization," Duquette said.
"We'd be happy if people kept doing Keggy," Plehal said. "It'd be cool if it went long enough that the press started referring to Dartmouth as The Kegs."
