By the time I attended the Dimensions weekend at Dartmouth as a senior in high school, I was already aware that Dartmouth social life was defined by alcohol. I wasn't ideologically opposed to drinking, nor am I now. I don't take issue at all with people at Dartmouth who choose to drink. I do feel uneasy, however, about the administration's attitude towards drinking. For an administration that claims to be moving Dartmouth away from its former Animal House-esque image, it seems strange that it would condone public displays of alcohol-centered life.
There are several issues that I have with the way this school presents its attitude towards alcohol; for example, I don't understand why Keggy the Keg is allowed to run around at football games (Keggy was even once featured on ESPN). But what most exemplified to me the administration's lenience was the snow sculpture during Winter Carnival. At the time, I thought the name of the sculpture -- "Captain Keggy's Carnival Cruiser" -- seemed cute, but I also remember being surprised that the administrators involved with the event would allow that kind of showcasing of the less tasteful side of social life at Dartmouth. After all, Winter Carnival and the unveiling of the snow sculpture were events attended not only by students, but also by Hanover residents and their children. It was, in a word, embarrassing.
Of course, this all occurred back in February. But during a retreat event this past weekend at which administrators were our guests for lunch, a discussion arose between students and Dean of the College for Administration Marcia Kelly about this very question. I decided to pursue the question of alcohol and the administration by talking to various students and administrators.
Some students that I talked to, drinkers and non-drinkers, didn't agree with my critique of the sculpture; "It did win the vote, and it won by a fair amount," says Jeff Woodward '06. Many others actually did believe that it was an incorrect choice to showcase alcohol in this way. The attitude is summed up well by Dan Mahoney '08: "I enjoy a good joke or witty name just as much as the next guy, but I was embarrassed by 'Captain Keggy's Carnival Cruiser.' It was a bad call."
"A bad call" is right. When jokes about alcohol come into conflict with the public interests of the College, public interests must take priority. This issue also highlights the great divide between the drinkers and the non-drinkers at Dartmouth. There is a significant contingent of students here who simply don't drink. There are many more students who drink occasionally and not excessively. This population is invisible and unheard, and the public glorification of Dartmouth's alcohol culture may only make this surprisingly substantial portion of the student body feel even more alienated.
The problem of the snow sculpture is undoubtedly a tricky one. As Dean of First Year Students Gail Zimmerman pointed out, my opinion about this issue treads on dangerous ground when free speech is taken into account. And Kelly believes that "it's much better to have a name many of us object to" than to have the administration dictate the rules. There is no speech code on campus, which is good in many ways; indeed, the ability of students to have a significant say in college policy is something that Dartmouth rightfully prides itself on. The line between administration intervention and censorship is surely a fine one. But a line nevertheless must be drawn. I propose that when a display of alcohol is deliberately representative of the College, as in the case of the snow sculpture, then, and only then, should the administration intervene. If the administration allowed "Captain Keggy" to be posted all over the front page of the Dartmouth website (as it was), they might as well advertise to prospectives with the slogan: "Dartmouth: Come Here for Keystone."
Most of the reasons why alcohol is so prevalent at Dartmouth are outside of anyone's control; we cannot change the fact that we are isolated from any city, which would provide more social options and take the emphasis off of Greek organizations. This doesn't mean we should not focus on those aspects of drinking at Dartmouth that we can control. As a start, we should try to improve the way we present our situation. The snow sculpture may seem insignificant, but it is undeniable that there is a huge difference between admitting that alcohol is overprevalent at Dartmouth and celebrating that overprevalence. If the administration is content with being associated with kegs and Keystone, so be it. But if it wants the Dartmouth student body and community as a whole to be seen as a college that includes a normal balance of drinkers and non-drinkers, and on a par with other Ivy League, top-notch institutions, it has a responsibility to step in and keep things sober.
