The Office of Public Programs is trying to make this year's holiday tree lighting ceremony on Dec. 6 as secular as possible, but this effort to be more inclusive has met with resistance from some members of the Dartmouth community.
Glee Club Director Louis Burkot said Olivia Chapman, assistant director of public programs, told him the Glee Club could not sing its regular repertoire and the group would have to perform a new one but did not specify what songs would be appropriate.
Chapman said the Glee Club was asked to sing a new repertoire, but Burkot did not feel the singers could learn the new songs in time for the occasion.
The Glee Club's repertoire usually consists of Silent Night, Come All Ye Faithful, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Deck the Halls and We Wish You A Merry Christmas.
Chapman said although she does not think those songs are inappropriate, she has been engaged in an "ongoing conversation with the director of the Glee Club for the past two years to add more secular songs to their repertoire in an attempt to be more sensitive to the Dartmouth community as a whole."
She said she "revisited the issue of material" when she invited the Glee Club to sing.
The Dodecaphonics a cappella group will perform in place of the Glee Club, Chapman said.
Chapman said she asked the Dodecs to perform after Burkot told her the Glee Club had a conflict and after she found out the Chamber Singers, Burkot's suggestion for a replacement singing group, would be unable to sing.
Burkot said the Office of Public Programs asks the Glee Club every year for a list of the songs the Glee Club will sing at the event.
Chapman said the tree lighting ceremony is an event for the entire Dartmouth and Hanover communities. It is not a religious event, she said. Its purpose is to draw everyone in the community together and make them all feel welcome.
"The purpose of this activity is not to engage in any religious ceremony. Members of the Dartmouth community have many other opportunities to participate in religious activities," she said.
The office has not set any restrictions on what the Dodecs can sing, Chapman said.
"I would not tell them that they could not sing traditional carols," Chapman said.
But, she said, "it would be in their best interests to consider the Dartmouth community as a whole when they select their music."
Andrea Meacham '97, a member of the Dodecs, said she was not sure what songs the group will perform.
Burkot said he heard from a student that another group had been asked to sing at the tree lighting ceremony.
"I don't have any hard feelings," Burkot said. "If that's what they want, it's their program."
Michael Tierney '99 sent an e-mail message to students urging them to express to Chapman their opinions on the issue of the song repertoire at the tree lighting ceremony.
In the message, Tierney wrote the College's decision "insensitive to cultural and religious expression at Dartmouth."
Tierney said, in an interview last night, that he wants the administration to "reverse their policy of not wanting Christmas carols."
Tierney said he is upset that the administration is trying to "take the Christmas out of the Christmas tree lighting ceremony."
The administration claims "that Christian traditional songs are inappropriate because they might not be part of everyone's tradition," Tierney told The Dartmouth. "But you can never have anything that's good for everyone. Why can't they just have a mix of some Frosty the Snowman and some O Come All Ye Faithful?"
In response to Tierney's letter, Chapman wrote in an e-mail message to Tierney, "The Glee Club has participated in the tree lighting ceremony for several years, and, prior to 1994, the songs that the Club performed at the tree lighting were all or nearly all Christian songs associated with Christmas."
Chapman wrote that the proposals were made because the office "felt that an overwhelming emphasis on Christian songs was inconsistent with having the event be one at which persons of all faiths -- and non-religious persons -- would feel welcome."
Tierney said he spoke with a member of the Dodecs who told him while Chapman did not specifically tell the Dodecs what to sing, she strongly suggested secular music, and since they were being paid to perform, the Dodecs thought they should follow this "strong suggestion."
In her e-mail to Tierney, Chapman wrote, "no one has said that only secular music can be sung at the tree lighting ceremony, and ... we are disappointed that the Director of the Glee Club declined the invitation to perform this year at that ceremony."
Chapman told The Dartmouth "if someone were to ask me if the Glee Club would be missed at the event, I would say, 'Of course they would.'"
The Conservative Union at Dartmouth will hold a meeting tonight to discuss the issue of singing Christmas carols at the lighting ceremony.
