I would lose any sleep over the applications being down. Ok, so the admissions rate is not under 10%
@Consolation : If “image” and not reality is the problem, then Hanlon ought to be dealing with that directly – rather tnan tacitly accepting it by trying to destroy the Greek system and turn the College into Harvard Junior University North.
I understand the concerns about “Dartmouth College” vs. “Dartmouth University”. I get that Dartmouth’s strength is its commitment to the undergraduate experience. I get that some of the administration’s moves suggest a possible shift towards a research orientation. I get that many members of the Dartmouth community feel strongly that this would be the wrong move.
But here’s what I don’t get: how does “destroying the Greek system” make Dartmouth more like a research university? The school that, for better or worse, pioneered the complete destruction of a venerable Greek system was: Williams College. Followed by schools like Bowdoin, Middlebury, Colby, and Amherst.
Banning Greek organizations from Dartmouth and turning their houses into coed dorms may or may not be a good idea. But if it happens, it would make Dartmouth more like Williams – not more like Harvard.
Excuse my hyperbole, but making Dartmouth less Dartmouth is what I;m complaining about. Some things are more directly aimed at the college versus university issue. Others are just chipping away at the roots. They all weaken the institution, in my opinion. Regards.
I am somewhat prejudiced by my kid’s opinion. He is a fairly recent graduate, and belonged to a fraternity. He thinks D would be better off without them.
Fair enough. My Berkeley bred-&-raised daughter was the last person I would have expected to join a sorority but she quite liked the experience. Between the sorority, her rugby teammates, and her classics department soulmates, she had a range of very different close friends – and I’ve always thought having those very different options was one of Dartmouth’s strengths.
Your daughter did it right. S really didn’t establish those solid relationships with other groups. He’s an introvert. He stopped doing a couple of things that he spent a lot of time on in HS, and missed that. He lived in his house for longer than he should have, in retrospect (his). I think he regrets that aspect of his college life. But his fraternity experience did give him significant opportunities for growth in other ways.
Everyone grows up at a different pace, in different ways. He eventually discovered what he really wanted to do and pursued it avidly. he’s happy, he’s employed in his field and learning.
I think he would say that the old Greek system encourages people to live too much in silos. Some people are great at finding a balance, some are not. A house system would seem to provide kids with a home base with fewer negatives, to me. But it is difficult to impose a house system on a physical plant that was not built for it. D is not the only one challenged by that.
ETA: I think non-residential GLOs would be one answer. Reserve a portion of the existing houses for club space, and make the rest co-ed or interest housing.
“it is difficult to impose a house system on a physical plant that was not built for it.” So true. And I guess that was the genesis of my “faux” reference above. I don’t see how to do it without a massive tear down and rebuild. Choates? Even the pairs like Cohen-Bissell are not really going to hang out together. And the things [I can’t even bear to call them buildings] they have installed as meeting centers [or whatever they are supposed to be] are blights on the beauty of Hanover. I think I should shut up now.
@AboutTheSame , S says at least one of them looks like a quonset hut.
As a Marine brat, I’m going to take offense on behalf of all the Quonset huts in the world. 