Whilemany topics of debate on the Dartmouth campus tend to be quite ephemeral, throughout the course of this academic year one issue has remained quite salient. This issue, of course, is the debate surrounding the First Year Experience Report. In my own life, as a writer, a participant in Dean of the College Lee Pelton's "Town Meeting" and simply as a Dartmouth student, I have encountered a wide range of opinions on the various proposals. And now that the dust has settled, at least for the time being, with Dean Pelton's revised report I feel that it is necessary to comment on how both the administration and the student body handled the issue.
Both groups performed admirably. For myself, reading in Monday's issue of The Dartmouth that Dean Pelton had removed freshman dorms from the proposal brought a particular sense of joy. That was the part of the original report that most disturbed me.
However, my elation went beyond the sense of victory on one specific issue. Perhaps the part of the entire episode that all of us students who spoke out against aspects of the report should be happiest about is that it appears that our voices were heard. In the revised edition of the report, Dean Pelton cites loud student protests over the proposed "segregation of the Dartmouth community." Keep in mind that those students that protested aspects of the original report often felt that their cries were falling upon deaf ears. Students often complained that various members of the administration were simply ignoring cries of protest that were voiced in both private meetings and public forums.
No doubt there were many students that were convinced that Dean Pelton's choice to allow myself and Jim Brennan '96 to speak out against the proposal at the "Town Meeting" was merely a ploy by him to appear to be considering all positions. Yet in the end it is apparent that what the two of us said, as well as the multitude of other students that took the time to voice their opinions, clearly made a difference.
Perhaps the report in its revised form is not exactly what each of us would like but we must be happy that in some major ways it was amended to fit our complaints. For this, Dean Pelton and the administration in general deserve credit. They showed that when they talked about soliciting student opinion and feedback they were serious. Most of all they showed a respect for student opinion. They all deserve the utmost credit for doing such a fine job handling the situation.
Yet the student body is praiseworthy as well. We, just like many other college campuses, seem to have the tag "apathetic" indelibly attached to us. Perhaps the two words are inexorably intertwined, college students and apathy. However, at least on this issue, much of the Dartmouth student body defied that stereotype. From the large number of students who took the time to write on the topic, to discuss their concerns with the deans and even the students that simply took the time to read and consider the report from an educated standpoint, the student body conducted itself admirably. Many showed a persistence and resolve that is incredibly impressive.
The last section of Dean Pelton's revised report is entitled "Where do we go from here?" This is certainly a valid question and one that will need to be addressed in the near future. However, before we all move on it is wise to pause for a second and take a look back over the course of the issue until this point. If we do that we will see commendable behavior on the part of the administration and the student body.
