As College President James Wright likes to explain whenever the opportunity arises, every student at the College, regardless of how much he or she -- or their parents, most likely -- pays to attend Dartmouth, is on financial aid. The logic of his assertion, recently made in a 2003 address to the General Faculty, is pretty straightforward: "Full" tuition (i.e. just the portion paid for classes) is in the neighborhood of $30,000 per year. The cost of educating one student, in class, for one year (assumed to be three academic terms), is between $60,000 and $65,000. So in the best case scenario -- a student paying every dime asked for by the College -- that student is still only covering about 50 percent of his tuition. The balance of the cost is covered by generous alumni contributions to the Annual Fund, a fact that far too many students take for granted, without so much as a simple word of thanks.
So then I have to wonder: What would this body of 66,000 alumni, who selflessly give tens of millions of dollars every year so that students like you and me can attend this hallowed institution, say about a rally, a College-sponsored rally, for which students are explicitly encouraged to cut class, effectively wasting a portion of those donations? I cannot imagine they would be overwhelmed.
The numbers are fairly inconsequential here, but for the sake of providing additional context, here we go:
Tuition for one term is roughly $20,000 (half from the student, half from donations). A Monday, Wednesday, Friday class will meet 30 times in one term, at cost of $666.66 per meeting, $333.33 of which is covered by donations. Assuming there are 3,000 students on this term -- I suspect there are more, but better to err on the low side -- if every student cuts one class, per the suggestion of the protest advertisements, the total cost of wasted donations comes to $1,000,000 (3,000 multiplied by $333.33).
By my estimation, the reason every student is at Dartmouth is to receive an education in the classroom. As such, liberal arts instruction from some of the most qualified faculty in the world would seem to be the primary mission of the College. Critics will quickly reply, "Education occurs outside of the classroom as well, blah blah blah." I could not agree more and will readily acquiesce on this point. However, at the end of the day, we pay for the education in the classroom, not outside of it. Granted, we pay a token amount for association with College-sanctioned organizations, but nowhere will one find "Menial Immigration Protest at the Expense of Classes" among the College's missions.
Why, then, would College-backed offices and organizations explicitly condone, nay, encourage, an activity such as this afternoon's protest that is completely antithetical to the College's primary objective? I have struggled for days now as I attempt to ascertain what vested interest The Italian Club, National Society of Black Engineers and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority have in undocumented workers that they feel the need to encourage students to cut class and waste generous donations. I have my theories, but since each of these organizations receives allocations from the College to spend as they please, I'll let it slide. More puzzling, and more alarming, is the advertised backing by the Office of Pluralism and Leadership, and the Center for Women and Gender. Both of these offices exist solely by decree (and sponsorship) of the College administration, and, as such, one would hope they would do their best to promote the College's own mission. Instead, they are running directly counter to it, for incomprehensible, and as yet undeclared, reasons that I'm sure the student and alumni bodies would very much like -- and deserve -- to hear. (N.B.: I have heard rumors of some of these organizations repealing their sponsorship, though all were listed in the most recent version of the blitz advertisement, and no declarative statement has been forthcoming from any organization on this matter.)
Personal reservations regarding this cause aside, I recognize what the protest organizers are trying to do, and back their right to do so. However, the staggering cost to people that most of us will never even meet necessitates a reevaluation of this rally, and most certainly OPAL and CWG's potential backing of it. There are plenty of good ways to get a message out that do not involve wasting a million dollars of generous benefactors' money. I understand that this afternoon's event is in concurrence with similar demonstrations across the nation; however, that is still a shaky defense of the cost it will entail. I'm certain that holding the event a few hours later, after most are out of class, will disseminate the message just as well, and there will be no ill will from other demonstrators throughout the country.
Alas, such is not the case, but I know that I, for one, will be in class all day today, making these generous donations worthwhile for myself and those who gave them, and I hope that most other students will have the good sense to do the same.
