Why is there such a wide gulf between the administration and the students? Why are some Dartmouth students apathetic? Why are decisions made without effective communication? Are we too busy and to see the connection between political will and personal happiness? Perhaps we do see this connection but we are simply too fed up and frustrated with arbitrary authority? The first proposition places blame on the citizens for not making their interests known. The second theory places blame on authority for not acting according to the interests of the community.
I propose that these explanations are insufficient. They fail to address the networks of communication and cooperation that must exist for effective change to occur. An authority figure or a citizen can be working with good intentions and yet still cause more harm than good to the network of trust in a society.
Trust is what we need. We do not need more vague 'principles;' we do not need more redundant 'talk sessions.' What we need is honesty, trust and transparency from students, professors, the town and administration, before decisions are made. If there is not a sense of trust, no true cooperation can occur. How do we increase trust? I will provide an example of what I believe is wrong with the system. Then I propose some ideas on further developing trust.
Perhaps the most frustrating, draining, and useless experience is to engage in discussion on an important issue after the real decision has already been made. The specifics of the Student Life Initiative and the new Dartmouth Webpage are infamous examples of this process. The new webpage simply appeared. There was no widespread discussion preceding this change; there was no real chance to provide input on the shape and nature of the webpage. Class deans had no idea that this change was occurring, most professors had no idea this change was occurring, almost no student had any idea. Yet now we are expected to engage in dialogue, 'now' we are expected to register our input with the administration and the webmaster.
A pattern of ineffectual, after-the-fact discussion on crucial issues is extremely detrimental to the development of cooperation and civic interest. People and groups feel disempowered. Frustration does not disappear; it is repressed. If ineffectual discussion repeats itself, community breaks down. The problem is not necessarily in decisions themselves but the 'method' used to implement decisions.
I make an urgent plea to the administration: help combat the malignant cancer of ineffective, after-the-fact "discussion." This is a major source of apathy and mistrust. Help find a way of informing most of the community before major decisions are made.
Regular campus blitzes, a weekly College policy agenda in the newspaper, an annual open forum with Trustees interacting with students, the President and administration explaining and justifying the agenda in a clear, concise and open way to as many people as possible (in Leede Arena?) and developing better communication between the nodes of authority on campus are just some suggestions for advancing toward improved transparency, trust and even true cooperation. What is most important is that neither the Administration nor the students give up communication. We must all be persistent even if only a few people read the blitzes, even if only a few take advantage of new sources of information and feedback.
Distrust is not the exclusive fault of any specific group or player; it is the network of communication gone awry that causes mistrust, an ineffective network that Dartmouth has developed in its community-administration relations throughout history. The "negative traditions" that really need change lay not in any specific issue but in this larger system of mistrust.
Dartmouth can be an even better leader. But first Dartmouth must lift herself above our present haze to clearer realms of trustful, and thus open, communication. Open communication and academic excellence can only work together. We may then finally focus our energy on the distant stars of our humanity, not just the light from the fraternity basement.
