Long before President Wright’s 1999 promise to end the Greek system “as we know it,” administrators sought to shift the campus’ nocturnal capital away from the frats. Fuel and Lone Pine Tavern’s appearance in the basement of Collis was certainly part of this effort. Nevertheless, these establishments have proven viable social alternatives for few, if any, students.

Despite what some might consider a dearth of party space variety, campus social activity is not limited to basement inebriation and, even outside of Green Key, begins before 9 pm. Social interactions encompass a wide range of activities and occur in a variety of spaces, and though these seldom evoke the notoriety or adoration that the Greek scene does, they form an important component of Dartmouth’s social experience. Acting Dean of the College Dan Nelson notes that “different individuals and groups have different notions of the kinds, configurations and locations of space that would be most important and useful.” When providing space for students’ casual interactions, the College has often successfully catered to students’ daily lives and activities. These efforts, which bend to students’ wants and needs rather than trying to shape them, have been far more successful than institutional mandates on where and how to congregate.

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Dartmouth has certainly provided a number of spaces in which students continuously interact. Novack and Collis are obvious examples of successful attempts to provide an easy location to socialize in areas already experiencing high student traffic. Dean Nelson and Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman also point to the new gym as a successful extension of social space on campus. With its winning combination of fitness and facetime, it’s hard to disagree. While the anterior of the Hop was not designed to facilitate student hangouts but rather to funnel student traffic, it has still proved a decent social space. Finally, when the sun comes out, the Green reemerges as the social capital of campus. These casual social settings, some organic and some designed, have largely been either well-crafted by the College or at least left untainted by its development.

When locating these spaces, though, the College has sometimes struggled. A number of cluster lounges in basements see very little usage (although judging by the volume of fines some students have received, they see a significant amount of damage). Dean Redman likened our residential system to a house, in which shared dorms can take on the role of bedrooms and lounges serve as place for group functions or simply a living room space to host guests. This space is needed most in buildings that house a number of doubles and triples or underclassmen. In these regards, the on-floor lounges found in the new dorms are far more successful than the old basement model. According to Dean Redman, in the types of buildings that require lounges most, the model used by the McLaughlin Cluster and Fahey-McLane will be implemented—a good sign for future dorms.

However, while McLaughlin Cluster’s lounges are ideally located for hosting casual interactions, the cluster’s massive Occom Commons seems a less successful space for organized events. Modeled after Collis Common Ground, Occom retains the ability to host a large number of events and accommodate different set-ups. However, while Common Ground is consistently in high demand and hosts the largest student organized events on campus, Occom Commons’ commensurate potential has not been realized. Dean Redman attributes this dearth of activity to the lounge’s novelty and most students not yet knowing it even exists: he notes that “McLaughlin, by its very location, is a little bit more off the beaten path,” with most students having yet to even see the room. Still, he asserts that the Commons’ location is not important in determining its success as an event venue. Rather, once it becomes better known, high demand from student organizations will fill the Commons with events. But even if this is true, the new lounge still lacks the potential of Common Ground. Many events count on student traffic through Collis to build a crowd. While unfortunate, attendance at some events depends more on the weather than the quality of the event. Such functions will never succeed in a dorm building far removed from the center of campus. Highly publicized events for which students are willing to buy tickets and travel across campus may find Occom Commons a suitable venue, but its remote location hinders its potential.

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The College has also endeavored to “diversify” social life: generally code for weakening the frats’ grip on nighttime debauchery. Dean Nelson notes that “there are those who would like to see more traditional ‘party space’ not directly controlled by the College but rather by student organizations.” Meanwhile, Dean Redman asserts, “My sense is, when students complain about their social life, it’s about the part with the booze.” In changing this dynamic, the College’s top-down efforts have been ineffective.

Location has plagued some of the College’s efforts in drawing partygoers away from Webster Ave. or the lone-riding frats west of Collis and east of the Fayers. Fuel and Lone Pine are tucked away in the Collis basement, securely out of sight and mind of students. Dean Redman believes Fuel would do better in a different space: it could attract a better crowd if it were closer to student traffic and therefore more noticeable. Meanwhile, Dean Redman admits that the space itself is not the right size, its ceilings are too low, and, frankly, “it’s not a nice place to be.” It is possible that, given a more appropriate space and location, a student-driven dance hall could fend better than Fuel.

