So I was thinking ... about the issue of funding for student organizations. Before I continue, I must give credit to the Student Assembly for bringing this issue to the forefront of campus discussion. If you didn't walk by Parkhurst last Thursday, you might have missed the checks that Assembly members put on the building: one for $5,000 from the Assembly to the Undergraduate Finance Committee (UFC) and one for $20,000 that they hoped President Wright would sign over to Student Activities. I applaud the Assembly's activism and respectfully disagree with its stance.
Catherine Maxson '99, in her letter to The Dartmouth ["Controversy Over Assembly's Funding Highlights Groups' Need for More Money," Nov. 2], criticized the Editorial Board's criticism of the Assembly. That's not as confusing as it sounds -- she believes, as does the Assembly -- that more money needs to go to student organizations and activities. I also respectfully disagree with Maxson.
OK, so what are we talking about here? What is all this talk about throwing money around? As I understand it, a movement has surfaced to get more funding to student organizations so that they can plan more programs and bring their ideas for events to fruition. At first glance, I fully support this movement. After all, my Dartmouth experience -- and probably yours, too -- has benefited exponentially from such programs. The Dartmouth Asian Organization (DAO) has an annual culture night and several other events which highlight much of what is unique about various Asian cultures. The Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance (DRA) sponsored a wonderfully successful and inclusive National Coming Out Week. La Alianza Latina brought speakers here to facilitate conversations on identity, and Nuestras Voces performed a fantastic rendition of "The House on Mango Street." Students for a Free Tibet have arranged for Tibetan Monks to come to campus. The Black Underground Theater Association (BUTA) opened our eyes and challenged our assumptions in "Fragmented Pieces ... Complete on Black Life." Clearly, the list could go on ...
And suddenly more money for student organizations sounds necessary. Why shouldn't we have more events that enlighten us and expose us to new cultures? At the risk of slamming my fist down on a table, I offer a different perspective.
"Don't invite a vegetarian to dinner and then feed him steak." This statement is one that I've heard several times from one of my most trusted and respected mentors, and it always gives me pause. It makes sense, of course, when we think just of the words within the quotes. But what happens when we apply them to Dartmouth? Have we invited vegetarians to Hanover and then overwhelmed them with steak? Indeed, we have.
If you are a woman or student of color, answer me this: when was the last time you saw someone who looks like you framed and hanging on the wall of a College building? If you are a Latino/a student: where can you go to be in a space that is yours? If you are an African-American student: where can you get your hair styled in the Upper Valley? Again, if you are a woman student: who do you see making upper level administrative decisions in a non-acting capacity?
Dartmouth does an extraordinary job with minority recruitment. What happens to those students when they get to campus, though? My understanding is not a whole lot. We feed them steak. Communities develop on their own here, without a whole lot of institutional support. C'mon, now, do we really need $20,000 to go to student activities?
I am a member of the UFC and of the Council on Student Organizations (COSO). I understand very well where money for student organizations comes from. I also understand how it is spent. And Maxson is right, the UFC does do its best to distribute the Student Activities Fee fairly among many deserving groups. This background has afforded me the perspective from which I now reflect.
I return to the crux of the issue: money available for student organizations and activities. Contrary to popular belief, I just don't think we need more money. We certainly don't need the $20,000 the Assembly is clambering for. (Speaking of that $20,000 -- I wonder where the Assembly thinks it will come from.) I don't know about all of you, but where I grew up, money didn't grow on trees. And my experience in Hanover has taught my that money doesn't grow on trees here, either. There are limits to what is available to us -- when the money runs out, then we can't plan an event. It's just that simple. I took Economics 1, and I remember a concept called scarcity of goods. There has to be a bottom line somewhere. Money is not a given. Why is it that some of us can't seem to understand the word "no"? What if there isn't $20,000 floating around that President Wright could give to Student Activities? Or what if there are better ways to spend that money?
They say that money talks. Well, I think it's about time that we started talking. Is what we really want another $20,000 for programming? Is that what Dartmouth stands for? Or is it something else? I know what my opinion is, but I'm just one voice. What do you think?
Before we start throwing money around and building buildings to put band-aids on the real problems here, why don't we have a discussion -- an inclusive, open conversation about what it means to be a member of the Dartmouth community, and what our priorities are as an institution? As a good friend of mine summarized so well: "only then can we as a community decide how we will distribute our resources to address those priorities."
