HANOVER — Two of the letters signifying that it was the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity are gone from the College Street building, and the 16-room home is no longer officially recognized as a residence for students attending Dartmouth College.

But cars are regularly parked outside, students go in and out throughout the day, and a dog barked from inside when a reporter knocked on the front door on Tuesday.

The dog looked to be a light-colored retriever named Teddy, who has his own Instagram account. A post from March 25 shows Teddy in front of the brick building, which is owned by the Association of New Hampshire Alpha of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and assessed at more than $2.5 million.

“Everyone’s telling me I ‘got so big.’ But am I still cute?” the caption for Teddy’s Instagram post reads.

The barking dog and other activity illustrate what appears to be an open secret on Dartmouth’s campus — whether the college likes it or not, town officials say several students still live there, even though the SAE lost its residential zoning status in 2016 in a case that went to the New Hampshire Supreme Court and has now been remanded to the Zoning Board again.

Dartmouth de-recognized the fraternity after it was accused of alcohol-related hazing in 2015, and even though SAE still hosts parties and other functions in the building, Dartmouth policy mandates that students cannot live there, triggering the change in its residential zoning status. Built in the late 1920s, it has housed students since 1931, according to the court ruling.

“Dartmouth students enrolled in classes or on a leave term may not live in a Greek letter, undergraduate, or senior society facility that is not recognized by the College,” according to Dartmouth’s Greek Life recruitment page.

SAE appealed the Zoning Board of Adjustment’s 2016 ruling, and the state Supreme Court affirmed most of the ZBA ruling that SAE could no longer use its College Street property as a residence.

The ruling hinged, in part, on the fact that SAE was in a zone that required it to be operating “in conjunction with an institutional use.” Lawyers for the fraternity argued that SAE itself, and not just Dartmouth, should be regarded as an institution, and the Supreme Court said that question needed to be heard again by the Zoning Board.

Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin said the town is aware students continue to live there but feels it can’t take action on its own.

“We do know that students are living there, but those students and the adults who oversee the property continue to deny that they do. Lights on all night, cars (presumably owned by tenants) parked there, people coming and going constantly, frat dogs in residence, bedroom set-ups observed during fire inspections, off-hand comments made by students residing in the building,” Griffin said in an email last week. “Unfortunately, while this issue continues to work its way through the courts, the Town cannot take enforcement action.”

Emails and messages seeking comment that were sent to several SAE members and Dartmouth’s Interfraternity Council president earlier this week were not returned.

Two men who walked into the SAE building on Tuesday and emerged later, dressed in athletic clothes, said they didn’t live in the building and said they didn’t want to be photographed.

Dartmouth itself sometimes sidesteps the question.

When asked to confirm whether students are still in the fraternity, Dartmouth spokesperson Diana Lawrence last week said via email, “The property is not operating in conjunction with the college.”

Asked again this week about the evidence of residential life there, Lawrence said, “The relationship between the national SAE and the college is strong and both institutions are committed to enforcing the derecognition and loss of charter by the former Dartmouth chapter. The issue of how to better enforce the sanctions that have been imposed on the local chapter and the men who choose to associate with it is currently under consideration.”

Griffin said it worries her the college has not taken steps to enforce its policy.

“If an emergency occurs, and if paramedics go in and people are living in the house, that’s now a known violation of the zoning ordinance. ... Maybe you put off calling police or fire, then,” Griffin said in a phone interview.

In her email last week, Griffin also said the college does “not believe they have the right to enter the property to determine residency or to question students who are living there to prove a violation of College policy, which begs the question of why the College has a policy they cannot or will not enforce?”

Griffin said the town and college have had conversations about the fact that students are living in a house that does not have direct supervision or oversight of the building’s safety or life safety code.

The town does issue the SAE building a place of assembly permit each year; the fire department checks the safety of the building for hosting large gatherings, but not for residential living.

Several messages left for SAE’s attorney, Carolyn Cole, were not returned.

Daniela Vidal Allee can be reached at dallee@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.

]]>