Editor's Note: This is the first installment in a three-part series investigating race at the College.
The Dartmouth College Charter states that, "there be a College erected in our said Province of New Hampshire by the name of DARTMOUTH COLLEGE for the education & instruction of Youth of the Indian Tribes in this Land in reading, writing & all parts of Learning which shall appear necessary and expedient for civilizing & christianizing Children of Pagans." Through the College's evolution from that 1769 document to today when the College is led by a Korean-American College President Jim Yong Kim students and staff have continued to engage in activism and sought to increase the diversity of the student body, often challenged by those opposed to such change.
The Charter's expressed goal of educating Native Americans was not fully embraced until 200 years after it was written, though attempts to promote diversity have been made throughout history. Edward Mitchell, the first black Ivy League student, for example, was a member of the Class of 1828, but consistent endeavors to increase the diversity of the community emerged only in the early part of the 20th century.
In a 1921 decision "that still defines Dartmouth's admissions," the Board of Trustees advised the College to become more holistic when admitting students, former College President James Wright said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
"I don't think anyone learns very much from being with people you're like," Wright said. "Part of learning is to be with people who will question you."
A February 1951 referendum passed by the Dartmouth student body compelled fraternities to change their constitutions by eliminating all racial clauses barring minority students from joining, according to the website of coeducational fraternity Alpha Theta.
Although most fraternities in the country maintained discriminatory policies until the 1960s, Alpha Theta then Theta Chi broke off from its national organization in protest of the clauses, according to the organization's website. This break was one of the first examples in the country of a fraternity deciding to voluntarily split from its national affiliation over a racial clause, according to Alpha Theta president Mark O'Horo '11.
Protest continued throughout the 1960s an era during which coeds spoke out against the "Dartmouth Animal" of hypermasculinity, student and professor activists opposed the Vietnam War, and the Afro-American Society burned a white dummy after protesting a speech given by a South African apartheid official.
In their early stages, efforts to increase diversity at the College focused on the retention and recruitment of black men. From 1968 to 1973, the number of applications from black individuals increased from 39 in 1968 to 94 in 1973. In that same period, the number of African Americans admitted to the College increased from 28 to 49, while the number matriculating rose from 14 to 29.
In the fall of 1963, a member of the Board of Trustees began "Project A Better Chance (ABC)," a pre-college education program that aimed to "bring Negroes and others from disadvantaged circumstances to the campus for intensive summer study," The Dartmouth reported in 1964.
"I was an ABC student before college," Gary Love '76 said in an interview. "It caused me to love Dartmouth before I even started applying to college."
An experimental "Ten College Exchange Program" enrolled 68 women six of whom were black in the College for one year, beginning in the fall of 1965.
After the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in April 1968, the Board of Trustees created the Committee on Equal Opportunity to address community concerns about the "problems of racism, riots and [the nature of] aid to Negroes," The Dartmouth reported. The "McLane Report" identified practical benefits that would come from actively pursuing a "racially diverse student body," including a chance for "healthy contact" between black and white students.
The writers of the McLane Report noted that these benefits were equally applicable to other disadvantaged groups, including Native Americans, "the rural poor white of Appalachia or the Upper Valley, or the urban white slum dweller," according to a separate 1993 report.
The McLane Report also advocated recruiting black faculty members and administrators; developing programs in financial aid, student counseling and employee relations; and establishing an "Afro-American Cultural Center."
"In that time, blacks came from segregated high schools," Sedrick Tydus '74 said. "No one knew how to interact with each other."
Cutter-Shabazz residence hall housed 30 students and served as a common meeting place for black students, Tydus said. The Afro-American Society which operated out of Cutter-Shabazz was formed in 1969 as a study group to improve the academic performance of black students on campus, according to Tydus.
Students viewed French professor John Rassias as a "champion" for the black community because he encouraged minority students to apply for the newly-created Foreign Study Programs, according to Tydus, who participated in a program in Senegal.
"He was instrumental in making us feel included," Tydus said.
When the "Black Studies Program" began in 1969, coordinator Robert McGuire discussed the problem of attracting qualified professors, focusing on the fact that "the top men in the field generally want to remain at predominantly black colleges" rather than isolating themselves in non-urban New Hampshire.
A month later, Ronald Talley '69 was appointed counselor to black and disadvantaged students in the Office of Research and Counseling and sought to address the higher educational problems of disadvantaged students, The Dartmouth reported.
Diversity after the 1960s
In the early 1970s, Asian-American students spoke out against American aggression in Southeast Asia, Native Americans protested the use of the Indian mascot and a group of 40 black students prevented Nobel laureate William Shockley from delivering a speech on genetic differences between blacks and whites.
