In a virtual town hall for alumni last week, College President Sian Leah Beilock and other top administrators said the College is advocating for higher education institutions against “government overreach.”
“The government dictating what we can or cannot teach or do is not in the spirit of higher education,” Beilock said. “Our higher education institutions have been the crown jewel of this country for so long.”
Some members of the Dartmouth community have criticized Beilock for refusing to sign a letter condemning the Trump administration’s revocations of federal funding. Over a third of faculty signed a letter calling for Beilock to “defend higher education.” More than 1,800 individuals signed a Change.org petition with similar intent.
This comes as the federal government has targeted universities, most recently halting Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students.
Some support Beilock’s approach. More than 550 community members signed a separate virtual petition in support of Beilock’s free speech initiatives and response to the Trump administration.
General counsel Matthew Raymer ’03, Provost David Kotz ’86 and senior diversity officer Shontay Delalue were among the administrators who fielded questions from alumni in the Zoom webinar.
Raymer, who was hired over spring break, said Dartmouth has advocated for other universities by signing on to lawsuits and filing amicus briefs. Dartmouth is currently engaged in at least three lawsuits to support higher education, according to a College spokesperson.
Raymer echoed the importance of Dartmouth’s independence.
“We also believe specifically that the First Amendment prohibits the government from either compelling or restricting viewpoints and what is said or taught here,” Raymer said. “That is a very bright, red line that I’ve heard come out of Sian’s mouth multiple times since I’ve been here.”
Raymer’s hiring as legal counsel stirred some controversy because of his support for Trump’s redefinition of birthright citizenship and previous post as Republican National Committee chief counsel. Raymer’s job also involves overseeing the Office of Visa and Immigration Services.
In the call, Beilock mentioned her recent time in Washington, D.C., working with other university presidents.
“Advocacy on the Hill really matters,” she said. “ … I ran into the Cornell president and other presidents in the hallways. We’re all out there, talking about the importance of higher education, the importance of the government-higher education partnership, and really the importance of our higher education institutions to be fiercely independent.”
Delalue spoke about diversity programs at Dartmouth and how their work “evolves” on campus and around the country. She said that language used to describe the work may change, but its goal does not.
“We may see a shift across the country with how people label the work, but that doesn’t mean we will remove the commitment to the work itself,” she said.
President Donald Trump has signed several executive orders looking to ban diversity and inclusion programs in the government and higher education. Some colleges have removed or edited their DEI web pages.
To conclude the call, Beilock emphasized the importance of “dialogue” — which has been a theme throughout her tenure. On campus, this particularly takes form as the “Dartmouth Dialogues” project, which co-sponsors many academic and political talks every term. Some students have expressed hesitance about the effectiveness of this push.
“I believe leaders today have to have the tools to talk across differences, to lead people who think differently than themselves and learn how to have dialogue, difficult dialogue, rather than just shouting each other down,” she said.
Charlotte Hampton is the editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth. She hails from New York, N.Y., and is studying government and philosophy at the College.
She can be reached at editor@thedartmouth.com or on Signal at 9176831832.
