DREAM Extends Program to Choates, Eyes Move to River

The well-known community organization DREAM has announced an extension of its mentoring program to the dorms of the Choates cluster, and future plans to incorporate those of the River. DREAM at Dartmouth currently runs mentoring programs at Northwoods, Hollow Drive, and Windsor, all of which are local subsidized housing developments.

In its mission statement, DREAM states its goal of providing an opportunity for the children to “see new perspectives” and “take advantage of community resources.”

Although the inclusion of Dartmouth freshmen into the program will undoubtedly make for the oldest “mentees” in DREAM’s history, DREAM president Allie Gordon ’11 professed her optimism in positively affecting those students of the Choates.

“DREAM is about helping those who have been put in unfortunate and inopportune situations, and I think we will be able to do just that for those in the Choates” said Gordon.

When asked what prompted the decision, Gordon replied, “I ended up walking through the Choates on my way to Hillel, and was so deeply struck by the dreariness of it all. The decrepit, monotonous buildings, coupled with a rundown volleyball court just cried out to me. We live on such an idyllic campus but just around the corner is true dilapidation. I was deeply moved.”

Gordon continued to explain that she “felt for those in the Choates,” having been in Butterfield herself. And that she thinks they “deserve just as much as the McLaughlin kids, despite their adverse circumstances.”

The tentative plans include pairing up students in each building of the Choates with one in McLaughlin. For example, Brown might be matched up with Berry, or Little with Byrne. Every Friday afternoon, the kids from the Choates will visit McLaughlin, spend a couple of hours relaxing in their mentor’s room and lounge, and participate in planned events, such as the highly anticipated elevator tag.

Fred Clark ’14, a resident of Bissell hall, remarked that he was “excited for DREAM, because finally, I’ll get a break from this cinderblock hellhole. Plus, those cute girls I always see in the Theta Delt basement must be from McLaughlin, so now they’ll have no choice but to talk to me. I mean, to be honest, Choates girls are just miserable.”

News of DREAM’s inclusion of Judge and French in the River cluster is expected soon, with one anonymous French resident heard saying, “I’m gonna walk all the way to McLaughlin? Ha, fuck that.”

- Bobby Hoover ‘14