From the administration to the dining halls, the College has undergone many significant changes in several areas of campus throughout the Class of 2011's culminating year.
DEAN OF THE COLLEGE
On July 21, Charlotte Johnson, vice president and dean of the college at Colgate University, will assume the role of the dean of the College. At Colgate, Johnson who joined the administration at the start of the 2006-2007 academic year updated the university's residential education plan to "reframe the co-curricular experience" and created new policies regarding binge drinking, she said in a previous interview with The Dartmouth. She also led Colgate's implementation of new sexual assault policies, which focused on education, peer intervention and a fair judicial process for reported sexual assault cases, she said.
Johnson will replace acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears, who will vacate the position on June 30. Provost Carol Folt will oversee the Dean of the College's Office in the period between Spears' departure and Johnson's transition, but the senior members of the office will continue to manage the daily operations of the division, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Spears announced in January that she would not apply for the permanent deanship, and the College launched a national search to replace Spears later that month.
Dean of Faculty Michael Mastanduo led the committee formed to conduct the search, which originally consisted of nine other students, faculty members and staff members. On Feb. 1, in response to a petition signed by approximately 600 students requesting increased diversity in the selection committee for a new dean, the committee added two additional student members.
ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES
The string of announced resignations in Winter term including Spears, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Students Colleen Larimore '85 and Samantha Ivery, advisor to black students, acting director of the Center for Women and Gender and assistant dean of student life provoked questions about the College's ability to retain minority faculty members. At 14 percent, Dartmouth has the lowest percentage of minority faculty in the Ivy League, The Dartmouth previously reported.
On Jan. 31, Ivery said in an email obtained by The Dartmouth that she would leave the College in June. While Ivery declined to comment on her decision to resign, she said that the "level of understanding and awareness" that is necessary for minority faculty and staff members to feel fully comfortable and welcome in a community does not exist at the College, The Dartmouth previously reported. Ivery said she experienced racism and sexism in the Dartmouth work environment.
On February 16, Larimore announced that she would resign on March 4. Larimore had been a member of the Dartmouth community for approximately 14 years.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
The Board of Trustees has made important decisions addressing the College's budget while also welcoming new members to the Board this past year.
The Board approved a 5.9-percent increase in tuition, room, board and fees for the 2011-2012 academic year, according to a March 7 College press release. With the increase, tuition, room, board and fees will total $55,365, making Dartmouth the most expensive of the seven Ivy League schools that have announced tuition costs for the 2011-2012 academic year. Columbia University has not yet released tution costs for the 2011-2012 academic year.
The College will likely see a $3-million increase in financial aid expenditures in the 2011-2012 academic year, totaling a projected $80 million, up from this year's $77 million. The increase will be paid for by College general funds, which includes the increase in tuition, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Amidst proposals to broaden the perspective of the Board of Trustees by increasing the diversity of its members, the Board elected charter trustees Trevor Rees-Jones '73 and Peggy Epstein Tanner '79 at its June meeting.
The Board also selected Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed '81 to fill the seat vacated by outgoing Trustee Al Mulley '70 at its November meeting.
Alumni Council-nominated candidates Gail Koziara Boudreaux '82 and R. William Burgess '81 won unopposed races for the two open seats on the Board of Trustees. Boudreaux and Burgess were nominated for the seats that were vacated by Christine Bucklin '84 and Jose Fernandez '77.
Boudreax's and Burgess' platforms focused on College financing and initiatives related to student life. They shifted focus away from the issue of parity between Board-appointed and alumni-elected trustee seats, which played a visible role in recent elections after the College's 2007 decision to increase the number of charter trustee seats. This action sparked two lawsuits by alumni groups, both of which were dismissed by the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
Martha Beattie '76 was named the new vice president for Alumni Relations on April 15. Beattie, the former Alumni Council president, took over for Patsy Fisher '81 on May 9.
John Daukas '84 replaced John Mathias '69 as president of the Association of Alumni in April.
MEDICINE
On Sept. 28, Kim named Mulley the director of the Dartmouth Center for Health Care Delivery Science.
Mulley served as chief of the General Medicine Division and director of the Medical Practices Evaluation Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he worked for the past 35 years. He is also an associate professor of medicine and health policy at Harvard Medical School and was a member of the College's Board of Trustees since 2004.
The College received an anonymous $35 million gift to establish the Center last May.
A College search committee chose Wiley Souba, a surgical oncologist from Ohio State University, to serve as the next dean of Dartmouth Medical School and vice president for health affairs for the College in September. Souba who previously served as the dean of the College of Medicine and vice president and executive dean of Health Sciences at Ohio State replaced former DMS Dean William Green on Oct.1.
STUDENT ASSEMBLY
After an unconventional Student Assembly election process that featured one presidential candidate on the ballot and two write-in opponents, Max Yoeli '12 defeated write-in candidates Will Hix '12 and Aaron Limonthas '12, garnering 691 votes to become the next student body president. A total of 1,665 ballots were cast in the presidential race, representing the lowest voter turnout in the past three years.
