As another group of students prepares to leave our campus for the wider world, it is an appropriate moment to reflect on some of the events that have affected our institution in the past couple of years and that have brought us now to a turning point.
From the Dimensions protest to the “Freedom Budget,” from the Rolling Stone exposé to the Title IX sexual violence investigation, Dartmouth has found itself forced to confront some uncomfortable truths about student life on campus. Even the most apathetic or disengaged members of our community have found themselves wondering what is going on. It is not just the negative publicity that shadows us, the demoralizing and embarrassing high-profile events or exposés that we hear about on a regular basis. It is the more general and inchoate sense of many that student life on campus fails to nurture our best interests as individuals or as an institution. It is the sense that we have fallen short on our responsibilities to one another, that we are operating under unacceptable social standards and norms of behavior. At a summit in April, College President Phil Hanlon correctly identified the problem as extreme behavior: behavior that falls outside the boundaries of civil discourse, decent conduct and the principle of community that unites us all.
We are a great institution with an amazingly talented student body, dedicated staff and world-class faculty. But we are not as special as we think. As on other campuses around the country, high-risk drinking, sexual assault and intolerant behavior occur far too often here. And as on other campuses, our prevention efforts have too often come up short. Extreme behavior has been explained away as a rite of passage or normalized as “fun.” As Hanlon said, enough is enough.
We can do something about extreme behavior on campus. We can reclaim our campus as the vital, safe and stimulating environment it aspires to be. We’re Dartmouth. We’re smart, creative problem-solvers — that’s why we’re here. As chair of the steering committee tasked with providing recommendations to the Board of Trustees in November, I have been hugely impressed by the suggestions put forward to our group by every constituency on campus: students, faculty, staff, alums, parents, community members. The more ideas and opinions we receive, the more we are inspired by the palpable desire for change that we see everywhere around us.
Our charge as a committee is clear and uncompromising. Hanlon has said he wants to see fundamental changes in every social space on campus where extreme behavior takes place. He has asked all of us in the Dartmouth community to think about how these changes might occur. For those of you who have not yet reached out to our committee, consider doing so now. We need your help. We need your ideas. We want your input into this process. All ideas are welcome, from small to large. Even if you think it’s all been said already, it hasn’t. Every day we hear from people offering a new opinion or perspective that allows us to understand our charge more deeply.
For the past month, we have been seeking your feedback and will continue to do so right through Commencement. We will continue to host meetings for sophomores during the summer term. Members of the committee will also travel in June to cities around the country so that we can have additional opportunities to meet with students and alumni to hear ideas. We also welcome your feedback online – by emailing moving.dartmouth.forward@dartmouth.edu or by posting suggestions (anonymously if you wish) on www.otg.improvedartmouth.com.
Over the summer, the committee will evaluate your input and consult national experts on these problems. In September, we will let you know the results of that process and, once again, ask for feedback.
Working together, we can help put an end to dangerous and harmful behavior on campus and make Dartmouth the best it can be.
Will is an English professor and chair of the "Moving Dartmouth Forward" steering committee.