Like 83 percent of students and an over whelming majority of alumni, I have been so shocked and heartbroken by the recent events at Dartmouth that I've scarcely had time to think of anything else. That the Trustees and College President James Wright plan on destroying something so popular is unbelievable; that they made their decision without consulting anyone is unacceptable. So far, Wright's sudden and thoughtless announcement has been a remarkable study in poor leadership and planning. He and the Trustees have given us at Dartmouth a unique opportunity to witness a failure in the making. Listen up, Govy majors, and learn how NOT to run a college.
The administration's new vision for this college will fail because Wright has failed to weld the authority of his office with the authority of persuasion. Generals give orders, and expect them to be followed. Presidents offer a vision, but must first persuade their constituents to agree with it. This president has made it clear that he feels no obligation to convince the Dartmouth community of his initiative. He did not consult us beforehand, he will not consult us now. "There is no referendum on these sorts of things" will go down in Dartmouth lore as one of those politically arrogant comments that destroys regimes. Marie Antoinette's "Let them eat cake" comes to mind. She was beheaded, by the way.
That Wright and the Trustees plan on acting solely on the power vested in them by their office is evident by their failure to offer an alternative to the Greek system. To give you an idea of how absurd that is, imagine if President Clinton announced tomorrow that Social Security would cease to exist "as we know it," and then said he was "excited" about coming up with a replacement in the next few years. He would be promptly impeached (AND successfully convicted) for starting a geriatric civil war. Authority wielded without persuasion is arbitrary and tyrannical.
Wright will not persuade anyone of his initiative if it is guided by a nonsensical "coeducatioal" vision. Everyone knows that there are times when a guy needs to put one hand down his pants, the other in a bag of chips, and sit down in front of the TV to watch football. There are times when girls need to lock themselves in a room, gossip over Cosmo surveys, and have a dance party to '80s music. Like most people at Dartmouth, I plan to spend the rest of my life with a person of the opposite sex. How can they deny us this one opportunity to do silly, ridiculous, fun things with a group of people that don't have to feel inhibited by sexual tension and a concern for "appropriate" behavior?
Wright and the Trustees will fail because their vision is weak. I never thought I'd say this, but Wright could learn a lot from his more introverted predecessor, James Freedman. Who could argue with a more intellectual Dartmouth? But a more "substantially coeducational" Dartmouth? -- give me a break.
President Wright could have also learned a lot from this weekend's rally at Psi U, had he chosen to accept the invitation we extended to him. He could have learned a lot about eloquence from Landis Fryer, a leader in the historically black fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha, who advised us to make our next move in this chess game in the same ruthless manner that the Trustees made theirs. He could have learned a lot about courage from Connor Smith '00 and Sarah Burgamy '00, two gay students who announced to a crowd of nearly a thousand that their houses were critical in giving them the confidence and support they needed to be proud of themselves. He would have learned that the most articulate, reasonable, and inspiring people at Dartmouth live in "anti-intellectual" Greek houses. In short, he would have learned he was wrong.
Can President Wright and the Trustees destroy the current social system we all know and love? Yes. Can he count on our cooperation and talents to help him build a new one? Absolutely not. It takes only one person to destroy a system; it will take an entire community replace it. And the single most devastating effect of this initiative is that it destroys the trust that makes our community possible. It says that Dartmouth College no longer cares about students. It says that Dartmouth College will no longer share ideas, but impose them. In short, it says that every ideal this administration purports to stand for means nothing. Our President and Trustees will build a new college in their image, not ours.
Wright and many faculty and administrators have called this initiative an "exciting opportunity." I'm excited too. I'm excited because for the first time in my life, I believe in something strongly enough to fight for it. I'm excited that 83 percent of students and 83 years of alumni support me. I'm excited to show the world that we are right, and Wright is wrong. Indeed, what an opportunity.
Keep up the fight.
