Four months ago, Frank Cunningham’16 and I evaluated and reflected on the current state of our home, Dartmouth College. From this time of self-reflection, we gleaned that the factors that brought us to Dartmouth — a supportive, diverse student body and a close knit community — have diminished greatly over the past year. We wondered, “What can we as students do to restore, rebrand and re-energize a student body in which the line of communication has been ultimately fractured?” Our answer led us to this point right now.
“Take Back Dartmouth” is a student movement that takes responsibility and ownership of the problems this campus encounters and no longer leaves it to the national media to address. Take Back Dartmouth is simply about uniting all students and using the strength of our differences to figure out a solution to make Dartmouth the school we need — the school we know it can be. The goal of the movement is to revitalize a crucially important student interest: that of being involved in the first place. Once the lukewarm middle is encouraged to participate, we will use that momentum to create concrete policy. This support and passion to change Dartmouth will help Frank and I accomplish some of our biggest goals, such as working with the administration to mandate Dartmouth Bystander Initiative training during freshman week, to enhance the transparency of financial aid, to increase minority faculty recruitment and to actively respond to student recommendations for campus improvement.
These initiatives are not possible without a more transparent Student Assembly, which is why Frank and I, if elected, pledge to meet with our co-chairs on a weekly basis, hold weekly Student Assembly office hours and host monthly forums between Student Assembly and the greater student body. We also plan to release a “State of the Student Body video,” at the end of each quarter and orchestrate monthly Student Body surveys to receive student opinions and concerns on current issues. But most importantly, we plan to substantially increase campus-wide participation in Student Assembly by diversifying and revamping recruitment to welcome all voices, especially those that too often go unheard.
We all know that Dartmouth is home to some of the brightest minds in the world, and this remarkable intellectual capacity entails a diverse set of ideas and beliefs. With these remarkable gifts comes the responsibility to respect our classmates, however divergent their views may be from our own, and ensuring their safety: intellectually, emotionally and physically on campus. We, the students, have failed to uphold this standard therefore hindering our ability to effectively listen to one another, communicate with one another and collectively unite. This is an issue we cannot allow to persist because deep down, through all our differences, the hill winds blow through our veins and we love our family.
When Frank and I define community, we describe it as a place that is loved and cherished by those who form it, but also as a place that can be criticized and that all are motivated to make better. Dartmouth can be better, and will be better, and Frank and I truly believe, unlike the other candidates, that if we work hard enough as a student body, our idea of a more united student body is tangible. All this starts with a movement, and it starts with you and me. It starts with leaders who are able to rally students within SA, and across campus, to make this a safer place. It starts with a president and vice president who work hard together, fight together and laugh together. It starts with Casey and Frank.
Respectfully and sincerely,
Casey A. Dennis
Casey Dennis '15 is running for student body president.
