Original Article: http://dartreview.com/archives/1997/05/28/daring_dreamers.php
Wednesday, May 28, 1997
When John Ledyard was a freshman at Dartmouth College, in 1772, he cut down a giant pine tree. From that tree he carved out a canoe with his bare hands, and canoed down the river all the way to Hartford, Connecticut. He traveled all around the world, and died trying to cross Africa while in his late thirties. You can read about him on a plaque down by the river.
When John Sloan Dickey was President of the College, he would wake up early whenever there was a snowstorm. Donning his trademark flannel shirt, he would trudge from Webster Avenue down to Main Street, and help the local merchants shovel the snow from the front of their shops.
The history of Dartmouth College is filled with such men — pioneers who lived life to its fullest. Men like Eleazar Wheelock, who braved the wilds of New Hampshire to found a college, Samson Occum, his first student, and Samuel Colcord Bartlett, who was responsible for the construction of Bartlett Tower.
When I was a senior in high school, I envisioned a Dartmouth that was filled with tradition. Our College is a school steeped in tradition, a place where I could get a top-notch education surrounded by top notch people.
It was a place where students loved being together — whether it was in a fraternity basement, a classroom, or on a hiking trip in the woods. Most of all, it was a place where the students loved their school.
Now that I've been here a few years, I've learned that Dartmouth is a very different place. Sure, I've found other students who value the same things — quite a few as a matter of fact. I haven't been disappointed in the general character of the school, and I'm reminded of it every big weekend, when I talk to alumni from all eras who flock to their beloved alma mater.
But I also run across President James Freedman's 'creative loners,' and 'daring dreamers.' These students didn't apply to Dartmouth for the same reason that I did. They applied as a backup to Harvard or Yale. And they came because Dartmouth was the best school that they could get into. To them Dartmouth was not a place steeped in tradition — it was an Ivy League notch on their resumes.
Once they get here, these 'daring dreamers' are unhappy at old Dartmouth. They are the ones who complain about the Greek System, about the lack of 'social options,' about the lack of 'tolerance' here. These students don't take the time to learn about our school's history or about its special traditions. They're too busy studying in the library for their MCAT's, or next month's bio exam. They never knew — or even cared — about what makes Dartmouth special. They've probably never heard of Samson Occum.
Why would you knowingly go to a school dominated by a Greek System if you don't enjoy being social? 'Well, because Dartmouth is ranked number nine in U.S. News and World Report. That's three spots higher than the other school I got into.'
This type of student is President Freedman's indelible legacy. After all, President Freedman is a product of Harvard. He stands completely opposite Presidents Samuel Colcord Bartlett, Ernest Martin Hopkins, and John Sloan Dickey. And he doesn't mind that one bit.
The Board of Trustees charged President Freedman with changing Dartmouth's image, and, in that capacity, he has been a very successful. Just ask The New York Times. I can gripe all day about how President Freedman is trying to turn Dartmouth into Harvard, but the fact is that he's already made a lot of progress toward his goal. And, sadly, the proof lies in the students that have come here in
the past few years.
Hellbent on his mission, President Freedman refuses to listen to any view other than his own. He'll lie straight to your face, because he thinks he's right. He lied in Iowa, and he lied about The Dartmouth Review. To President Freedman, the ends certainly justify the means. He's too blinded by his ideology and mired in liberalism to see beyond his office walls.
There are enough havens for the daring dreamer in the academic world today —
there always have been. There are more than enough Harvards and Harvard clones. But Dartmouth was — and still is — something special. And if Dartmouth changes, where will the student who derives his greatest pleasure from the camaraderie of his classmates go?