In the fall of 2012, when my hiking one trippees and I embarked on our perilous trek across the Dartmouth golf course, we took advantage of the opportunity to interrogate our trip leaders about secret Dartmouth knowledge. We listened intently as the upperclassmen explained the Dartmouth Seven, how to pronounce Leverone and the whereabouts of Canadian ground fruit. But much to our chagrin, our trip leaders met our curiosity about the Greek system with reluctance, as Andrew Lohse ’12 had been featured in the infamous Rolling Stone article just months before.
Unwillingness to discuss Dartmouth’s Greek life didn’t last long, however, and I was confronted with it immediately upon my return to campus for orientation. I descended headlong into impassioned campus discussions about hazing in Dartmouth’s fraternity system. In retrospect, my prior week roaming ’round the girdled earth was the first, and possibly the last, time I was able to escape the omnipresence of Greek life at Dartmouth.
The coming week will mark two years since Lohse published “Telling the Truth,” his op-ed in The Dartmouth that accused Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity of widespread hazing and ignited the now-familiar firestorm surrounding Dartmouth’s social scene. The anniversary allows us to reflect on the two-year-long debate. What has changed? What hasn’t changed? Will Dartmouth continue to pursue solutions to hazing issues, or are Lohse and his controversy fading from the forefront of our preoccupations?
Before examining the current state of affairs, it’s worth noting that the College is no stranger to scandals stemming from Greek organizations. A quick search of The Dartmouth’s archives offers, in addition to acute nostalgia, a glimpse into the sordid pasts of our Greek houses.
In 1996, Beta Theta Pi fraternity was derecognized following a series of incidents in the early ’90s, one of which included the kidnapping of a member of Chi Gamma Epilson fraternity. Not to be outdone, in 2000, Phi Delta Alpha fraternity was derecognized for four years following a fire that its members were accused of starting in Chi Gam’s basement.
More recently, Zeta Psi fraternity was derecognized in 2001 for eight years after what was dubbed “The Zetemouth” scandal. Long before Lohse, the discovery of Zete’s tasteless newsletter denigrating a number of female students thrust Dartmouth into national news, earning the College considerable negative publicity.
Even after the commotion of 2001 subsided, difficulties with Greek organizations persisted. In fact, at one point in 2004, a total of eight Greek organizations were simultaneously under investigation by the College while four others were serving time on social probation.
In light of the Greek controversies in Dartmouth’s tumultuous past, we must examine what, if anything, makes the Lohse incident stand out and how campus has since responded.
According to Alex Olesen ’14, president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, the last two years have brought necessary but not revolutionary steps toward progress.
“In the wake of the Lohse controversy, Dartmouth as a campus had an opportunity to affect change on a very malleable Greek system,” Olesen said in an email. “While I think there has been great progress concerning important issues about sexual assault and inclusivity, there is still some work to be done.”
According Anna Noreuil ’16, Dartmouth’s obsession with the Lohse scandal reveals more about its timing than its importance.
“Our fixation on Andrew Lohse and the Rolling Stone article is more nearly a function of their relevance to our time at Dartmouth than their gravity relative to other scandals over the last 20 years,” she said.
Some upperclassmen on campus, however, argue that the Lohse scandal did have far-reaching benefits for understanding of the impact of hazing. According to a member of the Class of 2014 in Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, bringing the issues of hazing to light ensured that they would be discussed and better understood. Students also now better understand the effects of hazing, she said.
Susie Kim ’15, a member of Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority, suggested that the controversy has affected the way we approach even the most benign activities within Greek organizations.
“Because of the negative publicity Dartmouth received, everyone got the sense that we needed to be more covert about things we previously considered harmless,” she said. “If anything, it forced any activities that could be construed as hazing behind closed doors.”
For underclassmen who weren’t on campus in the winter of 2012, change brought about by the Lohse incident took a different form. Alex Moushey ’16 was accepted to Dartmouth as a transfer student shortly after the publication of the Rolling Stone article. Though Dartmouth was always his first choice, Moushey said the controversy made him less confident about his decision to attend the College.