However, efforts to change the campus’s social habits have run into the larger problem of widespread student apathy. While Dean Redman believes Fuel could benefit relocation, he does not believe Lone Pine necessarily would. The basement atmosphere doesn’t help, but neither does a three-beer limit nor the fact that it only serves alcohol to the small portion of campus that is over 21 (of course, neither do Greek houses…). The alcohol served at Lone Pine does not seem a big draw, as on certain days Lone Pine serves no alcohol at all. Additionally, even those students who are of age and willing to pay for drinks would generally rather go to a bar in town. In the end, Lone Pine cannot break even, due to low student demand for both its alcohol and food services. Dean Redman notes that this lack of student desire for such an institution has undercut Lone Pine’s purpose: “Personally, and professionally, I honestly don’t believe there is a true need for Lone Pine on this campus. … Just from a business perspective, if it were up to me, I’d close it.”

Similarly, lagging student desire to institute broad changes has stagnated efforts to create new social options. Certain students would prefer more parties in dorms or other alternative venues. However, according to Dean Redman, the efforts consistently stall at the question of who’s paying and who’s hosting. When considering hosting a party, most students realize “it’s not as easy as just going to [a frat that is] having a kegger.” While he would consider paying for free beer at a sponsored event, Dean Redman would not have the College host a party because he realizes that “we’ll pick the wrong band, we’ll pick the wrong beer, and, because we’re doing it, no one will show up.” These forces resist shifting the drinking scene away from Greek societies, ultimately causing even inclusive, coed societies like Panarchy or the Tabard to look a lot like Greeks in a different location.

Dean Redman believes that drinking “needs to happen where students would like it to happen.” He personally does not like language that calls for an “alternative” or implies competition with the Greek system—College-sponsore social activities should benefit all students, many of whom are Greek. While Dean Redman would prefer a more diversified drinking landscape, he does “pat the Greeks on the back” for maintaining self-sustaining organizations that charge themselves dues, often own their own houses, and provide a social setting for themselves and other students. Nevertheless, he acknowledges that this view is probably different from that of most other College administrators. However, their efforts will stall as long as they are institutional and not backed by the student body. Rather than mandating drastic changes to the students’ social life, working with frats as the powers that be to improve the system seems a far more practical approach. The College’s contrived endeavors to shift drinking away from frats will always alienate rather than incorporate students.

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These lessons must be taken to heart as the College continues massive development around campus. With the construction of the McLaughlin Cluster, many seriously considered moving the center of campus north. The antiquated Thayer dining facilities would be demolished, with a large dining hall to be built on the parking lot currently servicing the medical facilities. Extensive dorms would be built alongside the McLaughlin Cluster. The area currently inhabited by the old math buildings would be used either as a new “mini-Green” or as additional campus facilities.

According to Dean Redman, this plan has died. There will be a new dining hall in the north, and potentially a new science building. But the dining hall will be smaller, closer to the size of Home Plate rather than Thayer as a whole. Thayer is still slated for demolition, but only to be replaced by a comparably sized dining hall on the same plot, with a temporary “bubble-like” facility serving the two-year interim. While planning for the new major dining hall is still young, the complex will almost certainly have a 4,500 square foot commons – a slightly larger version of Common Ground. Finally, Dean Redman notes that new dorms are likely to be more weighted toward suite and apartment styles, continuing an ongoing trend.

These plans are good news for students: an administrative effort to shift the campus north seems unlikely to work, as most top-down efforts to reform student social life have been. The College is good at creating social spaces that complement students’ activities, but not overhauling what students do and where. The new dining halls are suited to serve students where they already live and interact, while a centrally-located commons in addition to Common Ground is more likely to succeed than Occom Commons. Meanwhile, new suites and apartments answer a clear demand, as these rooms consistently come off the board first at room draw.

But responding to students’ desires may not ultimately determine the College’s reasoning for keeping the center of campus south. Recent protests by the Occom Pond Neighborhood Association forced the College to gain zoning approvals for major development in the north. Shifting the center of campus north would not only create a strong traffic gradient around Occom Pond, but would also deter visitors from entering Hanover’s so-called business district. With the town’s hand in this decision-making process, it seems unlikely that Dartmouth could shift north. Despite the pretty picture of an administration responsive to students, pragmatics seem to be the ultimate reason for not rebuilding a new campus center from the ground up.