Vote the Smart Way

By Alston B. Ramsay | Sunday, June 8, 2003

Ah, warm weather is finally upon us. It may have taken the better part of the term, but we've finally gotten a few sunny days. And with the arrival of warmer temperatures, Dartmouth once again bids farewell to its graduating seniors.

The dominant story this year was the ever-shrinking budget, and the administrative response that, to put it mildly, wreaked of incompetence. News first broke when the swim team was told in late November—with no hints whatsoever—that Dartmouth could not afford the program. Students were outraged, so they mounted a public relations offensive, even as top administrators repeatedly said the decision was final and could not be amended. But after a swarm of scathing media reports, and after a few wealthy donors involved themselves, the College changed its tune. Principle, it seems, goes out the door when money and prestige are on the line.

Other areas faired far worse, especially academic departments and the library system, whose cuts didn't arouse the same outrage as the swim team's. As numerous satellite libraries close, and departments feel the budgetary noose, students and faculty will certainly suffer (see pages 8-11). It may not be as immediate as the swim team, but the fears many faculty have will soon be realized.

The administration has yet to explain why any of these cuts were necessary, considering the tremendous growth of the endowment in the past few years—even after the recent downturn in the stock market. While public relations gaffes have characterized the budget crisis since it began, there is another more sobering question: where are Dartmouth's educational priorities? Absent throughout budget discussions has been talk of the Student Life Initiative. For those who are unaware, the SLI started a few years back, ostensibly to better student life on campus with a variety of ill-conceived social programs, new staff like the recent Dean of Plurality, and more Greek restrictions (see page 12).

A large part of the SLI is the newfound focus on multiculturalism and kin; Dartmouth now mandates 'diversity training' for all staff. There are myriad programs each week emphasizing diversity and whatnot, and most are quite expensive (always free food). The College now seems to harbor a callous disdain for its academic priorities. That's the sole way to rationalize drastic cuts to academic departments, libraries, sports, and the like—while remaining entirely silent on budget increases for the SLI (see pages 6-7) and other absurd programs (see page 13).

Dartmouth has set its sails on the tumultuous seas ofdiversity. Buzzwords like community, multiculturalism, dialogue, and others replace any semblance of true academic discourse. Take, for instance, President James Wright's Convocation Address this past fall. For approximately half the speech, he opined over a notion set forth in a senior thesis, that whites 'did not recognize whiteness as culturally meaningful.' Listen to the words roll off his tongue like sweet nothings whispered in the dead of night: 'These students seemed to have little understanding of the privilege that they enjoyed, as whites, in a racialized, hierarchical environment, one in which they implicitly assumed their own conduct and experience was normative.' Herein lies the new purpose of Dartmouth College: re-educate anyone who doesn't buy into the culture of victimhood, or the concept of white guilt.

Wright also informed the incoming students that 'Students of color cannot be asked to bear the dual burden of presumed 'otherness' on the one hand (implicitly the inferiority of difference), and at the same time an assumed advantage deriving from this.' The irony, of course, is that few, if any, students think in these terms. Still, the diveristy mantra requires us to think exactly like this, and to sputter Newspeak whenever the opportunity arises. So we slouch toward the moment when hurt feelings triumph over logic and reasoned debate, and academics matter little—as long as everyone appreciates 'diversity.' This is the environment Dartmouth's administrators have created and reaffirmed time and time again, most notably with the budget allocations.

As this year's graduates depart Hanover, the rest of us await the next round of budget cuts (somewhere around nine million dollars for fiscal year '05), knowing that there's little we can do to affect the College's decisions, priorities, and ultimate direction.

For those of you graduating, you're soon to join the Alumni Association, which will, in theory, allow you to have a voice in the future of the College. Recently, however, Dartmouth has set in motion plans to destroy this apparatus as well. Another organizing body named the Alumni Council exists, and Dartmouth hopes to combine the leadership positions of the two. The Association is comprised of the 60,000 alumni of the College, while the Council is around one hundred and twenty—most hand-picked by, surprise surprise, the Dartmouth Administration. The new combined entity will be run solely by officials of the Council.

How does this affect alumni? Before, the Association elected their own leadership, who nominated the individuals for the single at-large Trustee position. Now, the one place alumni can influence the College's direction will be denied. You cannot vote for those who ultimately nominate trustee candidates; this distinction falls to the Council leadership. You will, if you dare, choose only the best of the worst, the few that march hand-in-hand with President Wright's socially engineered vision of Dartmouth, a place where we can all appreciate diversity (excepting whites, of course), without needing all those pesky books, libraries, or smaller athletic teams.

While the official vote of the Alumni may be castrated if this plan come to fruition, there is another way to vote,one over which Dartmouth has little control: your wallets. As drastic as it seems, cutting off Dartmouth's funds has become the only recourse for those unhappy with the College.

For now, enjoy your graduation.But in a few weeks, when Dartmouth starts begging for (more) money, I suggest considering what your donations will actually fund. If you trust the clowns in Parkhurst, and support their educational mission, by all means, write them a check. But if you question the College's present trajectory, send James Wright a polite note explaining that you won't fund his pet projects any longer. Tell him not to expect any contributions until major changes are wrought.

If, however, you're still searching for a charitable donation for tax write-offs, I do have one suggestion: The Dartmouth Review. PO Box 343, Hanover NH, 03755. At least you know how we use your money.

Vote the Smart Way

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