To the Editor:
After spending the better part of the last three years neck-deep in muck of alumni governance and bickering (which I wouldn't recommend to anybody), I quickly grew to appreciate the fact that a 90-hour-per-week job makes it a lot easier to stick my head in the sand and ignore all of it. I figured that not getting fired in the first three months of my job was worth my efforts more so than writing angry letters which would fall on deaf ears. More importantly, I find the whole ordeal incredibly petty, on both sides.
Do I think the Governance Committee made the right decision? No. Do I believe Ed Haldeman '70, Christine Bucklin '84, et al. are acting like children who want to change the rules of a playground kickball game simply because they're losing? Absolutely. But can anything besides national embarrassment for the College come from alumni suing their own alma mater? Not a chance.
The above paragraph represents the extent of my sentiments on this matter -- except for one point. Time and again, Alumni Relations and other administrative offices have spun the record participation and donation of the Class of 2007 as an absolute vote of confidence, an expression of students believing that everything is just hunky-dory with the College. In his op-ed on Tuesday ("Listen to the Voiceless," Oct. 3), Daniel Belkin '08 cited it in the most egregious manner, declaring that dipping into a bank account is the only way to show satisfaction with the College.
I'm tired of seeing this point recycled over and over with no context. I made a rather significant donation to the Senior Class Gift (and have a very nice letter from President Wright on my desk, acknowledging as much), but it had nothing to do with my sentiments about the direction of the College. My reason for giving was simple: All money raised from the SCG goes towards financial aid. I had a hell of a time at Dartmouth and I think anyone else should be able to as well, regardless of his or her financial means. Nothing more, nothing less. And certainly nothing to do with where I feel the College may be headed. I am confident that other students each had their own respective and unique reasons for giving. For Belkin or any employee of the College to continuously cite class gift participation as a universal vote of approval is both shortsighted and disingenuous. In the future, please refrain from making assumptions about students' motivations, particularly when using them as weak evidence to support your own case.