The year 2000-2001 was dominated by the tragic murder of Dartmouth professors Half and Susanne Zantop as well as increasing administrative regulation of Greek houses -- and increasing scrutiny of the houses by the community at large.
During the Fall of 2000, Berry Library finally opened its doors after more than two years of construction, three years of controversy and eight years of planning.
As the presidential debates between Democratic candidate Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush began in October, Bob Gienko '01 officially announced his candidacy for the New Hampshire state legislature.
Despite winning 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 survived.
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when the Office of Residential Life notified leaders of Psi Upsilon fraternity that the College's insurance company had withdrawn coverage of the annual Psi Upsilon Winter Carnival keg jump.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 is unlikely to play a part in future Winter Carnival activities.
After serving as the College's second highest administrator for two years, provost Susan Prager stepped down from her position 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, the chair of the German department and Half 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, law enforcement officers 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 teenagers on Feb. 17, and apprehended them in New Castle, Indiana, on Feb. 20. They were hitchhiking their way to California, according to authorities.
On Mar. 26 officials revealed that Susanne Zantop's DNA 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 the following January.
In March of 2000, 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 members 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. Zete appealed the decision but lost.
Summer news began with two major 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 summer 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 Student Life Initiative.
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 difficult events greeted students returning for the fall of 2001. The attacks of Sept. 11, the ensuing war in Afghanistan, the sexual assaults 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, Parker pleaded guilty to being an accomplice to second-degree murder in the death of Susanne 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 prompted the Centers for Disease Control to conduct an investigation as to the causes of the epidemic.
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.
The winter of 2002 marked the first winter rush for Greek houses after the traditional fall rush was disallowed by the College. Outcomes were mixed as pledge numbers for many houses failed to meet those of some earlier years.
During a party held at Alpha Delta fratnernity in the spring, a fire broke out at approximately 12:45 a.m. All those in the house evacuated safely, and no 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 his Strategic Plan for Dartmouth's future.
To the dismay of much of the campus, Dartmouth announced it would be making campus-wide budget cuts of 1.5 to 2 percent that would affect every area of the College. The cuts, officials said, were a result of the economic downturn and the resulting zero-percent increase in endowment return.
The administration underwent changes too, as Dean of the Faculty Jamshed Bharucha left Dartmouth to become Tufts University's next provost and senior vice president after only one year in his position. Professor Michael Gazzaniga was appointed in his place.
2002-2003
The past year was marked by further budget woes for the college. The administration announced a series of controversial plans that were opposed by student, alumni and faculty alike.
At the beginning of Fall term, the College implemented card-activated door locks at the entrances to all dorms, a move that met with complaints, especially from students living off-campus who found themselves without access to the dorms.
The new Librarian of the College Richard Lucier announced that $1 million would be cut from the library budget. Some of the more unpopular proposals were the consolidation of Sherman and Sanborn libraries and cutting of student hours.
Tensions between the administration and the student body came to a head just before Thanksgiving break when recently appointed Athletic Director Josie Harper decided to cut the men's and women's swimming and diving teams to cope with the budget cuts in the Athletic Department.
The announcement was greeted with anger and disbelief, with more than a hundred protestors gathering outside the houses of College President James Wright and Dean of the College James Larimore at midnight the next day.
The Student Assembly took a strong stance against the decision, and the almost unanimous opposition resulted in another large protest after Thanksgiving that started on the Green and then moved on to occupy Parkhurst for hours.
One of the more creative ideas to save the team was the attempt to auction it on eBay. Eventually, with alumni protests and donations, the College decided to reinstate the team, with enough funds to support the team for at least 10 more years.
There was also a notable increase in political activism on campus during the past year.
A new group, "Why War?", urged students to carefully consider the reasons for and the consequences of an imminent war on Iraq. It also The winter of 2002 marked the first winter rush for Greek houses after the traditional fall rush was disallowed by the College. Outcomes were mixed as pledge numbers for many houses failed to meet those of some earlier years.
During a party held at Alpha Delta in the spring, a fire broke out at Alpha Delta at approximately 12:45 a.m. All those in the house evacuated safely, and no 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.
To the dismay of much of the campus, Dartmouth announced it would be making campus-wide budget cuts of 1.5 to 2 percent that would affect every area of the College. The cuts, officials said, were a result of the economic downturn and the resulting zero-percent increase in endowment return.
The administration underwent changes too, as Dean of the Faculty Jamshed Bharucha left Dartmouth for Tufts and professor Michael Gazzaniga was appointed in his place.
2002-2003
The past year was marked by further budget woes for the College. The administration introduced a series of controversial plans to be implemented in coming years.
At the beginning of Fall term, the College installed card-activated door locks at the entrances to all dorms, a move that met with complaints, especially from students living off-campus who found themselves without access to the dorms.
Tensions between the administration and the student body came to a head just before Thanksgiving break when recently appointed Athletic Director Josie Harper decided to cut the men's and women's swimming and diving teams to cope with the budget cuts in the Athletic Department.
The announcement was greeted with anger and disbelief, with more than a hundred protestors gathering outside the houses of College President James Wright and Dean of the College James Larimore at midnight the next day.
The Student Assembly took a strong stance against the decision, and the almost unanimous opposition resulted in another large protest after Thanksgiving that started on the Green and then moved on to occupy Parkhurst for hours.
One of the more creative ideas to save the team was the attempt to auction it on eBay. Eventually, with alumni protests and donations, the College decided to reinstate the team, with enough funds to support the team for at least 10 more years.
There was also a notable increase in political activism on campus during the past year. A new group, "Why War?", urged students to carefully consider the reasons for and the consequences of an imminent war on Iraq. It also organized teach-ins and led groups of students to protests in Washington and New York. Smaller groups of students also spoke out in favor of the war.
Dartmouth suffered through the tragic losses of three '04s in February: Brian Henry '04, Matthew Watt '04 and Daryl Richmond '04. The campus also mourned the deaths of Spanish professor Alexander Levin and English and Native American studies professor Elaine Jahner.
While the global SARS epidemic had little effect on the campus itself, the Chinese Department's Foreign Study Program in Beijing this summer had to be cancelled.
Admissions numbers also broke records, with the number of applicants at an all-time high of 11,700 and the acceptance rate dipping below 20 percent.
And after mulling over distributive requirements, the College finally eliminated the Interdisciplinary requirement due to a lack of courses that fulfilled it and the strain it placed on departmental resources.
