1999-2000
As the fall of 1999 began, College President James Wright addressed the faculty with promises of "comprehensive and bold" recommendations from the Steering Committee, the group charged with preparing a report on the direction of student life at Dartmouth.
The address followed Wright's February 1999 announcement of the Student Life Initiative, the broad-ranging plan for expanding and enhancing the quality of students' residential experiences at the College.
In the first of a series of nationally-broadcast presidential primary debates, Democratic and Republican candidates, sans future President George W. Bush, engaged in "town meeting"-style discussions in Moore Theater on Oct. 27 and 28.
After a year of preparation, the Steering Committee released its first report on Jan. 10. It recommended drastic changes to the Greek system to bring it in line with the vision of the Board of Trustees.
The report recommended that single-sex Greek houses continue to exist, but that they be held to stricter standards, opening the potential for future de-recognition of certain houses.
Students responded in weekly "fireside chats" with administrators, and Coed Fraternity Sorority Council President Eric Etu '01 presented a response to the recommendations.
While the Student Assembly created a Student Response Task Force, faculty members voted 81-0 to urge the elimination of the Greek system.
A cheating scandal erupted in a Computer Science 4 class taught by Professor Rex Dwyer of the University of North Carolina. The visiting professor charged 78 students with copying answers to a homework problem from a website he failed to make secure.
The affair captured headlines nationwide, calling attention to the role of cheating at elite institutions of higher learning. Dwyer left Dartmouth before the end of the term, and Dean Larimore announced that all charges against the students would be dropped on account of insufficient evidence.
The Greek system made headlines again in the middle of the term, when the College de-recognized Phi Delta Alpha fraternity for at least two years, citing numerous violations of College social policy and standards.
Psi Upsilon fraternity was placed on probation for six weeks beginning at the end of March for alcohol violations during its annual Winter Carnival keg jump.
On April 19, the Trustees announced the first wave of changes to be implemented as part of the Student Life Initiative. The decision, which was met without strong student reaction, included decisions to move rush to Winter term, to ban taps and permanent bars from Greek houses, to enhance cluster programming and to implement freshman-only housing on a trial basis, beginning with some members of the Class of 2004.
At the end of May, Delta Delta Delta sorority announced it would withdraw from the CFSC because its goals were "not in accordance with those of the CFSC." The sorority declined to comment further on the reasons for the secession.
2000-2001
Fall term 2000 saw Berry Library finally open its doors after more than two years of construction, three years of controversy and eight years of planning.
As the presidential debates began in October between Democratic candidate Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush, Bob Gienko '01 officially announced his candidacy for the New Hampshire state legislature.
Despite amassing the largest number of votes among Republican candidates, Gienko was defeated in a district that Democrats have controlled for a quarter of a century.
One year after the death of 12 students during the construction of their bonfire at Texas A&M, another long-standing Dartmouth tradition came under scrutiny. Bonfire chair Joe Cassidy warned that the 2000 Homecoming bonfire could be the last, but the tradition has continued.
Potentially dangerous College traditions came to the fore once again in January, when the Office of Residential Life notified leaders of Psi Upsilon fraternity that the College's insurance company had withdrawn coverage of the annual Psi Upsilon Winter Carnival keg jump. The event was canceled, and will most likely no longer play a part in future Winter Carnival activities.
After serving as the College's second highest administrator for two years, Susan Prager stepped down from the position of provost on July 1, citing her interest in serving a larger administrative role than her current position at Dartmouth allowed. The College named former associate provost Barry Scherr as Prager's replacement.
The biggest and most tragic Dartmouth news event of the year hit campus on Jan. 27, when Professors Half and Susanne Zantop were found murdered in their home on Trescott Road in Etna, just miles from campus. Both were beloved members of the Dartmouth community, Susanne as chair of the German department and Half as a professor of earth science.Authorities remained tight-lipped as the mourning Dartmouth community sought to make sense of a seemingly senseless crime.
Nearly a month after the Jan. 27 tragedy, authorities arrested teenagers Robert Tulloch and James Parker of Chelsea, Vt., for the murders of the two professors.
Police issued warrants for the arrest of the two teenagers on Feb. 17, and apprehended them at New Castle, Indiana, on Feb. 20. They were hitchhiking their way to California, according to authorities.
On Mar. 26 officials released information that DNA of Susanne Zantop matched that found on two knives in Tulloch's bedroom.
At his indictment in May, Tulloch pleaded not guilty. After permission had been secured to try him as an adult for two counts of first-degree murder, a trial date was set for January.
In March, the Office of Residential Life placed severe sanctions, including two terms of social probation, on Psi Upsilon fraternity for misconduct stemming from an event in which brothers shouted derogatory remarks at a female passerby.
