"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" might well be the motto that embodies most discussions of class and its significance at Dartmouth.
Amma Bofa '09 rushes out of Reed Hall and across the Green after her final class of the day dissolves. She heads to Collis Cafe, trying to beat the crowd of students that will eventually pile inside awaiting warm omelets and hot soup.
Once inside she takes a quick right to the information desk with a look of focus and determination. For most students the info desk is an endless source of supplies -- paper clips, staplers and pens are seized with relief before racing to a professor's office with a wrinkled essay in hand.
Bofa, a newly promoted manager, will spend the next few hours aiding Collis frequenters with their concerns while simultaneously talking to friends that pass by. It's a highly valued job among Dartmouth's student workforce because its undemanding pace affords the freedom to do homework. Bofa is able to conduct research on her history paper about the social relations between blacks and Jews in the sixties while earning some much-needed cash.
While you'd have to live in a bubble within a bubble (perhaps within another bubble) not to notice some class issues at Dartmouth, soliciting student opinion for this piece proved more difficult than I anticipated.
When I hesitantly asked students, "What are your views on class?" I watched the rapid transformation of blank stares into surprise. Students anticipating a mundane question responded with uncomfortable glances, shifty eyes and peculiar shrugs.
"Discussing class is a difficult conversation for students to have because one has to acknowledge the privileged background they have or how they had to scrape by," Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia said.
The lack of prominent resounding opinions about class on a campus where issues such as racism, the negative representation of women, and sexual assault have become immersed in the common dialogue came as a shock.
"Class is really not as big of an issue at Dartmouth as it is at many other schools. We're really lucky because it rarely comes up," Bofa said. "My group of friends is diverse in terms of class. Some people have parents that are surgeons and lawyers while others are first-generation college students."
According to Bofa she doesn't view her three jobs -- managing Collis, being an Undergraduate Advisor and working as an intern for the Tucker Foundation -- as arduous tasks. They are activities she immensely enjoys. With her tuition fully covered by Dartmouth scholarship grants and additional outside scholarships, any job she holds solely benefits her personal needs.
"I had a reality check freshmen fall when I met my roommate because we were very different. She went to an expensive boarding school while I attended a public school that had dealt with many issues of racism," Bofa said. "So my awareness of racial and class issues in our society was uniquely different from her own."
Despite the soft blue Tiffany boxes that littered her roommate's side of the room as decorations, they became extremely close and are still good friends.
"We learned a lot from one another so it was a great experience getting to know her," Bofa said.
According to Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia, students' unique backgrounds impact their world views.
"What students had and didn't have influences their experience with social class which affects how they experience Dartmouth," she explained.
Student Life's creation of Crossing the Line, a popular program conducted by the Office of Pluralism and Leadership staff for Greek organizations, asks students an assortment of questions that explore class and other social topics.
In the opinion of Amanda Young '09, students should be concerned about their potential for achievement rather than their class.
"I don't believe someone's economic situation or class should or needs to be discussed because no one at Dartmouth, to my knowledge, has made their own money," Young said. "Face it, when someone's talking or bragging about their wealth, they're talking about what Daddy or even Granddaddy accomplished, which has essentially nothing to do with them."
Young expresses the need for college campuses to avoid emphasizing class as a divide among students.
"All of us were selected to come here so we have the opportunity to gain an education that can positively shape our lives. We should focus on that as opposed to how much you have in your trust fund," she said.
This year 46 percent of the Class of 2010 will receive need-based scholarships totaling $14 million. An average scholarship grant is $28,658. Students from families with incomes below $30,000 will receive financial aid packages with no loans, while students with family incomes below $45,000 will be given small loans after the first year.
International students can also receive loans, but their financial need is taken into consideration during admissions.
"I overstated what I could pay in my financial aid applications because I was worried if I didn't it could hurt my chances for acceptance," Mitalee Patil '08 said.
Even with so many Dartmouth students receiving financial aid, over half of the student body can still shell out over $45,000 a year without help -- suggesting a culture of wealth unmatched at many other institutions. Harvard University created a financial aid initiative three years ago that eliminated tuition costs for students with family incomes under $40,000 -- drawing a greater number of applicants from low-income backgrounds. Now approximately 70 percent of its student body receives some combination of financial aid in the form of grants, loans or part-time work.
Although so many students come from affluent environments, it's not immediately evident, and many students feel class is a less visible issue on campus. During the dreary months of Winter term, bundled up students crawl through the snow to reach their classes, and the only essentials are a coat, gloves and boots. Brands and logos are indiscernible to the untrained eye.
"The class divides at Dartmouth are [harder to recognize] because we're in a bubble that's self-contained so it's rarely an issue," Patil said. "If you talk about class or money here then you're pretty jerky."
Julia DeWahl '09 believes class occasionally comes up as an issue when people aren't sensitive to others' situations.
"When you're going out with some friends on the weekends, you can sometimes forget that not everyone can afford to do so," she said.
Other institutions flaunt their wealth more prominently. Some would consider the topic of class at Dartmouth comparatively non-existent in light of the emphasis placed on wealth by students at institutions like the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt and New York University.
USC students are known for jingling their car keys during games against their rival, the University of California at Los Angeles, who have been known to refer to the school as the University of Spoiled Children. The action stresses the disparity in wealth between their expensive private institution and the cheaper state school.
Dartmouth students like DeWahl shy away from such blatant displays. DeWahl may hail from Greenwich, Ct., an exclusive suburb of New York City, but she's quick to separate herself from the negative stereotypes.
"If you're not careful you can fall into that whole way of life and not notice that all these people are driving expensive cars and are members of a country club," DeWahl said. "I'm sure many people think it's a very WASPy community."
Though her parents can afford to pay for her Dartmouth education and she has never had to hold a job on campus, she regards class as an issue that needs to be discussed.
"I don't share many of the similar interests that many people in Greenwich have that expresses their socio-economic class," DeWahl said. "I think people from similar socio-economic classes tend to congregate based on small similarities, but through College activities and classes you get to meet other people."
The Greek system is one such venue, despite common misconceptions.
"Class and money are not a big deal at Dartmouth because people don't care so much," Steve Pan '09 said. "Like at Heorot, where I'm a brother, the treasurer will blitz out about dues and there's an understanding that if you can't pay, it's okay."
Many Dartmouth Greek Organizations provide members with the opportunity to complete varied tasks such as baking cookies or cleaning up to supplement dues.
"I personally don't even know who can't pay for dues or what they have to do instead. It's kept private out of respect for that individual because everyone is on an equal footing," Pan said. "If you're part of the fraternity then you're a brother and we'll help you through anything."
