Freshman Year 2006-2007
A host of new residence buildings, including the McLaughlin Cluster and Fahey-McLane, as well as new academic buildings Kemeny Hall and Haldeman Center greeted incoming freshmen in Fall 2006.
In November, the Native American Council published a two-page advertisement in The Dartmouth titled "A Chronology of Racism, Fall 2006." The chronology described recent offenses at the College including a Homecoming shirt depicting the mascot of College rival Holy Cross performing fellatio on the Dartmouth Indian, intoxicated students' disruption of a Columbus Day drum circle and the stereotypical Native American costumes worn by students at a formal hosted by members of the crew team.
The Dartmouth Review published an issue titled "The Natives are Getting Restless!" the following week, which led several hundred students and staff members to hold a "Solidarity Against Hatred" rally in response to the issue. The rally which was covered by national news media included a speech by then College President James Wright implicitly condemning the publication.
Then-College Athletic Director Josie Harper wrote a letter to The Dartmouth apologizing for hosting the "Fighting Sioux" of the University of North Dakota at a December hockey tournament. In response, the College formed a task force to examine College policy regarding scheduling athletic competitions against schools with Native American mascots. The resulting Stam Committee named after former government professor and committee chair Allan Stam met openly for discussion that February.
Student Assembly launched a campaign to institute the "Dartmoose" as Dartmouth's official mascot in order to relieve the tension that had surrounded the College's previous mascot, the Dartmouth Indian.
The Jack-O-Lantern magazine also proposed a new mascot "Keggy the Keg" that gained popularity, though it was never officially adopted.
In November, a task force formed by Student Assembly proposed changes to the Committee on Standards, though then-acting Dean of the College Dan Nelson postponed any action on the recommendations until a more permanent Dean took over.
The more controversial recommendations allowed for the accused party to question their witnesses and their accusers during hearings and called for an increased burden of proof from a "preponderance of the evidence," which places guilt upon the party condemned by the majority of the evidence, to the more stringent "clear and convincing evidence."
Several students criticized these recommendations, arguing that they would negatively affect the reporting of sexual assault.
In January 2007, then-Student Body President Tim Andreadis '07 who ran for president on a platform against sexual assault faced an effort by students to reform the Assembly and impeach Andreadis. The students criticized Andreadis for being ineffective and for being overly focused on ideology.
In response to the impeachment and reform efforts, Student Assembly formed a Student Governance Review Task Force to assess the position and function of Student Assembly.
The task force recommended changes to the funding process for student organizations. As a result, the Special Programs and Events Committee began funding campus events hosted by student organizations that cost over $5,000.
Zeta Psi fraternity, which had been de-recognized by the College six years before, officially closed during Winter term. Zete was to remain "dark" until Fall 2009, when the fraternity could be re-recognized by the College.
On Valentine's Day 2007, the College was closed due to excessive snow for the first time in the recent memory of College administrators.
The Board of Trustees election after the resignation of former Trustee Nancy Jeton '76 featured open campaigning for the first time, which allowed for unrestricted campaign spending. Petition candidate Stephen Smith '88 who received support from the Phrygian Society, a conservative secret organization of senior men won the election. The society had held meetings with some members of the Board of Trustees prior to the election in the pursuit of an anti-administration agenda.
In April, the College recognized national sorority Alpha Phi after it spent a year as a colony, having come to the College in March 2006. By the time it was recognized by the College, Alpha Phi had grown to 60 members from the original founding eight.
Another sorority attracted attention from the administration in October, when eleven students were arrested for alcohol violations at a new member bid night event hosted by Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority at a roller rink in Enfield, NH. The College subsequently placed the sorority on social probation until late March 2007.
Wright was declared "Person of the Week" on ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson" in recognition of his work with veterans, including the creation of the college-guidance program for Marines.
Baker-Berry library featured an exhibit created by artist Wenda Gu made out of human hair that was set up in June 2007, but was taken down in October 2007 amongst varying reactions to the unusual artistic medium.
In May, Travis Green '08 was elected Student Body President after campaigning for internal Assembly reform.
In July 2007, students at the College learned of the news that a member of the incoming Class of 2011, Hayley Petit, was murdered in her home along in Cheshire, Conn., along with her mother and sister. Petit's father, William Petit, Jr., '78 was survived the attack but sustained serious injuries.
Sophomore Year 2007-2008
In September 2007, the Board of Trustees voted to add eight additional Board-selected seats, increasing the total number of seats from 18 to 26. This change marked the end of parity between Board-selected and alumni-elected seats, a tradition that had been established in an agreement made in 1891. The change also reduced the number of candidates nominated by the Alumni Council from three to one or two. Petition candidates who were generally believed to be more critical of the College's administration had won all of the four preceding elections, but many expressed concern that the decision to end parity would make petition candidates less likely to be elected.
In October, the executive committee of the Association of Alumni, one out of two alumni organizations, announced that it would sue the Board for the announced expansion, arguing that the 1891 parity agreement was legally binding. The case was scheduled to go to court in November 2008, but a new board of the Association was elected in June of that year, after running on a slate that promised to drop the case.
The Board and the Alumni Council reprimanded then-Trustee Todd Zywicki '88 in January for calling former College President James Freedman a "truly evil man" during an October speech at the John William Pope Center, a think tank on conservative education. Zywicki later apologized for the speech, in which he also argued that higher education is dominated by an "orthodoxy" of political correctness.
