Dartmouth has been infatuated with its social life lately, and it is not difficult to discern why. Volleys of bad press and a whole lot of noise from student activists have jolted administrators into action. While many students have been understandably peeved about the College’s reputation being dragged through the mud, events in the last few years have brought the darker aspects of our old traditions into sharp relief and ushered in welcome change.
The attention we have been heaping on how students socialize, however, has come at a price. Amid the sharp-tongued debates over Greek life and the seemingly endless machinations of the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” presidential steering committee, we have lost sight of the reason that many students come to Dartmouth in the first place — for a top-notch education. We have allowed social life to supersede academic life in our vision for Dartmouth’s future, and it’s time we reversed the trend.
Dartmouth, at its best, is a hub of intellectual creation. It is the school of experiential learning College President Phil Hanlon speaks so passionately about, where students do not just learn about the academic disciplines but also contribute to them. To fully achieve this vision, Dartmouth needs to make a more systematic effort to get students involved in original research.
We are by no means off to a bad start, as a handful of research programs at Dartmouth confirm. The Women in Science Program is a shining example. It targets two glaring failures in the world of research: the underrepresentation of women in science and the tendency of students to get started on research too late in their undergraduate careers. WISP matches freshmen and sophomore women with professors as early as their freshman fall, offering immediate exposure to the rigors of lab work.
The Presidential Scholars program is another example of Dartmouth’s commitment to undergraduate research, offering the top 40 percent of each junior class $1,700 to conduct research with a professor for two academic terms. Work completed during the Presidential Scholars program often forms the backbone for a senior thesis.
Though admirable, these programs need to be massively expanded if Dartmouth is to soar above its peers as a school that cultivates the life of the mind. A paltry fifth of the Class of 2014 completed a senior thesis, which means that nearly 80 percent of Dartmouth students receive a diploma without completing in-depth and original work in their field.
This fact should not come as a shock, since Dartmouth’s undergraduate research programs are only tailored to a fraction of each class. Instead of equally pushing all freshmen to get involved in research of any kind, Dartmouth particularly pushes freshmen women interested in math or the sciences. Rather than offering paid research opportunities to every member of each junior class, the Presidential Scholars program considers only the cream of the crop. Though all juniors can apply to be a Junior Research Scholar or a Mellon Mays Fellow, these programs are not nearly as publicized. Apparently at Dartmouth, average students should not even bother trying their hand at research.
This is a disastrous mentality. Doing original academic work should not be restricted to a privileged few. In fact, there is little reason to assume that those with the highest grade point average will excel the most in the lab or out in the field. Doing research well requires more grit and sustained effort than any 10-week course, which demands sharp bursts of intellectual activity rather than a building crescendo. Writing a 10-page paper is a puny feat compared to writing a 100-page paper, and completing a problem set is far different from finding a current problem out in the world and tackling it. Students should not be denied a chance at the marathon merely because they are average at the sprint.
At Princeton, writing a senior thesis is mandatory — no original work, no diploma. Dartmouth should follow suit. That might sound controversial, but remember that originality comes in many forms. Senior theses can be novellas, lab reports, philosophical arguments or computer code. Requiring a senior thesis of all students would strengthen Dartmouth’s commitment to experiential learning.
