To the Editor:
Lest Aaron Klein's April 17 letter ("The College should have higher priorities than relocating the WRC") create any misconceptions about the Women's Resource Center's need for a larger and more centrally located physical plant, we would like to make a few points.
First, the WRC was housed in the Choates when it opened in 1988 as a "temporary solution" to a perennial space shortage. Then, as now, it was understood that a resource center whose mission includes the entire campus ought be housed in a location with greater visibility and accessibility. Just as there are pluses and minuses to living in the Choates (like the River), the Center benefits from the privacy of its location while suffering from its relative isolation from the center of campus life.
Second, while we appreciate and are grateful for the efforts of many students to encourage the College to fulfill its seven year-old commitment to relocate the WRC, we would caution readers of The Dartmouth not to put student supporters' words in our mouths. We have spoken with students who enjoy living in the Choates, and we would never characterize these residence halls, in general, as "unacceptable." We would, however, argue that a program of the College whose mission includes supporting and enriching the lives of its student body needs to be visible and known about in order to achieve the institutional goals set for it. An individual student's requirements for success differ from a resource center's requirements for success.
Third, while we sympathize with students' dissatisfaction with the housing crunch and its ramifications in their lives, the WRC's mission does not include "help[ing] . . . people find housing," unless such persons are rendered homeless as the result of domestic violence, stalking or other crises. The staff of the [Office of Residential Life], along with many other qualified professionals, are hard at work to solve the housing problems created by high admissions numbers, and the current debates over the D-plan are raising important related questions.
An expanded Women's Resource Center is an important goal in the College's efforts to promote gender equity on campus and to allocate space and resources for women and men more equitably. As the Center increases the programs it offers in order to reach a broader population of students, faculty and staff, its current location becomes more and more inadequate. Solving this problem is one of several important priorities on our agenda.
