<p>Yes, this article came out last year and provoked a tidal wave of reaction defending Dartmouth and attacking the whistle-blower. But, the fact that over 100 professors validated the pernicious impact of the fraternity system is enough for DD and me to strike Dartmouth from her options. The sense of entitlement of the fraternity brothers and the impunity with which they act is distasteful, deplorable.</p>
<p>The fact that recent Dartmouth president Jim Kim had minimal impact on re-mediating the faternities also is most disappointing.</p>
<p>MWFather, it is a shame that an article with many inaccuracies and outright lies was allowed to be published. This was an opinion piece, and the DM kids are outraged by it. Plain and simple, it is false. Too bad your DD is passing on Dimensions, as she would have been able to talk to kids and understand what DM is all about. I, along with many parents and kids, know the real Dartmouth. It is a safe, friendly, inclusive environment with amazing academics and opportunities. Everyone is welcome to every party. It is truly a special place. Hazing is much much worse at other schools. Don’t believe everything you read.</p>
<p>Joining a frat is still optional isn’t it? If you got a better college to go to then okay. If you don’t, I’d think long and hard over losing an Ivy education over a newspaper article from a drunken frat boy over something that you don’t have to join.</p>
<p>Also the author of that particular piece is known for sensationalistic journalism (which, evidently, sells). She also wrote the story on the Duke Frat boys: [Sex</a> And Scandal At Duke | JANET REITMAN](<a href=“Welcome janetreitman.com - BlueHost.com”>Welcome janetreitman.com - BlueHost.com). Subtitle: “Lacrosse players, sorority and the booze-fueled culture of the never-ending hookup on the nation’s most embattled college campus.” Reitman likes to paint in broad strokes.</p>
<p>Oh lord. According to a “research study” I read last week, my son will likely return home after his four years at Bowdoin a radical beatnik liberallist singing “Rise Sons of Bowdoin” to the tune of Kumbaya.</p>
<p>As the parent of a daughter who applied, attended and graduated from Dartmouth, this is really sad because there are so many wonderful things about Dartmouth that you and your daughter should visit, sit in classes, talk to students and see for yourself as to whether it is a good fit for her.</p>
<p>D is having the experience of a lifetime. Socially, she could not be happier. And academically, she is challenged and absolutely LOVES her classes and professors. The D plan allowed her to get great internships. For the undergraduate experience, there is no better place. Sure, it is not for everyone. But to rule it out due to an untrue article is absurd. I personally know the past president of the frat in that article (and I am friends with his mom). He is the kind of boy you would like your D to marry…smart, sensible, nice, a true gentleman. We all want the best for our kids, and Dartmouth is an outstanding place to spend your college years.</p>
<p>Like Sybbie, I hate to see you pass on a great school based on that wretched article that was riddled with lies and distortions.</p>
<p>However, speaking as a Dartmouth parent (daughter is graduating this June), in my opinion the Greek influence is more pervasive and negative than the defenders who are trying to minimize it care to admit. There is an oft-quoted statistic that only ~60% of students belong to a Greek org. But based on my daughter’s experience, once you get past the freshman year and you can join, the real number is closer to 80%, maybe even higher. She doesn’t belong to sorority herself, but she says she’s a rarity in that respect.</p>
<p>So overall, I think the school social scene is far better than its detractors assert, but also not quite as good as its defenders claim. Several presidents have tried to cut the frat influence down to size, but the donating alumni (meaning $$$) won’t have it. They love their old frats and don’t want to see anything done to reduce their influence. And the college can’t afford to build a bunch of new dorms or residential colleges (like exist at Harvard and Yale), so it is stuck being dependent on the frats to provide an important part of the available housing. </p>
<p>But having said all that, if we had it to do over, I’d send my daughter to Dartmouth again in a heartbeat. It really is a fine school and has a lot to offer.</p>
<p>A sad testiment to the situation at Dartmouth. Nothing in the RS article has ever been shown to be untrue (riddled with lies - really?) and the only student really punished was the one who came forward to expose the situation.</p>
<p>Ugh, this is the Dartmouth guy who is now complaining other’s behavior when he was making this statement about the pinnacle of his HIGH SCHOOL years? While there are guys like him on probably every campus, to judge Dartmouth by a sensational article in Rolling Stone is IMO unfair.</p>
<p>OP, you have obviously raised a bright young lady, why not let her go to Dimensions and then listen to her opinions?</p>
<p>To be fair, Harvard’s residential colleges are pretty much residential colleges in name only, according to a Harvard friend of mine. People on the inside will always be more aware of an institution’s flaws.</p>
<p>Lakeclouds: as far as I can tell, nothing in the RS article has ever been shown to be true. Proving something to be untrue is much harder – classic example: Sybbie [forgive me], have you stopped kicking your dog yet?</p>
<p>OP: I’m another protective dad whose daughter went to Dartmouth and is now a wonderful, smart, sensible, well-educated young woman – who loves her school and regrets only that the last four years passed far too quickly. I think making a decision on the basis of that article is short-sighted. If you’d care to chat, my monicker here is also a gmail address.</p>
<p>Well, I know about Harvard housing because, in addition to being a Dartmouth parent, I am also a Harvard parent. That’s how come I know that Harvard has a much better housing system and set up than does Dartmouth. Too bad Dartmouth can’t afford to create such a system. It would be just about a perfect college if it could and did. Too bad that instead the frats have such a stranglehold on the place.</p>
<p>And I’m not sure what you mean by “residential colleges in name only.” The Houses at Harvard are not separate academic colleges in the same way they are at say Oxford, but they certainly are separate residential institutions. The vast majority of Harvard undergrads, something like 98%, choose to live on campus all four years. Why? Because the residential House system is so wonderful. </p>
<p>That’s why frats have never been able to gain much of a foothold there. The few frats Harvard does have are day clubs only and not residential, because the students all love their Houses so much that anyone would be considered nuts to leave that and move into a residential frat or off-campus apartment.</p>
<p>The fact that 98 percent choose to live on campus all 4 years is hardly exceptional. “Separate residential institutions” is a term too broad to describe a House system. A House system generally entails a sense of House loyalty, inter-House competitions, etc… </p>
<p>You can create residential colleges with the intent that they function as more than a living space… But that doesn’t guarantee that they will function as more than a living space.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be nitpicky - I think that, when properly implemented, residential houses are a plus (although opponents dislike being tied to a house for all four years of UG), and that it’s a shame that Dartmouth transitioned away from a house system some time ago. I just disagree with your causal narrative; another reason why frats are less salient in Cambridge, for instance, would be that Harvard already has a frat scene at MIT.</p>
<p>As a Yale guy, I hate to defend Harvard, but Harvard’s house system is a real residential system with house loyalty, activities, etc. It’s not as good as Yale’s, of course, but it’s real.</p>