Dartmouth Alumni Colleagues:

A major Dartmouth project has not received the alumni attention it deserves. None who have learned about the project seem to favor it; not local alumni, not Hanover neighbors, not even the faculty who twice voted decisively against it.

The College is moving towards the largest residence hall complex in school history on the northernmost portion the former golf course, a site that is 1.5 miles from the Green. The complex will house nearly 400 undergraduates for at least the next 10 years with the potential to be used for graduate students at some point afterwards. The proposed North Campus complex will include two four story, football-field sized buildings.

We acknowledge the genuine need for additional student housing, yet we denounce this project for many reasons, including:

• Distance from central campus. The College acknowledges that it will run shuttle buses every 10 minutes, continually, from 7:00 AM to 2:00 AM, hence abandoning its commitment to a residential, walkable campus.
• Student remoteness. Distancing undergraduates from campus resources and a vibrant, livable community will negatively affect their well-being and mental health.
• Historical dismissal of other, more central sites. Sites that are much more central have been examined by the College’s planners but dismissed for seemingly minor reasons, leaving a sense that the decision-making is not student centered.
• Loss of spontaneity. Those who rely on the shuttle will be far less likely to participate in extracurricular events. (How many times a day will a student be willing to get on and off the bus?) Even those who have cars will be disadvantaged; the parking has recently been limited to only 25 vehicles.
• Safety. Far different from what one might have walking across the Green, safety lights will be needed along the length of Lyme Road, from the medical school to the North Campus.
• Environmental Impact. It is ironic that a campus that prides itself on moving toward sustainability would shift from pedestrian travel to multiple daily vehicular trips for 400 students and residential hall support staff. And, unless very carefully situated, the safety lights on Lyme Road can hardly be regarded as dark sky friendly. 

The Dartmouth: Reactions to Proposed North Campus

As noted earlier, the proposed dorm has been opposed by numerous stakeholders.

• The Dartmouth faculty has twice voted overwhelmingly against the project. Faculty opposition focuses on the negative effects the location will have on student life.
• Local conservation groups understand that the soil on the former golf course is not good for building and storm water run-off from the huge complex will create additional erosion to Girl Brook and the adjacent Pine Park conservation area, one of New Hampshire’s few remaining old-growth forests.
• Residents of the neighborhood have repeatedly pointed out that the size of the project is dramatically out of scale for the area. Traffic is already an issue in this area and the proposed entrance for the dorm from a small existing traffic rotary is not adequate.
• The Town of Hanover itself is frustrated at the project’s negative impact on town/gown relations; the College’s planners completely disregarded the Town of Hanover’s master plans which identified Lyme Road Village as a place for much-needed residential housing and, possibly, small businesses.

Our hope is that our incoming college president Sian Beilock will put this proposal on pause and consider better options for Dartmouth’s legitimate student housing needs. If you share our concerns, please take a few seconds to sign the petition. We hope to present this petition to the President—with many, many alumni signatures—during her first week in the office in mid-June.

The more that Dartmouth's next president hears from us—the more that she understands the very special educational and social impact of being part of a small, walkable Dartmouth community—the stronger will be her leadership.

P.S. After you sign, you may be asked to make a gift to "enhance spreading the word" to others who have interest in education and community. This solicitation is from change.org, not from us. Making a gift will not help us because we seek signatures only from Dartmouth alumni.

P.P.S. When you sign, please add your class year after your last name, in the last name field.