During this decade, the administration of then-College President John Kemeny presided over extensive changes, including active recruitment of minority students, the addition of year-round enrollment to accommodate the matriculation of women in September 1972 and a renewed focus on Native American education.
The College's original charter to educate Native Americans had thus far been almost neglected, as only 19 Native American students had graduated from the College by the 1970s, according to the Native American Program's website.
"In my second year here, the faculty chair was looking at establishing an academic Native American program, something Kemeny had recommitted Dartmouth to." said Bruce Duthu '80, a current Native American studies professor.
In 1972, the College established a Native American studies department under the direction of Native American scholar Michael Dorris. Since then, approximately 700 Native Americans from over 200 tribes the highest number in the Ivy League have attended Dartmouth.
During this time period, tensions arose between alumni and current students over the use of a traditional Indian mascot. A poll conducted by Jack Herpel '28 in 1979 found that over 90 percent of the College's alumni supported a "dignified Dartmouth Indian symbol.".
In September 1979, the Hovey murals which contain controversial images of drunken natives were covered with removable panels. The murals drew criticism from Native American students.
The College's first affirmative action plan was approved by the Board of Trustees in April 1972 and the first full-time affirmative action officer was appointed in 1975.
Latino recruitment became an area of focus in August 1979, when the Latino Forum requested that the College actively recruit and support Hispanic students, who at the time comprised one half of a percent of the undergraduate population, according to the 2006 Faculty Recruitment Manual prepared by the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity.
The College took steps to increase awareness of student diversity following the 1986 "shanty incident," during which a group of students dismantled the shanties that other students built to discourage the College from investing in companies that did business in apartheid-torn South Africa.
Under former College President David McLaughlin, efforts included expanding diversity education through first-year orientation, modifying the "Men of Dartmouth" alma mater and creating a permanent Council on Diversity, according to the Faculty Recruitment Manual.
During Wright's presidency, international and minority students came to represent more than 40 percent of the undergraduate population, financial aid packages eliminated tuition for students with incomes below $75,000, undergraduate applications increased by 79 percent, according to his website.
"I define diversity as having at Dartmouth as full of a range of people with different backgrounds and experience as you possibly can have," Wright said. "It's because the melting pot has not melted, because we each have our own strengths of our backgrounds, families, beliefs and religions. And yet we bring those together under some common values, and I think that's what enriches Dartmouth as well."
The Student Life Initiative resulted in the 1999 creation of part-time advisers for Asian-American, Latino and gay, bisexual, lesbian and transsexual students, according to Nora Yasumura, advisor to Asian and Asian-American students.
In early 2001, the Office of Pluralism and Leadership was created with Tommy Woon as director.
Alumni Support
Racially affiliated alumni groups at the College currently act as a source of support and guidance for undergraduate students.
The Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association, formed in 1971, has provided nearly 40 years of cultural, social, intellectual and educational counsel to both black alumni and undergraduates, as well as the larger community at Dartmouth, members said.
At the organization's reunion during Homecoming weekend, Morris "Rocky" Whitaker '74 received an Alumni of the Year award for his continued service to the College.
"It's important to help the young people who are coming behind us," Whitaker told the Dartmouth Office of Alumni Relations. "I've always felt that if you had the resources and the skill and the time, it was your obligation to try and make a difference in somebody's life."
The Native American Alumni Association of Dartmouth was founded in 1997 as a forum "to further the interest, welfare and educational purposes of Dartmouth," according to the association's website.
The organization hosts an annual reception for incoming Native-American students during Homecoming, as well as a community dinner at the Native American house during the annual Pow-wow, according to NAAD newsletter chair Rachel Bettencourt '82. The association plans to begin a mentoring program with Native-American undergraduates and will meet next May to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the program.
The Dartmouth Asian Pacific American Alumni Association which aims to foster a sense of community among alumni and students adopted its constitution in November 1998 and was recognized by the College in 1999, according to its website.
The Dartmouth Association of Latino Alumni, created in 2005, seeks to both provide academic and career support for students and to voice concerns to the administration, especially in the search for a new Latino student adviser, according to DALA vice president Rodrigo Ramirez '06.
"We have really tried to work with students and student leaders and how we can help the group feel more supported," Ramirez said.
The Kim Administration
Today, the College is run by a collection of individuals that reflect Dartmouth's commitment to fostering diversity.
College President Jim Yong Kim, a Korean-American, and acting Dean of the College Sylvia Spears, a member of the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island, form the backbone of the administration.
Many students interviewed said they viewed diversity among administrators as a step forward.
"These really big faces and figures at Dartmouth have a hand in propagating this notion of unity and diversity," Saryah Azmat '11 said. "Having such influential people is really important, really helps students and gives Dartmouth an upper hand in facing the diversity issues it faces today."
