To the Editor:
Rebecca Liddicoat ("Allow Us Our Own Social Experiences," Oct. 24) appears to have adopted a view of deans which does not correspond with my experience of the work that we perform.
Our primary charge is to see that students make the best possible use of the academic opportunities afforded them at Dartmouth and, to that end, we function as advisers and counselors to individual students throughout the day. We are explicitly committed to the free exchange of ideas on the fullest possible array of topics; Dartmouth's support of free speech is as broad as (and usually broader than) any other institution of which I am aware.
We are charged with helping to ensure the safety of students, and recent regulations about the building of the bonfire were instituted in response to decidedly real instances of bodily injury -- not to fanciful projections of what might occur. At the same time, Dartmouth students control their own social lives -- financially, organizationally -- to a degree rarely paralleled, and I believe that the College remains committed to maintaining this extraordinarily high level of student self-governance.
With respect to her specific comments about the freshman office, I fear that she has misrepresented the interactions that Dean Tony Tillman and I had with the more than 100 DOC trip leaders as they were preparing to depart on their trips. I began (in each of seven instances) by saying how pleased I was that first-year students were receiving their first substantive introduction to Dartmouth from DOC trip leaders; trip leaders were to speak their minds without being overly concerned with the ostensive impressionableness of their trippees.
I went on to propose that trip leaders suggest that there are many "authentic" Dartmouth experiences, and that students should be encouraged to construct their own identity here without being constrained by others' ideas of the "real" Dartmouth.
Additionally I suggested that they encourage students to make informed, intelligent and independent choices about alcohol use, about "rushing the field," and about their choice of courses.
I did caution trip leaders that, while their own opinions about particular courses and professors were of some importance, such opinions must be duly contextualized so that first-year students understand that they are hearing the opinion of a particular student with a particular background and a specific set of interests and goals. Advice which merely declares this course or professor "good" or "bad" is rarely very helpful. I also urged them to avoid discussing academic requirements with members of the Class of '98 since the requirements had changed quite substantially for the new class.
At the request of the DOC Trips Director, I addressed two groups on the subject of the alma mater. In these remarks I emphasized the importance of not dictating an "approved" position to students, but instead providing them with information which might allow them to make an informed decision about whether or not to shout "lest the old traditions fail."
My point was to suggest that there are times when it is desirable to move beyond the certainty of one's own good intentions and attempt to anticipate how others might reasonably infer other meanings from your words and deeds. But here, as elsewhere in our comments, the emphasis was upon the importance of permitting students to make their own, well-informed decisions.
Dean Tillman and I took great care with our remarks in an effort to deflect the erroneous impression that we were instructing students on what to say (and not say) to freshmen. I cannot imagine how Ms. Liddicoat concluded that "dissent and free expression on our part was not encouraged" (nor do I recall that she expressed herself when we asked for comments or questions). If others experienced these brief sessions (about ten minutes) as "Orwellian nightmares" I urge them to let us know.
Alternatively, I hope that some of the other trip leaders heard what we actually said -- that we have tremendous confidence in the ability of the DOC to introduce first-year students to the best that is Dartmouth.