It is a little namby-pamby to say that Convocation ought to be a welcoming experience for freshmen. The '09s have received those fat admissions letters, gone on their DOC trips, and moved into their dorms; Convocation is merely the formal welcome. They've been welcomed a lot. But it is a Dartmouth College formality, and it deserves to be treated as such. It should be a respectful celebration and a welcoming for the new students into the Dartmouth community as we kick off the new school year.
Which is why I was appalled and disappointed at Student Body President Noah Riner's fire-and-brimstone remarks at Convocation. Riner's decision to turn Convocation into a religious pulpit was a disservice to Dartmouth. Instead of welcoming the community and offering up the nominal subject of his speech ("character"), Riner focused on how "Jesus ... is the solution to flawed people like corrupt Dartmouth alums, looters, and me."
For those that missed the speech (read it on the College's website), Riner first detailed several Dartmouth alumni that became murders or rapists. Instead of following this unusual course by pointing out that many Dartmouth graduates become brilliant humanitarians and contributors to society, the speech instead focused on the looters and criminals who emerged in the chaotic wake of Hurricane Katrina. Riner discourteously and strangely lumped the Class of 2009 in with these people. Riner followed this digression from the nominal topic with a sermon about Jesus as a paragon of character and as our savior.
It is fine to believe whatever you want, but Convocation is neither the time nor the place to proselytize: "He gave His life for our sin so that we wouldn't have to bear the penalty of the law; so we could see love. The problem is me; the solution is God's love: Jesus on the cross, for us." The problem is not with Riner's strong faith and convictions (Riner, for all who know him, is a tremendous man and a leader in the community), but with the casual disrespect for the diversity of the captive audience.The audience deserved something more respectful and appropriate, perhaps even a speech that sought to reach out to them. A speech about criminals, looters and salvation through Jesus is fine and dandy behind a pulpit but inappropriate at Convocation. Consider how you would feel if your professor made these remarks during class. Just as there is a certain structure to what is appropriate for the classroom, there are certain areas of discussion that are appropriate for Convocation.
During Riner's student body presidential campaign (full disclosure: I ran against Noah last spring), he often would iterate his ability to represent the diverse Dartmouth community, such as Greeks, athletes and minority groups. In his Tuesday Convocation speech, he did just the opposite.
In fact, Riner missed an opportunity to point out two of the great values that Dartmouth can offer its newest students: inclusiveness and individuality. We are a community that welcomes and respects all its members, no matter your creed.
Students can and should be able to find the forum to discuss whatever they wish. But when you have a captive audience, at Convocation, and you are the representative of the student body to the new freshmen, families, faculty and guests, you are obliged to be respectful and decorous.
The theme of the remarks, overshadowed by his sermonizing, was character. Challenging the new freshmen to develop their character is important. But Jesus would not have wanted to make new students feel unwelcome, to make faculty feel uncomfortable or to make alumni question whether this was the same Dartmouth that they had attended.
To anyone else offended by the speech, I say two things: forget about it, and welcome to Dartmouth. The '09 class will have a tremendous four years here, and you don't need to decide whether Jesus is your savior. Most of us will like and appreciate you anyway.
