One year after administrators canceled classes for a day of reflection, faculty and students say they have observed a noticeable increase in campus discussion of issues regarding racism, sexism, homophobia and sexual assault.
Former Interim President Carol Folt and Dean of the Faculty Michael Mastanduno canceled all undergraduate and graduate arts and sciences classes on April 24, 2013, after online anonymous threats were made targeting students involved in protesting the Dimensions welcome show. The dozen students who interrupted the show at the Class of 1953 Commons identified incidents of homophobia, racism and underreported sexual assaults on campus.
The day included a lecture from a social justice expert, a community gathering on the Green and “teach-ins” at locations across campus.
A tumultuous year has hit the College since the day of reflection, raising many of the themes brought forward in the original protest. In May, several students filed a Clery Act complaint against the College, alleging violations of sexual assault, LGBTQ, racial and religious discrimination, hate crimes, bullying and hazing at the College.
The following summer and fall terms saw their share of controversies, including allegations of racism such as a “Bloods and Crips”-themed party hosted by Alpha Delta fraternity and Delta Delta Delta sorority, as well as accusations of hazing directed at Beta Alpha Omega fraternity after documents regarding its sink night were leaked.
A post on Bored at Baker this winter that outlined the steps to rape a female member of the Class of 2017, who was identified by name, resulted in demonstrations of outrage and solidarity in support of the student.
Most recently, the release of the “Freedom Budget” and subsequent sit-in held inside College President Phil Hanlon’s office, during which supporters of the document demanded a point-by-point response to its 70-plus demands, preceded Hanlon’s announcement that the College’s social life and priorities need to be critically reexamined.
Many faculty and students agreed that the year has brought new conversations to campus, but they disagreed on the ultimate implications of these conversations.
Economics and public policy professor Charles Wheelan said that although awareness of campus issues has been raised, he believes conversations only addressed a small part of the problem and have not amounted to tangible solutions.
Wheelan said the phenomenon of clustering several campus-wide issues together makes it difficult to address each individually.
“I think that’s a bit of a cop-out,” he said, “As a policy person, I’ve been disappointed by how a lot of these important topics have been lumped together. These are discrete issues, each of which has multiple facets.”
English professor Ivy Schweitzer, who participated in the faculty meeting on campus climate last year, said she believed the “Freedom Budget” represented the most hopeful of recent campus developments.
The sit-in, she said, is the “embodiment” of last spring’s Dimensions demonstration.
Though she said she believes some elements of the proposal to be unrealistic or over-idealistic, Schweitzer said it captured the “intersectional analysis” of several overlapping yet different issues.
“I think people realize something has to change, but they don’t know what,” she said, citing the campus outcry against the Bored at Baker post and the subsequent community gathering on the Green.
The tone of campus climate had shifted, but in a more mindful, sensitive direction, women’s and gender studies professor Michael Bronski said. The more open acknowledgement of Dartmouth’s issues relates to its appearance in the media, he said.
“I think the bad publicity has gotten so bad that even students on campus who will defend Dartmouth no matter what will say that we have problems,” he said. “It was unavoidable.”
Last spring, when Student Assembly vice president-elect Frank Cunningham ’16 heard classes would be canceled, he was shocked, he said.
He said he observed that the tensions that followed the initial protests ultimately resulted in productive dialogue.
Assembly president-elect Casey Dennis ’15 said the increased turnout for Assembly elections and the recent student debate on Greek life showed that campus is now more engaged.
The student body, he said, “is finally in one room talking together,” he said.
More conversation creates a greater opportunity for empathy to develop.
Felipe Jaramillo ’16 said campus climate has remained consistently tense, though he believes students are more poised to tackle the issues.
“If the issues could be solved, they haven’t been yet,” Jaramillo said.
Bronski said Hanlon’s call to action last week was a “completely correct diagnosis” of Dartmouth’s problems.
“I think we may be on the verge of a much better discussion,” he said, “but I don’t know what that will look like.”
