With "brains in their head[s]" and "feet in their shoe[s]," the graduating Class of 2001 will be presented today with the proverbial Seussian expanse of limitless opportunities for the future. But what might this future hold for the first graduating class of the new millennium?
Many, echoing Christian Hummel '01's sentiment that "the College is in the midst of an identity crisis," predicted sweeping changes for Dartmouth's third century in existence.
Citing the polarization of discussion surrounding graduate research versus undergraduate teaching and social versus academic life, most seniors cited the next five years as a pivotal transition period as changes promised by 1999's controversial Student Life Initiative come to fruition.
Ying Li '01 predicted the ultimate downfall of the Greek system within the next two decades, and Candace Adams '01 suggested that it might be replaced with interest-based affinity housing to bridge what she views as an entrenched ethnic and gender gap on campus. Jennifer Harsey '01 proposed that all residential clusters might become more like East Wheelock in their coalition of residential and academic life.
Adams said that within the next few decades she hopes to see Dartmouth become "truly coeducational."
"I feel that the College admitted women without really integrating them into them into the system," she explained, adding that increasing numbers of female alumnae could reverse this trend in the future.
Darby Green '01 cited recent increases in cell phone use and updated fashion trends as evidence that, despite its rural location, the College will continue to become more connected to the outside world.
Outside of Dartmouth, some seniors said that, in the next hundred years, they anticipate flying cars, human cloning and nanotechnology. Others augured environmental degradation and nuclear war.
Harsey predicted that the future might bear some similarity to "The Jetsons" cartoon, a childhood memory of the '01s, in terms of technology. A possible future graduation gift could be a trip to the moon or Jupiter, she suggested.
Li predicted the discovery of a cure or vaccine for lethal diseases such as AIDS or cancer, and Jason Harris '01 mentioned human cloning as a hot topic of exploration.
Jared Frye '01 said current engineering research may help computers to work more like the human body, as in organic computing and nanotechnology.
Yet, as the world discovered with the advent of the nuclear age in 1945, technological advance is not without potential drawbacks. Most seniors cited serious ethical implications of increased technology that the world will have to deal with in the next hundred years.
"Cloning will be a huge ethical issue," Brian Richardon '01 said, questioning the morality of duplicating human embryos.
Paul Biggs '01 forecasted a possible population explosion as the newly revealed secrets of the human genome allow humans to cure genetic defects and avoid disease.
Harsey predicted that, as technology advances, the divide between the "haves" and the "have-nots" will continue to widen, and Adams said the competition for rapidly depleting natural resources could cause international strife and warfare.
Green questioned the ability of current revenue and copyright laws in the music industry to keep up with the fast-paced development of entertainment technology, such as the free downloads offered by the Napster company.
Neither Biggs nor Hummel saw big political change at hand. According to Biggs, political parties are "getting so similar, in 50 years it might be hard to tell them apart."
"I think the politics of the future will be extremely boring," Hummel said, citing politicians' recent "dives toward the middle.
Most seniors contended that the world will continue to become a smaller place.
Harris cited the entertainment industry as evidence of the coalescing ideas, where American hip hop is already fusing with traditional Indian and Asian music to create new auditory euphony.
Yet although the future may be uncertain, one thing is for sure. Whatever it holds, according to Hummel, the Class of 2001 will "certainly be a part of it" in terms of leadership and intellectual contributions.
Richardson was a bit less idealistic.
"We'll either be working on developing the changes ... or trying to make money off them," he said.
