Thursday night, Dartmouth students organized a candlelight vigil on the Green to protest the potential staff layoffs and to express our concerns for the wellbeing of local community ("Layoff fears spark candlelight vigil," Feb. 5). But, even before the candles had been extinguished, the community in the form of the Hanover Police jumped to return our compassion by announcing a Big Brother-esque crackdown on our social system.
Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone's decision to use "sting operations" (read: spies) at Greek houses, accompanied by fines up to $100,000 to combat underage drinking drew immediate backlash from Webster Avenue ("Stricter alcohol plans outrage Greek orgs," Feb. 5). But there is more at stake here than just alcohol or fraternities. In one stroke, the new Draconian policies that Giaccone wants to implement threaten to not only cripple our unique Greek system, but also to undermine 200 years' worth of celebrated College-town relations as well.
Dartmouth has long prized the strong bond we have with the greater Hanover and Upper Valley community a bond rooted in a mutual sense of compassion, respect and trust. Students here have spent a myriad of hours volunteering at local clinics, nursing homes, daycares and elsewhere. We have joined hands with residents to protest issues affecting the community, and when the time came for staff layoffs, many of us expressed our willingness to bear increased class sizes and reduced activities funding so that community members would not lose their jobs. While other schools may have fences demarcating the boundary between college and town, we have an open campus where local residents are welcome to share our Green, libraries, gyms and performance halls. After all, it is the people of Hanover who opened up their town for us to call home these four years, a generosity for which we are always grateful.
For their part, Hanover citizens have provided us with the kindness and hospitality that is the epitome of a small town. Coming from the suburb of a large city, it's always a nice surprise to see cars stop when I want to cross the street, to have the bus driver go to great lengths to help when I'm lost or to strike up a friendly conversation with a random stranger at the Co-Op. And lets not forget all the community members who have come out to cheer for our sports teams, in rain or snow, in times of victory and defeat.
But then came the Hanover Police. Giaccone's plan to send undercover agents into our fraternities betrays the very foundation of the trust, respect and camaraderie that has developed between the students of this College and the town. No one questions whether the police have the authority to enforce the law, but going to these Big Brother-worthy extremes to do so is uncalled for and frankly insulting. It is a slap in the face for students who, despite all the goodwill we have shown to the community, now have to live with the fear that the police are insidiously watching our every move at social events. It is a slap in the face for Safety and Security, who work diligently watching over frat parties and carrying out an effective Good Sam policy only to be told they are not good enough. It is a slap in the face for College President Jim Yong Kim and the rest of the administration, whose policies, judgment and authority over their students are now undercut.
As much as we respect the members of the community, the fact that the Hanover Police is so harshly cracking down on our social life will no doubt undermine our perception of how much the community respects us in return. At almost every other school, the local police give colleges almost complete autonomy over minor campus safety issues like underage drinking and alcohol abuse, as long as the problem doesn't spread outside of campus. So why is it that the police have enough faith to let other schools resolve their own problems, while here in Hanover, where the students and town have so much mutual respect and camaraderie, such trust doesn't exist?
Whatever the reason, Giaccone's plans certainly do not have the interests and wellbeing of students in mind. Instead of working with the College and students to maintain the acclaimed Good Sam policy, the police have decided to abuse the trusting relationship we have with the town and implement a crackdown that benefits no one. If the strength of our College-town relations is tantamount to anything, then we deserve the support of the community in standing up against these proposed policies. We have stood by them in their vigil, now it's time for them to stand by us in ours.
