It seems that everyone is criticizing the administration for its handling of the budget crisis. Some individuals demand more details, others ask for union representation, but Dartmouth students can play more of a role in the College's fiscal crisis than acting as critics. It is time that students recognize their responsibility to the Dartmouth community and propose creative solutions to reduce the budget gap.
With unique backgrounds and unparalleled intellects, students here are certainly capable of producing ideas and solutions that reduce the budget deficit, but an underwhelming number of students have taken the time to contribute to the problem our community faces. It is embarrassing that, as of the Student Budget Forum at the end of January, less than 50 Dartmouth students submitted comments on the College's budget information site. Why so passive, Dartmouth? This passive norm only temporarily fades after the administration makes a decision that aggravates the masses like cutting the varsity swimming and diving teams.
In 2002, Parkhurst abruptly announced that the teams would be cut as a part of College-wide $5 million budget cuts to deal with endowment depreciation. Students from Dartmouth and peer schools reacted with great anger. While this post-decision outcry eventually forced the administration to reverse its decision, a retroactive approach may not always work. In the current budget crisis, students will be more effective when they shape policy in the making. Only students know what is essential to their individual experiences at the College. Playing an active role in shaping the budget reductions can ensure that the results preserve those aspects of student life that Dartmouth students value most.
Besides having a personal stake in the changes the administration enacts, students should feel responsible for contributing to the College's needs. The fact that our campus has the ability to mobilize so quickly around a global problem like the earthquake in Haiti is extremely promising. But just as students care about the people of Haiti and their problems, we must also pay attention to the troubles of the Dartmouth community. Currently, our community is faced with large and potentially damaging financial changes. Students must put their heads together to find ways of reducing the budget deficit while limiting the impact on the heart of Dartmouth the student experience.
Attempting to influence the College's fiscal decisions may appear difficult. The Board of Trustees is still the ultimate decision-maker in these budget cuts. But Parkhurst has stated that it wants to hear our ideas and proposals. At the recent Student Budget Forum Dean Sylvia Spears asked students to visit the College's budget reduction web site and submit specific ideas and proposals.
The burden now falls upon the students to act. Because the administration is considering making changes in all aspects of the College, students have a wide array of policy areas they can influence. A student interested in energy policy can suggest ways to increase the College's energy efficiency. Students can find ways to restructure athletics to reduce the department's expenditures. Older Dartmouth students can propose to remove those aspects of the College they have found unnecessary and wasteful. Maybe someone in the community has an idea on new methods to generate revenue. The possibilities are endless, but time is not.
Up until this point in the policy drafting process, students have failed to step up to the administration's invitation to contribute. Unfortunately, the budget cut process is a ticking bomb little time remains before the final decisions are made. Students should expect the administration to outline broad areas of cuts after this weekend's trustee meeting and should see the weeks that follow as their last window of opportunity.
If the task at hand is left solely to the administration, a similar incident to the swimming debacle may occur. And no one wants that to happen.
