Dartmouth recently reinstated standardized testing as one of its admissions requirements. This is commendable: we must select the smartest minds. But we should not just raise our intellectual standards, we must raise our physical standards.
For more than 100 years, the College had the 50-yard swim test as a graduation requirement. Like the standardized testing requirement, the swim test was a victim of the COVID-19 state of emergency. That state of emergency is over. Unfortunately, the swim test’s temporary removal due to COVID was made permanent in 2022. While President Sian Beilock is in the spirit of returning to pre-COVID measures, let me make an impassioned plea: bring back the swim test.
At the most basic level, the swim test promotes safety. Around 4,000 people drown each year in the United States alone. If they had only learned basic swimming skills, these deaths may not have occurred. Those who say learning to swim is not necessary for a proper life have blood on their hands.
Additionally, this is a college located directly next to the Connecticut River, where many students can and do recreate. If there is any lesson to draw from history, it is that people must be compelled to do things for their own good. The College’s vaccine mandates are a shining example. We must require a swim test as a graduation requirement. This promotes student safety, a priority for everyone.
The College must bring back the swim test because education is not just about the mind, but also the body. The College has made the mistake, which goes back to Rene Descartes, of choosing to favor the mind over the body. This school has a large number of athletes, a testament to the value we put on physical achievement. Let us make those values universal for all students by bringing back the swim test. Athletic readiness is a moral value, not just an instrument for some future goal. Dartmouth students must be ready to face the demands of the world. This includes swimming.
Additionally, the time of artificial intelligence calls for us to return to activities that make us human. The monotony of our intellectual life demands an outlet in our physical life. It is not our thoughts that are uniquely human, but also our emotions and our bodies. We must take care of those bodies, and swimming is a great way to do so.
It may be argued that those who do not know how to swim are disproportionately people of color. Let us help each other learn — swimming is a life skill. Should we accept the disparity in swimming ability? That would be quite regressive.
Please, President Beilock, while you are in the spirit of change, bring back the swim test as a graduation requirement. It will save lives and also serve as a reminder of the values Dartmouth holds true.
Elan Klüger ’26 is an associate editor for The Dartmouth Review. Opinion articles represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
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