Every Homecoming, we are all reminded of the strength of Dartmouth's alumni base, when hundreds of alums make the pilgrimage to celebrate this cherished tradition. Nothing speaks better of our committed alumni than the generous amount of money they have donated to the College. But lately, there was been a shadow cast over these donations.
Last week, the Chronicle of Higher Education ran an article about how recent graduates at Dartmouth and Cornell University were pressured to donate to their colleges ("2 Ivy League Drives Shame Seniors Who Don't Give," Oct. 24), citing last year's Senior Class Gift campaign and the single student who didn't contribute. The story was later picked up by a number of national newspapers, including The New York Times and Washington Post, where it carried unflattering headlines like "Ivy League students single out peers who don't donate."
The Senior Class Gift has been around for quite some time, but last year, seniors were given an extra incentive to contribute when the Class of 1960 pledged to give an additional $100,000 if all of the seniors donated. Perhaps due to the added stakes, the seniors began an aggressive campaign in which volunteers were assigned a list of friends from whom to solicit donations. According to the Chronicle, with one day until the deadline, there were still 24 seniors who had not donated, and a list of their names began circulating on Blitz. Eventually, that number dwindled to one lone student who stood her ground. Naturally, that person's name soon became public knowledge, and with it came a wave of criticism.
Of course, alumni contributions are pivotal in making Dartmouth what it is, and the money from the Class of 2010 fund will no doubt be put to very good use. Many of the benefits that we take for granted, from comprehensive financial aid to the construction of new buildings, would not be possible if it weren't for the generosity of our alumni. But this generosity needs to be authentic. No students should feel obliged to donate simply because their friends are pushing them to do so or because they risk having their names exposed if they don't.
As important as alumni donations are to the College, we should not be backing someone into a corner and pressuring him or her to give money. In fact, there's a word for that and it isn't "donating." Mass mailings reminding people to contribute are legitimate, but to have people meticulously track down their friends who had not donated and then leak out those names is beyond belief. With this sort of precedent, I won't be surprised if everyone in future senior classes rushes to donate, if nothing else, simply for fear of being "outed" and having their personal choices publicized. Granted, a 100 percent contribution rate is tantalizing, but donations are about people giving back to their school because they are grateful of their experiences here, not about achieving some superficial statistic.
Even more inappropriate is the negativity that the lone holdout senior subsequently received around campus, including on this very page ("Senior Class Rift," June 2), especially since the Class of 1960 nevertheless agreed to donate the full amount. The fact that one student-run website, Little Green Blog, would go so far as to not only publish the holdout's name, but also post a picture of her is horrifying. No matter how much we might disagree, it's insensitive to smear people whose reasons we cannot fully understand for personal decisions. If anything, with a student body as diverse and strong-minded as we have here, we should be tolerant toward dissent.
Ultimately, cases like this reflect poorly on Dartmouth and diminish the countless graduates who have genuinely contributed to this school. We have long prided ourselves on our high alumni-giving rate, but that number should reflect the true alumni sentiment. Few will argue that the vast majority of alums are indeed satisfied with their Dartmouth experiences, and thus, they should be allowed to donate on their own terms. It may be prudent to remind them occasionally how much the College can benefit from their generosity, but we should never "single out" and "shame" graduates into contributing, as the media described. I can't speak for that other Ivy League school that the media talked about, but we're better than this.