A few days later the College mourned the sudden death of Matthew "Matty" Demaine '04 from cardiac arrest. Both friends and teammates remembered Demaine, a member of the lacrosse team, for his good cheer and sense of humor.
Occurring soon after the Psi U incident, the discovery of Zeta Psi fraternity newsletters that came to be known as the "sex papers" caused the Greek system and its role on campus to again come under close scrutiny.
The papers included lewd references to supposed sexual acts between Zete brothers and named female students -- one of whom brought the newsletters to administrators. Zeta Psi members claimed the papers were intended to be completely satirical.
Nevertheless, Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman handed down a sentence of permanent derecognition a few weeks later. Zeta Psi appealed the decision but lost.
Summer news began with two surprise changes to the College's regulation of Greek houses, including a ban on the outdoor consumption of alcohol and the announcement of unannounced "walk-throughs" of all Greek houses. The announcements were widely criticized both for their content and for the lack of student input in the decision-making process.
For the first time, Rick Ackerboom '80 decided not to sponsor Tubestock, the annual waterborne event held on the Connecticut River. Despite an unsuccessful attempt by students to get a permit from the New Hampshire Marine Patrol, the event took place with little trouble.
Additionally, the College released the Greek Life Steering Committee report, which recommended a minimum GPA of 2.3 in order to join a Greek organization and a revamping of the social event monitoring policy.
Susan Dentzer '77 was elected as the Chair of the Board of Trustees in June, taking over for William H. King Jr. '63. Dentzer played a large role in preparing the SLI.
Late in the summer, six temporary dorms --known as the Tree Houses -- were hurriedly constructed to help alleviate an ever-present housing crunch worsened by a bumper crop of matriculating '05s.
2001-2002
A spate of tragic events greeted students returning for the fall of 2001. The attacks of Sept. 11, the ensuing war in Afghanistan, the attempted rape of two female students and continuing investigations into the Zantop murders combined to challenge the Dartmouth community.
Numerous panel discussions about the attacks and their aftermath drew large crowds.
The nation's economic slowdown also affected the College, as President Wright announced at an October faculty meeting that the construction of the proposed Tuck Mall dorms would be delayed indefinitely, due in part to financial difficulties.
Shortly after the end of Fall term, James Parker pleaded guilty to being an accomplice to second-degree murder in the death of Suzanne Zantop, in exchange for a reduced sentence.
As the winter began, students found themselves beset by a vicious outbreak of conjunctivitis -- commonly known as pink eye -- that afflicted over 400 students and drew the attention of the Centers for Disease Control.
Posted warnings advising proper protective measures as well as bottles of disinfectant were distributed to fight the epidemic, which persisted into the spring.
At the end of February, art student Emily Lewis '02 was arrested for defacing much of the student art kept in Clement Hall. Lewis' mental health was cited as a potential explanation for her systematic vandalism.
Spring term saw Robert Tulloch, accused in the murders of Half and Susanne Zantop, drop his planned insanity defense and plead guilty to first-degree murder, thereby bringing a degree of closure to the tragic murders of the two Dartmouth professors murdered more than a year before.
At an April 4 hearing, Tulloch received two sentences of life in prison, while his accomplice James Parker -- who had plead guilty to lesser charges in December -- was given a sentence of 25 years in exchange for cooperating with prosecutors.
Several distinguished speakers found their way to Hanover during the spring, including former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and author Maya Angelou.
News affecting the Greek system included the replacement of "minimum standards" regulations with action plans formulated by individual houses, so that in the future, Greek houses will be evaluated according to the guidelines that they created for themselves.
This winter marked the first winter rush for Greek houses, with mixed outcomes as pledge numbers failed to meet those of some earlier years.
Phi Delta Alpha fraternity faces a good chance of being re-recognized next fall as long as it complies with all guidelines set by the Office of Residential Life, former Phi Delt members told The Dartmouth.
During a programming event this spring, a fire broke out at Alpha Delta fraternity at approximately 12:45 a.m. All those in the house evacuated safely, and injuries were reported.
Marking the largest increase in four years, Dartmouth's Board of Trustees approved raising undergraduate tuition by 4.5 percent to $27,600 at their meeting this winter.
A committee also voted to change the world cultures requirement, consolidating the North American and European requirements into one Western category and adding a "race, gender and ethnicity" component.
Modernization of academic facilities and increased efforts to promote diversity were among the initiatives proposed by President Wright in a new comprehensive plan for Dartmouth's future that is commonly known as the Strategic Plan.
On a less positive note, Dartmouth announced it will be making campus-wide budget cuts of 1.5 to 2 percent that will affect every area of the College. The changes are due to this year's economic downturn and the resulting zero-percent increase in endowment return.
Change is also ahead for the administration, as Dean of the Faculty Jamshed Bharucha announced that he is leaving Dartmouth to become Tufts Uni-versity's next provost and senior vice president after only one year in his current position.
