For Brenden Stinson ’17 the different socioeconomic worlds that exist outside of the College collide once he steps foot on campus.
Stinson said that many people are not aware of the potential impact that arriving at the College can have on students of lower socioeconomic class. These students often require more institutional support to help ease their transition.
“Some people don’t really understand it, or are not really aware of it, or are in such a beneficial position that they do not feel concerned by it,” he said. “When you’re in different classes, you live in different worlds, but when you’re here at Dartmouth, those worlds combine.”
Fifty-nine percent of students come from families with incomes of $200,000 or above, while the U.S. Census records that only six percent of U.S. families earn that level of income. Comparatively, 11 percent of the student body at Dartmouth comes from the bottom 40 percent of U.S. households.
Stinson serves as the treasurer of Dartmouth Quest Scholars, a group that serves as the campus extension of QuestBridge. QuestBridge, a national organization that helps high-achieving low-income students as they apply for college, matches two or three students with the College and other partner institutions annually.
Emily Chan ’16, the co-director of DQS said that their aims go beyond just working with QuestBridge. Instead, the group seeks to increase socioeconomic awareness on campus through dinner discussions and other programming, she said.
The group, which focuses on raising awareness about class-related issues, is inclusive to anyone on campus, Stinson said.
Beyond operating as a support group for Dartmouth QuestBridge finalists and scholars, the DQS chapter also acts as a support group for low-income students, Chan said.
Chan said that they seek to act as a support group for any low-income students, due to the lack of such organizations on campus. She noted that the First-Year Student Enrichment Program somewhat serves this function but does not work with the entire range of students from low-income backgrounds.
Associate dean of the College Elizabeth Agosto said she hopes that programming for students of lower socioeconomic backgrounds increases. She said she expects both students and the Office of Pluralism and Leadership to work toward this goal, which will educate families about the financial aid process.
Agosto said there is always more that the College could do for students in need, but establishing a structure to meet such needs can be challenging.
Chan said that DQS hopes to implement a mentorship program to match incoming freshmen with upperclassmen at the College.
“Having socioeconomic diversity on campus and having more awareness of that is just another element that I think is very valuable for anybody’s learning experience on campus,” Chan said.
Stinson and Chan said that they want to focus on raising awareness for the widespread economic gap in the campus community, and also increase support for their group.
Some members of DQS recently launched a public Facebook page, Dartmouth Class Confessions, which features anonymous as well as open student testimonies about socioeconomic class on campus.
Stinson said that the College lacks accessible yet meaningful discussions around issues relating to socioeconomic difference. He said that an event similar to Sex Signals, a “comical, yet logical and truthful” show about sexual assault held during freshmen orientation, could bring more understanding.
Agosto said that Dartmouth students often do not discuss issues surrounding class and money, adding that the process of requesting financial aid can be difficult for students as it requires disclosing sensitive information.
“Asking for financial help is challenging,” she said. “I know it was for me, and I know it is for many of the students I work with.”
Stinson noted that DQS — recognized in 2011, when the first group of QuestBridge scholars matriculated — is about to graduate its first class, which will help develop an alumni network outside of the College.
Similarly, FYSEP director Jay Davis said that the group is currently collecting data from the first graduating FYSEP class — the class of 2014 — about post-graduation life. This initiative aims to foster a sense of community and create a larger network outside Dartmouth for first-generation students at the College.
Davis said FYSEP — a support group for first generation students — is designed to foster relationships between and among freshmen and upperclassmen mentors. FYSEP also helps students navigate available resources on campus and provides a sense of community to an underrepresented demographic, he said.
“FYSEP provides a very important sense of community and belong to a traditionally under represented population on Ivy League campuses,” Davis said.
Davis said that there is always more that FYSEP could be doing for students. He said that they want to increase programming and expand the program beyond first years to cover topics like career options and life after Dartmouth.
Davis said that College is a much more diverse campus compared to when he attended Dartmouth as a member of the Class of 1990. He noted the increased focus on recruiting more students from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds and ensure all students have the resources and opportunities to thrive on campus.
During her time at the College, Blythe George ’12 was an Alliance for Socioeconomic Awareness leader and involved with the first-generation network. George said that ASA went inactive due to a combination of time constraints and not having leaders in place upon the graduation of founding members.
ASA was founded in 2008 by Cory Kendrick ’10 and Maya Nathan ’10 with Davis serving as the advisor for the group, Blythe said.
George said that while at the College, she worked 15 to 20 hours a week. The first-generation student network offered a community to students of similar background along with focus groups, she said.
George said that she would like to see more support from Dartmouth to alleviate financial constraints on physical education and course requirements, such as funding for certain lab classes and winter activities classes.
Agosto said that though the College is a need-blind institution and offers generous financial aid packages, additional costs such as textbooks and travel may cause problems for low-income students.
“There are a lot of individual circumstances that occur that make aid challenging,” she said.
In order for the College to have a breadth of high achieving and diverse students, they must go beyond just offering need-blind aid, Agosto said, adding that “the biggest initiatives that I would like to see is helping students on financial aid really understand both the apparent and the hidden costs of coming to Dartmouth.”
George noted that the presence of students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds helps lessen the stigma attached to those students.
She said that first-generation students often still feel responsible for their community at home, which can take a mental toll.
“The sooner you figure out that it is not selfish to get sleep, it is not selfish to take a step back from your family, because at the end of the day you are in Hanover and can’t do anything and you only get the chance to do what you are doing once,” George said.
