A Jolly Good Fellow

By Ryan D. Gorsche | Monday, June 2, 2003

Donald Jolly '04 was recently awarded the Ranny B. Cardozo '78 Prize for selfless service to the community and concern for his peers. I'll withold my congratulations.

Jolly told the Daily Dartmouth: 'There's too much racism, sexism, homophobia, classism—too much hate here. One of the problems was that we need love.' For those of you off-campus, Mr. Jolly found the solution to these problems by shuffling about Hanover, post September 11, wearing a sandwich board boasting 'Will Work For Peace.' This seminal statement replaced the 'We Need More Love!' sandwich board he wore during his freshmen year. Bless 'im. He's a regular suffering servant.

Mr. Jolly's contribution to community service has prompted a fair amount of discussion around the Review office. It's not that we expected any of our staffers to win—we had our money on the Murphy's on the Green sandwich board offering 'Todays Special: Blackened Sea Bass $12.95'—but Jolly's Care Bear rhetoric is hardly service. And while it may be selfless, it is, for the most part, mindless as well.

It's no surprise that the winner must subscribe to the College's liberal orthodoxy, but, among the pool of campus activists, is an inane and immature contribution the best Dartmouth could find? The question TDR has—as first asked by Executive Editor Stefan Beck—is why didn't the College select someone who had actually contributed to campus life? Why didn't the College select a Dartmouth Free Press editor?

The Dartmouth Free Press is the 'progressive' voice at Dartmouth, and while nearly everything they write has me tearing at my hair, at least they're giving it the old College try. Conceiving, researching, writing, and editing articles takes time and effort. Buying an extra thick magic marker, and scrawling on sandwich boards—all the while dispensing with plenty of smiles and, if you're lucky, hugs—requires little time or imagination (read: intellect). So why is Jolly this year's Cardozo Prize winner?

Emmett Hogan '01—a former Review editor and current Program Director for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE)—spoke this Sunday at Dartmouth about college speech codes, providing an insight into why the insipid antics of Mr. Jolly received College recognition. 'Educrats,' as Mr. Hogan called Dartmouth's administrators, do not like those who rock the boat. And for this reason, Mr. Jolly was Dartmouth's perfect match.

It is a hardened heart that fights against peace and love, and it is doubtful that many students found their beliefs challenged by Mr. Jolly, the walking billboard. Rather, he is the 'educrats' dream—someone who slings around liberal buzzwords without all that painful debate and campus strife. Surely, everyone can wrap Jolly's sentiments around their personal ethos. The activist stomps through the streets, plugging traffic, looking to spread a little love. Meanwhile, the Hezbollah suicide bomber straps a few sticks of dynamite to his chest in hopes of peace—albeit by blowing up Israeli schoolchildren. Everyone is right...Hooray! Mr. Jolly leaves the campus no choice but to join hands and sing Kumbaya. Mr. Jolly also leaves the campus no choice but to discover the solutions to real-world problems on their own—that is, after all the smiles and hugs have been dispensed.

This is the intellectual laziness toward which the College is slouching. Mr. Jolly contributes little to campus discourse; students who have pressed him for further discussion are met with vacant stares, toothy smiles, and vague platitudes imploring everyone to turn up the love, man! ButDartmouth's 'educrats' still salute and award that meaningless attitude. The rest of us will continue our debate unrewarded, but intellectually fulfilled. Meanwhile, the only sandwich board advice I'll be taking is 5 Olde's: 'The Summer Is HOT, But The Drinks Are COLD!'

A Jolly Good Fellow

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