Whither the Greeks?

Resurrecting social life and other soul searches.

Frat Spat

Just as President Wright has proposed decreasing the importance of fraternities and sororities on campus and generally increasing the sobriety of the Dartmouth experience, President Sonnenschein of the University of Chicago is trying to change the image of that somber institution to one that is more fun and lively. The reaction of students and alumni of both institutions has been overwhelmingly negative.

Perhaps if these two presidents traded jobs they, not to mention the students and alumni of these two fine schools, would be much happier.

WESTERN SPRINGS, ILLINOIS

The news that Dartmouth was planning to curb fraternity damage and rowdy behavior by requiring that all fraternities become coed made me furious.

While a sophomore, I served briefly on the Committee for Student Life, a rubber stamp committee to make it appear that the undermining of tradition at Dartmouth was the will of the students, not the administration. I was appalled then to discover that the method for choosing dorms, which would change from all-male to coed the following year, was based on the dollar amount of damage the dorm experienced the previous year. The problem seemed to be defined as: Dorm damage was a reflection of the adolescent, testosterone-driven behavior of male students. Therefore the solution was: To punish the male students and reduce the damage, force an estrogen injection. I remember that year's particular target was Russell Sage.

I am horrified that this philosophy persists. As a woman, I am offended that the presence of women continues to be considered a form of punishment and behavior modification therapy. I am also offended that this tactic is being used to destroy one of the last few old traditions remaining at Dartmouth. I call upon my fellow alumni to withhold contributions to the school in an effort to affirm that women are not punishment, and demand that the administration cease this 22-year pattern of sexual discrimination and abuse. I call on male alumni to stand as brother stands by brother to keep the fraternity system intact. I urge students to moderate their behavior to keep this precious opportunity for a same-sex bonding experience that will result in lifelong friendships. I urge the administrators to learn new ways of managing or reducing offensive behavior without using women as brutally as you may allege is being done through these traditional all-male institutions.

SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA HILLSBORO@THERIVER.COM

When I was a student, what passed for social life at Dartmouth existed at an enormous cultural distance from the intellectual life of the College; but it was close enough physically and of course glass-shatteringly noisy to dominate the scene in an intimidating way. I think we all knew that fraternity life existed as it did for lack of alternatives and indeed for lack of College leadership in helping to shape residential life.

It is a shame that Dartmouth did not tackle this issue earlier. The changes that have been embarked on now will surely make it a better place still.

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY HARVARD UNIVERSITY CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

The President and Trastees are in a better position than most of us to determine policy for the College. It is regrettable that they have given us cause to be wary of the methodology of their actions.

SDCOOPERB@AOL.COM

Mr. Wright's letter [announcing the residential life changes] is jargon. The statement from the board is obfuscation. Neither is intelligible. I am appalled that my college sends mailings that would get a junior copywriter fired.

XRAYWELCH@AOL.COM

That Dartmouth might now be a genuinely coeducational institution as opposed to a boys' school where half of each recent class just happened to be female shows that, indeed, life means progress and that the end of the century holds some welcome surprises. As one of the keynote speakers at the celebration of 25 years of women at Dartmouth a few years back, I can vouch for the fact that a number of women graduates will support this wise decision. A lot of energy that weekend was devoted to telling horror stories about fraternities as well as a few about sororities.

Instead of remaining a fetid constant, like old beer on a basement floor, the College will change for the better. Bravo.

PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT REGINABARRECA@SNET.NET

I find it difficult to believe that the current social climate at Dartmouth is so dire that it requires the same kind of dramatic, forced integration as was employed during the early sixties during the civil rights movement or on campus in 1972. Twenty years ago there were plenty of campus diversions in lieu of Frats, and I am sure the situation has only improved since my days on the plain. I believe there are still several coed "frarOrities." If they offer the environment students want, their membership will grow at the expense of the single-sex Greeks. Let the students use their best judgment and vote with their pledging. In the end, the College may be surprised about what evolves naturally.

Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA ROYFORBES@AOL.COM

Dartmouth's website prominently describes the effort made by the College to support a number of organizations, programs, and services related to sexual preference (which efforts are overseen in part by the College's "Coordinator of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Programming"). The website states, "Given these opportunities, many lesbian, gay, and bisexual students enjoy rich social and intellectual lives at Dartmouth." That's fine.

The Board of Trustees now states, "The system should be substantially coeducational and provide opportunities for greater interaction among all Dartmouth students." President Wright is reported to have indicated that this policy will lead to the elimination of single-sex Greek organizations.

Apparently, like-gender social activities are embraced by the College when they promote gay or lesbian bonding, but like-gender social activities lacking a homosexual-related purpose are to be driven from the system.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK W_NEELY@NYM01.STBNY.COM

President Wright's call for making "this campus a welcoming and inclusive one" for all students is laudable. Unfortunately there are still, as there were during my time in Hanover, incidents that cause members of

various minorities (and their friends) to feel isolated and "disaffected from the Dartmouth community." However, while President Wright intends the College to stand by students of minority "race and gender," he is glaringly silent on the support of gay students. In my time there were several incidents directed at gay students; as the offenses to the minority groups he mentions have not stopped since then, I'm sure these haven't either. To truly support diversity and foster an atmosphere where "no Dartmouth student stands alone," President Wright needs to set an example for the community by working to support the rights and sensibilities of gay students along with those of the other minority students on campus.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA CAIA.BROOKES.84@ALUM.DARTMOUTH.ORG

Maybe I'm too old to get worked up about what the Trustees want to do. We've known for many years that changes were needed drink on the top of the list. I'm proud that they took a stand.

