President of the Student Assembly Josh Green is completely right in today's column criticizing the administration for its lack of interest in student opinion. The College has undergone many changes since its inception, and evolution is an integral part of Dartmouth. Now we need to change the way we change. We need to include students fully in the decisions that affect our lives.
There are many conventions at the College that pay lip service to the value of student opinion. College Committees with student members are formed, but as Green says, they have no power and are exclusive as to which students they admit. Since the committees themselves choose the student representative who will join them, it is easy for the administration to take in a "yes-student," rather than a true representative of student opinion.
The Student Assembly has often been criticized for not doing anything and being ineffective as a student advocate. It is difficult, however, to advocate a position to someone who is not listening, and the administration clearly has no interest in listening with anything more than a curt indulgence.
Perhaps Dartmouth's administration should reevaluate exactly what it is this College and its liberal education stands for. We come to the College repeatedly reminded of the fact that we are adults. We are praised for having achieved greatly, and told that we are the best and brightest this country has to offer. But as our ears are soothed by these cooings of comfort, we are treated like children. We are told what is best for us and not even asked for our "best and brightest" opinion.
Yes, we have been asked to model the new social life at the College, but where was our opinion at the beginning of this change? Trustee Chair Steven Bosworth said we should all "realize now" that traditional rush "is no longer relevant." Where was our opinion when that decision was made?
Bosworth said, "This is a decision which the Board took with due consideration. We are fully behind it." Since when has student opinion not been a due part of consideration in student life? Student input is invaluable when it comes to student life, and would have been a tremendous resource in framing the principles, had we been asked.
The Trustees have recommitted themselves to student life, and it is well overdue; but before they undertake that job, perhaps they should recommit themselves to the students who will be affected by it.
The first step in such a change is to include at least one student representative on the Board of Trustees. The University of Pennsylvania has a graduate and undergraduate representative, and Cornell has two student representatives. Yale students are currently petitioning for a position of representation.
We were the last Ivy to go coeducational. Since that time, we have forged ahead and proven to be a leader in higher education. We can reinforce that image now by demonstrating a commitment to student rights and student input. Let's not be the last Ivy to give students a real voice in the future of their institution.
The future of this school lies in genuine dialogue -- not the kind of dialogue where one party steers the sentiments of the other, but a genuine dialogue where both parties actually care what the other is saying ... or screaming, as the case may be.