Accountability in a university setting has myriad different applications -- the accountability of students for their actions, the accountability of students to their community and the accountability of an administration for and to its undergraduates. Dartmouth students find themselves held accountable by the College for a number of actions that do not initially seem to fall under the administration's purview and chafe against a number of these restrictions. Furthermore, it often seems as if the administration itself has no similar accountability, or at least no mechanism for enforcing it. The creation of a task force to monitor the Committee on Standards is a step toward creating more trust between students and a judicial system that often seems puzzling and arbitrary. At the same time, students have to accept that being at Dartmouth is a privilege, not a right, and must behave accordingly.
This past week, The Dartmouth has reported on two attempts by students at two different universities to suggest policy changes to their administration. The first is a referendum passed by the student government at the University of Maryland last week recommending that marijuana possession be punished the same way as alcohol abuses. It is an attempt to reduce student accountability for illegal behavior on the grounds that marijuana use is a safe alternative to binge drinking. While these students' concerns for their peers is admirable, such a measure shows a desire to escape responsibility for their actions that is disappointing in supposedly mature college students.
The second attempt occurred at the University of Miami, where a number of students have joined the institution's striking janitors to demand fairer wages. Unlike their peers at the University of Maryland, these students are holding the administration responsible to themselves and to the greater college community. This sort of demand for policy changes is much more admirable, showing students who feel responsible not only for themselves but their community.
In light of the ongoing Student Assembly election, with its many optimistic promises to change College policy, we hope that the reforms suggested and eventually executed reflect the example set by our peers at the University of Miami. These students recognize their responsibility to their community and attempt to hold all members, including the administration, accountable. Such behavior sets a standard to which we should all aspire to be accountable.
