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The Dartmouth
July 4, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth
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REPORT RECOMMENDS DRASTIC CHANGES TO GREEK SYSTEM

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The long awaited steering committee report, released this morning, recommends drastic changes to the College's Greek system to bring it in line with the Board of Trustees' vision for student life. While a single-sex Greek system would remain intact -- at least for now -- the steering committee's recommendations make good on College President James Wright's promise to end the Greek system "as we know it." In addition to the report's demand for major changes in the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council system, it also recommends the implementation of a common house residential system, an experimental freshman-only housing option and much more stringent campus-wide alcohol regulations. The steering committee recommends CFS houses be held to stricter facility, organizational and membership requirements -- admitting that not all houses will be able to fulfill the requirements, and therefore will be derecognized by the College. The report states, "This reduction is desirable in order to eliminate the historical dominance by the CFS organizations of Dartmouth social life." "The selective social organizations of the future will constitute a very different, higher quality but secondary component of the overall Dartmouth social system," the report says. More immediate recommendations include the renovation of house basements into general purpose or study space, such as kitchens or computer clusters.




News

College announces plans for report release on Monday morning

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UPDATE: Early this morning, the College announced it would release the Initiative steering committee recommendation report Monday morning. Last night, The College finally announced details of how it plans to conduct that release and subsequent discussions. According to Dean of the College James Larimore, the steering committee's widely anticipated report will consist of approximately 40 pages with an introductory section that discusses the committee's view of the strengths and weaknesses of campus life before it moves into specific recommendations and proposals. After the veil is lifted from the Initiative, Larimore said he expects public scrutiny will follow, spawning conversations, discussions and recommendations that the Board of Trustees will consider during the Spring term. Larimore said the release of the report is a "transition point" in the now nearly year-long Initiative process, with broad principles for reform moving to concrete and detailed recommendations to spark discussion. This term will be "a window of time for students to make their voices heard" and to provide input and propose ideas and alternatives which a newly-created task force will collect and summarize before the information reaches College President James Wright and the Board of Trustees by the end of this term. "Winter will be a stage of fundamental importance to the College, and it will be an opportunity to critique the work of the committee and propose other ideas that might hold more merit," Larimore said. A coordinated response Last night Larimore outlined the sequence of events that will occur starting at approximately 7:30 a.m.


News

CFSC elects Etu President

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At a crucial point in its history, the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council elected Eric Etu '01as its new president last night Etu, a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, replaces outgoing president Jaimie Paul '00. Benita Perch '01, a member of Kappa Delta Epsilon Sorority replaces Chris Paolino '00 as Vice-President. The new president and vice-president, as well as five other newly elected officers, assumed their positions last night and will serve on the council for the remainder of this term, as well as the Spring and Fall terms.


News

Warm weather affects water taste

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Unusually warm winter weather has recently given Hanover's water supply what authorities are calling a "fishy odor ... and an off taste." Students have complained about discolored tap water with a fish-like taste and smell in many College residence halls. Residents of first the East Wheelock dorms and then several other residence halls have questioned the quality of the water for several days, causing Director of Residential Operations Woody Eckels to post a BlitzMail message yesterday to all cluster residences explaining the phenomenon. The change in water taste and smell is caused by unseasonably warm temperatures affecting Hanover's open reservoir system, Michael Blayney, vice-president of Hanover's Water Works Company, said. Blayney, who also serves as director of Environmental Health and Safety for the College, said the reservoir is composed of different layers with varying temperatures. The warm climate of the recent week has caused bottom layers, which often have a foul smell, to rise to the top of the reservoir and replace the layers usually found at the top, Blayney told The Dartmouth. Hanover experiences this same change in water taste and smell every spring when the reservoirs thaw and temperatures rise, Blayney said. Hanover Water Works has received calls from citizens concerned about the water's taste and quality, and has assured them that the water is safe to drink. Water samples are taken in 8-10 locations in the area and are sent to State authorities for safety testing. Authorities state that the problem will soon mend itself, and that citizens should not be concerned. In the mean time, students have taken to buying bottled water, and boiling tap water and then refrigerating it. "I can't take the taste," said Deanne Battle '03, who lives in the South Fayerweather residence hall.


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Assembly announces membership deadline

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In stark contrast to past policies encouraging membership, the Student Assembly has decided to stop accepting new members for the term after February 4. According to Assembly Vice-President Margaret Kuecker '00, the actual date of the deadline was set in early December by the Membership and Internal Affairs Committee, but last night was the first time it was announced publicly at an open meeting. The deadline is part of MIAC's ongoing effort to "protect the integrity of the Assembly," beginning with the institution of the "three meetings rule" at the start of last Fall term, Kuecker said.


