Dartmouth is incredible. It is home to thousands of interesting and motivated students and professors. It is home to a community of administrations and organizations. People at Dartmouth accomplish awesome things everyday. You don't have to look very hard to see some student group raising funds for a worthy cause or another sponsoring a great social event. Dartmouth is incredible because of the many pieces which make it Dartmouth.
There is, however, a problem which lies under Dartmouth's community. It is a problem which is widespread and it affects each and every person and organization at Dartmouth. That problem is lack of unity. While these groups accomplish great things individually, they do not often communicate with one another. This is not an easy problem to solve, especially at Dartmouth. Although we have BlitzMail and PUBLIC to allow us to communicate, the D-Plan creates discontinuity and hampers communication. It is difficult to know at any specific term, for example, who the contact people are for a certain organization or what that organization is up to.
This lack of communication creates several other problems. First, groups and individuals often plan events which overlap or conflict without knowing it. Second, many groups and individuals pursue the same or similar goals in terms of issues such as policy, but do so without knowledge of the others. This may lead to several separate meetings with administration about the same problem. Many people get discouraged that nothing gets done because there is no unified front to attack problems.
Dartmouth's problems seem inherent in any institution of its size and its diversity. There is, however, a simple way to work together towards a basic solution to the lack of communication: talk to one another. Dartmouth needs a forum for any and all students, organizations, administration and community to share ideas, to resolve general conflicts and to plan to attack problems together. Dartmouth needs a forum for what is best about Dartmouth, its incredible individuals and its motivated organizations, to be unified. Dartmouth needs a forum through which people can learn and accomplish.
This solution seems obvious and simple. If the problem is lack of communication, the solution is to communicate. It is not that simple, though. To create this force unified by ideas and actions, Dartmouth first needs to unite. The solution is therefore recursive: it creates a problem similar to the one it tries to solve. Dartmouth first needs a solid initiative and a desire to come together. Then, with each passing of an idea and each joint event and each common interest and each friendship, Dartmouth will come one step closer to creating that forum for communication and one step closer to realizing the full potential of its parts.
Some great events which already serve to unite the campus: On April 11, Dartmouth Up All Night took over the entire Collis Center. Organizations from all over Dartmouth provided a great night of entertainment and community. The planning meetings for this event allowed people who would ordinarily not be working together to share ideas and experiences.
On May 3, hundreds of Dartmouth students, administration, staff and faculty will be performing a day of community service. DarCORPS will bring together these volunteers with various opportunities for service. The effort is being made possible with the support of over thirty Dartmouth organizations. These organizations are recruiting members to participate.
These events are excellent examples of what we must strive for, but they are only short-term. Dartmouth needs a long-term solution so that while discontinuity pulls the campus apart, there will be a foundation to which all may turn. Each individual and organization should take the initiative so that a true Dartmouth Forum may be a reality.
