Bold Aims, Weak Actions
"The Trustees are giving students the opportunity to reimagine social life and residential life at the College"
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"The Trustees are giving students the opportunity to reimagine social life and residential life at the College"
For a week, we knew their address. We recognized their faces. We knew they were stabbed.
It's a rare event when the music stops playing and Dartmouth students stop dancing to hear an announcement of breaking news. And yet this is exactly what the community experienced Saturday night as the story of the Zantop tragedy spread across campus. In many ways this pause reflects the atmosphere of the College as we try to understand this terrible incident and cope with its aftermath.
From the Dartmouth College Mission Statement (1999):
From a vote counter with a disputed ballot in a Florida district to a computer programmer with an arsenal in suburban Boston, we are constantly reminded that the decisions of individuals impact our daily lives. Each day the choices of a single person can change the way we see the world. With this in mind, we at Dartmouth must recognize and accept that we have the opportunity to take stands on issues and make our voices heard.
Dartmouth is a college with character. From the bonfire and Keg Jump to Baker Tower and the BEMA, there exists a sense of community here that extends beyond any student's four years of study. In an effort to attract more and "better" people to this campus, recent decisions reflect a broad administrative desire to make Dartmouth more like other Ivy institutions. But no one should be making decisions about Dartmouth based on what other colleges are doing because Dartmouth is quite simply not like other colleges.
Academic Addition
Dartmouth's Georgian architecture creates a distinct campus feeling that is one of the strongest selling features for the College. Although picture-perfect, these facilities unfortunately do not provide for all of the community's needs. We need more dorm beds, improved academic facilities and additional social space. New buildings must be built -- but expansion does not need to compromise the comfortable feel of Dartmouth College.
Waiting Patiently
Restoring Equilibrium
The Dangerous Game of Regulation
We Didn't Start the Fire
Educational Independence
A Political Gesture
A Lesson to Learn: The majority of students' reactions to the unveiling of Berry Library ranged from mild acceptance to strong dislike. Most found what they saw to be sterile, cold and unwelcoming -- lacking all the charm of its landmark neighbor. But the frightening thing is that these responses mirrored what many members of the community have been saying for several years about the entire concept. Now that the largest donation in the history of the College has been spent and the building is complete, we have to live with this. But what if the College had heeded professors' warnings and student petitions? What if the Trustees had acted upon the Design Review Committee's rejection? We would have a better library -- a library that would be as cherished at the turn of the next century as Baker is today. With numerous building projects and a campus expansion in the works, the lesson to be learned is that those living most closely within the Dartmouth community know best what this campus needs.
Fall is an exciting term no matter what the circumstances, but this year should be especially so, for the incoming class represents the change from Initiative theory to Initiative practice. The '04s are not the standard class of entering freshmen -- they are the pivotal group who will have first-hand experience of the Initiative. Dartmouth is in a time of transition, and the '04s are its transition class.
With their recent announcement to formally separate from the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council, the sisters of Tri-Delt have issued a wake-up call to the Greek community but have failed to adequately explain their reasoning.
Philosophically, we disagree with the introduction of freshman-only housing into the Dartmouth community. Dartmouth has built itself on being a single integrated community rather than a collection of separate classes. Students do not label themselves as "freshmen" or "juniors" but instead identify themselves by the assumed year of graduation. A student is above all a member of the Dartmouth community rather than a part of an isolated class.
After reviewing all the candidates for Student Assembly in the upcoming elections, the Dartmouth Editorial Board cannot conscientiously endorse anyone for the office of president or vice president. This is a time for actual change, something none of these candidates is capable of bringing about.
We have long believed that the Student Life Initiative should be about expanding students' social and residential options on campus. While it is clear that the Trustees have erred on various points by limiting options -- such as with the extension of the moratorium on new single-sex Greek houses -- they have succeeded in other areas and should be applauded for that.