Recognition Factor

"WEWENT FROM NOTHING,TO SOMETHING, to something tremendous," says Phi Delta Alpha president Rob Freiman '05 of his fraternity's remarkable comeback. Just under a year after the full restoration of the chapters recognition, Phi Delt was the big winner at the Order of Omega awards, taking home the O'Connor Award for the"most outstanding Greek organization on the Dartmouth campus," the award for Outstanding Performance in Fostering the Principle of Leadership and the McEwen Award for Outstanding Greek House as voted by the students.

Many Phi Delt alums came to campus in the winter of 2003 to clean up the house and prepare for rush week. Phi Delt picked up 19 new members that term and another six the next. Freiman says the opportunity to participate in the rebuilding of an organization with as rich a tradition and as loyal an alumni body as Phi Delt s was the main attraction for the new member. Alumni advisors George Faux '84 and Mike Davidson 'B5 were especially helpful, say Freiman and Larimore.

The road to recognition did not end there, however. Phi Delt was brought back to campus at first as a "colony," meaning there were limitations to its operation. The house was not allowed to serve alcohol at social events and was denied such amenities as a Hinman box and a Blitzmail account. To have its recognition fully restored, Phi Delt needed to meet goals that included the drafting of new governing documents and the execution of much-needed repairs to its building.

Phi Delt s recognition was officially restored at the Order of Omega awards in May 2004. "They met the most optimistic scenario that I could have laid out," says Larimore. "We had to push the College and push ourselves," Freiman says. "We had to achieve a higher standard. We couldn't just be an average fraternity."

Campus tour guides hear it all as they usher nervous prospective students and their parents around campus. But what kinds of questions are these high school students asking? DAM talked with some guides to find out the funniest question they've ever been asked on a tour. Sue DuBois '05 »"Is there a lingerie store on campus?" »"Are you lying?" »"Does it snow here?" »"What is that naked person doing over there?" »"So this [Webster Avenue] is the substance-abuse housing?" »"Are you really that bad at walking?" »"Will I get in?" »"Is it hard to buy drugs on campus?" »"How many books are in the library?" »"Where's the campus subway stop?"