The College is making a mistake by allowing retired English Professor Jeffrey Hart to give a speech entitled "How to get a Decent College Education, Even Today" to the Class of 1997 during Freshman Week.
Last spring, Hart embarrassed the College by openly flouting Dartmouth's academic honor principle when he acknowledged cheating in his English 68 course and refused to do anything about it.
While Hart's 30 years teaching experience qualifies him to discuss a liberal arts education in a general sense, his disregard for the honor code is inconsistent with Dartmouth's educational policies.
The honor code is a pillar which upholds the basic educational mission of the College. Professors who shun their responsibilities and refuse to take action against alleged cheaters undermine everything a Dartmouth education represents.
The College's policy is designed to ensure that students learn in an environment of honesty and integrity. While Hart has openly disagreed with Dartmouth's honor code, he is still obligated to uphold it.
Without discussing the merits of Hart's program, his recent actions make him less than the ideal role model at Dartmouth.
Think before you Blitz
The transmission of a false rape rumor across the College's electronic mail system two weeks ago highlights the dangers associated with a such a pervasive computer network.
Thanks to electronic mailing lists, within a matter of minutes the majority of the campus received misinformation about a very serious topic.
In a similar incident, a BlitzMail message sent at the end of Spring term misinformed students that a lead pipe had fallen into a local reservoir and students panicked that campus water was unsafe to drink.
Both situations could have been avoided if the senders had bothered to call either the police or Safety and Security to check out the rumor before alerting the entire campus. Senders of mass Blitzes have an obligation to the community to verify a rumor before spreading it.
BlitzMail is one of the College's greatest assets but it is a powerful tool that requires us all to exercise some responsibility before pressing the "send" button.
