There is a chirp. It begins as a single chirp, but then someone responds to the call, and next thing you know all of campus is chirping. What is it that has everyone all ears? Psi U is on probation? Jim Kim ate at Homeplate last night?
Nestled in the hills of New Hampshire, Dartmouth students are able to fully immerse themselves in the Dartmouth community simply due to our isolation. This isolation enables us to foster what those in the admissions office call the "Dartmouth Experience." I pose the question: Where do events that take place outside the confines of campus such as the current protests sweeping across the Middle East fit within the Dartmouth Experience? Unfortunately, I do not have the answer.
On Friday, February 11, Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak stepped down as president of Egypt after 18 days of nation-wide protests. The event sparked countless tweets resounding across cyberspace, but on Monday a headline in The Dartmouth read "New service to combat plagiarism," and the Daily Debriefing cited a decision to make tenure faculty votes anonymous. (I do not mean to indict The D, because it is the College newspaper's job to report on campus-related issues, and as of today there still has been no student response to the situations in Egypt, Libya or elsewhere to report on.) The transatlantic tweet was stifled on its way to the College beneath the raucous regarding Hanover Police arrests that weekend.
College students today have been called apathetic, but I hesitate to use that word. When a devastating earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010, the Dartmouth community began chirping, loudly, raising $1.5 million and collecting 40 tons of medical supplies for Haiti relief. We were able to break through the "Dartmouth bubble" and demonstrate to people across the country that we do indeed care about the world around us our comfortable upbringings had not drained us of empathy and a sense of moral responsibility.
So what is it about today's circumstances that has kept our opinions silent, if not apathetic? During the days leading up to Mubarak's release of power, many of us were constantly pressing the refresh button on The New York Times' homepage, posting links on Facebook or liking friends' statuses in support of the protesters. What enabled us to get off our computers and actually organize Haiti relief, and why couldn't we do the same thing this time?
First, Haiti was an apolitical event. We may show compassion for those in need when mother nature strikes, but when students like ourselves take initiative and risk their lives fighting for basic freedoms, we are glued to our chairs. Although I discerned seemingly unanimous support for the protestors amongst my peers, the battles being fought are just too political for us to intervene. By voicing our support we would be standing against institutionalized authority something young Americans are not accustomed to doing.
Second, Haiti was a simple and singular event. Haiti needs money and medical supplies. We can help get them those things. The 18 days of protests in Egypt were calling for specific demands, including the removal of Mubarak from the presidency.
So instead of trying our hand at taking a political stance, we shirk away from a public display of our support, claiming that "liking" a movement on Facebook is our generation's rally. Facebook and Twitter may have had some influence on the protests in the Middle East, but I do not think Mubarak stepped down because 2 million people "liked" the idea of his resignation he stepped down because his people were in the streets demanding it.
The only way we can have any impact on real-world events is by demanding attention from our ADD political society. We must stand up or sit-in and declare that we support those fighting for their freedoms, rather than just tweeting it.
