To the Editor:
Take a moment to think about where you are ... about the people around you. Each one was chosen for his or her ability to contribute to Dartmouth's "commonwealth of liberal learning," to borrow President Freedman's words.
We have been given the extraordinary opportunity to learn from a diverse group of individuals -- professors and, equally important, our fellow students. Some of us have experienced small, seminar classes where the teaching is done not just by the professors, but by every student around the table, through thoughtful discussion.
Unfortunately, we must admit that such cooperative learning is rare, even at Dartmouth, an institution that distinguishes itself by its small size and intimacy. As a result, our education is incomplete.
Furthermore, there is a kind of learning that no seminar course can provide. Which course does a student take to learn about the experiences and values of the individuals who constitute the College?
These four years are a time when the values we have gathered since childhood solidify to define our adult selves. Openmindedness -- willingness to consider and discuss various personal beliefs -- is especially important at this time.
Dartmouth offers us a unique opportunity to learn about many points of view, by listening to various persons, which include not only students, but professors and administrators as well. Never again will life ever grant us such a chance after we leave college.
Even if you return to an institution of higher education as a graduate student or professor, your experience will never match your years as an undergraduate. Graduate study is intense and heavily focused; a graduate student has less time to interact with those outside of his or her chosen discipline, which significantly limits the breadth of experiences. As for a professor, the opportunities for peer interaction are similarly diminished.
One begins undergraduate education equipped with the naive notions of a teenager, but the professor and graduate student are adults -- their values have solidified.
With the preciousness of these few years in mind, a group of students has formed Voices. Voices will ask speakers to share matters of personal significance, in hopes that listeners will gain insight about their own lives.
The objective is to encourage open-mindedness by providing an opportunity to discover and explore the diversity of personal values that exist among the College's students, faculty, and administrators. Each meeting will start with a brief speech, upon which listeners are encouraged to reflect and discuss.
If you are interested in making your Dartmouth education complete, you are invited to the Wren Room in Sanborn House on April 12 at 8 p.m. for Voices' first meeting.
