Two petition candidates, Peter Robinson '79 and Todd Zywicki '88, are running for seats on the Dartmouth Board of Trustees. While their spirit of democracy is admirable, the substance of their campaigns is alarming. It seems that Robinson and Zywicki are both inclined to mislead their fellow alumni into believing that Dartmouth's soul has abandoned the Hanover plain -- that undergraduates are no longer the focus of a Dartmouth education, that faculty have forsaken teaching for their love of research, that Dartmouth athletes are wallowing in mediocrity, that fraternities and sororities are being boarded up, and that Dartmouth students are now geekish specialists, no longer fit to meet the challenges of the real world.
According to Zywicki, the College must "resist efforts to transform Dartmouth into a research university at the expense of its undergraduate focus." But in speeches to Dartmouth alumni in Chicago and Denver this February, President Wright was clear in stating, "I have regularly insisted that Dartmouth provides the strongest undergraduate education in the country. This is our legacy and this is our ambition -- and this is our niche. Why would we seek to be anyone but Dartmouth College?" The fact is that Dartmouth excels as a pre-eminent undergraduate institution, while striving to be the best in those graduate programs where we choose to compete. This year, Dartmouth attracted more applicants than for any other class in Dartmouth history!
The petition candidates would also lead one to believe that Dartmouth's commitment to teaching is waning, or as Robinson puts it, that "too many [Dartmouth professors] see teaching as a burden they must endure to perform their real work, research." In fact, Dartmouth scores at the very top of U.S. News and World Report's rankings in undergraduate teaching. The reality is that scholarship goes hand in hand with teaching and, in any profession, those who maintain the highest standards of excellence are the most inspiring mentors or teachers. Zywicki himself took two years off from teaching students at George Mason University to work at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission!
The petition candidates, neither of whom was an athlete at Dartmouth, mislead alumni to believe that the College's commitment to athletics is also waning. According to Zywicki, there is "a fundamental misunderstanding of the positive role that athletics can play in educating well-rounded students." While Robinson describes the Dartmouth athletic program as "sunk in mediocrity," our intercollegiate results are largely impressive. Men's soccer won the Ivy League title, and the rugby football team has qualified for the nationals this spring. Men's hockey is ranked 17th nationally and women's hockey is ranked third in the country. Women's basketball is leading the Ivy League and men's basketball is in a three-way tie for second place. The Dartmouth figure-skating team was national champion in 2004!
The petition candidates would also lead one to believe that Dartmouth would prefer to do away with fraternities and sororities, with a call by Zywicki that "the war against the fraternities and sororities must end." President Wright states his position clearly: "Is the College in the middle of a campaign to eliminate or to significantly curtail the Greek system? No, not at all In terms of the fraternities and sororities our goal has been to make them more fully a part of the community rather than apart from the community. Because of the responsiveness of student leaders in these organizations as well as alumni leadership in the corporations, this effort has been largely successful." Most recently, the College chose to re-charter Phi Delta Alpha fraternity.
Not even Dartmouth's good students have escaped the disparaging rhetoric of the petition candidates. Zywicki contends, "Dartmouth traditionally has excelled in its recruitment and education of well-rounded students, cultivating leaders, citizens, and scholars. Dartmouth should restore this commitment and rebuild the spirit and loyalty of students and alumni."
The petition candidates are, to use Robinson's own words, "utterly mistaken" in their disparaging views of the College. Into its third century now, Dartmouth's current leadership has sustained the College's pre-eminence by ensuring that Dartmouth evolves with each generation of Dartmouth students. This mission requires informed and spirited debate. Insurgent trustee campaigns that mislead alumni do not serve this purpose. Alumni should consider the facts carefully and vote their conscience. Yes, "the hill winds are calling."
