Original Article: http://dartreview.com/archives/2005/10/07/the_arrogance_of_power.php
Friday, October 7, 2005
In the 17th-century German play Cenodoxus, the title character, a doctor of Paris and one of the best physicians in Europe, selflessly heals the sick, helps the poor, and cares for those in need. Thus, when he shuffles off this mortal coil, one assumes he will proceed to heaven. Not so. The reason? Cenodoxus's good deeds, it turns out, were motivated by pride, which Dante ranks as the most fatal of the Seven Deadly Sins. When the priest arrived to administer the last rites, Cenodoxus's corpse cries out "Oh, my God, my God, I have been damned to hell eternal."
James Wright and the Dartmouth administration could learn a thing or two from this medieval morality tale. Not to say they're all going to hell, but their integrity certainly is. