One of the fundamental purposes of Dartmouth College is to educate men and women who have a high potential for making a significant positive impact on society -- so states the first sentence of the Dartmouth College Student Handbook. In their efforts to eliminate the Education Department or distribute its courses among other departments, the administration and faculty of the College act in a manner contrary to the College's stated mission.
It seems painfully clear that the field of education is one in which Dartmouth graduates could make the positive social impact for which the College strives. An infusion of highly talented and energetic students would undoubtedly be a dynamic force in what is currently a troubled field. If the College's faculty and administration truly believe in Dartmouth's stated mission, we must wonder why they continually threaten a department that has influenced so many students.
Many students first encounter the education department in Education 20. The course challenges them to consider the purpose of education, the methods by which people learn and the impact that education has on democracy. Losing this and other education courses would deprive many students an opportunity to think about these crucial issues. If Dartmouth's leadership is committed to the view that its graduates are to be contributing members of society, then it cannot eliminate a department that provides students one such opportunity to address these issues. While neither of us is sure of the role education will play in our futures, we do know that the education department has shaped each of our lives.
Simply offering education courses outside the department will not prove as valuable to students. There is a need in education, as in any other discipline, for members of an intellectual community to have a forum in which to discuss and research their interests. A department affords students and faculty a sense of fellowship and community with others who share their intellectual passions. Even more importantly, the existence of a department demonstrates the College's dedication to the study of education. The education department symbolizes Dartmouth's commitment to scholarship in the field of education and to graduating socially-conscious citizens. If College academic leaders are willing to dissolve the education department, it follows that they are also willing to turn a deaf ear on academic discussions about educational issues and concerns.
The Divisional Council for the Social Sciences has cited administrative problems and a lack of high quality programs as reasons for its recommendation to eliminate the department. We must ask, however, what would happen if another department were found to have these same problems? Would the faculty dissolve the government department, for example, if it felt that it faced such problems? We doubt it. The College could work to restructure and revamp the department so that students could continue to benefit from exposure to these ideas. In its recommendation to abolish the department, the Council offers unsubstantiated conclusions demonstrating its bias and its reluctance to dedicate energy or resources to the department.
Many of the problems that the Council accuses the education department of perpetuating, are, in fact, created by College faculty and administrators. As an example of this, the department recently interviewed candidates to chair the department. After a discussion with faculty and administration, one candidate astutely observed that the College is clearly not dedicated to the education department. In fact, in many ways they perpetuate the problems rather than working to eliminate them.
Given the College's stated mission, the desire of its academic leaders to eliminate the education department seems self-defeating. We can't help but wonder why an institution that exists for the express purpose of graduating individuals who will make "a significant positive impact on society" wishes to abolish a department that furthers that mission. Where is the social conscience of a college that is willing to abolish the study of a subject that, in a sense, created it?
