Dartmouth welcomes Class of 2011 at Convocation
On a bright September morning that felt more like the continuation of summer
than the beginning of fall, President James Wright
welcomed members of the Class of 2011 to the opening of Dartmouth’s
238th academic year. He was joined by N. Bruce Duthu ’80, a professor of law at
Vermont Law School and the Gordon Russell Visiting Professor in Native American Studies at Dartmouth,
and by Student Body President Travis H.K. Green ’08. The three speakers looked
at the Dartmouth of today through the lens of history, and urged the incoming
first-year students to use their years on campus and beyond building
experiences that will strengthen them as individuals and as a community.
“I would like to welcome the Class of 2011 to Dartmouth,” said President
Wright. “A few days ago in my office at your matriculation I told you how
pleased we are that you have joined this community of learning, this community
of warm and enduring friendships. And I am especially proud to welcome here the
military veterans who have chosen to join the Dartmouth fellowship; we salute
your courage and we are enriched by your presence.”
Members of the Class of 2011 sing the Alma Mater at the close of Convocation
exercises Sept. 25. (Photo by Joseph Mehling '69)
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Three veterans of the War in Iraq have matriculated at Dartmouth this year.
A former Marine himself, Wright has worked with the American Council on
Education (ACE) to raise funds specifically for wounded veterans who wish
to continue their college educations.
“The Class of 2011 is larger than we intended because more of you wanted to
accept our admissions invitation than we had anticipated,” said Wright. “This
is not a bad circumstance! Each and every one of you is here because this is
where you want to be. And each and every one of you is here because we wanted
you to be here. You are also more diverse in background, race, and economic
circumstance than any previous Dartmouth class has been, and there are more
international students than we have ever heretofore matriculated. At Dartmouth
we have a tradition of urging students to learn from each other—and in this
arena today is the base for a wonderful and rich learning experience.”
Wright explained that the diversity of the incoming class reflected a
profound institutional commitment to diversity stretching back to the College’s
founding. “The College charter issued by King George III in 1769,” said Wright,
“provided that Dartmouth College be established ‘for the education and
instruction of youth of the Indian tribes in this land,’ and the charter went
on ‘and also for ‘English youth and any others.’ There was no school of the
period that embraced so inclusive a purpose.”
That purpose began, he explained, with a profound relationship to the Native
peoples of America. “The Mohegan Indian Samson Occom stands alongside the
Reverend Eleazar Wheelock as a founder of Dartmouth,” Wright said. “While no
group ‘owns’ this institution, if any group has a historic relationship with
this College it is surely, as our charter reflects, the members of the Native
American tribes of this land. So in this, the 238th year of Dartmouth, we
extend a special welcome to those who descend from our first students, and
whose presence here both reminds us of our legacy and enriches us as a
community.”
Describing the 19th-century College as “more homogenous,” Wright went on to
say that, “even then, Dartmouth stood out as a school that was accessible and
welcoming to the poor farm boys of the New England North Country.” He noted
that Dartmouth was the first among what would eventually become the Ivy League
to admit an African American student, Edward Mitchell, and that several others
followed him before the Civil War, including, as Wright said, “…individuals
like Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs of the Class of 1852, who subsequently opened a
school for freedmen in North Carolina and helped to organize the Reconstruction
governments in Florida, where he served as superintendent of education and
secretary of state.” Wright also mentioned Charles Eastman–Ohiyesa—a Dakota
Indian who graduated from Dartmouth in 1887 and became a physician, lawyer, and
writer.
“President William Jewett Tucker, led Dartmouth into the 20th century,”
continued Wright, “by expanding the student body and by seeking even greater
diversity. The founder of Asian studies in the United States, the Japanese
student Konichi Asakawa, Class of 1899, and the scientist who established the
field of marine biology, E. E. Just, the son of slaves and a member of the
Class of 1907, these embodied the Tucker vision. Still later, President Ernest
Martin Hopkins in the 1920s argued for the educational value of diversity,
believing that students learn from each other and that their learning is
enriched by having students whose backgrounds and experiences are different
from their own.
“Each president, each of us succeeding Mr. Hopkins has shared this belief.
