Friday's Verbum discussed persistent race issues at Dartmouth. What can be done to bring more students of different backgrounds together on campus?
It's up to students themselves to understand their own tendencies to self-segregate and decide whether or not to break away from them. Although the College funds and provides many opportunities to meet others through student groups, they often end up forming homogenous, exclusive groups.Julian Sarkar '13
In order to facilitate a stronger campus community, there need to be more events planned on campus that are more welcoming of the entire student body. Greek parties and programs centered on cultural beliefs always tend to alienate some people. There needs to be more neutral ground for people of different backgrounds to come together and ease into getting to know one another.Natalie Colaneri '12
Though race continues to permeate daily life at Dartmouth, it is doubtful that any practical actions by the administration or the students will make a difference. It will take a shift in thought and culture, not one in policy, to encourage integration.Mark Andriola '14
The numerous cultural organizations on campus should make a more concerted effort to work with each other. A great example of this cooperation is the International Students Association's Kaleidoscope showcase.Spenser Mestel '11
As with anything, the question is mainly one of individual initiative. If students are willing to throw their arms open to experience, instead of travelling in circles narrowly defined by blood and soil, they'll find friends from other races, countries, creeds, etc. It's not too hard to find the skeleton of one's own life experiences buried in the life experiences of someone totally different. You just need to be able to extend your sense of self that far.Sam Buntz '11As an international student, I must admit that the College has gone out of its way to make me feel comfortable here at Dartmouth. A lot of work was put into the international pre-orientation, and I met many interesting people from different backgrounds during these events. Maybe domestic students should be permitted to attend these events as well if they wish to do so.Jonathan Pedde '14
Providing a continuous dorm experience is the only way to systematically (and respectfully) promote engagement between students of different backgrounds.Josh Kornberg '13
The only way to comfortably and respectfully interact with people of diverse backgrounds is to accept that there are some parts of other people's lives that you will never completely understand and there are some parts of your life that they will never completely understand. And that shouldn't keep you from interacting. In fact, it can make conversations that much richer.Sapna Chemplavil '11
The College pretends like it's an achievement for 50 percent of students to be on financial aid. But in reality, that means that the other 50 percent of the student body represent around the top one percent of wealth in the world. Until those numbers change, Dartmouth will remain a fundamentally WASPy institution.Jordan Osserman '11
Ultimately, the responsibility lies with individual students. Many minorities tend to congregate in homogenous groups. Instead, individuals must be willing to leave their comfort zones and interact with those of other ethnic groups.Yoo Jung Kim '14
There are already plenty of opportunities to make friends of different races, and those who prefer to stick within their comfort zones probably will still do so regardless of what policy changes we implement. Ultimately, it's their choice and their loss.Ethan Wang '13
