Arguing that "human wealth" will sustain Dartmouth through the current economic crisis, College President James Wright, now in the last sixth months of his presidency, looked back on his tenure in a 10-year report, "Forever New," released Monday. The report addresses the College's current financial situation and discusses Wright's legacy at Dartmouth in academics, admissions, construction and athletics, among other areas.
"I think the College is in very strong condition," Wright said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "It's troubling to be spending my 11th year as president engaging in a whole range of reductions and [limiting] expense growth. It might take the edge off some of the things we've accomplished, but we will not reduce the very good quality of the faculty and the students in this competitive age."
Wright called on members of the Dartmouth community to remember that "the size of the bank account is not what makes Dartmouth strong," but to consider the College's human assets.
"My understanding is that Dartmouth's historic strength is not the result of ever having surplus financial resources, but instead is the result of having remarkable human wealth in students, faculty, staff, alumni/ae, parents and friends -- what I have described as the true endowment of Dartmouth," Wright wrote in the report. "This wealth will sustain Dartmouth through yet another economic downturn."
The report also states that Dartmouth faced a situation similar to the current economic downturn when Wright first came to the College as a history professor 40 years ago, during the stock market slump of the late 1960's. Then-College President John Sloan Dickey made a major commitment to enhance financial aid and strengthen the faculty, areas that Wright has promised to protect from the upcoming $40 million budget cuts.
Wright said he will preserve the College's new financial aid policy, enacted last year, which eliminated loans, offered free tuition to students whose families earn less than $75,000 per year, and extended need blind admissions for international students. Financial aid is crucial to maintain the academic quality of admitted students, he said. Since 1998, undergraduate applications have increased by 63 percent, allowing the College to be more selective, Wright explained.
One section of the report was dedicated to the College's ongoing capital campaign, which Wright said has been successful thus far: the campaign raised $1.12 billion between November 2004 and November 2008. Although it is unclear whether the campaign will reach its goal of $1.3 billion by the end of 2009 given the current economic climate, more than 67 percent of alumni have contributed to the campaign.
"We're likely to be facing, next year, a far tougher environment to raise money," Wright said in the interview. "But I am confident that Dartmouth graduates and friends will step up this year to help, though they might not be able to do as much as they might want to."
The College's endowment has more than doubled during Wright's tenure, growing from $1.5 billion in 1998 to $3.6 billion in 2008. The Dartmouth College Fund, which supports Dartmouth's annual operating costs, has increased from $16 million to $42 million, the report says.
In the report, Wright also praised Dartmouth's approximately 69,000 living alumni for their dedication and financial support.
He defended recent decisions by the College's Board of Trustees to change its structure. These decisions have resulted in alumni lawsuits and have politicized elections for the College's alumni organizations.
"Although there may be disagreements among us, the affection alumni/ae feel for Dartmouth is reinforced time and time again," Wright wrote. "I regret that during the last several years this natural form of alumni/ae engagement has been marked by a polarization among some alumni/ae around perceptions of College policy and, more immediately, governance."
The report also focused on academic trends at the College. The faculty of arts and sciences has increased from 380 full-time professors at the beginning of Wright's tenure to 439 today, reducing the student to faculty ratio from 10:1 to 8:1.
The increase in the number of faculty members has translated into more independent work done by undergraduates and increased research by professors, according to Wright.
Wright also lauded the success of Dartmouth's graduate schools, asserting that Dartmouth Medical School, the Tuck School of Business and the Thayer School of Engineering lead research and education in several fields, and are consistently ranked among top graduate schools in the country. The growth of these institutions permits more opportunities for undergraduates, due to cooperation between the College and the graduate schools, he said.
Dartmouth has also made great strides in the out-of-classroom experience, according to the report, which noted an increase in campus diversity. Twenty percent of the Class of 2002 were students of color, compared to 36 percent of the Class of 2012, according to the report. Dean of the College Tom Crady's work to increase the number of cultural groups on campus and Wright's own work with military veterans were also highlighted in the report.
"Today Dartmouth is a far richer, less homogeneous place, one that operates around the year and around the world, and our affiliated schools have become exceptional professional schools," Wright wrote in the report.
A comparison between the results of the Class of 1998 and Class of 2008 senior surveys found increased student satisfaction in all out-of-classroom areas, including athletics, housing, dining and student organizations. Wright also recognized that the contentious Student Life Initiative, launched in February 1999, made certain early mistakes in focusing on the Greek system too heavily.
"I have worked closely with many [Coed, Fraternity and Sorority] leaders over the years, and what I asked of them in 1999 was to live up to their own values, to work hard to become part of the broader community rather than exist apart from it," Wright wrote. "I told them that if they did this work, I would support them. They have followed through, and so have I."
Some of the greatest changes in the last 10 years have occurred to Dartmouth's physical campus, Wright said, with the completion of several renovations of athletic and academic facilities. Wright's presidency also saw the construction of several new buildings, including the McLaughlin Residential Cluster, Kemeny Hall and the Haldeman Center.
The title of the report comes from Wright's inaugural address in September 1998, in which he called for Dartmouth to remain proud of its traditions, while constantly evolving and remaining "forever new."
"In the report, I tried to use several themes of my inaugural address," Wright said in the interview. "Not everything over the past 10 years was strategically planned for, and we responded to situations and opportunities as they occurred, but the basic objectives and underlying values are the same."
In 2003, Wright released a five-year report, which prioritized building a strong community and acting as a good neighbor to residents of Hanover and the Upper Valley.
Dartmouth today must instead address the increasingly globalized world by preserving its numerous foreign-study programs and becoming a more sustainable, environmentally friendly institution, Wright said.
