The inimitable specter of the "town hall meeting" has, over the course of the past few years, overrun anyone with even a modicum of interest in politics. Back before the New Hampshire primary in January 2008, candidates like John Edwards and John McCain came to our Hopkins Center to talk "directly to the people." Controversy raged last summer after then-presumptive Republican nominee McCain challenged his Democratic rival to a series of town hall debates. The phenomenon took such hold that even the mayor of my New Jersey hometown has come to boast of the "14 town hall meetings" he has held (all sparsely attended and woefully under-promoted) since taking office.
Yet, despite the endless use of this staged campaign event, the town hall meeting still can make one final, positive appearance here at Dartmouth.
President-elect Jim Yong Kim has impressed and even inspired many members of the Dartmouth community since he was announced as Jim Wright's successor. But despite his accomplishments and his well-received speech in March, Dr. Kim has spent little time actually talking to Dartmouth students -- a task that could be easily achieved through a series of open, town hall-style forums over the next couple months.
As The Dartmouth reported on Friday ("Scherr outlines Kim's transition," April 10), Kim plans to visit campus a whopping "three times prior to his inauguration." Provost Barry Scherr sounded exceedingly confident that those few meetings would be enough for Kim to "start to get familiar with the issues we face on campus."
Certainly, Kim's responsibilities at Harvard Medical School and at Brigham and Women's Hospital require a substantial amount of his time before he abdicates those posts. But it would be unacceptable for the President-elect to be anything but fully versed in campus issues and, to borrow another campaign phrase, "ready to hit the ground running on day one."
Our beloved 240-year-old college rests at an educational, institutional and financial crossroads, unlike any that has been seen in many years. For President-elect Kim to become the single most influential member of the College -- the navigator of our uncharted future -- without having a thorough understanding of the institution's esteemed employees, its unruly alumni, its budgetary unease and especially its tuition-paying students, seems irresponsible at best.
Kim's planned trips to Hanover, in which he will meet prospective students, faculty committees and one or two "yet to be determined" student groups, are a positive start. But a few closed-door appointments cannot begin to represent the vast range of opinions and subjects that the future president should discuss and take into consideration. The only opportunity for truly open communication would be a campus-wide town hall meeting.
For the McCain and Obama campaigns, town hall events provided an easy chance to reiterate talking points to local audiences, while maintaining a facade of listening and interaction.
Here at Dartmouth, where the president-elect's term hasn't even begun, and where some students only know of his opinions through the two-minute clips on the College's YouTube page, Kim would be wise to set up such an event just to listen to the various interests and issues that matter to students.
Dr. Kim's credentials suggest that he could be an innovative, even visionary leader for this campus. Yet without the input of the students, his constituents, in helping to understand the true nature of today's Dartmouth, he will never be able to implement new ideas and plot a successful course for the College.
It's time to open up to the Dartmouth "town" and listen. Who knows, we might even learn something too.
