This article is featured in the 2025 Commencement & Reunions special issue.
Re: Verbum Ultimum: Change the Divestment Criteria
In response to one of the arguments made by the Editorial Board of The D in its My 20 “Verbum Ultimum” statement, I would like to point out that the advocates of Dartmouth’s divestment constitute a tiny (!) group consisting today of a dozen people, some of whom are not even members of the Dartmouth community. After all, our college’s student body is over 4,000 undergraduates plus graduate students. In addition, there is no way the divestment advocates among the faculty and staff could constitute anything more than a minority.
For that reason, I find the ACIR’s criterion five — the proposal must describe in writing, with appropriate documentation, concrete and detailed evidence of how the Dartmouth community, including students, faculty, staff and alumni, has come to consensus to support the proposal — very reasonable.
Such significant measures as divestment cannot be forced upon the trustees by a tiny minority, no matter how aggressive its conduct might be.
I would also like to suggest that the divestment advocates stop wearing masks: if they wish to be revolutionaries, they should have the courage to show their faces.
Sergei Kan
Professor of Anthropology and Jewish Studies
