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The Dartmouth
March 28, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Cautiously, groups view revision as opportunity

While campus cultural organizations welcome the prospect of altering Dartmouth's mission statement to emphasize diversity, they hope that the revision will have a practical implication and not simply a symbolic one.

"I think that changing the mission statement of the College can be very powerful," Jeff Garrett '02, an executive board member of MOSAIC, said.

Many of the organizations contacted by The Dartmouth echoed Garrett's statement about the importance of the gesture.

"I think it's a step in making the College promise that the creation of such an atmosphere is one of the College's goals," Reiko Imai '03, president of the Dartmouth Japan Society, said.

Imai, however, was quick to add, "I hope that it will become a reality and not just something stated in words on paper."

Many cultural groups question the College's resolve to make the recommended changes.

"I look forward to seeing the Student Life Initiative follow through with this change and implement policies, programs and other initiatives," Jackson Lee '04, president of the Dartmouth Chinese Cultural Society, said.

"This sort of rhetoric about Dartmouth welcoming diversity and flaunting it in our brochures, [is] not an accurate picture ... diversity is emphasized as a recruitment thing and then once they're here, how satisfying of an experience is it?" Garrett asked.

In explaining the need to amend the mission statement, the Committee on Institutional Diversity and Equity cited a 1998 Dartmouth survey that found that 20 percent of the student body reported feeling rejected by students whose racial or ethnic background differed from their own. The situation was especially acute for African-American students, 35 percent of whom registered such alienation.

Tom Jeong '02, president of the Korean American Students Association, said the past year has been a turning point at the College in terms of diversity.

"When I was a freshman, Dartmouth wasn't really known to the Asian community outside of Dartmouth, and it wasn't that appealing," Jeong explained. "But now that Dartmouth is trying to promote diversity, I think it is showing results. This past year, the number of Asian students enrolled has risen a lot."

The organizations emphasized that improving the campus is not solely the administration's responsibility, but the students' as well.

"I think [changing the mission statement] is effective in addressing these issues from the top down ... but I feel like some of the organizations, like MOSAIC, can attack from the bottom up," Garrett said.

Garrett suggested that a revision of the mission statement will practically benefit many student organizations. "I think that changing the mission statement of the College can be very powerful when we are trying to get funding for an event because it will be directly in line with the mission of the College."

"It will make our job a lot easier from the funding point of view," Jeong agreed. "It invites the entire campus to come together and learn about the Korean culture."

Imai suggested that any revision of the mission statement be complemented with student-initiated activities. "I think we all feel that diversity is an issue that students don't think or talk enough about ... maybe we could have more retreats where students have a chance to talk about diversity."

If there is a consensus among diversity groups about altering the mission statement, it centers on a belief that revision is a necessary, but insufficient, first step.

"In my opinion, including diversity in the mission statement is a good idea -- it allows potential students to see that the organizations within the College are making a conscious effort to make Dartmouth a welcoming environment," Allyson Wendt '02, co-chair of the Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance, said,

Imai reflected, "I personally think [Dartmouth]'s not very diverse," adding: "To put it in a more optimistic way, I think there can be more done to make things better."