Lang & Hill: Dartmouth's Global Responsibility
Dartmouth must support international partners during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dartmouth must support international partners during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With admissions testing and non-essential travel on hold, current high school juniors have been left stressed over college admissions requirements and facing the prospect of getting to know Dartmouth and other colleges remotely.
Sometimes, it’s a question: “How do you know so many people?” Other times, it’s an exclamation: “You know everyone!” Whatever the exact wording is, it’s something I’ve heard again and again. I’ll be with a friend, perhaps passing through the library or getting food, and I’ll bump into some people I know. I’ll say “hi,” and afterward, the friend I’m with will inevitably make some kind of comment.
Sometime around my Webkinz and Limited Too phase of the early 2000s, I developed a strong belief in the power of fortune cookies. I swore by them.
There is a small portrait of William Shakespeare stuck to my computer, mustachioed and smiling under the sunglasses drawn onto his face. “Today is the day,” I tell Shakespeare every morning when I sit down at my desk. “Today is the day I make you proud!”
When I was a senior in high school, I thought that choosing a college was the biggest decision of my life. Maybe it was. To be honest, I hadn’t needed to make many important decisions until then. When I was trying to figure out if I could see myself at Dartmouth, I didn’t make a detailed list of pros and cons — instead, I reflected on the conversations I had during Dimensions, Dartmouth’s program for admitted students to tour and experience life on campus.
Despite having hours of alone time and access to a seemingly endless stream of inspirational posts about self-improvement in quarantine, I’ve found myself more stressed than ever. And as it turns out, I’m not alone.
What do pearls, fake Gucci, Baby Yoda, Billie Eilish and Donald Trump all have in common? They’re all plastered across face masks, which — as more states mandate their usage — we can only assume are here to stay.
As I sprint down the untamed grassy hill, I take a nervous look at the road below — people are looking for me, and I don’t know where they are. I’m more anxious than ever, but I know my friends have my back. The sun is blaring, and I’m utterly exhausted. The intensity builds, and all the anxiety, nervousness and exhaustion comes closing in on me. Then suddenly, right when I reach the tipping point, all that weight disappears, and I get the best news I’ve gotten in a while: “Warzone Victory.”
Well, here we are: week six of spring term, and week eight or so of social distancing. The curve of coronavirus cases may be flattening, but most of us are still exactly where we were a month ago — at home, alone. And by now, isolation feels almost natural. Amid talk of what the post-pandemic world will look like, it seems we’ve already arrived at a “new normal,” even if we hope this normal won’t last for much longer.
Due to complications from the ongoing pandemic, Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity’s return to campus, originally slated for this fall, has been pushed back a year to the fall of 2021.
The tenure track, normally a six-year-long process at Dartmouth, has been adjusted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the College is continuing to evaluate professors up for tenure this year, it is offering a one-year extension to junior faculty on the tenure track.
Typically, April is an exciting month for sports fans. There’s the beginning of baseball, March Madness and the NBA and NHL playoffs, just to name a few main events. This April, there was none of that.
Hard work, passion for the game of hockey and “big skates to fill” — according to his players and those who know him best, that is what men’s hockey head coach Bob Gaudet ’81, who announced his retirement on April 22, will leave behind.
Cleveland Browns chief of staff and former Dartmouth offensive quality control coach Callie Brownson doesn’t answer questions about what she sees herself doing in the future.
We have an obligation to the truth, even though it’s painful.
COVID-19 has given us a reason to appreciate Dartmouth more.
The NFL draft is usually wildly unpredictable, so I elected to be bold with my pre-draft predictions. I asserted that the Miami Dolphins would take Justin Herbert, while Tua Tagovailoa would slide much further than anyone expected.