To the Editor:
There were two major events held on Tuesday that resulted in a series of mixed messages being sent to the Dartmouth Community. On the day that the College marked the opening of its 230th year, the Convocation speakers at Leede Arena spoke eloquently upon the responsibility of each member of the academic community being an active participant in the education process. The community was challenged to be inquisitive -- to ask questions and to dare to dare. Later that evening, members of the student body rose to this challenge at the Student Life Initiative event in Alumni Hall. The students who took this advice to heart, and dared to ask questions at the evening event, which was billed as a Town Meeting and Open Forum, were disappointed with the committee's lack of response to their questions.
The student participants in the discussion were knowledgeable, articulate, thoughtful, and passionate in their presentations. They were everything that we can hope for in a Dartmouth student. Each was also extremely polite in dealing with the lack of thoughtful response and apparent disrespect that met each inquiry. The treatment that these committed students received was especially disappointing when taken in the context of the Convocation speeches. It appears that the committee should either involve the community in earnest discussion, or make it clear that they are prepared to proceed without community involvement. Since the committee has announced that they are proceeding to the decision phase after Tuesday's forum, it appears that they are planning to do so without discussion.
The Student Life Initiative is deservedly a topic of intense concern for the student body. It is time for the committee to either accept this concern and foster discussion of the issues, or to keep to its self-imposed timetable and impose its vision on the community. The time is right for the committee to walk the walk, and to reconsider both its approach and timetable.
