To the Editor:
Emmett Hogan '01 ends an August 8 letter with, "Our dollars are our only leverage; let's use them." In so doing, he exemplifies the narrow-minded, petty and largely misinformed perspective of many College students and alumnae who rail against the current administration in a frenzied attempt to maintain tradition and dispossess the College of its forward-thinking and progressive elements.
Mr. Hogan makes it quite clear that he does not understand the changing nature of the student body. Gone are the days when all Dartmouth graduates could throw money around to exert influence on administrators. Today, half of Dartmouth's student body receives some type of financial assistance and my best guess is that these students would sooner use their money to pay back loans than to blackmail the administration into keeping the keg jump.
In response to Mr. Hogan's suggestion that disenchanted persons email College President James Wright with threatening ultimatums, I have a far more constructive suggestion: email President Wright and tell him that, whether or not you are in a position to support the College fiscally, you support his efforts to maintain the intellectual and academic caliber that have, for centuries, defined Dartmouth and made it great.
