To the Editor:
Does anyone remember the last time when 105 Dartmouth Hall was filled with over 300 passionate students, faculty, alumni and local teachers? If you were present last night, you will undoubtedly never forget. Yet after all the intense, logical and emotional comments voiced last night, one must question: who was listening? George Wolford, the Dean of Social Sciences, was our sole sounding board. After at least forty five minutes of intelligent, coherent questions and concerns from the crowd, he was asked what he would relay back to the faculty. His only reply was a mere "I'm impressed by your intensity." Well, thank you for being impressed, Dean Wolford. However, we as students want our message to be relayed, as well as our intensity.
The issue is simple: either the education department progresses or is demoted which would inevitably lead to its disintegration. Choosing the latter, we feel is not only a tragedy but is also reflective of the values Dartmouth instills in its students. If education is not valued enough to remain a department, then what are we as students left to feel towards our own education?
It was also suggested that the Teacher Preparation Program be abolished, sending our students elsewhere (Harvard University or the University of New Hampshire are the current options) to become certified public school teachers. Well, what's wrong with Dartmouth? Teacher preparation students spoke up last night, defending a program which they feel is preparing them amazingly well for the teaching profession to which they are committed. They are puzzled and outraged by Wolford's criticism of it. He has obviously not conferred with any of them.
A 1961 graduate of the TPP, Bill Cogswell, was present last night and attributed his success as a teacher to the Dartmouth education program. I had Mr. Cogswell for tenth grade mathematics at Hanover High School and can attest to his credibility as a teacher and his commitment to students. Let's hope Dartmouth continues to produce teachers of his calibre.
Wolford agreed with the overwhelming student consensus that the education professors and classes here are some of the best. Professor Robert Binswanger is our Class Day speaker; Professor Andrew Garrod had a waiting list of over one hundred students for a course this spring; Professor Randy Testa chose to increase his enrollment by close to 300 percent this past winter to accommodate student interest. Students love these professors; these professors love these students. Ironically the classes are not major requirements, because, unfortunately, there is not an education major. We feel lucky to have these professors who represent the high quality of Dartmouth instruction and who will teach regardless of the constant threat of expulsion. Let's hope the faculty does not vote to diminish the department into a program, for we will surely lose many of these outstanding professors.
Dean Wolford commended his efforts to search for someone to head the education department. The person chosen ultimately denied the position last December because he deemed the situation worse then he anticipated. Dean Wolford took this to mean that there were problems within the education department, never considering that these problems might lie with the administration's lack of commitment and support for the department. After the denial of the "one qualified" applicant Wolford has given up the search.
Comparatively, in the last week the Dartmouth women's soccer team lost their head coach to Stanford University. The coach can never be fully replaced; however, this certainly does not mean the athletic department will give up the search and drop the soccer program, nor will they send their players to Stanford for the season. By these standards, it seems that Dartmouth is 100 percent more committed to its athletic programs than its education department. The education department deserves that same level of commitment.
Wolford claimed that the students and faculty are, in essence, working towards a common goal. Clearly this is not the case. Last night was just the beginning. It was not simply a time to release energy, it was a time to build it.
