The Class of 2016’s sophomore summer is drawing to a close, which means we are finally equipped to decide whether this term lived up to its mythical expectations. It is, after all, the D-Plan’s most distinctive feature. I recognize the positive aspects of sophomore summer, yet beyond the lamentable reductions in nearly every service imaginable, I wonder whether sophomore summer is really worth it. More than anything, sophomore summer has left me confused by why we insist on the greatness of the quarter-based D-Plan. To be blunt, this is a delusion of grandeur, and the College should seriously examine a switch to a semester calendar.
The College’s narrative to prospective students — one that many here seem to buy — portrays the D-Plan as a wonderful way to customize your college career according to your own goals. Less talked about is the fact that the D-Plan was not created to help students. Faced with the demand that the enrollment of men remain constant, the College implemented the D-Plan to enable coeducation. It was, in the words of the late College President David McLaughlin, “a matter of expediency.” Yet McLaughlin himself stated that “the Dartmouth Plan was one of the most unfortunate decisions the College ever made,” and he criticized the College for failing to phase it out. The idea that the D-Plan exists to give us more opportunities is tenuous, and it ignores the very real downsides that it has for campus life.
Not to speak of the problems wrought by its fast-paced 10-week terms, the D-Plan is highly disruptive to Dartmouth’s social fabric. It facilitates the transient nature of residential life, which, when combined with segregated freshmen and upperclassmen housing, makes the development of dorm-based communities which that other schools have impossible. The D-Plan, then, could hold back the success of the College’s new “house system,” modeled off the residential colleges of its peers. In addition, the D-Plan’s off-terms strain friendships and relationships. Some argue that this aspect of the D-Plan forces you to branch out and build new connections. But from what I have observed, most friendships are hardly immune to some form of deterioration caused by the D-Plan’s haphazard discontinuity. This does a disservice to the entire Dartmouth community. As philosophy professor Carey Heckman ’76 argued at the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” event on the D-Plan, the D-Plan creates an ultimately selfish system that prizes individual desires and plans and over the well-being of our school as a whole.
One potential improvement to consider is a return to the semester system. Some might gawk at this suggestion — what of our off-terms, study abroad opportunities and sophomore summer, then? Claiming that these all are advantages that only the D-Plan can provide is misleading. The College could keep these features with just minor alterations in a semester calendar, assuming we all agree that they are integral to a Dartmouth education. Sophomore summer could be a required term in residence with possible waiver options, as is the case now, yet it would be shorter than a regular semester and therefore would require fewer credits. This semester could be offset by a semester off sophomore or junior year during which the College could offer credits for internships or research completed. In this system, we would keep all the touted benefits of having the majority of a class together on campus for one summer, while still giving students the opportunity to design an off-campus experience tailored to their own interests. Study abroad programs of a slightly longer duration should be made available to students from sophomore through senior year.
This changed plan, of course, has its own set of trade-offs. A degree of social discontinuity is unavoidable as semesters off or abroad entail lengthier absences. Students would not have the same freedom that they have now to come and go as they please. Yet this new set of obstacles is preferable to the one we have now. Longer academic terms and a more constant student body would bring the College closer to its full potential as an institution. The “Dartmouth Experience” would not be as marred by hectic schedules that prioritize speed over quality and stop-and-go relationships that are stressful to all parties. We deserve Dartmouth at its best. The D-Plan should not stand in the way of that.
