On Sept. 3, College President Sian Beilock welcomed the Class of 2029 to campus with a speech encouraging students to express their beliefs and explaining the importance of institutional restraint.
“We’re not a political organization,” Beilock told the crowd at Leede Arena. “We’re not an advocacy organization … We exist as a college, as a university, to do something different, to educate our students to go out and change the world and be a beacon of knowledge.”
While encouraging students to voice their opinions, Beilock said she was “committed” to “clear rules and guidelines [for] debate, civil discourse, dialogue, protest or other forms of free expression.”
“We won’t rob other people of that ability to express their views,” Beilock said.
In the past, Beilock’s response to student protests — particularly her decision to authorize the arrests of 89 individuals at a pro-Palestinian protest on the Green on May 1, 2024 — divided the community.
Speaking with The Dartmouth, members of the Class of 2029 shared mixed reactions to her matriculation speech.
Portia Gilbert-Bair ’29 said that the speech sounded like a “defense” of Beilock’s decision not to sign an open letter against federal funding cuts on higher education and for the May 1, 2024 arrests, which she said “almost dissuaded” her from applying to Dartmouth.
“As someone who protests and is very politically active, hearing about that was genuinely quite scary,” she said. Beilock “was just very defensive, as if we were attacking her — when we’re all new ’29s.”
Dartmouth’s institutional restraint policy, instituted in December 2024, holds that the College will avoid taking official positions on contested political issues except when directly tied to its mission. In her speech, Beilock argued that the policy “encourage[s] maximal free expression by faculty, staff, and students.”
“I don’t want to voice an opinion that’s different than someone on our campus on an issue unrelated to our mission, because if I do, you may be less likely to speak up,” Beilock said.
Some freshmen said neutrality in the face of the Trump administration’s renegotiation of higher education funding and international student visas is itself a political statement. An international student from the Class of 2029, who requested anonymity due to visa concerns, said Beilock’s message “comes from a place of privilege.”
“Education is very political, especially now,” they said. Beilock “is sitting in a place with power and talking about how education is not political, whereas there are people that are fighting for their visas every single day.”
Gilbert-Bair said Beilock’s message sounded “more like a warning than a welcome.”
“A lot of people came here because they were activists, because they spoke up,” she said. “To bring all those voices into a place and then make them feel like they can’t be heard is contradictory to the mission [Dartmouth] uphold[s].”
Beilock’s message resonated for others, including Isaac Begle ’29.
“Her message promotes a better chance for everyone to have their voices heard,” Begle said. “The point of college is to be able to share [your beliefs] freely.”
Begle, who grew up in what he described as a “liberal bubble” in Chicago, said his hometown’s ideological homogeneity “wasn’t healthy.”
“One of the reasons I wanted to come [to Dartmouth] was to get to know people from all over, with different lived experiences and opinions,” he said. “If people really do take [Beilock’s message] to heart, people will have more confidence to share viewpoints outside of the majority.”
Beilock said that Dartmouth will teach students how to “forge connections” and “find the common humanity” among classmates with whom they “vehemently disagree.”
“We’re living through one of the most polarized times since the Civil War,” she said. “When people retreat to their corners and only hear from people that think like them, the worst kind of groupthink happens.”
The anonymous international student said it felt “contradictory” for Dartmouth to celebrate its close-knit community while declining to speak out on issues that directly affect students.
“[Dartmouth] says that they want this international community, but when it comes to standing up for us, they’re Switzerland,” they said, referring to an article in The New Yorker comparing Dartmouth to the country known for its neutrality.
Gilbert-Bair agreed, saying that she was “disappointed” to see that Beilock was the only Ivy League president not to sign a letter condemning higher education funding cuts.
“I’m seeing all of this and I’m like, ‘Wait, I don’t want to go to that kind of school,’” she said.
Iris WeaverBell ’28 is a news reporter. She is from Portland, Ore., and is majoring in economics and minoring in public policy.