Yoeli ran on a platform of greater communication and transparency between the Assembly, the student body and the administration.
In the race for vice president, Amrita Sankar '12 defeated opponent Brian Holekamp '12, 906 to 510, but left campus for personal reasons days after the election.
Yoeli and Sankar appointed Assembly co-speaker Rohail Premjee '14 as interim vice president during Sankar's absence.
CAMPUS RENOVATIONS
Within the past year, the campus has seen many physical changes, including a refurbishing of the Main Hall of Baker-Berry Library and construction and renovation of teh Class of 1953 Commons.
Chairs, sofas and tables were installed in the historic Main Hall of Baker-Berry Library during Winter term to provide students with an additional study space. The Berry News Center was transformed into a cafe, complete with kitchen furniture and plasma screen televisions. Just in time for finals week, the cafe operated by King Arthur Flour offers expanded dining options including artisan sandwiches, snacks, coffee and other drinks.
Construction workers broke ground on '53 Commons over Summer term 2010, leaving various sections of the dining hall inaccessible during Fall, Winter and Spring terms. The renovation is scheduled to be completed in time for the beginning of Fall 2011.
The new '53 Commons will feature increased seating space, Kosher dining, vegetarian and vegan options, a hearth bake oven, a deli and a bakery. Topside, the Card Office and the Dartmouth Dining Services office will be located in the basement, along with rooms for social events.
The renovation, which is being paid in part by an $11-million donation by the Class of 1953, costs approximately $30 million.
The opening of '53 Commons will usher in a new pay-per-meal dining plan called SmartChoice. The "hybrid" plan will enable students to either swipe their Dartmouth ID cards in '53 Commons for an all-you-can-eat style meal, or use their Declining Balance Account at any other dining facility on campus. While freshmen will be required to select a 20-meals-per-week plan for $1,658 during the first term, upperclassmen will have the option of choosing between 20, 14 and 5 meals per week. Plans with fewer meals will include a larger initial DBA.
In response to student protests against these changes, on June 1, DDS Director David Newlove announced proposed modifications to the SmartChoice meal plans and solicited student feedback on the potential changes. Newlove said that the administration would make changes to the plan, but the specific modifications have not yet been finalized.
GREEK LIFE
In the past year, the Greek system has experienced many student-generated changes with the introduction of Green Team and a new policy by the Panhellenic sorority presidents to address assault on campus. Additionally, College officials have secured a site for Alpha Phi sorority's physical plant while members of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity moved into their newly-constructed house on Frat Row.
Green Team, a student-run bystander intervention program to reduce alcohol harm and sexual assault on campus, began operating the weekend after Winter Carnival.
According to preliminary data, Green Team "is having a very positive impact," College President Jim Yong Kim said in a previous interview with The Dartmouth.
The program is the result of a collaborative effort between Cyrus Akrami '11 and Student Body President Max Yoeli '12, previous Student Assembly Alcohol Crime and Reduction Committee co-chairs, and Jeff Millman Tu'12, who started a similar program at his undergraduate alma mater, Haverford College.
The eight presidents of Dartmouth's Panhellenic sororities formulated a policy stating that their houses will boycott all social events held in conjunction with a fraternity in which a member has assaulted a female student if internal adjudication by that fraternity is not taken against the individual in a timely manner. The policy was announced on May 12 following an incident of violence in Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and was finalized on May 20.
In response, members of the Inter-Fraternity Council unanimously agreed to review and update each fraternity's chapter bylaws in regard to assault and internal adjudication.
College officials also secured 2 North Park St. as the site for Alpha Phi's physical plant in February. Although Alpha Phi came to campus five years ago, zoning complications and the College's recent budget cuts previously prevented the acquisition of a physical plant for the sorority.
Construction will begin in Fall 2011 and the house is expected to open in Fall 2012.
In addition, Sig Ep's physical plant opened at the beginning of Spring term after major renovations in Summer 2010 and long delays due to manufacturing-related safety code violations.
CLASS OF 2015
As the Class of 2011 leaves its mark on Dartmouth, a new group the Class of 2015 is set to descend to campus in a few months.
A record 21,700 students applied for admission to the Class of 2015, reflecting a 15.7 percent increase from last year's 18,778 applicants. Dartmouth offered admission to 9.7 percent of applicants to the Class of 2015, accepting 2,178 applicants and marking a record-low acceptance rate for the College.
A total of 1,114 students accepted Dartmouth's offer of admission to the Class of 2015, representing 52 percent of the 2,179 students who received admission in March. Although this number represents a smaller figure than last year's historically-large accepted class of 1,187 students, Dean of Admissions Maria Laskaris said these numbers will likely fluctuate in the upcoming months.
