What is 'Tens of Millions' Good For?

by Alexander Wilson

"Imagine the possibilities," says President James Wright. "Imagine the possibilities," says Trustee Kate Stith-Cabranes. "Imagine the possibilities," says Trustee William King.

Dartmouth students are being asked to imagine a new campus, with fundamentally different social and residential options. They are being asked to imagine a campus with new and better facilities and more money for student programming. And they are being asked to imagine a campus without a powerful Greek system.

Their imaginations are to be funded by “tens of millions of dollars” that the Trustees say they will devote to making our dreams come true. Not surprisingly, students are opposed despite their generosity.

While Dartmouth students rally over the freedom of association, the dictatorial nature of the Trustees pronouncements, and the non-social benefits of the Greek system, an important question has yet to be answered: what difference could tens of millions of dollars of Trustee money make on Dartmouth's social life?

Well, I've thought about it.

The answer seems obvious at first. Huge changes could be made, great opportunities for a better Dartmouth. That's the kind of thing I've been hearing from enraptured students and Trustee statements. The only problem is that none of it is true.

The sad fact is that the money the Trustees keep talking about, "whatever it takes to fulfill our goals," etc., can't come close to replacing the Greek system. Whatever funding gets pumped into our community, our community is still Hanover. Hanover isn't a very exciting place. The high school kids hang out at Foodstop. Thirty-somethings go to the Hop to see the Barbary Coast Jazz Orchestra.

The unique ability of Dartmouth to maintain a roaring social life in this remote setting is due to the existence of Greek houses. Amherst and Williams were once highly social places, but once they banned Greeks, the quality of the social life dropped precipitously. Dartmouth is even more remote, and has had the benefit of an even stronger Greek system.

The Trustees say they'll give us “tens of millions” of dollars” to re-invent Dartmouth's social life. Well, what could "tens of millions" buy?

They could build a new student center and pump money into programming. More campus groups could have events, more people could come to those events, and perhaps the events would be of a higher quality. But how many times each week will students show up to see a cappella groups? How many cultural nights per week is too many?

The reality is that while adding these things might provide more social options, and might benefit all segments on the campus, they're strictly marginal gains. They don't deserve comparison with the benefits provided by the Greek system.

For example: Collis. Collis is a convenient resource for students, but it is severely underutilized. Its four billiards tables are in demand only a few hours a day. I cannot remember the last time I saw the video arcade more than half-full. Dance classes, cultural events, Sheba, the Aires, and everything else that goes on in the Common Ground draw about a quarter as many people as a big fraternity party. The much-touted replacement for Webster Hall is simply a bigger, better Collis, and will mainly

be utilized by the same people for the same purposes.

This is not to say that a new student center has no worth. It would be immensely valuable to Dartmouth students, especially those who do not patronize Greek parties. But its value is as a supplement to the Greek system, not as a replacement. Yet this is the leading idea to improve student life.

So what could "tens of millions" really buy?

Dartmouth could build a large concert hall, with sufficient seating for the whole Dartmouth community. But the bands that played there would still be more like Steve Miller than the Rolling Stones. It could build a great theater, but student plays are student plays regardless of the stage they're performed on.

They could build an entertainment complex. But ping pong, bowling, and batting cages are not activities that are entertaining if they are done all the time. Without the Greek system these would be the main recreational options, not the occasional pastimes for which they are best suited.

They could build a nightclub, or a sports bar, or several of both. At best these could serve only a small percentage of the students who currently attend Greek parties. Moreover, the students attending sports bars or nightclubs would be far less diverse than those who interact every weekend at Greek houses. Sports fans would go to sports bars; people who like to dance would go to nightclubs. And only the quarter of Dartmouth students over 21 would go to either.

Could "tens of millions" really buy something better than the Greek system?

The new co-educational residential experience is even less useful as a replacement of the Greek system. New dorms, no matter what social space they include, will never be cohesive enough to provide a social gathering place. The parties and other events that take place on this campus come exclusively from selective groups, such as DAO and NAD.

Students of similar interests or affiliations can gather together to plan events. Random strangers, and even random groups of friends, put under a single roof have never proved capable of the type of organization practiced routinely by Greek houses. Poetry readings and music recitals are the types of events residential communities can provide, just as they do now in the East Wheelock SuperCluster.

Let us also be realistic about the improvements of residential life made possible by the increase in the number of beds and the construction of new dorms. Rooms may be less crowded, they may be slightly more pleasant, but they will still be dorm rooms — essentially the same as those currently available at Dartmouth and at colleges across the country. There will be no five room doubles, or luxurious bathrooms with Jacuzzis included, just a few less people in a little more space.

At the same time, off-campus living will be "significantly reduced." The hard fact is that off-campus apartments are more attractive, if less convenient, than the dorms. My apartment, which I share with a single roommate, has two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a fully equipped kitchen, all for the same per person cost as rooming charges at the College. Plus I get cable: 61 glorious channels. Not to mention my own parking space. I will never get as good a deal in a dorm, no matter how much the Trustees spend on residential life.

And lest we forget, the River and the Choates are two of the most recent examples of new residential construction. I think I can safely say that this speaks for itself.

It is especially important to remember just what this amount of money means. "Tens of millions" sounds like a huge sum, but recall that Berry Library is costing the College $30 million all by itself. Great things can be done with the resources being made available, but they are still profoundly limited things, especially with resources split among the many different goals of the trustees.

What can "tens of millions" buy? Not enough.

The Trustees can spend $100 million on student life if they choose, but one thing will always remain the same. Dartmouth College will always be located in Hanover, New Hampshire. Nothing can alter the fact that Dartmouth students will live in a sleepy, backwater town. Social life here is limited by the very nature of its location. This isn't Boston and it certainly isn't New York. For that matter, it's not even Manchester.

Nothing the Trustees can do will provide a vast array of vibrant social options for students. Nor do students attending this institution expect them. When they choose to come here they do so knowing that their social life will be the Greek system and a few lesser options. Those who don't like the Greek option want more choices, and that is both understandable and desirable.

But any additional options will inevitably be lesser ones. If the Greek system is abolished, we will be left with minor options masquerading as a campus-wide social life rather than a new type of social life that the majority of students will enjoy.

Only the Greek system can provide what it does in so rural an area as Hanover. Fraternities and local sororities have proved willing to set aside their homes for the use of the campus as a whole; to provide them as places where all students who so choose can interact socially; to allow their homes to be trashed on a weekly basis; to clean up after hundreds of guests; and to do it all for free. It is frankly remarkable that students do this, and have done this, for over 100 years.

Short of paying non-Greek students to do what the Greeks do now, the Trustees and their money can never replace such an essential institution.

This is not to say that the Trustees' money is worthless. It can make great things happen for students, especially those who do not enjoy the options provided by the Greek system. But a Dartmouth without the Greeks is a Dartmouth that is irretrievably lessened. Perhaps Harvard and Yale, located as they are in cities, can afford to abolish their Greek systems without losing social options. But Dartmouth isn't Harvard and Hanover isn't Boston, no matter how much money the Trustees spend.