Student Assembly President Frode Eilertsen '99 ran into the Collis Student Center after an evening workout to chat about the Assembly and his personal beliefs.
The Assembly is the functioning student governing organization.
Eilertsen, who won 60.1 percent of the vote in the spring elections -- the greatest election landslide in at least the past 10 years -- was said to have been elected on his friendly personality.
But this 24-year-old engineering major from Oslo, Norway, who said he felt obligated out of his love for the College to join the Assembly, said he has many ideas to improve student life at the College in the coming year.
Planting palm trees
"I want to plant palm trees on the Green and get some beach action going," Eilertsen joked regarding his plans for the Assembly.
"I want to get more information out to students about what is going on," he said of one of his agenda items. "The College is so decentralized."
He said he hopes to increase student representation on the Assembly.
Eilertsen said elections will be held in the Fall term for freshman Assembly representatives and that any interested students are welcome to attend meetings.
"Having an all-representative student government and an informed and involved student body is the only way we can get more influence," he said.
He said the Assembly's efforts last spring to inform the students about the changes to Dartmouth Dining Services were a step in the right direction. The Assembly will continue to work with DDS in suggesting ways to improve the business and cut costs, he said.
Eilertsen said the Assembly targets next spring to work on incorporating the $15 DarTalk monthly service charge into residence hall rent fees. DarTalk is the campus telephone service. The Assembly will also work to obtain better long distance telephone rates, he said.
Eilertsen said the Assembly also hopes to increase the number of courses for which students can elect the Non Recording Option since certain departments such as the economics and art history departments allow students limited use of the options.
The NRO is an option which allows students to decide the lowest grade they want on their report card and if a lower grade is earned, a "NR" is recorded instead.
Eilertsen said he would also like to see better advising for students applying for graduate schools and more information about the grants and fellowships available on campus.
Eilertsen also said it is "plain unacceptable" that the College does not currently have a medium-sized programming space, and he plans to "step up the heat" on finding one. Webster Hall, which is being renovated to house Baker Library's Special Collections, formerly provided the space for many events on campus.
He said the Assembly is not about politics. "It's about caring and wanting to make a difference," he said.
A man of diverse experiences
Eilertsen said he wanted to tell the Class of 2001 to "be involved."
"You worked so hard to get here," he said. "Instead of sitting back and relaxing, you should be psyched to take advantage of your four years here."
Eilertsen has had little time to sit back in his life -- a strange odyssey that has taken him from the army and law school in Norway to the presidency of the 1999 Class Council at Dartmouth College and many places in between.
Eilertsen said he first found out about Dartmouth when he worked at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
While working at the Olympics, Eilertsen became acquainted with the first-secretary of the American Embassy in Norway, whose son was a 1990 graduate of Dartmouth.
Interested in attending an American school, Eilertsen added Dartmouth to his list of potential schools.
Born and raised in Norway, Eilertsen got his first taste of America when as a 16-year-old exchange student he spent a year at a high school in Seattle.
Two years later, back in Norway, he graduated from high school, but instead of heading on to higher education, Eilertsen joined the Norwegian armed forces, seeking to complete his mandatory term of service.
All males in Norway are required to serve at least one year in the armed forces, or two if they choose to go through officer training.
He chose to stay on longer than his mandatory term -- serving a total of three years.
While in the armed forces, Eilertsen found time to study Russian on the side. It was also during his service that he started taking law school courses for credit, but he was not officially enrolled in any law school.
In Norway, Eilertsen explained, there is no undergraduate education -- instead high school graduates go right to professional or graduate school. Most professional schools, such as medical school and law school, require six years of study, he said.
As if studying Russian and taking law classes were not diverse enough for Eilertsen, he used a four-month break from his military service to further broaden his horizons and studies philosophy in a monastery in Greece.
Once he completed his military service, Eilertsen attended law school in Norway at the University of Oslo for a year before coming to Dartmouth and starting all over as a freshman undergraduate.
Having seen just a few pictures and knowing very little about the College, Eilertsen came to Hanover in Sept. 1995 not knowing what to expect.
He has not been disappointed.
"I had high expectations, but I never imagined it would be like this," Eilertsen said in a previous interview. "Dartmouth is pretty much like a hidden treasure."
Eilertsen served for two years as president of the Class of 1999 Council before running for the Assembly presidency.
He took a term off and spent last fall "doing peacekeeping" for NATO in Bosnia and for the United Nations forces in Lebanon.
"I'm willing to die in defense of my country," he said. "I was so qualified that if I didn't go, how could I expect anyone else to go?"
Eilertsen is an engineering major and trying to get his degree in four years instead of the usual five and will then pursue his Masters degree.
He said he is considering Stanford University for graduate school.
Eilertsen said he loves the outdoors and will be leading a kayaking trip for the Dartmouth Outing Club Freshmen Trips this fall.
He plans to take advantage of the natural resources around campus and he said the area reminds him of his home near the Norwegian mountains.
He is taking a sailing course, working in the woodshop and learning how to play rugby.
Nahoko Kawakyu '99, Assembly vice president and friend, described Eilertsen as an "idealistic" and "decisive" leader.
"His idealism carries him through everything," she said. "He never gives up."
As a friend, Kawakyu said Eilertsen is "loyal" and "trustworthy."
"Because he is older, he almost takes on a parental role," she said. "He looks out for and takes care of everyone, and he's very unselfish in that way."
David Altman '99, a friend and roommate who has worked with Eilertsen on 1999 Class Council and Assembly activities, said Eilertsen's "global outlook" and "determination" enable him to be a good leader.
Altman said Eilertsen is "always willing to listen" and he knows "few people as conscientious and hardworking as he is."
Coming from Norway, Eilertsen has many different influences in his life which give him a unique perspective, Altman said.