“Even after I committed, I questioned my decision to attend, because the only thing my friends seemed to know about Dartmouth was that it’s the Ivy League school that drinks and hazes,” Moushey said. “It’s difficult to not take your friends’ opinions into account when deciding where to go to college.”
On the administrative front, Safety and Security director Harry Kinne said that little has changed over the last two years. Despite heightened awareness, Kinne said that there has been no significant shift in the number of reports to Safety and Security or the number of Greek houses under investigation. The only modified practice, he said, is the introduction of random, unannounced walkthroughs that allow Safety and Security officers to inspect residences and Greek organizations without notice. Until September 2012, walkthroughs were only permitted during registered events.
The random walkthrough policy was initially suggested by the administration in 2001, following the derecognition of Zete. However, marked resistance from the student body paired with particularly verbose op-eds in The Dartmouth hailing the establishment of an Orwellian state immobilized the administration.
While the Lohse scandal brought issues that had been swept under the rug back into the forefront of campus dialogue, some students questioned the efficacy of changes enacted in the past two years.
“The controversy over the Rolling Stone article gave the administration the necessary momentum to change the policy and permit random walkthroughs,” said an affiliated member of the Class of 2016. “But I still question the effectiveness of the policy in actually reducing the incidence of hazing, sexual assault or even underage drinking.”
Another change implemented to control underage drinking was the Greek Leadership Council’s new freshman policy, which went into effect on Aug. 30, 2013. Members of the Class of 2017 could not enter Greek houses for the first six weeks of term.
Beyond the confines of Safety and Security’s offices on Rope Ferry Road, the College’s published policy on hazing has evolved over the last two years. The student handbook for the 2013-2014 academic year incorporates significant additions to the section, which tripled in length from the previous year. The College’s definition of hazing now lists explicit examples of hazing practices, including requiring new members to wear costumes, participate in “gallon challenges” and submit to branding.
New subsections include suggestions for positive new member activities that build solidarity without endangering members’ safety or self-esteem. Such recommendations were absent from earlier versions of the handbook, showing an increased focus on hazing since Lohse.
Commending the effort of student leaders, Kinne acknowledged that cooperation between Safety and Security and Greek Letter Organizations and Societies is essential for long-term progress. Since the Lohse scandal, the administration, Safety and Security and student advocates have come together to fight the abuses brought to light, he said.
“[Safety and Security] is cognizant of when pledging is going on, and we must work closely with GLOS to ensure the safety of the students,” Kinne said. “But Greek organizations have stepped up to the plate in terms of handling the issues of hazing and sexual assault.”
Olesen agreed that the past two years have been characterized by a strong relationship between Greek houses and the administration.
“Leaders of Greek organizations spend a lot of time interfacing with the College administrators to come up with ideas to make their houses as safe as possible for members and guests,” he said. “That’s one aspect of this responsibility that goes unnoticed but plays a huge role in the weekly happenings in Greek houses.”
In addition to policy changes, the revelations of two years ago may also be interpreted as having manifested themselves in the slight decline in Dartmouth applications for the Class of 2017, with an over 12 percent decline in the number of early applications and a 3 percent decline in the total number of applications. In fact, Dartmouth was the only Ivy League school to report an increased acceptance rate for that year.
If history is any indicator, however, these declining numbers may not be a cause for concern. Memory of the 4.6 percent drop in applications in 2001 — the year of Zete’s derecognition — was effectively erased after applications doubled in the 10 years that followed. And this year, Dartmouth witnessed a 6.7 percent rise in early applications for the Class of 2018, perhaps a sign that the College is bouncing back from the negative press.
Maggie Seawright ’17 said that though she was aware of the Lohse incident while considering Dartmouth, it ultimately did not impact her decision to apply.
“I read the Rolling Stone article, but I had never been to campus before so I waited until visiting to make my decision,” she said. “When I did visit, everyone was absolutely wonderful."
Looking back on the events of the past two years, change seems gradual, though maybe upheaval never has been characteristic of our small college in the far reaches of New Hampshire. And the College’s 244-year history suggests that the slow pace shouldn’t be surprising ... lest the old traditions fail.
