In their last year at Dartmouth, members of the Class of 2009 saw the College take on issues ranging from budget cuts and the economic downturn, to alumni governance and Greek expansion, to presidential elections both at the College level and on the national scale.
Following President James Wright's February 2008 announcement that he would step down from the position of president in June 2009, a search committee chaired by Trustee Al Mulley '70 was formed that consisted of alumni, faculty, trustees and then-Student Body President Molly Bode '09.
In July 2008, the presidential search committee began holding forums on campus and in cities across the country to solicit input from the Dartmouth community. In early October, the committee released a leadership statement outlining the credentials they would use in their search for the College's 17th president. The committee also employed the help of the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller, founded by John Isaacson '68, to assist in the search.
The College announced in March that Jim Yong Kim, a Harvard professor, medical doctor and global health leader, would succeed Wright as the next president. Kim, the former director of World Health Organization, has been widely recognized for his work in health care improvement.
Kim will be the first Asian-American and the first Korean to serve as president of an Ivy League institution.
Shortly following Kim's selection, the March 3 edition of the Generic Good Morning Message a student-created tongue-in-cheek e-mail compilation of each day's news sent to approximately 1,000 students and alumni referred to Kim as a "Chinaman" and warned the campus to prepare for "Asianification." The e-mail generated controversy across campus and gained the attention of both American and Korean news outlets.
The students responsible for the e-mail later apologized, explaining that it was meant to be satirical, not malicious.
In response to the financial crisis following October's drastic stock market plunge, the College revealed a budget-reconciliation plan to cut $35 million from the budget for the 2010 fiscal year in February. To assess how to implement the cuts, the College solicited input from students and asked all College departments to submit an explanation of how they would adjust to budget cuts, Adam Keller, executive vice president of finance and administration, said in a previous interview with The Dartmouth.
The College laid off approximately 60 staff members as a result of the economic downturn. The layoffs included Dean of First-Year Students Gail Zimmerman, as well as six employees from the First-Year and Upperclass Deans Offices and three employees from the admissions and financial aid office. The College also laid off Dartmouth Dining Services employees and implemented a hiring freeze.
The College's Board of Trustees approved a 4.8-percent increase in tuition, down from the previous year's 4.9-percent increase. The College's tuition increase for the year was not part of the solution to the budget deficit, according to College President James Wright.
Budget cuts did not extend to the College's financial aid office. In February, The Board approved a 13-percent increase in the monetary value of financial aid, as well as the complete continuation of former financial aid policies.
The Dartmouth Medical School announced in May that it would lay off 12 staff members in addition to a budget cut of approximately 10 percent. DMS also implemented a hiring freeze in November 2008 and increased its tuition by approximately 6 percent.
Fundraising for the Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience the College's capital campaign launched in 2004 was also slowed by the economic downturn. Nonetheless, the campaign, which aimed to raise $1.3 billion by June 2009, has reached 92 percent of its goal to date.
Following the election of a new executive board in June 2008, the Association of Alumni dismissed its 2007 lawsuit against the College for breaking an 1891 agreement to maintain parity between Board-selected and alumni-elected trustees by adding eight new Board-selected trustees to its membership. In September 2008, the Board selected five charter trustees to add to its membership, ending a "freeze" that had been in place since June and was intended to last until issues with the Association were resolved.
In November 2008, several alumni filed a second lawsuit against the College independent of alumni organizations reaffirming that the College had violated the 1891 agreement to maintain parity. The suit paralleled the previous one brought against the College by the Association of Alumni.
Several alumni leaders have said they believe the Hanover Institute, which funded the Association's 2007 lawsuit, is also financially supporting the alumni lawsuit.
Also in November, the Association proposed an amendment to its constitution. The proposal called for a switch from the approval voting process where each alumni could vote for an unlimited number of candidates to a one-person, one-vote system. It also limited the number of candidates nominated by the Alumni Council from three to one or two.
After an alumni-wide vote, the amendment passed in May, gaining almost 82 percent of the 12,668 votes cast.
