Since College President Jim Yong Kim's arrival, there have been many changes made to improve the Dartmouth experience. While several of the new policies have drawn extreme criticism from the faculty and students alike, my particular problem with the current administration's policies is not only with the specifics of the policies themselves. Rather, I find greater fault in the motivation behind these policies. The administration's sole concern, it seems, is improving the College's standing in national rankings.
The transformation of education into a status symbol is a rising trend that is plaguing our nation. It is no secret that many high school seniors use prestige as the most important criterion when making college decisions. However, the heavy focus on reputation by both students as well as institutions causes more harm than good. Academics seem to be increasingly brushed aside for the prestige accorded to a college by less important factors such as name recognition.
Kim has expressed on numerous occasions his desire to increase the competitiveness of the College in national rankings. Two of his policies in particular exemplify his tunnel vision focus on prestige our ineffective alcohol policies and the decision to cut staff members' employment and benefits.
Every time I hear a new alcohol policy introduced at Dartmouth, I get the sneaking suspicion that it has been created purely as a publicity stunt. In my eyes, many of our alcohol harm reduction initiatives namely the formation of the Student and Presidential Alcohol Harm Reduction Committee are a complete waste of time. While they sound good on paper, the reality is that Dartmouth has an ingrained drinking culture that will never change while the Greek scene exists. No matter how many Green Team members go to parties, and no matter how we structure social events, binge drinking will prevail.
It seems as if everyone knows that the alcohol harm reduction policies are created solely for public relations, yet nobody admits it. One of SPAHRC's co-chairs, for instance, is the former social chair of a fraternity.
Even aside from this hypocrisy, any policy enacted by this committee will have minimal effect on the social scene where drinking is not only accepted but venerated. The only way to actually cause a substantial decrease in binge drinking would be to end Greek life at Dartmouth, but this solution has far too many negative consequences to be taken seriously. As we can acknowledge that this solution cannot be feasibly reached, Kim's time would be better spent in other areas where change can actually be achieved particularly relating to academia. Focusing on other areas of the College would be more useful than making a public relations attempt to show the world that Dartmouth cares about binge drinking.
Kim has also made the executive decision to cut staff members' employment and benefits in order to account for a $100 million budget deficit. This type of policy is also good for public relations it shows that Kim makes students' experiences at Dartmouth a top priority, as he has chosen to slash funds that supposedly do not affect student life. However, this kind of cold-hearted treatment given to staff members contradicts the community atmosphere that is supposed to be a main tenet of Dartmouth life. I feel as though students can afford to endure some sacrifices (less free pizza?) in order to allow hard workers to keep their jobs and employment benefits. It is true that this may not be the best public relations tactic as students do not want to be affected by budget cuts, but it is the morally correct thing to do in this circumstance.
The College should exist primarily as a benevolent institution for education, not as a business. We should not be overly concerned with our national ranking and waste time, effort and resources on public relations. The progress toward alcohol harm reduction policies certainly sound good, but are largely ineffective and have turned attention away from other important issues that should receive more attention.
We come to Dartmouth for the academics, but they seem to have fallen off the president's radar. Similarly, staff reductions show the world that Kim can make tough choices to maintain students' quality of life, but this decision simultaneously hurts members of our community. There must be a better compromise that exercise compassion and generosity to all members of Dartmouth. Kim should spend more time on what matters and less time on prestige and reputation.
