At Dartmouth, there is a pervasive belief that students in certain positions can speak for the entire student body. In the recent Student Assembly presidential and vice-presidential elections, candidates discussed the need to engage with "campus leaders" in particular to understand student concerns, while administrators and even reporters of The Dartmouth often approach the same individuals in leadership positions to assess student opinion. The idea that one student can articulate the complex perspectives of over 4,000 undergraduates, however, is problematic and shortsighted. The voices of those who are able to devote their time to positional leadership roles in campus organizations are certainly worth listening to, but they are not the only ones that matter.
Understandably, calling upon those with leadership titles is a popular method of gauging public opinion. In our roles as Inter-Community Council chairs, we have been asked to represent the student experience on a number of hiring and advisory committees. But the philosophy of the Inter-Community Council is to bring other students to these opportunities instead of taking them on ourselves. Those seeking student perspectives and those offering them must recognize the limitation of a single student or group's voice in representing campus opinion. Dartmouth students not just those with formal leadership positions have a wide range of perspectives, and it is this diversity of viewpoints that makes our community stronger and smarter.
The upcoming presidential search must account for Dartmouth's diverse student perspectives by increasing the number of student representatives. In 2008, only one student the president of the Student Assembly sat on the Presidential Search Committee that selected College President Jim Yong Kim. Should this year's committee follow the precedent established in 2008, newly elected Student Body President Suril Kantaria would serve as the sole student representative on the next search committee. Kantaria expressed a desire to involve more voices in the search process through a website soliciting student input ("Kantaria and Danford assume new positions," April 25). While online input, forums and open meetings with the search committee will be useful in the months ahead to engage the broader community and assess student interests, it is imperative that the process formally involve more than one student representative.
We commend search committee chair Bill Helman '80 for pledging to represent a "diverse cross-section of the Dartmouth community" in the search process ("Helman to lead search committee," April 20). In creating this committee, he faces a challenging task: Many different groups will feel they need more representation, as the decision regarding a new College president undoubtedly impacts every member of the Dartmouth community. What we all share, however, is the goal of making Dartmouth a world-class institution of higher education. Failing to fully represent the student voice on the search committee would impede our ability to carry out this vision. After all, the student body itself is at the heart of education.
The incoming College president will have a steep learning curve when it comes to understanding student life. In addition to being targeted in a widely publicized hazing scandal, the administration has launched important binge drinking and sexual assault initiatives that require continued leadership. While trustees, alumni and faculty can provide crucial perspectives in the search process, none are better suited to articulate student concerns than current students themselves. Moreover, whether in a Rolling Stone article or in the search for our next president, a single individual cannot possibly convey the depth and breadth of the student experience at Dartmouth. Trustee Helman has a wonderful opportunity to enrich the search for Dartmouth's new president by increasing the number of student members of the committee. We recommend that he seizes it.
