I'm going to start with a supposition that I think is eminently reasonable and work my way from there. If, at some point, you decide you disagree with the conclusions that I leap to, that's fine. You can disembark my train of thinking and we can part ways with no hard feelings.
But I do think we can all start on common ground. So here's my reasonable supposition: Dartmouth is in the knowledge business.
Sure, that's a simplification. Dartmouth does other things as well. The College supports student athletics, sponsors cultural opportunities and performances, and feeds and houses its students. And so on.
Along the same lines, Wal-Mart offers oil changes, laser eye surgery and wedding registries. But Wal-Mart is still in the retail business.
So Dartmouth's business is knowledge -- creating new knowledge through scholarship and research, and imparting knowledge to the students who study here.
But whereas Wal-Mart specializes in good deals, Dartmouth's knowledge comes at a premium, both for the alumni and grant givers who help underwrite it, and for the students who plunk down around $150,000 each to receive it.
That large chunk of money also buys the athletic, cultural and social opportunities that come with a Dartmouth education. But given the availability of gym memberships and theater tickets and breakfast sandwiches elsewhere at much more reasonable prices, I think students who pay the $40,000 a year ought to expect top-caliber teaching and learning to be front and center among College services.
But Dartmouth students don't seem to act that way. Unfortunately, I can't say why or offer a simple solution. All I can do is shake my head and wonder: Where is our concern about the quality of our own educations? Where is the outrage over the low position that academics seems to occupy in Dartmouth's current set of priorities?
In the short time I have been at Dartmouth, the College has eliminated two whole academic programs " Human Biology and Speech. In year-end surveys, students rated Human Biology as their favorite department. Speech courses were always filled to the cap, with more students languishing on waiting lists. These were two programs that deserved to be expanded, not eliminated under the pretense of saving an absolute pittance.
Did students speak out? Did we demand an explanation of the College's inexplicable budget priorities, or the restoration of these two academic programs? No. We hardly raised a finger.
This year, like every other year, oversubscription locks students out of the courses they need to make the most of their Dartmouth educations. The problem extends from introductory surveys and prerequisites all the way up to senior seminars. More and more students are basing scheduling decisions around when they can get into classes rather than which classes best suit their academic needs.
So do students demand the hiring of more professors and the offering of more classes? No. We grumble our predictable grumbles at the start of each term and then drop the issue.
Now a wave of senior professors and directors are leaving Dartmouth. Not just because they have found different opportunities elsewhere " those kinds of losses are inevitable " but because, in the words of departing music professor Jon Appleton, "It's very sad to see this kind of decline in the intellectual strength of the institution." A decline exemplified by grade inflation, rising class sizes and fleeing faculty.
Are students concerned about these problems? Are we willing to fight to maintain the quality of our undergraduate education at Dartmouth? Not really. We'd rather get some new blitz computers, or overhaul the keg policy " worthy efforts.
And that's what is so baffling about the whole problem. Dartmouth students aren't incapable of organizing to fight against the College's short-minded policies, as was seen my freshman year.Students responded passionately (or, to use a friend's more colorful description, went apesh*t) over the College's decision to eliminate the swimming team. There were protests on the Parkhurst steps. Alumni were contacted for moral and financial support. Students fought and won a battle over an extracurricular activity.
It's about time that students showed the same willingness to fight for the quality of their core curricular activities as well. After all, Dartmouth is in the knowledge business, and we are paying premium price for our educations. If we don't insist that the College maintain the quality of its product, the only people who get fleeced are us.