November 10, 2006
Dear Dartmouth Undergraduates,
As we approach the final weeks of fall term, I am writing to share some information and thoughts about a number of topics: I'd like to let you know my perspective on some current policy issues and give you information about some general goals informing the work that my colleagues and I are undertaking. This letter concludes with some reflections and questions about what it means to live and learn together here at Dartmouth in light of some recent issues and events that challenge us to weigh our responsibilities as members of this community.
Policy Issues
I recently received and reviewed a report and recommendations from the Student Assembly Task Force on the Committee on Standards. The report reflects considerable research and consultation with people on and off campus, careful analytical thinking, and an obvious commitment to the goal of making sure that the disciplinary system for Dartmouth undergraduates is as fair, transparent, educationally appropriate, and effective as possible. I agree with the Task Force that some aspects of Dartmouth's disciplinary system warrant review and possible revision. In fact, I think there are issues and questions beyond those examined by the Task Force that warrant consideration. As good as Dartmouth's disciplinary system is, and as well as it has served the College since its last major review (it regularly receives accolades for excellence from other institutions and at meetings of professional associations), there still is room for improvement. Any college's disciplinary system deserves periodic review and revision in the interest of effectiveness, because the issues at stake are so important for the individuals involved and for the broader community. I have told the Student Assembly that I will recommend that the next Dean of the College, in consultation with the Committee on Standards and with the involvement of the College community, undertake a broad review of the process.
Dartmouth's "keg policy," which is part of our Social Event Management Procedures (SEMP) -- devised and regularly revised over the past several years by committees of students and administrators -- continues to be regularly discussed and frequently criticized as unclear and cumbersome. Although I think it is more clear and simple than some of its critics acknowledge, I am not satisfied that it is the best or most appropriate tool that we can devise for managing the distribution of alcohol at social events in a way that best protects student safety and that best carries out our individual and collective responsibilities to comply with the law. I am also not satisfied that enough students and social organizations are living up to their responsibilities to conduct their social lives in a way that does not institutionalize or celebrate high-risk and illegal use of alcohol, which indeed has no place as a valid Dartmouth tradition. I will also be recommending that the next Dean of the College establish a process to devise a better policy.
In the meantime, administrators and students need to have some candid conversations that honestly address the realities of campus social life and alcohol. From my perspective, those include the reality that the legally mandated 21-year-old drinking age is ignored or circumvented by many students and social organizations; the reality that the College has a legal obligation to implement and enforce the drinking age (although I personally believe a legal drinking age of 17 or 18 would allow for a more productive approach to alcohol-education, safety and management); the reality that our present policies are not sufficiently successful; and the reality that alcohol abuse plays too dominant a role in social life. The fact that those realities also apply to almost all other colleges and universities doesn't mean we shouldn't try to do better.
Goals
I began this assignment as Acting Dean by working with colleagues to clarify and confirm some important enduring goals for the Dean of the College division. First and foremost of those is to support student learning, inside and outside the classroom. Dartmouth's outstanding faculty has the responsibility for the curriculum, for teaching, and for being leaders in the kinds of research and scholarship that characterize the very best educational institutions. My administrative colleagues and I have the responsibility to support and advise you in your engagement with the academic and intellectual life of the College, to provide a physical environment conducive to learning (excellent residential, dining, and health facilities, for example), to provide opportunities for learning and personal growth outside the classroom, and to promote accountability through the implementation of College policies and standards.
Closely related to that is our goal and responsibility to support and sustain our wonderfully diverse community so that it is a positive cultural environment for learning to take place. It is crucially important that every Dartmouth student has equal opportunity for learning here; that every Dartmouth student knows without question that she or he is an equally valued member of the community; that all students have good reason to believe that their differences of race, gender, sexual orientation, political perspective, nationality or religion are valued precisely because they are different and contribute greatly to the richness of life here; and that every Dartmouth student has equal rights within and responsibilities for the community.
To help us achieve those fundamental goals, my colleagues and I are working to articulate a concrete set of expectations for what it means to be at our very best in our interactions with students and with one another. We aim for this to be a statement of what we should expect from one another, and of what you should expect of us. Dartmouth's greatest resource is the people who are here and our ethos of being a community that cares about people as individuals and treats them with respect and care. That resource and ethos can't be taken for granted; they have to be cultivated and encouraged in order to flourish.
