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The Dartmouth
July 22, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth
News

News

Lorna and Abraham Hunter to leave College

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Associate Director of Admissions and Director of Minority Recruitment Lorna Hunter will leave the College May 31 to become dean of admissions and financial aid at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. Assistant Director of Career Services and Advisor to Latino/Hispanic students Abraham Hunter, who is Lorna Hunter's husband, also has plans to leave the College. After seven years at Dartmouth, Lorna Hunter will begin her new job June 17. Lorna Hunter said her experience at Dartmouth has been very positive. "I have seen Dartmouth grow and become more diverse," she said. Lorna Hunter said during her time at Dartmouth, the College has succeeded in attracting a more ethnically diverse student body, attracted students from wider socioeconomic backgrounds and achieved gender parity. "This has done a lot for the College and community," she said. Lorna Hunter said minority recruitment has changed since she has been here. "Minority recruitment has become more focused and intense," she said. In terms of tactics employed to attract minority students, Lorna Hunter said the College now brings more students to see the campus. Up until this year, the College had been successful in attracting an increasingly steady flow of minorities to the College, she said. Lorna Hunter said her new job as dean of admissions and financial aid will differ from her job at Dartmouth in that she will be supervising the admissions process. Abraham Hunter said he will head to Pennsylvania "eventually," but expects to remain at Dartmouth this summer. He said he is unsure what he will do after he leaves Dartmouth.


News

Fire risk for Greek houses deemed low

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Earlier this month, a fire that was probably ignited by a lit cigarette claimed the lives of five students in a fraternity house at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but administrators and Greek house managers at the College say such an event could not happen at Dartmouth. But "a situation like this makes people more aware accidents do happen," said Bernard Haskell, assistant director of residential operations. Haskell said the College's installation of sprinkler systems, constant checking of fire safety equipment and education of house managers help to prevent such an event from happening at Dartmouth. Steven Schmidt '97, house manager of Bones Gate fraternity, said he does not think the Chapel Hill incident could occur at the College. "Thanks to the efforts of both the College and fraternities, it is highly unlikely that such a tragedy could occur here at Dartmouth," he said. One safety precaution the College takes, unlike UNC, is the use of a sprinkler system. The Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house at UNC did not have a sprinkler system and one of the basement doors was open so the blaze spread quickly. "All but one of our houses are sprinkled, which was one of the problems of Chapel Hill," Haskell said. He said the reason Gamma Delta Chi fraternity does not have a sprinkler system is because there is no code that requires them to.


News

College will continue GA program

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Every Tuesday night, Mikki Hebl, a Ph.D. candidate in social psychology and the Graduate Associate in the RipWoodSmith cluster, holds "Fireless-side Chats" to talk with undergraduates in her cluster. Students will continue to have the opportunity to attend these chats because the College has decided to continue its Graduate Associate in Residence program for a fourth year.


News

Zeller faces trial for attempted murder

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A non-matriculating member of the Class of 1999, who allegedly tried to kill his father last summer because his parents refused to pay for his higher education, is pending trial in Maryland. Sean Zeller is accused of intentionally running over his father with the family van after his parents allegedly refused to pay $300,000 for Dartmouth tuition and medical school, according to an Associated Press article. Dean of First-Year Students Peter Goldsmith confirmed that Zeller "did not matriculate." Goldsmith also said a very small number of students simply do not show up to the College every year after agreeing to attend. Zeller could not matriculate at the College because he was in jail, said Allen Wolf, Zeller's lawyer. "There was a car accident and there were questions about whether it was accidental on Sean's part or not," Wolf said. Zeller's trial is being delayed for 11 days.


News

College updates its Master Plan

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The College has begun a six-month revision of its "Physical Facilities Inventory and Recommendations" document, otherwise known as the College's Master Plan. The Master Plan is a 61-page illustrated book that catalogues College-owned buildings and population statistics.


News

Tuck looks into summer undergraduate program

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The Tuck School of Business Administration may tap into the market of undergraduates interested in business with a new summer program. But the plan to create a summer program introducing undergraduates to business and management is in the "very early exploratory stages," said Associate Dean of the Faculty of the Tuck School Scott Neslin. Neslin said "people who attend the program might perceive it as a transition ... to a business school career." Because the Tuck School receives "more applications than we can handle right now," they do not see the creation of a summer program as a way to draw more students to the school, Neslin said. According to the program's concept statement, the summer program would be organized around six areas of interest: marketing, accounting and finance, human resources, operations management, technology management and business strategy. The program would introduce students to these six concepts and study them using "real world applications." "The result for the participant is a solid introduction to business principles and practical insights for how to apply these principles, thus providing the undergraduate a fascinating learning experience and a head start on the path toward a business career," according to the concept statement. While other colleges have undergraduate business programs, few have summer programs similar to that described in the concept statement, Neslin said. Most students received a survey from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration in their Hinman boxes last week, which requested their opinions about a potential summer program that would introduce undergraduates to business and management issues. Although the survey was conducted using only Dartmouth students, the program would "not be exclusively for Dartmouth undergraduates," Neslin said. The percentage of Dartmouth students who attend Tuck is "not as large as it used to be," although Dartmouth is still Tuck's primary feeder school, Neslin said. Neslin said the survey sent out last week was a follow-up to a pilot study. In the pilot study, the Tuck School mailed 100 questionnaires and approximately 20 percent were returned, Neslin said.


