Much has been made of the fact that Dartmouth is noticeably, perhaps ostentatiously, rooted in tradition. "Lest the old traditions fail!" we proclaim as alumni pour back onto campus and our newest classmates race around a skyscraper of timber and flame. From a distance, Dartmouth's Homecoming festivities no doubt resemble some bizarre ritualistic sacrifice.
Or take any autumn afternoon: Students parade around campus sporting multicolored hair-streaks or footie pajamas or superhero costumes or inside-out pullovers with tacky work boots. Within our so-called "Dartmouth bubble" (I prefer to think of it more as a snow globe), this sort of behavior is so commonplace that we barely bat an eye.
But as often as we so eagerly embrace our College's storied idiosyncrasy (a term, incidentally, two syllables removed from "idiocy"), rarely does anyone bother to adopt an outsider's perspective that asks, "Wait, what?" or more simply, "Why?" In a recent column ("Let the Old Traditions Fail," Nov. 1), Yoo Jung Kim '14 expressed reservations about Dartmouth's tradition-oriented culture. Perhaps there is need for more than mere reservation.
Tradition, once established, is like a perpetual motion machine. It persists purely because it has always persisted. Its raison d'etre is not so much about the raison as it about the etre, and tradition may thrive in the absence of compelling reason or, even worse, in the presence of irrationality.
Yet something drives us. Somehow, we return to tradition day after day (broadly, in our cultural codes and social mores) or year after year (in bursts of specific ritualistic display, like that towering inferno) with inevitability and, not infrequently, outright zealotry more typical of religious idolatry. Devotees to tradition like to unfurl some unqualified spiel about the importance of maintaining tradition, or the way tradition strengthens one's sense of identity or community. But tradition is not inherently valuable. Something is not rendered meaningful or reasonable just because it has existed for a long time. Some of civilization's most enduring traditions have also been its most damaging: autocratic rule, human bondage and the cult of domesticity among them. If we accept tradition as inherently legitimate, we are less likely to rationally evaluate its total impact. Tradition survives despite its harms.
We must be more cognizant of tradition's impact and more careful that it does not cause harm. In the absence of demonstrable reason, tradition should be assessed for its value within and impact upon the community. That's not to say that every quirky campus custom should be axed. A tradition of limited value might also be innocuous. Consider "flair" as long as no one is forced to wear it, no one is harmed.
Perhaps some degree of negative consequence is acceptable when a tradition exists for a purpose, or when the consequence is slight. Our annual "bonfire of the insanities," as peculiar and inexplicable as it may be, might fall in this category. Short of the infrequent Neanderthal-ish onlooker becoming physically aggressive, the shouting match between scampering first-years and encircling upperclassmen is understood to be all in good fun.
But tradition that both lacks purpose and remains detrimental to the community is especially sinister. It is difficult to abolish, and participants may be unaware of its impacts, may choose to ignore them or may attempt to justify them. The South could not conceive of society without slavery, just as the medieval monarch considered the peasant incapable of self-determination. The longevity of tradition may triumph over common good and common sense.
In our little snow globe high in the mountains of New Hampshire, the implications of our traditions may not be so explicit. Usually, no one is harmed by our daily display of flashy totems. But when an enduring tradition within our campus culture endorses the theft of those totems, and subsequently considers physical violence appropriate in response, it is absolutely essential that we take a step back and reevaluate that tradition.
It is time that we part with the assumption that tradition is inherently valid. It is imperative that we assume the responsibility of applying rationality. Traditions must always be paired with a heaping side of scrutiny, lest the old traditions fail us.
