These pages are rarely filled with praise for ourselves and fellow students. Yet apart from our academic lives we manage to sustain and participate in relatively well-rounded lives here at Dartmouth. The number of hours spent in extracurricular activities and interests, volunteered to help others, or used for other pursuits is extraordinary. Even more notable is the organization of these activities and their ability to survive in an environment that dies and is reborn every 10 weeks. Behind all of our activities lies leadership- and yet leadership is so rarely the focus of our activities.
The members of Abaris, on whose behalf we are writing, would like to open the discussion of leadership at Dartmouth and promote the topic as worthy of Dartmouth's time and interest. We don't pretend to be experts on the subject, but instead would like to discuss in this and future columns, ways in which all of Dartmouth's leaders, including ourselves, can improve. Today, as a preface to our future columns, we would like to make some general comments on three aspects of leadership at Dartmouth that need to be addressed: responsibility, motivation and support.
It seems obvious that both leaders and members of campus organizations need to take responsibility for their actions. We all need to remember, though, that responsibility is a long-term commitment. Just as our terms come in ten week blocks, all too often our issues come similarly packaged. It is not enough to address an issue and then forget to follow up on the results of our focus. It is not enough to point fingers at other organizations without searching for answers within our own. As organizations, we need to confront problems on a community-wide level and provide and strive for continuity from term to term to effectively find solutions. In order to do this leaders need to find ways to motivate their members to take action and maintain their focus.
We have all heard and seen first-hand apathy on this campus. It manifests itself in many of our organizations as a lack of participation by members. Most groups on campus have good ideas and good intentions but have trouble accomplishing anything because their members are unwilling to put in the time and effort. Part of the problem is that Dartmouth students tend to be overcommitted and unable to give 100 percent to any one activity. But more likely, the problem lies in our own unfamiliarity with motivating our peers. As leaders we are often overburdened by our leadership, we often feel the need to do it all ourselves. But leaders cannot do it all themselves, they are there to lead, not carry. Leadership then needs to find roots in commitment and motivation.
This brings us to our purpose. Leaders need to support each other. Each organization tends to be isolated and generally watches out for its own interests. If we want to ignite change, everyone needs to be willing and able to take the roles of both a leader and a follower and to look at issues with a more objective eye. There are very few organizations that bring together leaders from an array of campus groups to discuss campus issues regularly or to find common ground and share common experience. In a world where teamwork is becoming more important, leaders at Dartmouth do not come together often enough. Until this happens more often, it is difficult to solve problems on a truly community-wide level.
There is no proven solution to these problems. We hope, though, that as new challenges arise throughout this term, leaders at Dartmouth will begin to think about the issues we have raised and work both together and within their organizations towards Dartmouth solutions that aren't packaged in 10-week bundles.
