On Tuesday, February 9, 1999, students opened their Hinman boxes to find an administrative memo outlining Five Principles proposed by the College's Board of Trustees to shape the future of social and residential life at Dartmouth -- the memo was at first widely ignored.
It was not until the following day that the potential impact of what is now known as the Student Life Initiative was realized.
What ensued was an 11-month, community and nation-wide debate over the future of Dartmouth student life -- and whether that student life should include a single-sex Greek system.
The announcement
An interview with The Dartmouth published Wednesday morning Feb. 10 included College President James Wright's promise to end to the Greek system "as we know it."
Wright promised that the Board of Trustees was committed to making the changes outlined in the Initiative. "This is not a referendum on these things," Wright told The Dartmouth. "We are committed to doing this."
The Board set out Five Principles that composed the Initiative:
--There should be greater choice and continuity in residential living and improved residential space.
--There should be additional and improved social spaces controlled by students.
--The system should be substantially coeducational and provide opportunities for greater interaction among all Dartmouth students.
--The number of students living off campus should be reduced.
--The abuse and unsafe use of alcohol should be eliminated.
In a press release updating the campus on the Initiative, the Board wrote that it was not bound by financial limitations, and would allocate the necessary funds to ensure change.
Cancelled Carnival
Campus protest began on a Wednesday night when the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council voted to cancel all registered Winter Carnival events scheduled that weekend. Although the weekend festivities had gone on strong during Prohibition and wars in Vietnam and Europe, the Initiative brought Carnival parties to a halt.
The parties were cancelled "to really show the positive impact that the Greek System has on this campus ... and to kind of show people what might Dartmouth be like if that option weren't there," former CFSC President Jaimie Paul '00 said last winter.
Following the CFSC announcement nearly 1,000 students, mostly affiliated, gathered in front of Wright's house, chanting the Alma Mater as a protest song.
Approximately 900 students -- most wearing clothing with Greek letters or t-shirts stating "Unaffiliated but I Support the Greeks" -- attended the Carnival opening ceremonies on the Green to see Wright in his first public appearance since the announcement of the Initiative.
The event went on without incident, though many students booed Wright during his speech.
There were further protests over the weekend, the largest of which was a Saturday rally on the frozen front lawn of Psi Upsilon fraternity which replaced the annual keg jump. The rally -- where Greek and non-affiliates argued the system's merits -- drew nearly 800 students.
The discussion
The ramifications of the Initiative for the Greek system became more clear -- then-Trustee Chair Stephen Bosworth '61 told The Dartmouth that the Board was ready to weather any and all opposition to their plan to potentially eliminate single-sex fraternities and sororities from the College.
Bosworth also said the 1999 Fall term rush process would be dramatically affected by the Initiative -- though that turned out not the case.
Acting Dean of the College Dan Nelson formed a task force in mid-February with the responsibility of collecting proposals for possible changes from various students and campus organizations.
Five student working groups were also formed at the beginning of March with open membership, each charged with discussing a specific principle and formulating a proposal to be submitted to the Trustees. Their proposals were effectively gutted in a marathon Student Assembly meeting May 25 that resulted in the rejection of all but the tamest recommendations.
On April 19 the Board of Trustees announced the next step in the Initiative process -- the creation of the steering committee, formally known as the Committee on the Student Life Initiative.
Committee members were selected by the board and included Trustees Susan Dentzer '77 and Peter Fahey '68 as well as three alumni, three faculty members, three administrators, one graduate student and four undergraduates.
One student was selected by a campus wide vote and another was chosen by the Assembly.
The steering committee maintained a controversial policy of secrecy in its interactions with students from its creation until the end of Fall term of 1999. During the summer it met with various student groups and administrators, as well as touring almost all the CFSC houses.
The fall, the final days
The campus was given its first glimpse of what the steering committee recommendations may include at a town hall forum October 12.
October's meeting gave students an opportunity to ask questions of Fahey and Dentzer, the two Trustee chairs of the committee.
At the meeting the two highlighted a portion of their vision of the future of Dartmouth's social and residential life.
Talking points included freshmen-only housing options, expansion of dining options, and improving or changing social systems.
"Close your eyes and imagine clusters with big common houses attached to them, where 300 people can get together and have a sushi night for the entire cluster," said Dentzer, describing a common house system.
Student representatives on the steering committee -- graduate student Jesse Fecker, Hillary Miller '02, Matthew K. Nelson '00, Kyle Roderick '99 and Meg Smoot '01-- also met with community members in a town hall meeting dominated by discussions of both the Greek system and Dartmouth's image in the media.
Community opinions
Student reaction has largely focused on implications to the Greek system.
Immediately following the announcement of the Initiative, a poll conducted by The Dartmouth found a resounding 83 percent of the student body, including the freshman Class of 2002, in favor of the Greek system. More than 2,000 students responded to that poll.
The most recent poll conducted in November 1999, which included members of the Class of 2003, showed a continuing trend of support for the Greek system with 80 percent of students in favor of its retention.
The fall also saw the voice of the minority becoming more vocal when five students came forward opposing the Greek system. Seniors Ben Berk, Josh Green, Teresa Knoedler, Noah Phillips and Janelle Ruley spoke to steering committee members about the need for eliminating the Greek system altogether.
This was countered in the last steering committee meeting by a further presentation by representatives of the CFSC.
Like the five anti-Greek students, some faculty members came forward in the fall to express dissenting opinions to the dominant voices.
The faculty, in the days following the Initiative, voted unanimously 82-0 in support of the Five Principles. During Fall term, however, some faculty expressed doubts about the steering committee's procedures and insistence on confidentiality.
Media attention
Almost immediately, Dartmouth moved into the national spotlight with the Initiative announcement.
While The Dartmouth played a crucial role in breaking the news to the campus, an article in The Boston Globe on Wednesday, Feb. 10 was critical in announcing the plan to the broader community.
Reporters from national and international television networks and newspapers flooded the campus, especially during the Winter Carnival protests.
Much of the media coverage centered on Dartmouth's image as the "Animal House" college and the end of the Greek system in the context of the film.
During Fall term, a Sunday New York Times article in the Educational Life supplement asked whether Dartmouth's culture could be changed without being entirely destroyed.
This question will likely be on be on the minds of all members of the Dartmouth community today, with the steering committee's 40-page report set to be released this morning.
