As Programming Board co-chair, I've thought a lot about social and programming spaces here at Dartmouth. It seems a strange sort of thing to spend a lot of time pondering, but I've learned how important it is for students to have places on campus to "hang out," and also places where they can put on events. Two years ago, when Webster Hall was closed and we lost a very important programming space, social space (or lack of) was the issue on campus. While other problems and concerns have taken more of a hold on campus discourse, I still think we need to address how to better utilize spaces on campus to serve students' needs.
Recently, the Programming Board was very angered by a situation involving the use of the Loew theater. To make a long story short, the Board was contacted by some Colgate graduates who had made a film about college life in the '90s. The film is called "Puddle Cruiser," and the people who made it were once part of an improv comedy group like Dartmouth's Dog Day Players.
The PB reserved the Loew theater, signed a contract with the film's producers and started making plans to show the film on Monday Feb 8. A week or so passed, and the Board was contacted by Hopkins Center Films. They claimed they were in charge of deciding what films were shown in Loew, and they felt "Puddle Cruiser" was inappropriate for this venue. The PB was told to rent out the Nugget to show the film, because Hopkins Center Films is required to co-sponsor every film shown in the Loew, and it would not cooperate in this particular case.
I was appalled when I realized that the people in the Hop felt they had a right to decide what films were appropriate for Dartmouth students. If a space is free, students should be able to use that space to show any film that they feel is of interest to the Dartmouth population. I admit that "Puddle Cruiser" is probably not a deep, artistic film with universal themes that the critics will be raving about for years to come. But it isn't a porno either, and it seems appropriate for a college audience.
Wasn't Loew built on this campus for student use? Are the people at the Hop such snobs that a movie about college life isn't good enough for their theater, which just happens to be on a college campus? I think the people at Hopkins Center Films have forgotten that this is a college, and their primary function is to serve the Dartmouth community and not the Hanover community. They advocate that the Programming Board use money from the Student Activities fee to rent out the Nugget to show "Puddle Cruiser." I personally think it is ridiculous to pay money to rent a space, when there is a closer space already free and open for the entire evening.
In our PB meeting on Monday the rest of the Board was also upset by the Hop's blatant disregard for an event of interest to Dartmouth students. Does anyone else ever get the feeling that the Hop thinks it could exist here in Hanover without the College? Often other spaces in the building are inaccessible to student groups who are trying to program events. Spualding Auditorium is completely off limits for student programming (barring events like the DSO, Fall Fling etc.) I have also heard numerous complaints through the years from people who are attempting to put on a performance in the Hop or attempting to get an event catered. When the Hop is involved, more often than not, things turn into a huge headache.
Every year the UFC delegates part of the Student Activities fee to the Hopkins Center, yet they won't allow student groups easy access to perform or program in much of the building. Until this changes, the Hopkins Center does not deserve any of our money. Talk to your deans, talk to President Wright and spread the word. No one should have a monopoly on deciding what films are shown on this campus. "Puddle Cruiser" and other movies chosen by students deserve to be shown in Loew. This is our college, and we should have much more of a say in what we want to see and where we want to see it.
I always like to end on a positive note, and I would like to point out what I think is right about social space right now at Dartmouth. I believe that the recent changes in Collis have helped to remedy the lack of viable social options at the College. In other words, I finally feel like there is a place I can go on campus just to "hang out." Collis is practically my second home, and now I'm really starting to enjoy it there. It doesn't look or feel like a hospital quite so much anymore. In my wanderings around Collis, I feel like I can hardly get from here to there without running into people I know.
The building has turned into an active and social place, transformed from a place used simply to hold meetings. People yell from the atrium to their friends reading on the couches on the second floor, the lounge is full of people watching the Simpsons or SportsCenter, student art is displayed on the walls both upstairs and downstairs, and people actually hang out late night to play pool or talk over coffee in the Big Green Bean. I think every Dartmouth student should extend a personal thank you to Mark Hoffman, Linda Kennedy, President Wright, the Collis Governing Board and everyone else who worked to transform Collis into a thriving student center. I'm an advocate for giving praise where praise is due, and I would like to send a personal and an extra special thanks for the great new furniture!
Student concerns were the main impetus for the changes made in Collis. Now we need to voice our concerns about the Hopkins Center and hope that similar changes will be made to improve the social lives of Dartmouth students.