At its April meeting, the Board chose not to reelect Trustee Todd Zywicki '88 to a second term the first time in recent history that a trustee has failed to gain routine reelection. Zywicki, who was one of the signatories to an amicus brief supporting the Association's 2007 lawsuit against the College, has frequently spoken out against College policies and was reprimanded by the Board in January of 2008 for a controversial speech he gave in October 2007.
Fellow Trustee T.J. Rodgers '70, called the process that lead to Zywicki's removal a "kangaroo court," saying that Zywicki was not allowed to be present and therefore could not defend himself against false accusations by other Board members.
Rodgers told The Dartmouth in May 2008 he will no longer participate in similar future evaluations. Board Chairman Ed Haldeman '70, however, described the process as "transparent," adding that he had met with Zywicki to discuss other Board members' evaluations prior to the April meeting and that Zywicki had been allowed to address the Board prior to their vote.
Another electoral process also gained widespread attention at the College this year; as the national presidential election approached, Dartmouth quickly became a center of political activity. Many notable speakers visited campus to rally for candidates, including Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., who came to campus campaigning for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.. Supporters of then-Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., who visited Hanover included actors Kal Penn, Justin Long and Olivia Wilde as well as Democratic National Committee Chairman and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.
Both the College Democrats and the College Republicans worked to increase voter turnout in the area while campaigning for their respective candidates. As Nov. 4 approached, however, the two parties accused each other of questionable tactics, including unauthorized sidewalk chalking and the removal of opposition posters and paraphernalia.
Student voter turnout in the election was believed to be the highest in the school's history, as 2,219 of the 2,400 registered Dartmouth students cast a ballot, according to Jessica Guthrie 10 president of Vote Clamantis.
Soon after Obama's victory was announced, hundreds of students marched from the Green through Baker-Berry Library to Webster Avenue, where Wright addressed the crowd. New Hampshire Democrats also triumphed in the congressional races, with the election of former Governor Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., to the U.S. Senate and the reelection of U.S. Representative Paul Hodes '72, D-N.H..
Democrat Vanessa Sievers '10, who was elected as Grafton County treasurer, took over in January for her two-year term in office.
Several Dartmouth alumni have since joined Obama's administration, including Timothy Geithner '83, who replaced Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson '68. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand '88, D-N.Y., became the first alumna to serve as a U.S. senator when she was selected to fill the Senate seat that Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., vacated upon her appointment to secretary of state.
Several College departments also saw changes in leadership this year. Athletic Director Josie Harper, the first female to hold the position in the Ivy League, will conclude her 27 years on the athletic staff at the end of June. Deputy athletic director Robert Ceplikas '78 will fill the role for the 2009-2010 academic year while the College conducts a search for Harper's replacement.
Dan Nelson, senior assistant to President Wright, will become the director of the Outdoor Programs Office this summer, after former director Andy Harvard stepped down in July 2008 amidst rumors that he had been asked to leave. Michelle de Sousa replaced interim director Rebel Roberts as Sexual Abuse Awareness Program coordinator in July 2008.
A review committee for the College's Social Event Management Procedures, the policy that governs alcohol policy on campus, released their revisions of the College's policy in October 2008. The revised policy, called the Alcohol Management Program, is currently pending approval from the Dean of the College, after months of additional revisions.
The Committee on Standards implemented several new policies at the beginning of Fall term after being evaluated by a review committee. Contrary to the Student Assembly's recommendations, the COS Review Committee maintained the current level of proof standard at "a preponderance of evidence," instead of increasing that standard to the stronger "clear and convincing evidence."
The Assembly launched a review of the Organization Adjudication Committee during Spring term, and ultimately recommended that cases assessing group violations be heard by students committees, rather than by deans. The review followed controversy over Winter term regarding the punishments of five Greek houses that had been put on probation.
Along with policy-related issues such as AMP and the budget cuts, the Assembly, under the leadership of Bode and former vice president Nafeesa Remtilla '09 and their successors, current Student Body Vice President Frances Vernon '10 and Vice President Cory Cunningham '10, also worked to increase the number of alternative-social-space events on campus by sponsoring parties in non-Greek locations.
As the swine flu strain of the H1N1 virus spread, students on the College's Language Study Abroad program in Cholula, Mexico, were evacuated back to Hanover and spent the rest of the term completing their classes on campus. Although seven students at the College were once suspected cases of swine flu, all of the students eventually tested negative for the virus. One Hanover Inn employee, however, did test positive for H1N1.