News

Freshmen seek support for classmate

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Two Dartmouth freshmen are spearheading a campaign to raise money for Kyle Roderick '99, their classmate who has been diagnosed with large-cell follicular lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system. Nana Ashong '99 and Rex Morey '99 are raising money for Roderick, who needs funds for a possible trip to Omaha, Neb., where he will undergo seven days of chemotherapy, followed by a bone-marrow transplant and six weeks of recuperation. Roderick needs a bone marrow transplant because the chemotherapy will destroy his own bone marrow.


News

Jones '97 awarded class prize

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Delta Delta Delta sorority President Anne Jones received the Ranny B. Cardozo, Jr. '78 Award as "the outstanding member of the junior class" at a ceremony in Blunt Alumni Center yesterday afternoon. "This is excellent," Jones said when presented with the award.


News

College to celebrate 25th anniversary

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The College is gearing up to celebrate the 25th anniversary of coeducation at Dartmouth. "It is important to celebrate and recognize the formal decision to coeducate the College and to look at how that decision has shaped Dartmouth since then," said Director of the Women's Resource Center Giavanna Munafo, who chairs the six committees overseeing the plans for the celebration. The celebration's principal periods of activity will be the fall of 1996, which marks the anniversary of the decision to coeducate, the fall of 1997, the anniversary of the first coed freshman class and the summer of 1997, Munafo said.


News

Female seniors describe Dartmouth experiences

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Six female seniors described how their views of the College and themselves have evolved over the past four years in a panel discussion yesterday afternoon. About 80 students, mostly women, attended the discussion titled "Will the Women of Dartmouth Please Stand Up?" in Room 3 of the Rockefeller Center. Jenny Ellis '96, Herlena Harris '96, Maura Kelly '96, Kira Lawrence '96, Maribel Sanchez '96 and Shilyh Warren '96. Carolyn Wolff '97, who moderated the panel, described the panelists as student leaders whose voices may have escaped notice. Lawrence, a member of the women's basketball team and a nominee to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, said despite the stereotype that Dartmouth is a male-dominated campus, her experience at Dartmouth has largely been influenced by "strong women." "My perception of Dartmouth has changed over time," she said. After entering with an idealized picture of Dartmouth, Lawrence said she adjusted her opinions to fit the reality of campus life. Lawrence said Dartmouth's location, people and academics have contributed to her "very positive experience at Dartmouth." "What you take away from Dartmouth is the ability to learn," she said. Her dedication to her studies and to the basketball team has prevented her "from being disenchanted with the social scene here," Lawrence said. But Warren said she has had difficulty adjusting to Dartmouth's social scene.


News

Alumnus files suit against College

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Brian Deaner '95 has filed a civil lawsuit against the College and is asking for unspecified damages for an accident that occurred on a College sidewalk two years ago. Sean Gorman, associate college council, said Deaner "claims he slipped and fell in the middle of the winter on a slippery sidewalk due to ice or snow or both." Deaner, in a court writ, claims the injury was a result of the College's failure to exercise reasonable care in insuring safe conditions at the accident site -- the sidewalk running parallel to Streeter residence hall, according to the Valley News. Gorman said, "It's not surprising that snow is on the ground in the middle of the winter in New Hampshire." "Deaner was walking without exercising adequate care," he said. Joseph F.


News

Sunny days make for messy Green

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Cloudless skies and balmy spring air bring a lot more to the Green than new grass. They bring a lot of trash, plates and trays. Dartmouth Dining Service sends employees to the Green on "tray patrol" three times a day when the weather is nice, Director of Dartmouth Dining Services Pete Napolitano said. "I myself just picked up seven trays and brought them into Collis [Cafe]," he said. It is costly and inconvenient to have DDS dishes moving to and from the Green, he said. Napolitano said he is looking for ways to remind students to bring trays, plates, bowls and flatware back inside after eating. "We were asking ourselves, should we put an ad in the paper or put up signs saying 'could you please bring your trays back in or use disposable containers when you leave the building?'" Napolitano said. DDS spent $20,000 to replace 40,000 pieces of missing flatware in the last year, Assistant Director of DDS Jerry Gamball said.


