Jacob Baron '10 stated that petition trustee candidate Stephen Smith '88 is "most in touch with student opinion" ("Vote the Issues on Trustee Ballot," Feb. 13). Yet on Feb. 8, Smith attended the Afro-American Society's general body meeting and clearly demonstrated otherwise. Smith's answers to students' questions not only reflected how out of touch he is with Dartmouth and the experiences of current students, but his responses also revealed a lack of research on the specific issues that his platform claims to promote. His responses to students directly contradicted views that he expresses on his blog, raising serious concerns about his sincerity.
On his website, Smith vows "to make sure that students are as free on the Dartmouth campus as off to express sincerely held points of view." This promise is unnecessary and inaccurate. Dartmouth does not have a speech code that censors students from exercising free speech. Students are free to engage in discourse and dialogue without fear of being disciplined. Smith's only example of the College's supposed curtailment of free speech related to the derecognition of Zeta Psi fraternity for publishing an offensive newsletter. In citing this incident, Smith not only underestimated the content of the sexually explicit newsletter but more importantly failed to realize that Zeta Psi was sanctioned for violating Dartmouth's codes of conduct regarding harassment, not offensive speech. As Smith attempted to defend his position, it became clear that in addition to being unknowledgeable about the reason for Zete's derecognition and unfamiliar with the content of the infamous newsletter, he was also quite misinformed about the current status of the fraternity's process towards re-recognition.
His lack of connection to the College was further evidenced as he discussed the present status of Committee on Standards reform. His unawareness about the reform is also apparent on his blog: "After meeting with representatives of the Student Task Force, the acting Dean of the College summarily notified the Student Assembly that the task force's concerns would not even be considered until the next academic year." The recommendations presented by the COS task force were not brushed aside. Rather, administrators, including Acting Dean of the College Dan Nelson and Director of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs April Thompson, have expressed their willingness to review the COS process. However, they are waiting until the Dean of the College position is filled before implementing serious, long-term reform.
At the meeting, Smith maintained that he never criticized College President James Wright, yet he has an entire blog entry devoted to criticizing the Wright administration for impinging upon students' free speech rights. Smith told us that he commends Wright's 2004 convocation speech for reaffirming the College's commitment to protecting free speech, but he significantly downplayed the dissatisfaction that he conveys on his website for Wright's position on this issue.
Further discrepancies appeared between Smith's comments at the meeting and the opinions that he espouses on his website. It appeared that Smith was pandering to his predominately minority audience at Cutter Shabazz by exclaiming his support for the Office of Pluralism and Leadership, affinity housing and affirmative action. If Smith truly cares about these programs, why does he not express his full support for them on his blog? On his website Smith contends that "we need fewer deans and more full-time Dartmouth professors teaching undergraduates." This rhetoric has traditionally been used to target deans in the very positions he claims to support in areas such as OPAL. Smith's apparent unawareness of this implication further demonstrates his disengagement from recent dialogue and activity at the College and raises questions about where he stands on issues of diversity.
Smith's complete disconnection from Dartmouth is reflected in his notable lack of volunteerism at the College, which he blamed on his family obligations. Presumably, he does not feel that the work of a Dartmouth trustee would place a similar demand on his time.
While I appreciate Smith's presence at last week's Afro-American Society meeting, I doubt his capacity to effectively serve on the Board of Trustees. He is inexcusably out of touch and misinformed about the issues and policies that are affecting students at Dartmouth.
