In addition to discussing the Residential and Social Life Task Force Report this weekend, the Initiative Steering Committee will take a tour of all Greek houses which volunteer to participate in a Greek-initiated plan to show it their facilities.
While the tours will display to the Steering Committee social space that is already in place at the College, portions of the Task Force Report submitted by staff members within the dean of the College area and other sections of the College suggest different ideas for social space - most prominently, the elimination of the residential aspect of single-sex organizations and the creation of a "Common House" and coed theme housing.
Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia- a member of the committees which submitted the proposals to the Task Force Report - said the ideas do not represent one specific plan for social space, but are the result of their brainstorming new options that could be implemented.
The Single-Sex Housing Controversy
In Proposal 26 of the Task Force Report, addressing Principle 3 - which calls for a "substantially coeducational" system that provides "opportunities for greater interaction" among all students - the College staff working group writes, "If [single-sex] groups are truly committed to the values of personal and leadership development and community service, then the need for a physical plant to conduct these activities is minimal."
The group's proposal argues that current single-sex groups have relegated their missions "to second-place status behind the importance of having a physical plant and being able to commandeer college resources for social life (i.e. large open parties where alcohol is the main focus) at Dartmouth."
As a result, the proposal calls for single-sex groups to become non-residential and, "in being non-residential ... adjust to their proportionate influence (social and residential) on campus."
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Sateia said the group which submitted the proposal feels that single-sex organizations - Greek and non-Greek - "exist successfully" on other campuses without being residentially based, and they could exist that way at Dartmouth as well.
She said the group is aware that members of single-sex groups, and particularly women, have argued that common living arrangements have provided them with bases of emotional support and personal safety. However, she said much of the need for "safe space" has been caused by goings on in other single-sex spaces on campus, such as fraternity basements - and changing the "whole dynamic on campus" could create a situation in which "we may not need these safe spaces."
Although, under the proposal, single-sex organizations would not be residentially-based, Sateia some residence halls themselves could possibly become single-sex.
The proposal also includes extensive discussion of increasing the role that the Women's Resource Center plays on campus.
In regard to the use of residences for single-sex organizations as venues for general social bonding, Sateia said, "I think one of the biggest problems with this whole discussion is that it is very hard to envision what it would be like without something here," adding that simply because they would not live together would not mean that single-sex groups couldn't gather in other venues.
A 'Common House'
An idea mentioned several times in the proposals and discussed extensively by the staff working groups is a "Common House," first suggested in April 1997 by Kristin Canavan '97 and Director of Health Resources Gabrielle Lucke, Sateia said.
A Common House building would include a large living room, a commercially-equipped kitchen suitable for cooking for large groups, a patio and grill area, residential space and a small lounge for students who live there.
The students living at the Common House - "diverse both in culture and in terms of interests and experiences," according to the proposal - would organize and run the house and assist campus organizations such as COSO groups, teams and senior societies which wish to use it for short-term activities. Activities might include overnight retreats, meals cooked by organizational members, art exhibits and small dances hosted by the individual organizations as closed or open events.
"We're completely booked solid in Collis, and we just need alternative places for students to have the events that they want to have," Associate Director of Student Activities Linda Kennedy told The Dartmouth. "The Common House would give us the opportunity to do things that we don't do now," such as sleep-overs and other organizational events.
Sateia said Greek houses sometimes allow other organizations to use their houses for activities, "regardless, those groups may still feel like they are guests."
Kennedy, another member of the staff committees which submitted the proposals, said the students living in the house would be chosen "for the skills that they bring to the job" and somehow compensated for their work.
For example, one student living in the house might be particularly adept with audio equipment and could help organizations that wish to hold dances in the house.
Sateia said the diversity of the house's residents could be built by involving a variety of different students in creating and becoming interested in the house, but she said the proposal does not include such specific logistics. Additionally she said, exact plans for attracting students to work at and live in the house have not yet been created.
Both Kennedy and Sateia said the Common House proposal could be attractive to students, because, although the house would be a College facility, it would be largely student-organized, although the Office of Residential Life and the Student Activities Office would be responsible for the physical plant and the program in the building and a board of Common House Overseers would include both students and staff.
Coed Theme houses
In addition to a Common House, another idea the staff groups proposed is the creation of "coed theme houses" that would be a "'shared responsibility' between students and ORL."
In order to live in theme houses, interested student groups would submit proposals to a governing board of students, faculty and ORL administrators that would suggest their mission and theme. Sateia said groups interested in, for example, topics ranging from environmental concerns, to meditation, to music, could submit a proposal to live in the house for one term or longer.
Although specific guidelines for eligible groups have not yet been proposed, Sateia said the objective of the houses would be to "encourage students to communicate, live with and talk with people across gender, racial and ethnic lines, across nationalities."
The proposal states, "Houses would be required to create programming and perform outreach designed to 'educate' others on their particular interest." All houses would be annually reviewed, and continued based upon popularity and demand.
"No programming money would be given for the purchase of alcoholic beverages," the proposal states.
Sateia said any new College social space would have to follow the College alcohol policy, but she does not think "alcohol would necessarily be precluded," as long as the policy could be enforced.
She said the houses would be a collaboration between students and the ORL staff, and each group would have non-student advisor.
Although many students in recent months have expressed the desire for completely student-run social space, Sateia said students currently "do work collaboratively with the administration on a variety of frontiers," and she hopes they might see that "the College is trying to create positive experiences" by working with students.
Proposal 18, which includes discussion of the Common House, was submitted by Kennedy, Sateia, Counselor and Director of Multicultural Services at Dick's House Yenkuei Chuang, Dean for the Class of 2000 Teoby Gomez, Dean of the College Chief Financial Office Richard Heck, Director of the Collis Center and Student Activities Mark Hoffman, Facilities Manager of Outdoor Programs David Hooke, Dean for the Class of 1999 Sylvia Langford, Assistant Director of Collis Amy Macneill, Director of Career Services Skip Sturman and Director of the International Office Guilan Wang.
Proposal 26, which discusses single-sex housing, the Common House and coed theme housing, was submitted by Kennedy, Sateia, Hoffman, Lucke, Macneill, Director of Outdoor Programs Earl Jette, Dean of the Class of 1999 Carolynne Krusi, Assistant Director of Outdoor Programs Brian Kunz, Coordinator of the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program Susan Marine, Assistant Dean of the College Lisa Thum, Director of the Academic Skills Center Carl Thum and Assistant Dean of First-Year Students Gail Zimmerman.