In February Wright announced his intention to retire from his position by June 2009, concluding his 11-year tenure as president of the College.
Wright received the Semper Fidelis Award from the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation in April for his efforts to facilitate educational opportunities for veterans. Wright had been involved in a new GI bill passed in May that helped veterans finance their college educations.
In January, the College announced that Beta Theta Phi fraternity would be re-recognized despite its permanent de-recognition after the Summer term of 1996.
Beta's re-recognition forced Alpha Xi Delta sorority to vacate its house which it had leased from Beta by June 30. The situation sparked discussion of gender relations on campus and led to a march of 200 students from AZD to Parkhurst Hall, where students petitioned Wright asking for more gender neutral social spaces at the College. In response to these discussions, a Social Life Committee was formed to conduct a "culture audit" of the College in April.
On September 26, the first day of classes, Dartmouth hosted a Democratic primary debate that was broadcasted live, for which two hundred students received tickets.
Several politicians involved in the elections including former President Bill Clinton, former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. and former Sen. Barack Obama, then D-Ill. returned to visit the College over Winter term.
The $10.8 million renovation of Hitchcock residence hall was completed during Winter term, prompting the start of construction on New Hampshire residence hall.
In the spring, Student Assembly elections were held a month earlier than in past years in an attempt to increase Assembly accomplishments over the term. Molly Bode '09 was elected Student Body President, running a campaign to increase alternative social spaces on campus.
Junior Year 2008-2009
The search for the next College president began in July 2008 when members of the presidential search committee began soliciting input from members of the Dartmouth community. In October, the committee publicized a leadership statement that listed the main qualities required in a president.
The leadership statement called for candidates who have a comprehensive vision for the College that would strengthen the reputation of the College and its professional schools, noting the important role that the Medical School and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center would play in the president's agenda.
In March 2009, Jim Yong Kim was announced as Wright's successor. As the next College President, Kim would be the first Asian-American and the first Korean president in the Ivy League.
College administrators announced in February that $35 million would be cut from the 2010 fiscal year budget as a result of the financial crisis that began in October 2008.
Although the budget cuts did not affect Dartmouth's financial aid policy, the College laid off approximately 60 staff members, including Dean of First-Year Students Gail Zimmerman, six employees from the First-Year and Upperclass Deans' Offices, three from the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid and several Dartmouth Dining Services employees. The College also instituted a hiring freeze.
The Board elected five new charter trustees in September, signaling the end of a "freeze" initiated in June due to disagreements with the Association of Alumni.
Although the Association had dropped its suit against the College in June 2008, several alumni brought another suit against the College in November, reiterating that they felt that the 1891 contract to preserve parity between alumni and board-selected trustees was legally binding.
Zywicki who had been reprimanded by the Board in 2007 for his speech criticizing Freeman was not reelected to the Board in April, breaking the precedent of reelecting incumbent trustees for a previously standard second term.
Of the 2,400 Dartmouth students registered to vote, 2,219 voted in the November presidential election, the highest student voter turnout in Dartmouth history, according to then-president of Vote Clamantis Jessica Guthrie '10.
Students marched from the Green through Baker-Berry Library to Webster Avenue in celebration of Obama's victory, prompting Wright to deliver an impromptu address to the crowd.
Josie Harper the first female Athletic Director at an Ivy League institution announced her resignation in June after serving as the College's Athletic Director for 27 years.
Senior assistant to President Wright Dan Nelson began serving as director of the Outdoor Programs Office Summer term 2009, replacing Andy Harvard, who left the position in July 2008 amidst rumors that he had been asked to resign.
A committee for the College's Social Event Management Procedures, which delineates College alcohol policy, recommended changes to the policy in October 2008 in a proposed new policy, the Alcohol Management Procedure.
Campus-wide reactions to the punishments of five Greek houses put on probation prompted an Assembly review of the Organization Adjudication Committee in the spring, a review process that ultimately brought about change in the system the following year.
Students studying on the College's Language Study Abroad program in Cholula, Mexico, were evacuated and brought back to Hanover in response to concerns over the spread of the H1N1 "swine flu" virus. Seven students were suspected to be infected by H1N1 that year, but all tested negative for the virus.
In light of nation-wide discussion about the implications of a lower national drinking age, Wright became the only Ivy League president signatory of the Amethyst Initiative petition to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 years of age.
In the Spring term, Kappa Delta national sorority was invited to become the eighth Panhellenic sorority on campus.
Cody Lavender '10 died in a fall from a fourth-floor balcony while on the religion Foreign Study Program in Edinburgh, Scotland during Fall term. Lavender, who participated in the Gay-Straight Alliance and the undergraduate journal Aporia, was mourned in a memorial service in January.
Titcomb Cabin, a property of the Ledyard Canoe Club, burned to the ground in a fire in May. The fire was deemed "suspicious" by Hanover Police because Gilman Island, where the cabin is located, does not have electricity and the fire occurred prior to rental season. The incident is still under investigation by Hanover Police.
Mohammad Usman, a former member of the Class of 2010, pled guilty in April to the fraudulent claim of $18,615 in College financial aid and grant money supplied by the Tucker Foundation.
The year 2009 marked the 100th anniversary of the Dartmouth Outing Club, which was celebrated by various outdoor activities held throughout the year.
