<p>I'm a parent of a recent Dartmouth grad ('11) who was a fraternity brother. I'm also a proud Texas Aggie ('79) who was a sorority gal and a friend to some in the Corps of Cadets. (The nation's largest ROTC program outside the service academies). I now live in Olympia, WA, home of the uber liberal and alternative Evergreen State College. </p>
<p>From this cross country perspective, I know that it is typical for there to be an ugly side of college life that is served up on a reporter's platter for consumption by horrified prospective parents. </p>
<p>This spring it is Dartmouth's turn with a host of articles and counter articles about fraternity hazing (See the Dartmouth section on the Ivy League Forum on this site for numerous links). </p>
<p>I have no doubt that there are things that should be throughly addressed and changed at Dartmouth. And at Texas A&M. And at Evergreen State College. </p>
<p>I do not believe that every fraternity brother is a psychopath or that every ROTC cadet is a sadist or that every "Greener" is a toking stoner. Alas, I also have to say that not every sorority girl is rich and slim with a perfect complexion and fabulous wardrobe (Reese Witherspoon captured the stereotype so fabulously in "Legally Blonde"). </p>
<p>It bothers me that the ax job is coming out for Dartmouth just as students are receiving acceptance letters across the countries. </p>
<p>I will ask parents to know that freshmen do not pledge at Dartmouth. They attend for a full year and have the option to rush in the fall of the sophomore year. There is ample time to know the campus and learn the dynamics of college life and of fraternity row before beginning the process of considering a fraternity. </p>
<p>I will also heartedly endorse the Dartmouth Outing Club trips which are universally adored by the wide spectrum of students who participate. Learning the school song and meeting fellow freshmen isn't "brainwashing." It is strong way to start at any college, anywhere. Dartmouth happens to do "Fish Week" very well. </p>
<p>Parents, if you have a graduating senior, please delight in their successes and accomplishments. Go for walks and enjoy the spring sunshine as you ponder the right college choice. But don't see monsters behind every bush. Go visit the campuses and ask lots of questions -- talk about the down sides of each college too. And please, please talk about fair reporting.</p>
<p>My mom didn’t even know about the Dartmouth thing until I told her about it this morning. She just shrugged and said she doesn’t believe everything she reads. As for me and the other people on the D class of 2016 Facebook Group, it seems that it hasn’t stopped us from choosing the Big Green for next year. :)</p>
<p>Though I will admit a few people did say their parents were worried. But then people responded with suggestions of what to tell the skeptical parents. Overall, I don’t think it’s going to convince that many people not to matriculate.</p>
<p>I am a journalist who has worked in numerous media and know better than some that one shouldn’t believe as gospel everything one reads or watches. However, I believe there is a grain of truth in the articles that talk about the under belly of the Greek system.</p>
<p>What concerns me are the sexual assault statistics on college campuses. You can bet H & I will look farther than if the campus has a “blue light” system in place.</p>
<p>Dartmouth parent here. There are quite a few reasons to question the credibility of the fraternity brother making the hazing claims–simply do a google search. Furthermore, you all should know that the charges have been dropped against all but 3 of the individuals. If there’s a problem, it is no worse at Dartmouth than anywhere else.</p>
<p>I don’t doubt for a moment that Dartmouth circled the wagons around this fraternity as fast as possible. Dartmouth’s powerful alums of this particular frat would never for a moment want to be seen as being a part of these traditions. </p>
<p>Does the whistle blower have an ax to grind? Absolutely. Is everything he stated the absolute truth? Doubtful. Is there some truth to his claims? Most likely.</p>
<p>What concerns me is that colleges like Dartmouth will continue to ignore and/or cover up claims such as these until forced to by either by a truly horrible outcome, the local authorities or declining enrollment. Highly selective colleges – the Ivies in particular – thrive on reputation. Those high tuitions aren’t going to be as sustainable when ugly details of campus life are revealed.</p>
<p>Campuses are basically cities. And as we know, not all of our neighbors are upstanding citizens.</p>
<p>“If there’s a problem, it is no worse at Dartmouth than anywhere else.”</p>
<p>It might be worse, or it might be better. But the canard that it is “the same” doesn’t hold water. Schools, often with very similar admit pools, have very distinct cultures and subcultures, and will be very, very different on the ground. </p>
<p>Don;t kid yourself: the situation at Dartmouth IS worse than a lot of other places. And better than some as well.</p>
<p>As a non-Dartmouth person, I found, with a bit of in-depth reading, that the accusations were definitely exaggerated by the disgruntled fraternity brother. Apparently there were one or two frat members of just one class who possibly took activites to an extreme for one rush, or pledge, cycle. </p>
<p>I don’t think the great reputation of Dartmouth will be scarred indefinitely. Parents and students need to realize the frats are separate entities from the college. There are plenty of shady happenings at Harvard Final Clubs, Yale secret societies, and Cornell frats. Unfortunately, anytime you have an independent unit of 18-22 year old boys dictating social norms of a house or organization, activites can fall to some shockingly low standards of health, hygiene, and moral tenets.</p>
<p>I think the problem may be worse at Dartmouth because of the heavily prevalent frat culture there. According to my Dartmouth D, 80% of her class is in a frat or sorority. I was surprised at her numbers. That is way too much for any campus because if you don’t want to be part of a that culture, there really isn’t any escape (other than going off to the World Bank).</p>
<p>On the other hand, she LOVES the Outing Club.</p>
