The College will experience a major change in the oversight of the Greek system, as Dean of Residential Life Marty Redman announced that his position at the College had been eliminated due to budget cuts, in an e-mail obtained by The Dartmouth.
Assistant Dean of Residential Life and Director of Greek Letter Organizations and Societies Deborah Carney has also decided to retire, and will leave the College on June 30, according to acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears.
Following the elimination of his position, Redman will leave the College, he wrote in the e-mail.
Redman declined to comment when contacted by The Dartmouth.
In addition to eliminating Redman's position, administrators will create three new positions: associate dean of campus life, associate dean of student support services and director of administration, according to Spears.
Spears said that although his current position is being eliminated, Redman could choose to apply for one of the new positions.
"[Redman is] not going anywhere immediately, and I think that's important for folks to know," Spears said. "We think an appropriate transition is a good idea, if he decides to either not apply [to one of the new positions] or he's not successful in that search process."
Redman and Carney's departures follow the resignation of former associate director of the Coed, Fraternity and Sorority system Fouad Saleet, who left the College last month for a position at Colgate University.
The administration has yet to decide whether they will find a replacement for Saleet, Spears said.
Spears added that Greek organizations have resources to draw on beyond the specific administrative positions that have previously dealt with Greek life.
"There are lots of people on campus who may not be a Greek advisor or may not be the Dean of Residential Life but who are very committed to ensuring that students in Greek letter organizations continue to have support," she said.
In his e-mail, Redman noted that administrators have been occupied with the fallout from Hanover Police's recently-hardened stance on underage student alcohol use.
Hanover Police announced Feb. 4 that the department would begin alcohol law compliance checks at campus Greek organization events, although officials decided to delay implementation of the policy, pending discussions with the College and student groups.
Spears, however, emphasized the role that interim Associate Dean of the College Harry Kinne played in the campus reaction to Hanover Police's new stance.
"It's actually Harry Kinne who is the point person and has been working with students, myself and President Kim on this matter," Spears said. "So [Kinne] will continue to work with students and to be in relationship with the town."
Kinne met with Spears and student groups throughout the week and plans to meet with Kim on Friday, Spears said.
The meetings have focused on formulating an approach for working with the town on alcohol policy and "harm reduction" strategies, she said.
According to Panhellenic Council president Amaka Nneji '10 and Coeducational Council president Reyna Ramirez '10, Redman helped the Greek system formulate solutions to the Hanover Police alcohol situation.
"[Redman] was also very helpful in the Hanover Police situation because when the [fraternities,] sororities and coed houses all met, Dean Redman came to that event," Ramirez said, adding that he presented an administrative perspective to help students work towards a solution.
Spears said that the administration remains dedicated to the Greek system and will make sure there is a fluid transition as Redman leaves and the administration searches for a replacement for Carney.
Carney will remain at the College until June 30, and Spears said the administration plans to find a replacement before then.
"We need to get busy to do some work to bring in a new advisor to Greek letter organizations," Spears said. "We will still ensure that [Greek leaders] have the support that they need."
Ramirez expressed concern about how the administrative changes may affect the support that the Greek system has traditionally received from the administration.
"In general, [there] may be less time for individual organizations, as opposed to when there were two [positions supporting the Greek system] and they could split up the load," Ramirez said.
Nonetheless, Ramirez said that she is confident that the administration will work to maintain support for the Greek system.
"I think that the administration hopefully values Greek life, and from my meetings with President Kim I think he does," she said. "Greek life is very important here, and I would hesitate to think that we wouldn't have any advisors."
Zachary Gottlieb '10, president of the Inter-Fraternity Council, said that it was unfortunate to lose both Redman and Carney as advisors, but that the IFC plans to seek out other support systems within the administration.
"We'll definitely miss [Redman] and we'll definitely miss [Carney]," Gottlieb said. "It's always unfortunate to lose administrative support but we will have to work around that."
Nneji said Redman's departure came as a surprise.
"Immediately, that sense of loss was really felt," Nneji said.
Nneji said she has worked closely with Carney and, although she understands her decision, was "really heartbroken" when Carney decided to leave.
The two administrators' departures are "disheartening" and the College's future plans remain uncertain, Nneji said.
"I think a lot of us have a lot of questions for Dartmouth about what they will be doing with the office," she said.
Staff writer Greg Berger contributed reporting to this article.
