A few weeks ago President Hanlon announced that in November the Board of Trustees will approve major changes to all parts where social life occurs at Dartmouth in order to address high-risk drinking, sexual assault, and a lack of inclusivity on campus. They've indicated that big changes WILL be made, that incremental change is not enough, and that 'all ideas are on the table'. President Hanlon appointed a Steering Committee composed of students, faculty, staff, and alumni to gather ideas, investigate their feasibility, and make recommendations to the Board. Click here to learn more. 

 

Improve Dartmouth, the student organization behind ImproveDartmouth.com, believes that these changes must be informed by a more transparent, inclusive, and student-led process. We are partnering with the Steering Committee to work towards that. 

 

We're trying many different approaches to engage campus, expecting that some will be more successful than others. This is especially important given the short amount of time we have before the end of the term:

• The Cube behind Collis - designed to get people talking and to showcase the diversity of opinion on campus in a visual way. 
• A new website, Improve Dartmouth: On the Ground , to gather your ideas around this initiative. Whereas ImproveDartmouth.com gathers general ideas to improve our campus, Improve Dartmouth: On the Ground is specific to the issues of high-risk drinking, sexual assault, and inclusivity. It's anonymous (moderated for profanity), transparent (you can see all the ideas posted), and doesn't have an upvote/downvote mechanism so that people feel more comfortable being totally candid.  The Presidential Steering Committee, tasked with making the final recommendations to the Board, will use this site as a primary source of ideas.
• In-person pizza discussions with as many individual students, student clubs, sports teams, dorm floors, Greek organizations, affinity houses, etc to gather your ideas in more informal settings. We've already gathered ideas from over two dozen organizations but we need to do more. 

Our efforts are not perfect - but we're working really hard so that every student has an opportunity to communicate their ideas directly to the Steering Committee. Here's how you can be a part of that: 

• Reply if you'd like to schedule a meeting next week with your club, house, floor, organization, or group of friends. We'll find a time that works and come record your ideas. 
• Voice your ideas at one of these all-campus sessions:
  • Saturday, May 24, 6:00-7:00PM - Silsby 028
  • Sunday, May 25, 11:00AM-12:00PM - Silsby 028
  • Tuesday, May 27, 10:00-11:00PM - Silsby 028
  • Wednesday, May 28, 6:00-7:00PM - Silsby 028
• ​Give us feedback
  

Best,

Esteban '14

co-founder, Improve Dartmouth