The Executive committee held a conference call with Sue Finegan, ’85 to learn more about the Moving Dartmouth Forward initiative.
In the spring, President Hanlon held a summit on extreme behaviors taking place on campus and announced a Presidential Steering Committee, including alumni Sue Finegan ’85 and John Osborne ’88, students (all ’16s), and others and charged them with studying three key extreme behaviors: high risk drinking, sexual assault, and barriers to inclusivity on campus. These issues have not only been in the news lately, across many campuses, but there is a sense that they contributed to the recent decrease in applications as negative publicity and the reality of these problems has negatively affected the campus experience. It is easier to be anonymous today while engaging in these negative behaviors, making it all the more challenging to address them. President Hanlon feels strongly that these issues must be addressed to allow Dartmouth to focus on its true mission to educate students. While Dartmouth has already done a lot to address them, a comprehensive approach is called for.
The Steering Committee has met almost daily since its creation. In its first phase it has been gathering input from students, faculty, parents and administrators. In the next phase it will be generating ideas for action and getting feedback on them. In the fall/early winter the committee will present recommendations to President Hanlon, the trustees, and senior leadership, with the goal of implementation early next year.
Sue shared the process and timeline for the Steering Committee and the Executive Committee discussed the issues with Sue and provided their feedback. We heard from classmates who have children on campus now as well as others in our group that are working with Dartmouth students in other ways, to get a perspective on how things have changed since we were there, and how they have not.
If you’re interested in learning more about the initiatives or providing your own thoughts on these issues, visit the Moving Dartmouth Forward website where you’ll find information about the goals of the initiative, the steering committee, summit, and other efforts to gather input, and a link to provide your own thoughts and ideas on these issues. Sue has also offered to speak with any classmates who want to talk to her directly.
