Oh my, what have they done to my school?
Is this the exclamation of some disgruntled alumnus who is still upset about co-education? Perhaps it is a Review staffer who has recovered a copy of the script from this year's Social Issues Night?
No, I myself proclaimed this as I returned after a summer away from Dartmouth.
So much has changed. Bruce Pipes is the new acting provost and Peter Goldsmith has replaced Diana Beaudoin in the Freshman Office. Even Wednesday's Convocation was new and improved.
Student Assembly President Nicole Artzer '94 avoided sparking any controversy with her speech which could have been titled "Get Involved!" This was a stark contrast to her predecessor, Andrew Beebe '93 who used his speech to make a political statement.
However, the boldest change in the Convocation ceremony was President Freedman's speech. He bucked his own tradition and gave a speech that I had not heard before.
In the face of all this change I initially struggled to find something constant, something that I could point to and say, "Yes, I am home." Thankfully the men pounding on the roof of the Lodge at 9 a.m. Monday morning not only woke me up but also reminded me that at least one thing at Dartmouth is constant: construction.
Etched in my memories of Freshman year is the steam tunnel that moved slowly across the Green. Now that the grass on the Green is healthy there is a big dirt patch right in front of Baker Library.
Construction also continues at Collis and in smaller forms at various locations including the roof of my residence hall, the Lodge.
While the sound of several men wielding hammers is not the most pleasant wake up call, I believe all of this construction is good. The general upkeep of the College should be a high priority.
We have all heard the rumors of how Yale's buildings are falling apart with no money allocated for repairs. That is a situation to avoid. I will certainly tolerate some noise if it means my roof doesn't leak.
Some would say that larger construction projects like Collis or the future library expansion change the look and feel of the College. Others seem to think that these large expansions indicate the administration wants the student population to grow to Ohio State proportions.
The fact is that as the world changes it takes more resources and more space to educate the 4,000 or so men and women who attend this school.
To me a lack of construction over a significant period of time would indicate that we are falling behind the times. If nothing else they should be repairing things on a regular basis.
If I return 30 years from now and once again exclaim, "Oh my, what have they done to my school?" it will be because the necessary constant of construction has been too long absent. How sad it would be to find that the college I love had become second rate because of a fear of a little dirt.