News

Don Feder calls for a return to '50s morals

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Boston Herald columnist Don Feder called for the country to return to the moral and ethical values of the 1950s in a speech last night. "An ethical reversion to that era would be an absolute blessing," Feder said.


News

Graduation preparations begin

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Piles of wood and steel materialized on the north side of the Green yesterday afternoon, indicating the beginning of the College's Commencement preparations. This year's Commencement exercises will be able to accommodate nearly 2,000 more audience members than in years past because of a new seating configuration that will allow the entire senior class to sit together in the middle of the audience, said Olivia Chapman, assistant director of Public Programs. Holding the exercises on the Green, rather than in front of Baker Library as in past years, will allow a wider seating configuration for seniors, graduate school students and professional school students. In all, there will be room for approximately 11,000 audience members and graduates at this year's ceremonies, Chapman said. "There will be six sections in the front of the seating area for graduating students," she said.


News

Grants fund minority teachers

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Tracy Canard '96 will travel to Utah to teach Native American students and Carmen Schmitt '97 will teach Native Americans in New Mexico as part of the teaching fellowships they recently received from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Each year, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund awards minority students up to $18,100 over a period of about four years to pursue teaching. Schmitt said while she would have gone into education without the award, the fellowship gives her a "better incentive ... by providing money for further education." In addition to providing funding, "it's making me commit to public education specifically... that's what the fellowship is for," she said. Minority students interested in teaching may apply for the fellowship during their junior year, and are required to participate in a teaching project, for which they receive stipends, that summer. The fellows receive up to $12,000 for education-related graduate school work.


News

College aims to keep need-blind admissions number-one priority

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Roseanna Taormina '99 said she cannot even fathom how students can attend Dartmouth without receiving financial aid. For a large part -- they don't. More than one-third of Dartmouth students receive financial aid in one form or another; last year 1,781 students benefited from more than $24 million in College grants and an additional $8 million in federal and College loans. College President James Freedman said financial aid is critical to the well-being of the College. "It allows us to assemble the type of class we want," he said, emphasizing that were it not for the College's need-blind financial aid program, many academically capable students would be precluded from attending the College because of the $28,000 yearly price tag on a four-year Dartmouth education. Freedman said despite the challenges need blind admissions has faced, it is safe for now.


News

Teacher prep alternatives sought

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A College committee is looking for off-campus alternatives to Dartmouth's teacher training program. The committee, created by Associate Dean of the Faculty George Wolford, is currently composed of three or four students, two graduates of Dartmouth's teacher preparation program and Assistant Dean of the Faculty Sheila Culbert, Wolford said. Wolford recently formed the committee after the Social Sciences Council recommended earlier this term that the education department be abolished. Wolford said the committee will examine teacher preparation at other schools to learn whether Dartmouth students will be better served by programs elsewhere. Wolford said the committee may present its findings to him as early as Fall term. "It would take the rest of my life to explore each of these pathways," Wolford said.


News

Kawakyu named '99 V.P.

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Nahoko Kawakyu was elected vice president last night as Fall term vice president of the 1999 Class Council, Class President Frode Eilertsen '99 said last night. Eilertsen will be off Fall term, so Vice President Rex Morey will have to step up and assume the presidency for that term.


News

Students arraigned on drug charges

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Two Dartmouth students were arraigned in Hanover District Court yesterday for misdemeanors involving possession of marijuana. Judge Joseph Daschbach presided over the arraignments. Franklin Arias '98 entered a plea of guilty to a charge of possessing marijuana. According to Captain Chris O'Connor of the Hanover Police Department, Dartmouth Safety and Security responded to a complaint in Little residence hall on April 19. O'Connor said Safety and Security Officers "came in contact with what they believed was marijuana," and called the Hanover Police. O'Connor said Arias admitted the marijuana was his. Mark Simons '96 also entered a guilty plea to a marijuana possession charge. O'Connor said on April 24, Simons' "vehicle was stopped for defective equipment." He said although Simons was not driving, marijuana was found in the car, so he was charged since the car belonged to him. Possession of marijuana is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by fines up to $1,200, O'Connor said. Since it was the first offense for both Arias and Simons, Daschbach said, they will have to pay fines of $300 each with a $60 penalty assessment. Josh Winterhalt '97 was originally scheduled to appear in court yesterday after pleading not guilty to a charge of possession of marijuana at an April 24 arraignment, but his arraignment will be held at a later date. Winterhalt was arrested April 2, after tests revealed an exhibit seized from his room in Bones Gate fraternity during Winter Carnival weekend was marijuana.