A recent CNN.com article discussing Dartmouth's recent trustee election ended with this quote by College President James Wright: "For those people who don't like goals that include diversity, that don't include faculty doing scholarship, I'm sorry, but I think those are the best traditions of Dartmouth." What strikes me about this statement is Wright's invocation of tradition. The concept of tradition is a curious one. As Joe Kardon '09 brought to light in his recent student film "On Flux," traditions are more fluid entities than we normally perceive them; they are practices that have become termed "traditions" largely due to the passage of time. This mixture of Kardon's film, Wright's quote and my impending graduation has got me thinking about the traditions of my Dartmouth, what are perhaps new traditions.
From my experience, I've seen my class carry on a tradition of resistance against narrow-mindedness and ignorance. This resistance has taken the form of education, of open dialogues and, when necessary, rallies and speeches. Certainly, some have resisted this resistance itself. But I've known many who have actively participated in raising awareness and combating negative attitudes that poison our community. This is a tradition that I hope continues to drive Dartmouth.
As I look into the future and see Dartmouth kindly asking me for money 20 times a year, I question what traditions of spending will be important to my class. One tradition that must be questioned is the amount spent on athletics. While perhaps a "winning tradition" will remain important to older alumni for whom, say, football games were a rite of passage, I wonder to what extent recent classes will begin to seriously question the College's tradition of athletic spending. This is not to knock athletics. It is rather to suggest that athletics have perhaps played a lesser role in many students' Dartmouth experience than they did in the previous generations'. Thus, future alumni may advocate for more money to be spent on pursuits that they actively pursued at the College.
Another tradition that woke me up many a Dartmouth morning was the constant construction and expansion. Some alumni have already spoken in sharp tongues against the College's efforts on this front. Our class will now have the opportunity to enter our voices into this discussion. Personally, I'm fine with expansion as long as the projects are well managed and, more importantly, new faculty are added to keep the student-to-faculty ratio as low as possible. It's when expansion of place does not coincide with expansion of academic faculty that we must all be concerned.
Some traditions manifest themselves below ground. Take, for example, our illustrious tradition of binge drinking. "Yeah," you say, "every college does the same thing." To an extent, yes. But I've heard the same story many times in my Dartmouth career about the friend who comes to visit and is blown away by the sheer volume of beer consumed during a best of 3 pong series. This is certainly not a tradition that will change inside of Dartmouth. The hope is that, when we leave, our tradition of massive alcohol consumption doesn't become socially unacceptable alcoholism.
Traditions are a necessary part of life. They ensure, according to the adage, that "the more things change, the more they stay the same" -- a thought at once comforting and terrifying. In my opinion, Dartmouth today is still haunted by many harmful traditions of our past that will forever shape the character of this institution. But, as Kardon's film suggests, traditions are always in flux and new ones are always forming. I believe that new traditions have emerged in Dartmouth's recent history, new traditions that make this a better place to live, work and play. I further believe that we, as future Dartmouth alumni, must make sure that traditions we have fostered and enjoyed continue; that those we did not like are questioned and perhaps overthrown. Whichever traditions continue here, let us hope that they reflect a positive character upon Dartmouth and its students. And let us also hope that we will take the best traditions of Dartmouth with us as we create traditions of our own.