And, this commitment to the educational value of a diverse student body
represents well the Dartmouth of today, building upon outreach in recruiting
that was initiated by President John Sloan Dickey in the 1960s and upon a
reaffirmation of Dartmouth’s commitment to Native American education championed
by President John Kemeny in 1970.”
But Wright cautioned that Dartmouth’s historic commitment to diversity would
be endangered if not actively practiced by individuals and by the community.
“It is a value and a purpose that each Dartmouth generation must reaffirm,” he
said. “And those who would claim that Dartmouth only recently discovered the
educational value of diversity do not understand the richness of our past. Last
year at Dartmouth, students, faculty, and staff asserted most clearly that all
members of this community are welcome here. This is a powerful message that
needs to be constantly and consistently reaffirmed. And then it needs to be
embraced and lived: merely stating it is not sufficient.”
President James Wright, Student Body President Travis H.K. Green ’08, and Susan
DeBevoise Wright at the Community Cookout. Students, faculty, and staff
gathered at Tuck Mall for the annual cookout, which was hosted by the Wrights.
This year, guests enjoyed traditional picnic fare using reusable plates and
glasses, as the event was designated “waste-free.” The afternoon’s music was
provided by the Barbary Coast Jazz Ensembe. (Photo by Joseph Mehling '69)
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The President explained that the principles of diversity he was urging
students to embrace are being questioned in today’s larger national
debates.
“The current political and legal environment is one in which programs that
seek to extend diversity are under siege by those who argue that any exercise
of affirmative action to address systemic or societal bias is in and of itself
a form of bias,” he said. “I would surely agree that the concept of race
neutrality as asserted by these critics of affirmative action is an important
legal principle. However, until our society is race neutral in its assumptions
and practices and in its opportunities, the legal principle can stand as
barrier against, rather than as a facilitator of, the justice and equality and
access that is promised. In our society there are still too many individuals
who, and institutions and cultural norms which, use race or origin to define
and not merely to describe. And these definitions can be confining, if not
indeed crude and demeaning as well.”
Describing the recent work of political scientist Robert Putnam, who has
argued that diverse communities have less “social capital” than those that are
homogenous, Wright cautioned that Putnam’s findings have added fuel to current
debates about the value of diversity and affirmative action. “So it is
essential,” he said, “that we ask ourselves on this September morning whether
all of this—the legal, constitutional, political, and cultural challenges of
our time; the pessimism suggested by Putnam’s research—whether all of this
means that Dartmouth should back away from its historic principles and
assumptions.
“Having raised the question, I shall take the opportunity to provide an
answer: No, to me it surely does not. This College’s legacy and responsibility
are richer than the cycles of politics. Our commitment to the nature of this
learning community is older than the formation of this Republic. The
fundamental principle underlying this College and the liberal arts in general
is to examine assumptions, to respond to new ideas, not stubbornly to hold to
what we once thought to be true. The Putnam research makes more, rather than
less, urgent our historic purpose. The appropriate response to these new
findings cannot be to strive for homogeneous communities, which may, in the
short term, have more social capital, but will surely not, in the long term,
provide the intellectual excitement, the general stimulation, and the
preparation for a lifetime of learning that Dartmouth seeks—as it has always
sought to engender.”
Wright urged the members of the Class of 2011 to actively take on the
challenges of diversity and cautioned that doing so would require courage and
commitment.
“Your world,” he said, “will not be one marked by insular communities or
isolated societies, cultures, or nations. The leaders and contributors of your
generation will not be those who seek the safe social capital and the bland
intellectual capital of likeminded homogeneity and the temporary comfort of
isolating themselves with those who will never challenge them. Dartmouth’s
historic task and current mission is to educate young women and men who can
create diverse communities with abundant social capital. No one should assume
this will be an easy task. But this is the assignment of your time and of your
generation.”
As is his custom, Wright closed his Convocation remarks by describing how
the new class and the historic College have embarked on a lifelong
relationship. “…today you have become a part of Dartmouth, and Dartmouth
forevermore will be a part of you,” he said. “You will never be the same. But
you should know that by your very presence here, Dartmouth itself will be
changed, too. Take on this responsibility with confidence and joy. But also
embrace with me a profound sense of gratitude for the privilege we share as
members of this special community of learning ... We have work to do, you and
I—and it is time to begin! Welcome to Dartmouth.”
Complete
texts of the Convocation speeches, and additional photos
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