Community Issues
This all leads me, in conclusion, to reflect on some observations about specific aspects of our life together this fall, positive as well as negative. There are two features of Dartmouth student life that I have always found particularly impressive and about which I brag on your behalf at every opportunity. One is your irrepressible independence and self-confident initiative. Almost daily, I hear about or encounter students who have an idea for improving the student experience, for creating new social opportunities, for independent research, or for community service. The students who designed and are currently building the new Harris Cabin, the students who created a new organization concerning stem-cell research and brought a distinguished scholar to campus, the students who organized to encourage voting and participation in the November elections, and the students mobilizing to address serious community concerns, such as the climate for women on campus or attitudes about sexual assault, are just a few examples. You've been aptly characterized as academic, social, and community entrepreneurs, and the world beyond Dartmouth urgently needs your optimistic energy and capacity for problem-solving and social change.
The other outstanding characteristic is your commitment to caring for the well-being and best interests of your peers, simply because you are part of the same student community. I like to think of this as the defining feature of the Dartmouth student experience, and it is obvious in so many facets of campus life: the welcome to first-year students provided by DOC trip leaders, the committed service of undergraduate advisors, the concern for community demonstrated by the Diversity Peer Program and Inter Community Council, the support for students' academic success provided by the Dean's Office Student Consultants and the Peer Academic Links, and the work to make this a safer community carried out by the numerous peer mentoring and advising groups-- to mention only a few of the ways students extend themselves to assist others.
These are examples of the Dartmouth student community at its best, and most of the time our pride in community life is well-founded. As is the case with any community, however, we're not always at our best, and we don't always live up to our values. I would like to conclude this letter by raising questions about some troubling situations that challenge us to do better.
I have heard from many Native American students this term about experiences that have prompted them to feel that they are viewed by some as second-class citizens of this community. When they were holding a solemn ceremony on the Green to reflect on the ramifications of Columbus Day for indigenous peoples, some students ran through and disrupted the drumming circle. The Development Office distributed to alumni a calendar that prominently portrayed the use of the "Dartmouth Indian" -- a symbol the College disavowed decades ago because Native American students and others have found it to be demeaning, disrespectful, and even harmful, whatever the intentions of its champions might be. Members of an athletic team held a party whose theme was reportedly "Cowboys, Farm Animals, and Indigenous Cultures." During Homecoming (as in previous years), at least one student sold and many students purchased a t-shirt depicting the symbol or mascot of the opposing team performing a sex act on the so-called "Dartmouth Indian." The apologies from the administrative office and the team have been sincere and appreciated, but these kinds of issues and incidents have persisted for years and have greatly diminished the quality of the Dartmouth experience. We can and should do better.
Although I am deeply committed to the protection of freedom of speech and expression, I am equally committed to the notion that we have a moral obligation to be thoughtful and responsible about the choices we make in what we say and do, as described in Dartmouth's "Principle of Community" (which may be found on page nine of the current Student Handbook, along with the policy on freedom of expression). Just because I have the right (which the College will indeed protect) to sell, purchase and wear a t-shirt that many members of the community find offensive and hurtful, should I? To what extent should I even care? What purposes are being served by this choice and what responsibility do I have to learn about the real damage demeaning symbols can cause to the groups depicted? What social or personal statement am I trying to make? If I see a friend wearing such a shirt, what -- if anything -- should I say? The responsibility of asking and responding to these kinds of questions should not rest primarily with those who appear to be most affected. These are responsibilities we all have, simply as citizens of a community that, at its best, cares for all of its members and cares in particular for any who are most in need of our collective support.
Most of you are probably also aware of the separate incidents involving members of KKG sorority and the football team: In the first incident, police and an emergency crew responded to a 9-1-1 call about severely intoxicated students at the sorority's roller skating party for new members, which resulted in three students receiving emergency medical care at the hospital and a number of others being treated at Dick's House. In the second, spectators at the Homecoming football game witnessed an altercation in the center of the field involving most of the players from both teams following the conclusion of the game. The point of mentioning these two groups and well-publicized incidents here is not to call further attention to the behavior of the particular organizations -- indeed, they each have acknowledged responsibility, have apologized, and have begun an important process of self-reflection, learning, and accountability.
The point, rather, is to highlight the question of one's responsibilities as members of a group or organization. What are my responsibilities as an individual when others in my group are making decisions or acting in ways I wouldn't act on my own? What do I say or do when "group-think" conflicts with my own values? How much am I willing to compromise in order to feel accepted by the group? Do the groups to which I belong bring out the best in me and the other members, or do they somehow inspire less than the best? If less then the best, do I leave the group, do I choose to ignore the behavior because I want to belong, or do I take the risk of working to challenge and change what's wrong?
I think it reflects well on Dartmouth that so many different members of the College community are raising these and other pressing questions about our expectations and values for our life together. I think it would be even better if more of us, particularly those of us students, administrators and faculty less obviously affected by the thoughtlessness or indifference of a small minority of others, would more visibly and actively share in the responsibility of building and sustaining the Dartmouth community at its best.
Sincerely,
Dan Nelson
Acting Dean of the College
