As the first day of community discussion on the steering committee's report drew to a close last night with an informal event at the Collis Center, members of the steering committee and administrators agreed that yesterday was a good jumping-off point for continued discussion and feedback.
To many people on campus who were shocked by the original release of the Initiative last February, the atmosphere on campus yesterday was strikingly different from the last year.
While the original release brings to mind angry music blasting from Greek houses around campus and a rally held outside of Psi Upsilon fraternity, yesterday was classified by quiet discussion.
"The College prepared a lot better for this release -- it was a much more carefully managed process," Trustee Peter Fahey '68, who co-chaired the steering committee, said last night.
Starting at 9 p.m., following the facilitated discussion groups, students, administrators and other community members flocked to the Collis Center -- drawn by free snacks and open discussion.
As Dean of the College James Larimore told a group of students gathered around him last night, everyone in the community has an opportunity right now has a chance to create a better college.
According to Larimore, who is heading the new task force that will collect Initiative feedback for the Trustees, the College is interested in student opinions and Winter term will be dedicated to the continued sharing of criticisms and ideas.
Sexual Abuse Awareness Coordinator Susan Marine, who facilitated a discussion last night at Epsilon Kappa Theta sorority said students were open to the Initiative's possibilities. However, she noted that the group makeup was very homogeneous, and she said the students who were not affiliated with Greek organizations seemed inhibited by some of the loud criticism.
"Unfortunately, students felt somewhat silenced," she said.
She said many Greek-affiliated students at the event thought the College was setting up the Greek System to fail.
However, according to College President James Wright, the initiative is currently at a stage of discussion and the College has no intention of dismantling the Greek system.
"I'm optimistic that the Greek system can work under a revised system and still be a strong and contributing part of this community," he said.
On a similar note, Larimore said, "Students might be concerned about whether parties will still exist at Dartmouth. My personal hope is that there will still be parties and lots of other social opportunities for students here."
When asked about the concerns over eliminating access to alcohol, which were raised by students throughout the day yesterday, Wright said, "I always have trouble saying 'if we do this, something else will happen.' I think we can talk about why it's good and why it's bad."
In general, Wright said the committee's report provides a careful set of proposals that will focus campus-wide discussion concerning the report for the upcoming term.
According to various deans, yesterday's initial student reaction indicates that the discussion period will be a productive one.
Special Assistant to the Dean of the College Mary Liscinsky said she was impressed that students had taken the initiative to read the report before jumping to conclusions.
After attending various meetings yesterday as well as wandering into about four of the evening's discussion groups, Trustee Fahey said it appeared that students better understood the issues at hand than they did last year.
However, he did say he was "disappointed" that the discussion he had heard had focused on the Greek system rather than the residential life issues that the report addressed in depth.
He said he had noticed two inaccurate interpretations of the report. First, he said the popular conception that the Trustees are seeking to rob the students of the Coed Fraternity Sorority system is misguided. He also said he had heard students complaining that they were not being given new options.
"They are underestimating the potential of the cluster system," he said. "Students don't seem to recognize and appreciate the cluster system."
He said the focus of conversation may change once students read the report more carefully.
When asked for his impression of the discussions so far, Larimore, who was a part of the steering committee that wrote the report, said the level of engagement in the issues and the wide-range of questions asked show that students are taking the report seriously.
He said the most commonly asked questions last night revolved around the residential system that the report proposed, although he said some of the conversations also centered on the Greek system's future role on campus.
He said students asked him about common social space and he said it seemed clear to him that Dartmouth had outgrown the Collis Center and that students needed more late-night study space and gathering areas.
He also said the idea of first year housing is one that needs to be discussed in the upcoming weeks. He said students who spent their first years living in the River Cluster or the Choates generally had told him that they had enjoyed living with other first year students, however he recognized the importance of putting the idea out for public discussion.
He said another important goal of the discussion should be to focus on the role of advising within the residential system, especially centering on undergraduate advisers.
Larimore said he did not anticipate that discussion of the Greek system would override the issues about the College's future residential system.
"Dartmouth students recognize that the Student Life Initiative is much bigger than that," he said.
For now, Larimore said the discussions so far have been productive and a real community effort has begun.
"We're all part of this community," Marine said.
