HANOVER, N.H. — It is a new school year, and there is a new president, Philip J. Hanlon, who no doubt would prefer to begin his tenure as the 18th president of Dartmouth College dealing with issues more lofty than binge drinking, sexual harassment and fraternity hazing.

But a string of embarrassing episodes are defining the early days of his presidency, a problem compounded by an unusual amount of administrative turnover at the college he graduated from in 1977. The unflattering attention may not be over: The Department of Education is investigating a civil rights complaint, one of several against elite schools around the country, alleging that Dartmouth has not met its duty to prevent and respond to sexual harassment.

The turmoil is particularly unwelcome at a place whose enviable academic reputation and bucolic New England setting have long coexisted with issues revolving around drinking and fraternity life. The Princeton Review guide to colleges lists Dartmouth as one of the nation’s heaviest beer-drinking schools, based on student surveys, and games of “beer pong” and Friday night parties in the dank basements of fraternity houses are longstanding rituals.

There is drinking at all colleges and disagreement about the extent of problems at Dartmouth, but what no one disputes is that fraternities dominate the social scene here, putting them at the center of the debates. About two-thirds of undergraduates join a fraternity or sorority, nearly double the rate of any other Ivy League school. Besides fraternity and sorority houses, there are few indoor spaces where students can congregate, on or off campus, a fact the administration has long acknowledged, making a point of including such places in new buildings.