Letters to the Editor

Wednesday, April 8, 1998

The following letter was sent to the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine and forwarded to the offices of The Dartmouth Review.

February 18, 1998
To The Editor:

I enjoyed the February 19, 1998, edition of Dartmouth Life. It describes a visit by the "quota queen" herself, Ms. Lani Guinier, to the Roth Center for Jewish Life on January 18th.

It states that her appearance was attended by "President and Mrs. Freedman, visiting ministers [whoever that refers to], a host of academics and 16 students."

With over 4,000 students on campus, you display the gall of describing an event attended by only 16 students on the first page of the newspaper.

Of course, your article contained the expectable reference to "a discussion of the irrelevance of standardized test in proving aptitude."

I strongly suggest that you restrain from sending me further copies of Dartmouth Life. It only serves to diminish my enthusiasm for giving to the Alumni Fund. It only reinforces my commitment to contributing solely to Coach John Lyons or athletics in general.

Yours Truly,

Senator Quenton Kopp '56
State of California

Critic's Analysis Flawed

Editors's Note: The author of this letter (a former Professor at Dartmouth) criticized, in a previous letter to The Dartmouth Review, President Freedman's inaccurate representation of Jewish life at Dartmouth in the 1950s. Dr. Richard Dorsen then respondedwith a criticism of Professor Neusner's account. It is to that letter which Professor Neusner responds to here.

March 15, 1998
To the Editor:

Dr. Dorsen's memory (whom, alas, I can't remember) is correct, I did, and do, distinguish the work of a teacher-scholar in religion from that of a chaplain-practitioner and have never served as a religious adviser to students — or wanted to.

That professional distinction does not mean that I myslef do not practice Judaism, I do, and occasionally lead services, as any practicing Jew does (and Dr. Dorsen seems not to know that doing so does not indicate one is a clergy-member).

The distinction means that on campus I do not advocate Judaic faith, since such advocacy would seriously impede my academic work, which is teaching about Judaism within the framework of the study of religion.

That is why I was not the right person to 'reconnect' him; I deal in minds, not souls. He need not have been 'shocked' as he says, it is one thing to be a practicing rabbi, which I was not and am not.

The incoherence of his letter — confusing 'lack of sensitivity towards those of us who were Jewish' and 'unwillingness to address the need for Jewish spirituality'! — suggests that in the mid 1960s a Dartmouth education did not accomplish all its goals. But then as now the faculty really did try clearly ot explain both what we do and also what we do not do — and why the difference.

I don't think Dr. Dorsen quite got the message, but it was (as he himself makes clear) not because I didn't try to deliver it. I don't think he was listening, which is why, three decades later, he can still write such a sour letter.

Jacob Neusner
Distinguished Professor
University of South Florida
Bard College

Freedman's Attacks on Dartmouth Inappropriate

The following letter was sent to the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine and forwarded to the offices of The Dartmouth Review.

March 11, 1998

To the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine:

Former Dartmouth President James O. Freedman has apparently stated that Dartmouth "had an ignoble history in the '30s and '40s of anti-semitism."

In my memory as a student at Dartmouth (class of '50), I have not one memory of anti-semitism, either in word or in deed. I was never even made aware that any of my acquaintances, or other students on campus were Jewish. There was no "incident," verbal or deed, that I can recall amongst students, faculty, or administration of that time which indicated anti-semitism.

Where was Freedman in the '30s and '40s? Where does he get his information? From Angela Davis and her kind?

The problem appears to be Freedman's; perhaps a "gimmick" to portray Dartmouth's roots and any lingering of her roots as anti-semitic.

Perhaps he is "seething" (his own word) because the God-given freedoms he enjoys in this country were acknowledged and so established by men like Eleazor Wheelock, and in that regard, he, Freedman, is not "centerstage."

Sincerely,

Robert Hartshorn '50
Hollywood, Maryland

Freedman and the Patriotic Peoples

March 10, 1998

To The Editor:

I'm so angry I wish you had e-mail so you could get this while I'm hot.

To establish some credentials, I went on from Dartmouth (after WWII) to Missouri University where I had two Jewish roommates whose memories I cherish.

President Freedman's agenda, as he leaves belatedly, is certainly to do what he can to besmirch Dartmouth.

Obviously, Dartmouth, with the help of The Review, has made him conscious of his own dangerous mean-spiritedness.

Freedman cites the years in which I was a student at Dartmouth, years which produced a generation of the most resilient, patriotic and generous peoples, at least equal to any in all of America's great history.

Professor Hart hit the nail where it must hurt when he wrote, "If someone in the general public had the impression that there was anti-Semitism at Dartmouth, they undoubtedly gained that impression from Freedman himself, who was loudly — and falsely — hurling charges about it."
For his sake, I suggest that it is essential for Dr. Freedman to get on that "medication" without delay.

Sincerely,

Derek "Van" Quackenbush '43
Valley Center, California

Letters to the Editor

Article Tools

Related Articles