In other national news, Wright was the only Ivy League president to sign a petition distributed by the Amethyst Initiative, a movement of college presidents seeking to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18. Wright's endorsement drew criticism from groups including Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
After over a month of changes and amendments, Gov. John Lynch, D-N.H., approved a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry in the state on June 3. Lynch, who had previously stated his opposition to same-sex marriage, agreed to sign the bill after the passage of provisions to protect the religious freedom of organizations that do not wish to perform services for same-gender couples.
Kappa Delta national sorority was accepted as Dartmouth's eighth Panhellenic sorority this spring, while Delta Zeta sorority was offered a "stacked extension," meaning it will be given an invitation when the College next decides to expand the number of sororities on campus. The Panhellenic Council began the process of inviting a new sorority to campus in March, and representatives said they believe that Kappa Delta will be established in time to take part in fall rush at the College.
Beta Alpha Omega fraternity, a local version of the former Beta Theta Pi fraternity, this year took up residence in Beta Theta Pi's former house at 6 Webster Avenue. Alpha Xi Delta sorority had been renting the house since Beta was originally permanently derecognized in by the College in 1996 for violations of College and national fraternity policies.
Beta Alpha Omega fraternity held rush during the Fall and Winter terms, and the house was not allowed to possess alcohol for Fall or Winter term, as part of its mandatory "dry period."
Alpha Xi Delta and Alpha Phi sororities were originally both scheduled to receive new physical plants by Fall 2009, but the construction of the Alpha Phi house has since been postponed due to budget cuts. AZD will have a completed residence at 17 East Wheelock this fall. Alpha Phi has always lacked a physical plant.
Zeta Psi, which was derecognized by the College in 2001, has gone through a rerecognition process, and will participate in Fall term rush in 2009. Zete's alumni renovated its physical plant this fall, which was one of the requirements for rerecognition from the College.
While the national economic downturn stalled several other College construction projects in their planning stages, projects such as the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center have remained on schedule. Renovations on the New Hampshire residence hall were completed in time for students to inhabit the hall during Spring term.
In the Spring term's student body presidential debates, candidates' discussion centered on budget cuts and student governance reform. At the conclusion of the race, Vernon and Cunningham were elected as student body president and vice president, defeating presidential candidates Boyd Lever 10 and John Nolan 10 and vice-presidential candidate Philip Aubart '10.
While studying on the religion Foreign Study Program in Edinburgh, Scotland, Cody Lavender '10 died after falling from a fourth-floor balcony. A memorial service was held in January to celebrate Lavender, who was involved in the Gay-Straight Alliance and the undergraduate journal Aporia.
The Ledyard Canoe Club's Titcomb Cabin burned to the ground in May. In a press release, Hanover Police called the fire "suspicious" because the fire occurred prior to rental season and Gilman Island, the site of the cabin, lacks electricity. Both Chi Gamma Epsilon and Alpha Delta fraternities also experienced small fires during the year, though neither incident resulted in serious damage.
A former member of the Class of 2010, Mohammad Usman, pled guilty in April to allegations of falsely claiming $18,615 in financial aid and grants from the College.
Usman, who fraudulently claimed Tucker Foundation internship funding, left the College following his 2008 Summer term.
Another member of the Dartmouth community, DMS professor William Weeks, faces five federal misdemeanor counts over conflict of interest for his involvement with contracts between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the College, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
In May, the College began construction on the Zantop Memorial Garden, a tribute to Dartmouth professors Half and Susanne Zantop, who were murdered by two teenagers in January 2001. A dedication and ground-breaking ceremony for the garden took place in May.
The College's acceptance rate for the Class of 2013 dropped 1.5 percentage points from last year to a record low of 12 percent.
The Dartmouth Outing Club celebrated its 100th anniversary with a host of outdoors activities this year. This year's Winter Carnival also recognized the centennial with its theme, "Summiting a Century: 100 years of the DOC," although the Carnival's traditional snow sculpture, modeled after Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, had to be rebuilt as a mountain after it collapsed due to warm weather.