News

Students faced trespass charges

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Two Dartmouth students -- Raphael Armand '00 and Peter Cataldo '00 -- faced criminal charges last month following separate incidents of criminal trespassing near the end of Fall term. Armand plead guilty to theft and criminal trespass after breaking into Stinson's Village Store in late November. Police followed a trail of blood from the store to the Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity house where they found Armand in a second floor room with several lacerations.



News

Alumni name Trustee candidates

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The Alumni Council has announced its three candidates for the alumni trustee seat that will be vacated by Richard Page '54 this June. Michael Chu '68, Kevin Ross '77 and Maxwell Anderson '77 are all up for the soon to be open seat on the board. The ballots will be mailed to all 60,000 living alumni in March and must be returned within a month.


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CFSC to hold elections tonight

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In an event that will likely affect how the Coed Fraternity and Sorority Council reacts to the imminent steering committee recommendations on the Student Life Initiative, the Greek body will hold its annual elections for executive positions tonight. The number of students who will run for positions on the executive committee remains unknown, as official candidacies will not be declared until just before the actual election.


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IFC pushes up Winter Rush date

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In an effort to preserve Winter Rush given the anticipation surrounding the release of the steering committee's recommendations to the Board of Trustees on the Student Life Initiative, the Intra-Fraternity Council has decided to hold rush on Sunday, instead of Monday, January 10, as previously announced, IFC President Hondo Sen '00 said yesterday. "We didn't want anything taken away from rush, but we also wanted to be ready for the release of the report," he said. Winter Rush will now be held from seven to nine in the evening on Sunday.


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Greek leaders resist prejudging report

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With the release of the steering committee's recommendation report imminent, Greek leaders are maintaining their across-the-board wait and see attitude of Fall term and say they look forward to participating in the campus-wide discussions that will follow the announcement. According to Dean of the College James Larimore, the steering committee plans to release its final list of recommendations sometime next week to the Dartmouth community. Special Assistant to the Dean of the College Mary Liscinsky told The Dartmouth that there will be College-organized discussion groups the night of the report's release when students can share their initial reactions to the recommendations.


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College avoids major Y2K computer glitches

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Despite all the year 2000 media attention, the College, like the rest of the world, did not experience massive complications as a result of Y2K computer problems. Slight glitches arose for a reported few thousand users of Macintosh computers who discovered that their versions of BlitzMail were not Y2K compliant, the College's Computing Services department said. Macintosh computers containing versions of BlitzMail older than 2.5.3 read the new date 2000 as 1944 instead, the earliest date that Macintosh computers recognize. New versions of BlitzMail were sent to every student on campus, and users who had encountered flaws in their systems upgraded their software easily. Officials said that only half a dozen Windows users found problems with their own BlitzMail versions. "This was just a little bump in the road," Chief Programmer at Computing Services James Matthews said.


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Early admissions applications decline

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Even as the number of applicants for early decision continues its downward trend, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenberg is confident that the total applicant pool will be as large as last year's. The total number of students admitted early into the Class of 2004 is 412, or roughly 38 percent of the early applicant pool, according to statistics recently released by the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid. "I am very pleased with the strong results for admitted students," Furstenberg said.


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College prepares to release Initiative report

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Almost a year after the original announcement of the Student Life Initiative, the steering committee's recommendations on its implementation will be released sometime next week. Dean of the College James Larimore said each student will receive an executive summary -- a condensed version of the entire report -- in his or her Hinman Box on the release date.


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Fall 1999 Recap

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The fall term saw several important developments in the now year-long process of evaluating social and residential life, as the steering committee completed its deliberations and the campus moved closer to the release of its final report. In The Dartmouth's 1999 fall recap special section, you can read our recap of the fall or read the full text of ten of the most important stories from Fall term.


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Initiative, Presidential debates dominate Fall term

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The fall term saw several important developments in the now year-long process of evaluating social and residential life as the steering committee completed its deliberations and the campus moved closer to the release of its final report. Virtually unchanged were students' attitudes towards the Greek system, according to a mid-November poll conducted by The Dartmouth in which the vast majority of students said they believe single-sex fraternities and sororities should remain on campus -- but with substantial changes. Eighty percent of the 2,836 students who responded to the poll said they support the continuation of the single-sex Greek system, closely mirroring polls conducted last winter, soon after the announcement of the Board of Trustee's controversial Social and Residential Life Initiative. This Fall term began with several community forums on the Initiative.