<p>Link to another thread in the Parent Forum related to Dartmouth fraternities. There are additional claims of abusive hazing in this thread - more than the previous posters are acknowledging. My understanding is that the whole fraternity is being investigated, and not individual members. </p>
<p>I also didn’t get the sense that the whistle blower was OBVIOUSLY lying or exaggerating, as other people are claiming.</p>
<p>Funny stuff, ellemenope :because if you don’t want to be part of a that culture, there really isn’t any escape (other than going off to the World Bank).</p>
<p>Parent1986: I don’t doubt the whistle blower, and apparently, neither did the editors of Rolling Stone. But at this point, there is no hard proof. It’d be nice if someone else would come forward.</p>
<p>The whistleblower got caught using cocaine in the frat house several times and was eventually turned in by a brother. This caused his vendetta toward SAE. Also, while drunk, he threw a table at a campus security officer. He is now essentially unemployable, so this is a last ditch effort to claim victimhood and gain sympathy.</p>
<p>" I have no doubt that there are things that should be throughly addressed and changed at Dartmouth. And at Texas A&M. And at Evergreen State College. "</p>
<p>But yet you/DS chose Dartmouth…this kind of story just confirms my sense of “go with your gut” and makes me feel bad for those who try to stick a round peg in a square hole…</p>
<p>I’m an alumna. You ought not to doubt this young man. The Rolling Stone piece is right on the money, with the glaring exception of the DOC freshman trips being referred to as a sort of hazing experience. Too bad the journalist was so misguided on this point.</p>
<p>The rest? True material.</p>
<p>My boyfriend was an SAE member, so I heard all the stories. Incidentally, SAE is on the milder side of fraternity behavior, at least at Dartmouth. When I was a student, SAE had the highest average GPA of all the fraternities. We might do well to pay attention to the distress of Andrew Lohse.</p>
<p>James Wright, President emeritus, tried to fix this problem by making the fraternities go co-ed back in the 90’s. But powerful alumni excoriated him for making the effort. I thought the attempt was nothing less than heroic and I increased my donations to the College while he was working on this Student Life Initiative. To no avail. Jim Kim, I gather, is too weak to try to alter this pernicious drinking culture.</p>
<p>It’s not only Dartmouth’s problem. Substance abuse issues have reached crisis levels on many campuses. The fact that this is widespread makes it no less of a tragedy.</p>
<p>Things that happen on Dartmouth’s campus ARE only Dartmouth’s problem. If Dartmouth’s own survey numbers are to be believed, it is predictable that at least one of six Dartmouth graduates (higher for whites, males, athletes and, yes, fraternity members) will experience serious alcohol problems/alcoholism later in life. To my way of thinking, and knowing this as well as I do, Dartmouth is failing its own students educationally. Students are receiving an inferior education, which will come back to haunt many of them later in life.</p>
<p>And, no, while there is substance abuse everywhere, it is NOT the same everywhere. In fact, it is isn’t even close.</p>
<p>mini, I’m not disagreeing with you. This is a serious problem for Dartmouth, and I think many agree that fraternities should be abolished from the campus altogether. No one has found a way to pull it off politically; that’s the current obstacle. As I said, I felt that James Wright’s attempts in the 90’s were heroic,and his effort to make the Greek system co-ed would have gone a long way toward mitigating the worst of fraternity behavior, if only the plan could have been realized. Perhaps Dartmouth’s alumni population has altered enough over these intervening years to try another Student Life Initiative? I would certainly support the Administration investigating this possibility.</p>
<p>Does binge drinking occur at Amherst, Williams, Columbia, Yale? The fact that it does is no consolation for Dartmouth. We should be undertaking strenuous efforts to make the college environment safe for our young adult children.</p>
<p>Dartmouth has much to commend it, and I received a magnificent education there. But I steered clear of the fraternities for all four of my years in Hanover. (I graduated toward the top of my class, which was not coincidental.)</p>
<p>It’s sad. Williams did away with fraternities in the 60s (HUGELY difficult, including someone shooting in the window of then-chaplain William Sloane Coffin), and the fraternities then were every bit as entrenched as they now are at Dartmouth. But they did discover that when they did so, alumni contributions went way UP, and they essentially remade the college accordingly. (Though, I would contend, many of the problems that Williams has today in their residential life are still a hangover from the physical plant they inherited from fraternity days.)</p>
<p>As for the alcohol thing, many colleges have high binge drinking rates. But it is also true that high rates of binge drinking, heavy drinking, and drug use are specifically linked to fraternity presence (among other factors).</p>
<p>When my son graduated in 2010, a SAE brother was–not coincidentally–valedictorian. That frat does have high GPA’s. Amazing how they can do that with so much alleged wild partying going on. Amazing also how such smart individuals can be unwittingly manipulated into drinking urine and vomit (or whatever supposedly happened).</p>
<p>I have the strong impression that the kiddie pool thing was the equivalent of putting a skinned grape in someone’s hand at a Halloween haunted house and telling them it is an eyeball. The mere fact that Lohse and Reitman so grossly misrepresented the DOC trips ought to give anyone pause regarding the rest.</p>
<p>Some of the other stuff is more accurate. At least according to my D student. I asked him how he knew. He said “friend of a friend.” So he has no direct experience. His house doesn’t do that kind of thing. Not all houses do. Of course, he belongs to the same house that Olymom’s S did, a house that Lohse probably would consider beneath his “A-side” social aspirations.</p>
<p>BTW, despite this, S thinks that D would be better off without fraternities. He is very analytical, and tends to take a balanced view of things.</p>