Dartbeat Profiles: Emily Chan ’16 and #DartmouthIAmHere
Although some of us might not notice it on a day-to-day basis — consumed with things like midterms, relationships and Yik Yak — money and class likely affect every thing we do on campus, from who we interact with, how we dress and even sometimes which classes we take.
Yet, for all its influence, socioeconomic diversity remains a little-discussed topic around campus.
Emily Chan ’16 is the co-director of Quest Scholars, a student group that pairs Dartmouth students with students from QuestBridge — a program that aims to bring high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds to elite colleges. She began to notice the pertinent influence of socioeconomic diversity on her LSA last winter.
As is the case with many students who travel abroad, Chan was accompanied by students with whom she’d never interacted. In observing them, she saw the enormous influence money and class had on the way people lived during their foreign study programs.
“It was really interesting because you saw the differences in your LSA experience based on how much money people had,” Chan said.
Before this, Chan said, she had been rather unaware of class differences at the College. She said she sometimes felt inauthentic promoting socioeconomic awareness through Quest Scholars when she struggled to see the issue herself.
“I kind of felt a little fake, promoting something I didn’t understand,” Chan said. “And it was mostly because I never had the personal experience with it.”
Once Chan returned from campus after her LSA, though, she couldn’t help but notice.
“When I came back to campus, it’s like something you can’t unsee or unlearn,” Chan said.
When Hui Cheng ’16 approached Quest Scholars with an idea based on initiatives such as Princeton Class Confessions, Chan jumped at the chance. The two — along with Ramtin Rahmani ’16 and Ilenna Jones ’15 — spearheaded the campaign in an attempt to increase discussion of socioeconomic diversity on campus.
The idea manifested itself into two parts. The first, a Facebook page called Dartmouth Class Confessions where people can submit anonymous personal experiences with money and class at Dartmouth. Second, a campaign called #DartmouthIAmHere that allows people to publicly share their stories with photos.
The goal, Chan says, is to “create a network and a community for people of different socioeconomic backgrounds, kind of like in an alliance.”
She said it’s fascinating to discover how people’s experiences here differ based on their socioeconomic background. Some students, for example, spend a considerable amount of time working and prioritize their jobs over classes, whereas others might choose less intensive classes because they know they have a professional safety net when they graduate.
Ultimately, Chan says, she hopes the campaign increases awareness and dialogue about socioeconomic differences, with tangible results.