On January 29 President Philip Hanlon ’77 addressed the Dartmouth community, presenting some of the conclusions reached by the special committee assembled last spring to explore ways to reduce dangerous behavior on campus. This committee was part of the Moving Dartmouth Forward program. It consisted of students, faculty, staff and alumni working together to address some of the violent incidents occurring on campus caused by high-risk behaviors. 


As of the end of March, when spring term begins, Dartmouth will ban hard alcohol on campus, forbid pledging at fraternities and sororities and initiate a mandatory four-year sexual violence awareness program. Dartmouth will join several New England colleges that currently ban hard liquor on their campuses, including Colby, Bates, Bowdoin and Providence. Other schools, namely Brown and University of Virginia, have imposed restrictions on alcohol possession and consumption. Dartmouth is among 100 campuses facing investigation for its handling of sexual incidents. Another part of this initiative will include the overhaul of the student housing model. The intention is to create communities built around clusters of dorms, so that residents remain part of that community from sophomore year on, even if they move from those dorms, or off campus. At this point the Greek organizations will remain, but they will need to reform their policies in the coming three to five years or their existence will be reconsidered. These procedural recommendations have been developed in reaction to some of the ugly incidents that have received attention on national media and social networks, as well as complaints by students.


—Betty Munson, 23 Linscott Road N, York, ME 03909; elizmunson1944@gmail.com