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The Dartmouth
July 10, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Crying Wolf Again

They're back. And crying wolf ... again.

So many of us had hoped for a summer free from the strife of relentless protesting and endless bickering which seems to have plagued the Dartmouth campus in recent terms. This Summer term was going well: no major scandals, no controversies, no incidents. But those fearless defenders of the PC faith have returned to roost, and once again seek to remind us of just how classist/sexist/racist/bigoted/homophobic we are.

I am referring, of course, to the latest in a long and fatiguing series of protests aimed against particular parties planned by Dartmouth's Greek system. Recent outrages have included Saigon parties, "ghetto" parties, and Cuban parties. All finished in the same way: a holler of injustice, a spate of angry editorials in The Daily Dartmouth, an occasional rally, the odd circle on the green, much administrative hand-ringing and little action. This most recent incarnation of the Evils of Dartmouth involves a proposed Hawaiian party, sponsored by Alpha Chi Alpha and Tri-Delt. The party was to include decorations, lights, coconuts, grass skirts and Hawaiian music. Great, one would think; what an interesting way to add some spice to a regular old frat party -- and what a fitting subject. No problem, right?

Wrong, it would seem. The party was quickly denounced as -- you guessed it -- racist. One student went so far as to suggest that the proposed "red, white and blue" Jell-O shots were symbolic of white America's oppression of Hawaiians. Well now. Last I checked, the stars and stripes were not the symbol of white America; they were the symbol of all America, of which Hawaii is most definitely a part. Logic aside, the debacle continued, escalating with that momentum that only radical college students can provide. Before long, Lambda Upsilon Lambda ("La Unidad Latina"), the little-known Latino fraternity, threatened to secede from the Greek system unless three demands were met: to abandon the plans for the party, to issue an official apology and for AXA to drop the Indian as its mascot. Yes, folks; the Latino fraternity protested a Hawaiian party by demanding that another fraternity drop its Indian mascot. These are indeed strange days.

Sadly, these pressures were too much for both AXA and Tri-Delt to bear. One can certainly sympathize with their plight; with the proverbial sword of Damocles dangling above them by a thin, thin thread, they can little afford to bring such negative attention on Dartmouth's Greek system. Accusations of racism would cripple the Greek system's case, and would give the administration and the Trustees all the justification they need to come bearing down on the fraternities and sororities. Here is a new, unexpected side effect of the precariousness of the situation: every radical, vocal group on campus can cry wolf and bring the Greeks to their knees.

This protest was not the first of its kind, nor will it be the last. As long as there are groups that want their piece of the sympathy pie, that find offense around every corner, that moan, whine and complain about invented or seriously inflated affronts, this cycle will repeat itself. Chip-on-the-shoulder politics seems to be institutionalized now, not just at Dartmouth, but in all of America. The moral? Brace yourself; for when the wolf really does come a-knocking, these protesters will have wasted all sympathy due them on coconuts and grass skirts.