As the application season for campus clubs and organizations wound down, student groups observed notable change in freshman membership, with some seeing steep declines and other drawing more members than ever. Club officers speculated that program capacities, class personality and the Greek Leadership Council ban could have contributed to the shifts this year.
Some Tucker Foundation programs have seen the largest plunge in applications, though community service program officer Tracy Dustin-Eichler said most numbers have been consistent with past years.
DREAM and Big Brother Big Sister saw a significant decrease in applicants this year. The group saw 51 applications in 2011 and 50 applications in 2012 but only received 28 this year, leader Caitlin Veator '14 said.
The decrease has impacted the program, as some children do not have mentors.
"The most notable thing is just that this year, we were very unable to match all of our needs," she said.
To address the decline, the group reached out to Greek Letter Organizations and Societies to recruit upperclassmen, increased campus emails out to the student body and tabled at the Class of 1953 Commons.
Dustin-Eichler said the program's time commitment may have deterred '17s from applying.
"It's notable for us when Big Brother, Big Sister applications go down because it is a huge need in the Upper Valley," Dustin-Eichler said. "It's sad for us when we can't meet the need because that's where we are right now."
DREAM also saw a decrease in applications but was less affected because the program still received a surplus of applicants. DREAM received 42 applications this year, compared with 60 last year and 93 in 2010, leader Cody Cushing '14 said in an email.
Both Big Brother Big Sister and DREAM saw far fewer male applicants than female applicants. Only one out of the 31 freshmen who applied to DREAM was male, and six of Big Brother Big Sister applicants were male.
SHEBA dance troupe and the Dartmouth College Democrats also saw decreased interest.
"It makes it difficult to have lively discussion and participation in events that we may put on in the future," College Democrats finance director Mariel Wallace '16 said.
Wallace attributed the decline to last year's presidential election, which potentially drew more students who wished to be involved with campaign activities.
"Politics is a bit less visible in terms of how individual students can contribute," she said.
SHEBA member Desmond Fambrini '16 said around 100 people auditioned for dance groups last year, compared with less than 50 this year. SHEBA accepted seven new members, as opposed to five last year.
"The only explanation I can find is that maybe the Class of 2017 just doesn't have many dancers," Fambrini said. "Every class has a personality."
Meanwhile, other groups on campus saw increases in first-year participation.
The Dickey Center's Global Issue Scholars saw high application numbers, coinciding with the program's expanded capacity to 107 students from 50 last year. The program accepted about half of those who applied.
A cappella groups saw a slight increase in female auditions and a slim decrease in male auditions. Typically, a regular year brings 50 to 70 women and 60 to 80 men, but this year around 70 women and around 50 men auditioned, Sing Dynasty president Isa Francisco '14 said.
The Dartmouth Outing Club has seen increases in first-year participation and freshmen's demonstrated interest in leadership roles. Dartmouth Outing Club president Mac Murphy '15 said she credits the change to First-Year Trips and recruitment efforts, as well as the GLC's now-expired ban on freshmen entering Greek houses.
"If freshmen can't go out, then they are looking for other ways to form community in their first couple of weeks here," Murphy said.
Women's Forum director Anoush Arakelian '14 said more freshmen joined the group this term, likely because it was a new program last year. Men's Forum president Gus Llopiz '14 said that numbers were consistent with last year's.
Thomas Ware '17 said he has not gotten involved with any campus organizations.
"I really want to focus on school, and if I'm not working, I like having the freedom to do what I like," Ware said. "I just didn't feel like there were a ton of options."
Grace Miller '17 joined the Film Society, club basketball, Homework Haven and Habitat for Humanity. Miller said she found the club fair at the beginning of the term to be overwhelming and applied to fewer programs than she initially intended.
"I felt that I was overwhelmed but also underwhelmed," Miller said. "I was getting so many emails from so many things, but I couldn't really filter out what I wanted to do, so I ended up not applying to as many things as I wanted to."
