If ever there were a question as to the importance of the Trustees' Student Life Initiative to graduate students, steering committee member Jesse Fecker intends to lay it to rest.
A graduate student in the chemistry department, Fecker said he saw the Student Life Initiative as a way both to improve the graduate experience at the College and to immerse himself in the larger Dartmouth culture.
"I wanted to be on the Committee to the Student Life Initiative mostly so that I could have a greater involvement in the Dartmouth community. I wanted to gain an appreciation for how and why things happen at this school, above and beyond my specific desire to enhance the grad student experience," Fecker said.
Fecker, who is in his third year en route to a chemistry Ph.D., said he does not hold out much hope that the Initiative will affect his remaining time at Dartmouth.
Rather, he said his work on the Trustees' Committee stems from "a genuine desire to contribute" to a community that he has adopted as his own.
Perhaps Jesse Fecker's devotion to Dartmouth can be understood better when put into the context of his larger education. A graduate of Simon's Rock College, where students enroll at the age of 16 in lieu of graduating from high school, Fecker began his graduate study at a time in life when most Dartmouth students have just finished their sophomore summer.
Fecker said he chose to pursue graduate work at the College because of its size and rural setting, which allowed him a more focused environment for study and afforded him the opportunity to pursue his love of hiking.
Fecker spoke at length on the differences between Dartmouth and Simon's Rock.
"Simon's Rock has a very liberal and anarchistic atmosphere. I think many people go there as a means to assert their individual identities," he said.
The college's early matriculation age carries with it the obligation to uphold a dry campus, since almost no one at the school is 21. Despite Simon Rock's official stance towards alcohol, Fecker acknowledged that it was definitely present.
"There was certainly alcohol on campus, but it didn't dominate student life. Probably because we had a dry campus, the school provided a lot more events for students.
"One thing that was especially great was that all events on campus were free to students," Fecker said. "I think that this was a big reason why they were so heavily attended. I was shocked when I came to Dartmouth and saw all of the little expenses that having a social life required."
Another disparity Fecker has noticed has to do with the types of substances that are typically abused. Whereas at Dartmouth, the culture seems to lend itself to widespread consumption of alcohol, at Simon's Rock illicit drugs were more commonplace, he said.
"We didn't have alcohol, of course, but there was a drug problem," he said. "I don't think it was so much a product of the prohibition on alcohol as it was simply of the type of student Simon's Rock attracts."
That Fecker is the product of such an undergraduate education as Simon's Rock is much more than anecdotal. He said there are certain aspects of his undergraduate experience he enjoyed particularly, and he is pleased that similar programs are being adopted at Dartmouth.
"I think that the reason we never had similar complaints about Safety and Security intruding on our privacy at Simon's Rock is because every dorm had faculty members living in it. The East Wheelock Cluster is the closest thing to that situation here. I think that it allowed for some great interaction between students and faculty, and given my experience, I would recommend such an arrangement to anybody," he said.
But as much as Fecker might be certain of his personal affinities within the realm of student life, he asserted that the decisions of the Student Life Committee are in no way preordained.
"For the amount of time and effort that's being put into this Initiative, I think it's safe to say that nothing's been predetermined," he said.
Fecker said he was surprised to hear many undergraduates have such a negative view of the Student Life Initiative. Perhaps, he said, it has something to do with the degree of separation between graduates and undergraduates at the College. "The Dartmouth experience can seem isolating at times from the grad student's point of view. There isn't much of a sense of community," he said.
While Fecker has involved himself in the graduate student council in an attempt to get involved, he admitted he has not always been able to make the most of the Dartmouth environment.
"It's difficult," he said. "There's a huge lack of grad student housing so the students are pretty widely dispersed. There are only about 35 students in my department, and while I'd say there's a degree of comraderie, there is still room for improvement in the community."
Fecker said he wishes he had made greater use of such resources as the Hopkins Center and the Collis Center, "but since it's such an undergraduate dominated social scene" he has felt a bit out of place at times.
When asked what sort of Dartmouth he would like to see in 10 years time, Fecker responded that he didn't really have a concrete opinion.
"There have been so many great ideas floating around. I've really had my eyes opened to how much people value this school, especially its many traditions. Personally, I'd like to see more people living on campus, creating a more cohesive community that spans distictions between graduates and undergrads. I would hope that the word 'student' would come to be a more non-specific term that could be applied to everybody who studies here, without qualification," he said.
Fecker said he has valued his time on the Trustees' Committee. "I've learned more than I ever thought I would about undergraduate life," he said.
He said he is "concerned a little about the undergraduate furor" that has surrounded the issue, but on the whole he is "pretty removed from it."
Fecker dismissed much of the upheaval the Initiative has caused, saying that "whenever a controversial decision comes up there's going to be some protest, no matter how well you handle things."
Fecker said he believes that the theories which suggest the Initiative is solely a means of dissolving the College's Greek system are overblown and the result of paranoia.
"The Committee really is looking sytemically at Dartmouth, so it's a misstatement to say that we have any one focal point," he said.
Overall, Fecker said he is enthusiastic about the prospects the Initiative bodes both for the improvement of the quality of student life, as well as for the national reputation of Dartmouth. He admitted there might be some complications in the short term, but emphasized the far-reaching benevolence of the Committee's goals.
"In terms of building reputations, this is something very important to work towards, whether or not we can see any short term benefits.
People like to separate the issue of reputation from the quality of student life, but I think that the two are intimately related.
Improving the quality of student life can only add to Dartmouth's already prestigious reputation," he said.
