To the Editor:
I wanted to commend the Dartmouth community on the support we have shared with one another during the last three weeks. On Saturday, January 27th, a terrible event sent ripples through our entire community. College President James Wright has done an excellent job of sensing the feelings of those at the center of the circle and also those at the edges, and he has acted appropriately with measured words every time he has needed to. He also has done a good job of being firm with but not unhelpful to those in the news media and elsewhere who are outside our circle but still feel the events from a distance. People have been talking with one another, sharing feelings and trying to find ways to cope with fears and sadness effectively. From talking with people around the Upper Valley, I know that everyone is hurting, but also is selflessly concerned for the next person. It is inspiring to see people's tenderness worn on the outside for a change.
This is an incredible time. An event no one ever wanted has occured, and yet there is still positivity here. Half and Susanne would be proud to know that we have come together so well to face what we have faced. This is the hinge on which my message turns. Half and Susanne were compassionate people. I knew this from interacting with him during the course he co-taught with Professor of Earth Sciences Richard Birnie my freshman year, and also from all the quotes of those close to the Zantops that I have read over the preceding weeks. Half and Susanne were involved, active people with compassionate hearts and a positive outlook. Because they can no longer act on their compassionate nature, the Zantops are now calling on us to do it for them.
I ask all members of the Dartmouth community to look inside yourselves and think about what should happen next, but consider your feelings in the light of compassion. We have been in the news every day for the last three weeks. Our nerves are starting to get frazzled. We are fed up with violence and injustice in the world in general, but with cameramen breathing down our necks, nervous relatives calling from away, police suspicion, lack of information and fear of prowlers, in specific. We want justice to be served, and we want it now! We are tired and want to get on with it, but we miss the ones who are gone. It is very complicated.
So I ask each of you to treat yourselves with an extra dose of compassion and gentleness in the coming weeks, should you start to feel you're getting negative. I also ask that you treat the images in your minds of Robert Tulloch and James Parker compassionately. As painful as it is, as angry as you are, it is very important to find compassion for them, too. Why? When you transform your hate and anger into compassion and understanding, you hold in your hands the power to transform others and create lasting positivity in the community. When you hold in your hands hate and anger, you are powerless to help anyone but yourself, and even then it is an illusion. That is the meaning of healing: transmuting negative into positive. I know that Half and Susanne would want us to find comfort and a return of peace to our community as soon as possible. This is how we can.
