Community at Dartmouth sounds like a nice concept, but somewhere along the way, between forgotten charters and intractable bureaucracies, the spirit of community appears to have been neglected.
My first impressions of Dartmouth led me to believe that this sense of "community" was all-inclusive. I had envisioned a place where students could express their ideas and cultures in an open forum, a forum facilitated by an institution which is one of the top liberal arts colleges in America. While I have had many rewarding experiences here, I have recently been part of an extremely discouraging and frustrating process wherein I have been sent back and forth between college offices in a seemingly endless maze of bureaucratic nonsense.
I have experienced this mindless bureaucracy while participating in the efforts to negotiate with the College for a suitable site to hold the 1996 Dartmouth pow-wow. The Pow-Wow Committee is asking to hold its annual pow-wow on the Green. The pow-wow had previously been held in the Bema, which was perfect for the smaller one-day events. But ironically, the pow-wow has fallen victim to its own success; it has grown to be one of the largest and most renowned college pow-wows in the Northeast. Last year, for the first time, the pow-wow was held on the Green, and for the second time in its history, it was a two-day event.
Almost everyone agrees the change was a positive one. This event involves the entire Dartmouth and Hanover community, starting with financial support from college departments and local businesses and ending with a cultural celebration which involves students, faculty, and Upper Valley residents of all creeds and cultures. Thus the pow-wow incorporates both the local community and the various Native communities that come to Hanover from all over (last year we hosted groups from Canada and New Zealand!). Both the College and the 1995 pow-wow benefited greatly from the increased exposure on the Green. This year's expected attendance of 1,500-2,000 (even larger than last year) makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to hold the pow-wow at the Bema.
This is where the trail of red tape starts. We began our efforts to secure the Green in fall 1995 through communications between the Native American Program Office and the Office of Facilities Operations and Management (FO&M). NAP was told that the Green is reserved exclusively for student use, and "the vendors pose a problem," since they are not students, but rather commercial entities.
We decided to relocate the vendors, but a decision had been made in the meantime to hold Commencement on the Green. This meant that use of the Green in the spring would now be severely limited. We tried again in the winter, this time through correspondence between the Secretary of the Pow-Wow Committee and FO&M. Again we were denied, with the additional reason that "last year was a special year because of the Dedication of the Native American house." With the pow-wow weekend fast approaching, we redoubled our efforts. On April 22, we went to the Office of the President. In 1995 the support of that office had been instrumental in our obtaining permission to use the Green. This year we were told that, although we had its support, the Office of the President could not override the decisions of the other offices, and we were referred to the Office of the Dean of the College. On April 24 we were told, once again, that we had the support of the office, but that the final decision was up to FO&M.
We went back to FO&M on April 26. In the first of two meetings, we were told that it was "out of the question" to hold the pow-wow on the Green because it "would interfere with the seeding and watering process that is necessary to prepare the Green for commencement." We then asked why the Green Key weekend celebration is being held on the Green the weekend after the pow-wow. The only response we were offered was that "Green Key has always been held on the Green. They have history with them. You can't say 'no' to history." Green Key has "history" on their side.
FO&M did agree to help us find an "alternate location suitable to our needs." However, with all the athletic fields unavailable, FO&M could only offer us the Bema (too small) or the Garipay Fields by the golf course (too far). So the final result of the two meetings was that "we [FO&M] do not have the authority to give you the Green," and once again, "The place you need to go to is the Dean of the College."
So here we are, in limbo, wondering if we are going to have to rent the parking lot of Grand Union in order to have our pow-wow. If this twisted game of bureaucratic hot potato doesn't bring your blood to a boil, then you've bought into the College's propaganda of a real "community" at Dartmouth. How can a community exist when the concerns and desires of the students are subordinated by the maintenance of the bureaucratic status quo? There is no logical reason we can see for not having the pow-wow on the Green. What exactly is institutional policy regarding use of the Green, and who has final authority for interpretation of that policy? We still don't have any answers to these basic questions.
One last note: I find it especially ironic that FO&M offers the excuse that "you can't say 'no' to history." Okay, here's a bit of history for you: the Abenaki were the original inhabitants of this area, making use of the plot of land that is now known as the Green for thousands and thousands of years before the first college was ever established in America. Through a process of colonization, assimilation, and genocide, the Abenaki were nearly wiped off the face of the earth. Eleazar Wheelock came to Hanover in the spring of 1770 to found a school for Indians, although Dartmouth did not actually graduate a class with more than one Native American student until the 1970s.
Also in the 1970s, Dartmouth President John Kemeny promised that the College would refocus its "commitment to Indian students," yet Native American students still make up only 2 percent of the student body. If there is a history lesson to be learned here, it is that the prerogatives of minorities in American society will always take a back seat to the whims of the controlling majority, even when these whims defy all justice and reason. And you know what? Dartmouth can't say no to history, lest the old traditions fail.
