I thought I had a pretty good idea of what the college was like when I applied. I thought had an even better idea of what the College was like after I received all the admissions mail. Finally after my first week at Dartmouth, I was positive I understood what made Dartmouth.
The politics at Dartmouth are polarized. The two voices on the Dartmouth campus are so eager to pull the campus apart, that they sometimes succeed. Their success then leads to an environment in which nothing can be accomplished. Both sides use stereotypes to prove their point.
Whereas all of these myths hold some water, I do not believe that they are 100 percent true.
First, Dartmouth is not a safe zone for ex-Nazi officials from Germany. It is not the most backwards, conservative, racist place on the planet. Often had I been looked down upon by people at my high school when I told them I was going to attend Dartmouth this fall.
"Oh, that's the all conservative school, isn't it?" No, it's not. Dartmouth does have a vocal conservative population, as evidences by The Dartmouth Review and the Beacon. However, it also has an equally vocal liberal population.
Obviously this population is growing as is evidenced by the paranoia that surrounds The Review. The liberal voice definitely deserves a place at Dartmouth, just as its counterpart does, although each of these groups would deny it.
Dartmouth is also not a haven of hate. The College population does not try to expound a message that screams racial epithets. It does not foster an environment that is intimidating to minorities any more than the real world.
Despite what The Review collectors would like you to think, the publication does not provide a black cloud that rains on Dartmouth each time The Review is released. Even if what the collectors claim is true, "they've got a right to say it wrong if freedom's to survive," as the liberal sixty's rock group Steppenwolf sung.
Dartmouth is also not the only school in the nation where beer exists. In the past it may have been, and in the future it still might be, but the social life at Dartmouth does not revolve around hops and barley.
Students at Dartmouth may consume more alcohol than the national average, but that does not mean that there is nothing else to do here but drink.
Prospectives should not be discouraged if they do not feel that they fit this Dartmouth mold. They should be advised that there is another side to Dartmouth than the stereotypes. But they should know that there is a Dartmouth mold.
The Dartmouth mold has nothing to do with conservatives or liberals; it has nothing to do with staying dry or drinking every weekend. But, it does however exist. When we all leave Dartmouth, we will be similar in many respects but the Dartmouth mold has nothing to do with these things.
The idea of a Dartmouth student transcends all petty matters. It, instead, is a matter of philosophy. It says that a Dartmouth student knows how to work hard, whether he spends his days in the library or on the Appalachian trail. It says that a Dartmouth student knows how to play hard, whether he is with his fraternity brothers or paddling on the Connecticut river.
But most of all, it says that a Dartmouth student is self-reliant. He takes responsibility for, and pride in, his speech and actions. Yes, the Dartmouth mold is malleable to fit all those minor details about personality.
What all of us will have in common when we leave Hanover is that we will be independent and free.
