To the Editor:
Mr. Rago's hope in his editorial was to distinguish between "bad" Dartmouth students and "good" ones. Mr. Rago would prefer students who are more like the class of 1967. Mr. Rago believes the admissions department is "allowing the wrong kind of student into this joint," that they should "try to admit more like your class in 1967 and less like my class in 2005." Mr. Rago's idea of the future of Dartmouth is rooted in the past, as he seems ashamed of his fellow classmates, who constitute the most diverse class in the school's history. In contrast to 1967, his fellow classmates include women, minorities and comprise a population where 50 percent of students able to attend Dartmouth thanks to financial aid. Mr. Rago is preserving an ideal that is about 30 years out of date. Mr. Rago's problem is that the students he attacks desire to take Dartmouth's image forward, while Mr. Rago desires to take Dartmouth's image backward in time. Undoubtedly, Mr. Rago would have felt more in place with the Class of 1967, but unfortunately for him Dartmouth is a different place today, and the better for it.