CANTON, CONNECTICUT

Alumni as Constituents

If the alumni are really a constituency, the following elements and programs would exist: 1) An active program would be underway to electronically open the intellectual assets to the alumni under the aegis of continuing education. This would include the library, lectures, visiting speakers, the Hood, and countless other assets.

2) Surveys would periodically plumb alumni attitudes, which then would be processed and acted upon. A survey was conducted in late 1993, but there has been none since.

3) Young alumni should be asked to reflect upon their Dartmouth experience and their views heard by the faculty and administration.

4) There should be an advocate for the alumni within the administration. The present organization functions not as an advocate for alumni issues but as one that explains the administration's position. As such, they are apologists rather than advocates.

5) Longtime volunteers should receive deferential, if not preferential, treatment by the College. This includes admissions, where volunteer legacies should have as much status as recruited athletes and those who have diversity in their favor.

SKANEATELES, NEW YORK LBGB44A@PRODIGY.COM

Dartmouth's Soul

Robert Sullivan '75's article ["What Does Dartmouth Cry For?" March] raises the question of how the College can teach values and ethics without advocating specific religions. I think President Kemeny provided a simple and eloquent answer in the final phrase of each of his Commencement addresses. As he sent College graduates off into the world, he reminded us that "...you are your brother's keeper." (Emphasis his.) I don't know of any major world religion that disagrees on this subject. Perhaps we could adopt Dr. Kemeny's charge as the official College value statement and explore its implications in a series of courses.

READING, MASSACHUSETTS C.STRATHMEYER@DIALOGIC.COM

I was disappointed to arrive at Dartmouth as a freshman and find a soulless place. I was even more disheartened to discover an antagonistic relationship between the Christian chaplain of the Tucker Foundation and the evangelical Protestant groups of which I was a part.

Fortunately, I crossed paths with a professor who was willing to share his heart and his faith with me. He became my mentor and, in many ways, spiritual guide at Dartmouth, even though he and I come from very different traditions within Christianity. We remain close friends, and he recently read scripture at my wedding.

I will not name him here, lest his colleagues think him naive for his "uncritical" stance toward religion, but he knows who he is (and that's what I appreciate!).

For more on the subject, I recommend the book The Dying of the Light: The Disengagement of Colleges and Universities fromTheir Christian Churches by James Tunstead Burtchaell. He profiles 17 colleges and universities, Dartmouth among them.

EEINA, MINNESOTA TONY.COLONIAL@WORLDNET.ATT.NET

Your March issue mentioned the meeting of the Association for Moral Education, which brought more than 200 scholars from 14 countries to the Dartmouth campus to discuss "Informal Influences on Moral Development: Family, Faith, Media, and Community." Although you indicated that the Ethics Institute and the Tucker Foundation were co-sponsors of the conference, we would like to add that the education department also played a key role. Education professor Andrew Garrod chaired the conference, and his leadership was crucial to its success. In addition, education department professor Nona Lyons organized collateral programs for school teachers, a significant benefit for area schools.

DEAN OF THE TUCKER FOUNDATION RONALD M. GREEN DIRECTOR OF THE ETHICS INSTITUTE

Recorded in Stone

Perhaps the first major project in stone by Mai Swenson '59 ["Beyond the Hill", March], at least on the Hanover Plain, was the granite and indestructible bar constructed in the basement of Chi Phi, during the winter of 1957-58.

NORTH SALEM, NEW YORK D.M.MORGAN@WORLDNET.ATT.NET

E-Usage

Common usage in the computer science community indicates that both "internet" and "Internet" are correct ["Letters, March], but with different meanings. An "internet" is an interconnected set of networks. The "Internet" is the one specific internet that is global, public, and is based on the IP family of protocols. Similarly, I lean toward capitalization of World Wide Web, because it is a proper noun.

DEPARTMENT OF MATH AND COMPUTER SCIENCE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

Debating Frost

There's no batting 1.000 when it comes to judging taste, merit, or whatever qualitative term one might wish to apply to the artistic outcome of a class project such as our Frost statue. So I guess it should come as no surprise that the artistic debate continues with voices such as Elizabeth Michelman '77's ["Letters,"March], subjectively concluding that sculptor George Lundeen's "interpretations appear to have been absent, "and that he "was (not) chosen for his imagination and range" but for "other, more limited strengths."

One can't help but wonder as to Elizabeth Michelman's own credentials to be taken seriously in matters of artistic criticism, particularly when offering it in Professor Perrin's academic shadow—and about her suggestion that an official, artistic "search committee" would indeed be an infallible gatekeeper and guarantor of "worthiness" with respect to future offers of "public" art to Dartmouth. Sounds a "bit medieval.

Ah, well. May such debate continue. Dartmouth is, as John Dickey used to say, a bastion of "liberal learning" and I, for one, am pleased (as I expect Mr. Frost would be, too) that the statue has created a worthwhile and perpetual academic "itch" on Dartmouth's campus to make it ever so. It would appear our itch is being scratched.

BARNSTABLE, MASSACHUSETTS JLDAMON@IBM.NET