Re: ‘We’re not a political organization,’ Beilock tells matriculating students
In College President Sian Leah Beilock’s recent address to the incoming freshman class, she echoed Dartmouth’s “institutional restraint” policy introduced last December. As many students interviewed in The Dartmouth’s article on this address expressed, a neutral stance is not possible in so many of today’s issues. In the face of the Trump administration’s crackdown on research and higher education, neutrality is equivalent to letting the government shape our curricula to fit their agenda. In the face of mass deportations and revocations of visas, neutrality is the same as endangering our students’ right to an education. And in the face of Israel’s slaughtering of Palestinian civilians, neutrality is complicit in genocide.
Claiming that Dartmouth is “not a political organization” is insulting, especially in light of just how many times the College has chosen to uphold the status quo in response to pressing issues. From student workers’ rights, international and undocumented students’ rights and governmental overreach to divestment from companies that aid in genocide, the College has made its political stance very clear on all of them. Dartmouth’s connections, prestige and perhaps most of all its money, put it in a prime position to have impact on any societal issue it chooses. But on that same line of thinking, the resources the College hoards are resources it is not using to provide solutions to issues that impact students; in other words, an institution as privileged as Dartmouth simply cannot be apolitical.
Anastasia Johnson is a member of the Class of 2025. Letters to the Editor represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
