On-campus, local students begin weekly testing
As of Sept. 28, students spending the term on or near campus will be tested once a week for COVID-19.
As of Sept. 28, students spending the term on or near campus will be tested once a week for COVID-19.
Although undergraduate advisors have always had a role in enforcing community guidelines and school policy, pandemic regulations have added new duties, and with them new concerns.
After three years as interim director, Keiselim “Keysi” Montás has been officially named director of the Department of Safety and Security, according to a Sept. 22 College announcement. Montás has worked for Safety and Security for over a decade, while also teaching tango, writing poetry and advising student clubs and trips.
As the College continues to rid revenue losses, budget cuts and hits to various programs due to the financial fallout of COVID-19, the Tuck School of Business announced on Sept. 15 that it had laid off 18 staff members. Meanwhile, the Thayer School of Engineering has announced that it is not planning any layoffs, and other divisions at the College have not yet made final decisions about job reductions.
While Dartmouth’s reopening has so far gone smoothly with only six cumulative cases since July 1, the College has identified certain key benchmarks for when it may need to reevaluate its reopening plan. Since its debut ahead of students’ return to campus this fall, the COVID-19 reporting dashboard has allowed the Dartmouth community to follow relevant testing, quarantine and isolation data.
A thoughtful teacher known for his welcoming presence and community-based, experiential courses, Terry Osborne inspired his students to connect with their local communities. Osborne, who served as a senior lecturer at the Institute for Writing and Rhetoric and the environmental studies program, died of cancer on Sept. 7 at the age of 60.
Students looking for a way to stay in the loop about on-campus happenings have a new option for finding events. On Sept. 15, Arjun Bhatt ’20 and his team of Dartmouth students and alumni launched Who’s Down, a new app that aims to connect students safely with campus events during the pandemic.
On Sept. 24, the Hopkins Center for the Arts’ “Hop at Home'' series hosted Jake Tapper ’91 for a live chat session. Tapper, CNN’s chief Washington correspondent and host of “The Lead With Jake Tapper,” joined students and staff for a Q&A on the movie adaption of his New York Times bestseller, “The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor.”
Quarantine and regular testing aren’t the only ways in which COVID-19 has disrupted campus operations. In an effort to reduce contamination, recycling has been suspended indefinitely in residence halls on campus, according to Facilities, Operations and Management associate vice president Frank Roberts.
In an effort to streamline laundry services on campus, the College has phased out most old Dartmouth ID card readers in favor of a new mobile app that allows students to pay with a credit card rather than with DASH. However, some students have reported difficulties with the new system.
Over 200 people tuned in to watch the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy 2020 Constitution Day lecture given by legal journalist and scholar Linda Greenhouse on Wednesday night. The topic of the lecture — polarization and the Supreme Court — was a timely one in light of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s recent death.
Protests in Hong Kong may seem far away for most Dartmouth students, but the Chinese government’s response — a new national security law with worldwide implications — has brought concerns about censorship and surveillance to Dartmouth itself.
With a number of highly contested races on the ballot this November, political hopefuls across New Hampshire have been vying to court the student vote. In a virtual town hall last week, NextGen New Hampshire, a political action committee that seeks to mobilize young voters to elect progressive candidates, made its pitch to students to support Democratic nominee for New Hampshire governor, state senator Dan Feltes (D-Concord).
As Dartmouth makes dramatic adjustments to student life due to COVID-19, the Dean of the College Student Advisory Board has met regularly with Dean of the College Kathryn Lively, seeking to bring student perspectives to the decision-making table. In the two months since its creation, the board has provided input on issues such as how to bring students back to campus safely and methods to promote adherence to COVID-19 regulations.
Students seeking academic assistance this fall will have to adapt to changes in Tutor Clearinghouse offerings. One-on-one tutoring has been dramatically reduced, and residential experts, study groups and conversation partners have all been eliminated due to budgetary constraints.
Dartmouth students and Upper Valley residents alike were saddened by the news last month that Mink, the locally and nationally famous black bear beloved for her long journeys back to the Upper Valley, was found dead by the Mascoma River in Lebanon. Her death orphaned her three male cubs, who were born in January.
While some peer institutions have discounted tuition amid online learning, Dartmouth students enrolling for the fall quarter will pay full tuition — which is up over $2,000 from the previous academic year.
With only around half the student body allowed in campus housing this fall, the start of the term has seen an uptick in the number of undergraduates living off campus in Hanover and in the Upper Valley.
Despite long lines, testing delays and undetected outbreaks at other colleges nationwide, Dartmouth’s comprehensive COVID-19 testing has so far gone as planned, in an effort to help keep the virus contained on campus.
Although most students accepted into the Class of 2024 started their first term of classes on Monday, nearly 200 have opted to take gap years instead.