As students prepare for final exams and the term dwindles to an end, so too ends the unique sophomore summer experience for the Class of 2007.
The season ends on a somber note, following the latter of two tragedies that sent ripples throughout the Dartmouth community.
The recent Connecticut River drowning of Valentin Valkov, a Tuck Bridge program participant from Trinity College, is still fresh in campus memory. Although the 21-year-old junior was not a Dartmouth student, police believe he died while attempting the Ledyard Challenge, a nude swim across the Connecticut rooted in Dartmouth tradition.
College officials do not yet have definitive plans to hike security along Dartmouth's riverside property in response to the death, but the incident has heightened discussions surrounding another Dartmouth tradition -- the annual Tubestock holiday.
Because the College does not officially sponsor Tubestock, law enforcement for the event has been the burden of the Norwich Police, the New Hampshire Marine Patrol and the New Hampshire Liquor Commission. Despite flagrant underage drinking, officers have done little to curb the open consumption of alcohol on the river, focusing their efforts mainly on student safety.
Law enforcement agencies collaborated with the Greek Leadership Council earlier this term to ensure the event ran smoothly. Each Greek house selected a pair of sober monitors to care for intoxicated peers and to prevent direct intervention from law enforcement officers.
This year's estimated 800 Tubestock participants went home largely unscathed. There were reports of only minor injuries, and no arrests were made. The largest complaint following the celebration came from riverside residents faced with floating beer cans and other leftover debris. Nevertheless, Tubestock's future is questionable as local law enforcement officials have indicated they will be stepping up regulatory patrol in the coming years.
Valkov's death came less than a month after the murder of Dartmouth undergraduate Meleia Willis-Starbuck '07. Willis-Starbuck was shot and killed outside her apartment in Berkeley, Ca., while completing a volunteer internship at the Women's Daytime Drop-In Center in Berkeley.
Soon after the tragedy, College community members gathered for a candlelight vigil held by Willis-Starbuck's friends in the Afro-American Society to honor the sophomore's untimely death.
Despite the recent wave of tragedy, sophomore summer has had its more uplifting moments.
The first week of August was marked by Dartmouth's third annual Consent Day, sponsored by College Health Services and organized by Sexual Abuse Peer Advisors to raise awareness about sexual abuse and violence.
The event took place on Webster Avenue, spreading across the lawns of Sigma Phi Epsilon and Sigma Nu fraternities and Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority. It included a barbecue, band and the distribution of free T-shirts. Students sporting the bright orange shirts with the "Consensual Sex is Hot" slogan across the front have consistently been visible across campus.
Most coed, fraternity and sorority houses were filled with sophomores who were living in their houses for the first time. For many students, it was the highlight of their term.
"On the whole, I've really enjoyed getting to know my brothers," Bibhu Mainali '07 said.
In July, the Summer Enrichment at Dartmouth program finished its fifth successful year on campus. This year, the SEAD program brought 25 students from under-funded high schools to Hanover, allowing them to take classes in environmental sciences and humanities.
Dartmouth juniors and seniors staffed the program, living with the SEAD participants and supervising classes. Other Dartmouth students applied in the spring to serve as academic coaches to support the SEAD students in their studies. The summer opened in June with the most recent attempt at a sophomore summer opening address. The convocation was planned by Tucker Foundation Dean Stuart Lord in order to unite the Class of 2007 in an arena that could be both social and academic.
The speaker, feminist Gina Barreca '79, delivered a witty and pointed speech about her experiences at Dartmouth in its first years of coeducation.
Most Dartmouth students, despite claims of overwhelming academics, still agree that spending their sophomore summer in Hanover was an enjoyable experience. "It was freaking epic," Michael Sinnott '07 said. "If you didn't enjoy it, you weren't trying."
