To the Editor:
I read with interest The Dartmouth's Feb. 15 article, "Derecognized Zete still partying, recruiting," particularly the quotes from Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman. In my view, Redman's actions in the Zeta Psi matter were shameful.
According to Redman, the Zeta Psi newsletter incident was the second infraction that justified the penalty of derecognition. Redman's reasoning is specious in that the people who allegedly engaged in the punished activity in 1987 were not the same people who allegedly did so in 2000. They just happened to be members of the same house. Under Redman's reasoning, if a Zeta Psi member in 1987 and another member in 2000 happened independently to rob the same bank 13 years apart, the person who committed the second robbery would be subject to enhanced criminal penalties because of membership in the same organization. That sort of reasoning, of course, is complete lunacy. No court of law in the real world would dream of enhancing the penalties of the second robber because of the fact that the first robber may have been a member of the same organization at some time in the past.
Inalienable rights and constitutional protections, however, no longer seem to apply at Dartmouth College, and the claims to the contrary by Redman and President of the College James Wright are transparently false. While they would have the student and alumni body believe that the College believes in fairness, their written statements are damning evidence against this. In each of their written releases justifying the Zeta Psi decision, both Wright and Redman claimed that the College doesn't have a speech code. Yet they both stated that First Amendment rights were secondary to "other concerns." The College has a speech code which, while it may not be in writing, is as odious as any used in totalitarian states. The College also has no sense of fundamental fairness and is nothing more than a bully whose whipping boy is the student body.
It is such behavior by the College which has driven the alumni crazy over the last 20 years and cast a pall over the campus noticeable to any visitor or long-term resident. I was in Hanover over what was purported to be Winter Carnival last weekend. Since 1907, Winter Carnival had been a celebration. Last weekend, however, there was a noticeable lack of any sort of celebratory atmosphere. What exactly was that lump of snow on the Green supposed to be? Where were the other snow sculptures? Where were the fraternity sled races? Several local merchants lamented to me that the College had killed Winter Carnival and had destroyed what used to be a great weekend for business.
James Wright and Martin Redman should be ashamed of themselves. But their arrogance and sour attitude blind them to the damage they have done and continue to do. I can only hope that when Redman approaches students to "rat out" the Zeta Psi guys this time that the students will have the courage to tell him to shove off. You still have the right to remain silent. Nobody likes a rat. They are not your friends.
