Although Dartmouth freshmen have traditionally been prohibited from attending parties at Greek houses during their Fall term, a near-unanimous resolution passed by the Student Assembly this May could increase Greek social options for the incoming Class of 2005.
The resolution, sponsored by the summer Chair of the Assembly Michael Perry '03, urged the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council (CFSC) -- the governing body for Dartmouth's fraternities and sororities -- to rescind its current ban on first-year students attending registered social events at Greek houses until their Winter term.
According to Perry, the current rule does not achieve its desired goal of encouraging freshmen to explore non-Greek social options at the College during their first term in residence.Rather, because of the relative dearth of such alternatives, Perry said he feels that the rule is both counterproductive and difficult to enforce.
"Instead of making people not want to go to Greek parties, it's more of a forbidden fruit kind of thing," he said, adding that eager first-year students often sneak through windows, back doors and fire escapes in an effort to attend prohibited parties.
Despite the resolution's popularity -- it passed 25-1 at the Assembly meeting -- the resolution comes at a particularly unfavorable time, given the Greek leadership's current state of organizational flux.
A week before the resolution was passed, the CFSC, frustrated by both internal turmoil and a lack of external efficacy, proposed to officially dissolve itself this coming Fall term.
The future of the organization remains in limbo, and this Summer term a temporary Greek Leaders Council, consisting of the presidents of each Greek house as well as the presidents of the Panhellenic Council and the Interfraternity Council, has stepped up to the helm.
Thus, as Dartmouth's Greek leadership currently struggles with its own identity, discussion of minor policy changes such as this one may be slow to come.
However, according to some Greek leaders, the atmosphere of change the proposed dissolution brings with it may actually make the resolution more likely to be included in future Greek discourse.
"Right now we're in the process of reshaping our entire constitution and looking at many of our internal policies," Lauren Lafaro '02, vice-president of the CFSC, said last May. "So I think that it will probably come up in discussion within the next term or two."
Indeed, although the impending overhaul of Greek leadership precluded Lafaro from commenting on the likelihood that the ban would be lifted, she noted that "the idea of making Greek parties more inclusive is a good one."
She did, however, point out that lifting the ban would "require increased effort on the part of individual houses and organizations," especially with respect to alcoholic drinks, since it is highly unlikely that many freshmen meet the legal New Hampshire drinking age of 21.
The resolution also states that the freshman fall regulation is usually differentially enforced. She specified that such a patter occurs "on the basis of gender, athletic involvement and other characteristics."
The resolution adds that multiple administrators and students, both affiliated and unaffiliated, have expressed disapproval of the ban. Both Perry and Student Body President-elect Molly Stutzman '02 told The Dartmouth that they attribute the ban's original impetus partially to miscommunication between the administration and the CFSC.
According to Stutzman, despite the fact that many Greek leaders said they felt pressure from the administration to create the ban in the first place, many administrators do not support its continued existence.
"We talked with a whole variety of administrators who said that the administration did not put that ban into place, and that actually most administrators recognize and agree that the ban is ineffective," Stutzman said.
Unfazed by intra-CFSC turmoil, Perry said he is confident that the resolution will "eventually" effect policy change and hopes that the ban will be lifted as soon as this coming Fall term in order to increase the social options for the incoming Class of 2005.
