Describing experiences that included arrest, physical beatings and protests, four Dartmouth alumni spoke Thursday afternoon about their roles as voting rights activists during Mississippi's "Freedom Summer" of 1964. Paul Stetzer '67, Dirk de Roos '68, Roger Daly '67 and William Burton '65 addressed attendees at a panel, titled "Dartmouth Alumni of the Civil Rights Movement," in Collis Common Ground as part of the College's annual celebration of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Stetzer said he became involved in the movement after accepting an invitation for Dartmouth students to participate in a voter registration campaign. During the movement, college students went door to door trying to convince African-Americans who were prevented from voting at the time to register for a fictitious election held by the Mississippi Summer Project to protest unfair voting laws.
De Roos and Burton also became involved in their local voter registration campaigns. Burton said the famous lynchings of civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner influenced his decision to get involved in Mississippi, while de Roos said he was inspired by Freedom Summer conversations by Sioux youth living on the reservation where he worked.
Daly who was beaten and jailed multiple times during the movement said his role in the protests was to raise awareness, often by contributing to the media spectacle.
"The goal was for us to be arrested, to be beaten, to be abused, so that the media could make it possible for the country to be as outraged as many others were," he said.
Although it may be difficult to evaluate their direct contributions to the movement, the alumni said their actions remain significant both to the larger effort and to their personal lives.
"There is an impact that you have, you just don't see it, but you lived it, and it's the opportunity that you have to learn something," Burton said. "It always informs who you are."
The speakers also described the "monster" of intolerance and brutality that they encountered in Mississippi.
"It's the evil the system that doesn't hear, that doesn't process information from the inside, that doesn't reflect," Daly explained.
This intolerance tends to stem from fear of the "other," or the individual perceived as different from oneself, according to Stetzer.
"There is always another other,'" he said, citing women, gay individuals, people with disabilities, Muslims and, currently, the "one percent," as examples of groups that have been subject to intolerance.
De Roos said he felt "lucky" to be part of a great surge of momentum in the fight for equality.
Sociology professor Denise Anthony served as the panel's moderator, introducing the alumni as "ordinary people who themselves did something extraordinary for the county."
The concept for the panel came from an article written by George Kalbfleisch, former director of undergraduate religious life, for a 1965 issue of the Alumni Magazine. Upon discovering the article, Elise Smith '13, an intern for the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity, invited the mentioned alumni to speak on campus.
"When Dr. King was here in 1962, the topic of his speech was Towards Freedom,'" Gabrielle Lucke, the director of training and educational programs in the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity, said. "So we wanted to ask, How has Dartmouth helped move this nation towards freedom?'"
Lucke organized the panel with Kimberly Hanchett, student programs and administrative assistant at the Dickey Center for International Understanding.
This year's celebration marks both the 50th anniversary of King's visit to the College and the 20th anniversary of the Alpha Phi Alpha candlelight vigil on the evening of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The theme chosen for this year's celebration was "The Content of Our Character," following the committee's hope to highlight how character influences daily interactions between individuals, Lucke said.
Katharina Daub, community director for the River Cluster, said the panel was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interact with Dartmouth alumni involved in the civil rights movement.
"I just imagine that 50 years down the line current Dartmouth students will be coming back to speak about the amazing things that they did, too," she said.
Daub added that she wishes more current students would attend events like the Thursday panel.
"I want students to realize that these are amazing opportunities," Daub said. "I think we can speak up more, be less apathetic, more active and find a way to make a difference."
The panel was sponsored by the celebration's planning committee and the Tuck School of Business.
