Daniel Webster, a member of the Class of 1801, has become a Dartmouth legend for his famous defense of our small college in the 1819 Dartmouth College v. Woodward case. People remember this particular case because our victory allowed Dartmouth to remain private rather than become a public university. At the very least, had we lost, Webster "wouldn't be a great institutional hero," according to Jere Daniell '55, former history professor and unofficial historian of the College.
"If he lost the case, we wouldn't have all of those portraits of him around the campus," Daniell said.
In an attempt to retaliate against the Board of Trustees, which deposed him in 1815, former College President John Wheelock, son of Dartmouth's founder and first president Eleazer Wheelock, appealed to the New Hampshire state legislature to take control of the school away from the Board of Trustees and to rename the school Dartmouth University, according to "Will to Resist," a history of the case by Richard Morin '24, a former College librarian.
The case made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Thanks to Webster's legal savvy, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in the College's favor, and the school remained private.
Even if Dartmouth had lost the case which would have been unlikely given the pro-private corporation precedent of the Marshall Supreme Court Daniell said public education in New England did not thrive until after the Civil War and that Dartmouth's chances of survival to today as a public institution would have been pretty grim.
Fast forward a few hundred years and pretend Dartmouth becoming public had actually happened. Imagine driving over the Ledyard Bridge to Dartmouth University.
When I asked College archivist Peter Carini to help me imagine what this fictional state school might be like, he suggested I investigate the University of New Hampshire, the state's actual flagship university. With 12,485 undergraduates at UNH, Dartmouth University, had it survived, would probably be a lot bigger than our paltry 4,248 students. It would also be cheaper probably about $43,000 cheaper for New Hampshire residents and $29,000 cheaper for out-of-state students if Dartmouth University offered comparable tuition to UNH.
Molly Bulger, a sophomore at the University of New Hampshire who did not apply to the College, said a big reason she chose to apply to UNH over Dartmouth was because of the scholarships she receives from the state of New Hampshire.
"It's the middle-class dilemma," she said. "I couldn't afford Dartmouth. I'm not receiving financial aid because of my financial situation, but some families can't afford to spend $200,000 on a private education."
If Dartmouth were public, the availability of such scholarships and the overall lower price tag might improve the composition of the student body, Sasha Kahan '15 said.
"Dartmouth is not really that socioeconomically diverse, in my experience," she said. "Admissions probably says differently, but it doesn't seem that different."
Although a public university could offer more socioeconomic diversity, Phil Coletti '14, who almost attended the University of California, Berkeley, said social groups would become more exclusive.
"It seems like at a lot of private institutions, such as here, [University of Pennsylvania] and [Brown University], the Greek scene is more open," he said. "It seems at public schools, your Greek house becomes your entire social circle."
Coletti said if Dartmouth were public and had larger majors and departments, might be encouraged to only hang out with people who take similar classes, making friend groups more homogeneous.
"At big public schools, a natural instinct is to limit social groups," Coletti said. "A way to do that is with people in your major. My buddy at [the University of Connecticut] only hangs out with engineering friends. My friend who is an art major at another school only hangs out with his arts friends."
Although groups might be more insular, Chrissy Bettencourt '13 said social life would probably not be as Greek-centric.
"There'd be a lot more people living off campus throwing house parties and going to bars," she said. "My friends at [the University of Massachusetts, Amherst] go to a lot of big off-campus parties."
Kahan, who grew up in Hanover, said the town would be a "completely different place."
"It would be even more of a college town," she said. "I haven't found a lot of town versus gown issues while here. If it were a huge public university, I think this would be more of a problem."
Juliet Hollingsworth '14 said more community members would go to sporting events because a larger public school would probably have more competitive sports teams.
Students would also put more emphasis on rooting for the Big Green, Katherine Fox '15 said.
"A lot of times I feel public universities are really into football because they are not as academically oriented," she said.
A public university might not allow students to explore their interests as much, because many require students to enroll in a school and declare a major before matriculating, Colletti said.
"At UC Berkeley, I got into the undecided engineering program, which is the best situation to be in," Colletti said. "It was still really binding, though, in the sense that you're going to be an engineer. You don't get the chance to explore other avenues."
Coletti said exploring other disciplines at a public university would involve "a lot of red tape."
As a student at a public university, Bulger said she experienced some difficulty signing up for a macroeconomics class because it was offered through the business school rather than through the College of Liberal Arts in which she is enrolled. Eventually she was able to get around the restriction, though it might be complicated for most students, she said.
As a public school, we might have a more lively downtown scene, better sports and more socioeconomic diversity. But does "University on the Hill" have the same ring to it? You decide.
