Original Article: http://dartreview.com/archives/2005/05/16/tdr_interview_todd_zywicki_88.php
Monday, May 16, 2005
Todd Zywicki '88 is one of Dartmouth's two new Trustees. A petition candidate running against a determined opposition from the College establishment, Mr. Zywicki garnered the support of 45 percent of alumni.
Portions of his interview with The Dartmouth Review are published below. See the next issue of The Review for a complete transcript.
TDR: Some have called this election a referendum of sorts on the current administration. Would you say that?
TZ: I would not say that. I'm looking forward to working with President Wright and the rest of the incumbent Board—the rest of the members of the Board—and that's all I'll say about that issue.
TDR: What are your goals? Where do you see Dartmouth in ten years?
TZ: I think that my goals are pretty clear. First, I'd like to see the College recommit itself to undergraduate education in particular. The most tangible way is to clarify its financial goals, to make sure that money and resources are going into educational programming—not into bureaucracy and not into expenditures of dubious education value, like the infamous sustainability director post.
Secondly, I've talked to a lot of recent alumni in particular, and one thing I think I'd like to do is rebuild Dartmouth's community and the affection and loyalty that students and alumni have for the institution. I think that in terms of recruiting and educating more well-rounded leaders, people who are concerned about the community who are willing to give of themselves for Dartmouth and who will go out and represent Dartmouth as opposed to people who are just preoccupied with narrow interests and that sort of thing.
And finally, I'd like to increase the transparency and the accountability of College governance. I feel, as many alumni do, that the College has a tendency to patronize us and to make alumni feel like they have nothing to contribute to College governance and that sort of thing. I would like to have a greater transparency in College governance so people have more of a sense of what the College is doing and why they're doing what they do, as opposed to whitewashed communications from the College that come down as if from on high. [I propose] a more collaborative process between the College and its stakeholders: students, alumni, faculty, and parents alike.
TDR: What do you make of the recent decision by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) to upgrade Dartmouth's free speech ratings?
TZ: I think that Dartmouth's repeal of its speech code is a step in the right direction. From that perspective, I was very pleased to see FIRE's tentative steps in that direction. I think it's also a first step. I think a next step is for Dartmouth, in both word and deed, is to unambiguously come out in favor of free speech. I would like to see Dartmouth as a leader on this issue in modern academia, to hold Dartmouth up as a model for freedom of speech and freedom of expression on college and university campuses. From that perspective, I think that what Dartmouth has done so far—I'm cautiously optimistic it is a good step in the right direction. I'd like to see us continue moving in that direction and build on that.
TDR: You spoke about rebuilding the Dartmouth community. Do you see fraternities playing a role in this community?
TZ: I believe so, yes. I think that the College would do better to have a more balanced attitude towards fraternities and be more cooperative with students in arranging social and other residential alternatives. The College should continue to invest in alternative social arrangements, but it must also respect students' rights of freedom of association and freedom of speech. I believe the touchstone should be that the College should try to make available a wide variety of alternative social and residential alternatives and allow the students to choose among them.
I think, in some senses, student choice and student preferences, especially when it comes to social and residential arrangements, should be the primary factor we look at. For instance, if there is demand for more sororities, the College should think about how to respond to that demand, to allow more sororities. That's what I think it is: the College needs to be a bit more humble in trying to create—socially engineering—the "right sorts" of social arrangements on campus. I think the students have a much better sense of how they want to spend their free time and whom they want to socialize with. The College's heavy-handed efforts over many years to try to funnel students into what they think of as the approved social alternatives have not only been a failure, but also fail to respect the autonomy and rights of association of students.
At the same time, obviously, there are issues involving law enforcement—underage drinking and that sort of thing—that the College needs to be concerned about. That should be what the focus is on, with respect to the College, rather than these other sorts of social engineering-type concerns that have animated things like the [Student] Life Initiative.
TDR: What was your reaction to Dean [of Admissions Karl] Furstenberg's letter that came out last December?
TZ: I think that Dean Furstenberg's letter shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the positive role that Ivy League athletics plays at Dartmouth. One of the great things about College athletics is that when you're in the stands at Memorial Field or at the basketball arena, at that point, you're not a Democrat or a Republican or Catholic or Presbyterian, or whatever. You're just a loyal son or daughter of Dartmouth coming together to cheer on the students who are representing the College. I think that is a very valuable experience in building the Dartmouth community. It's clear that athletics is one of the important ways in which alumni relate to the College, in a very public and high-profile way. Dean Furstenberg's comments on football fundamentally ignore the role that Ivy League athletics plays at Dartmouth in terms of building community, bringing students together, and building and maintaining alumni loyalty to the College.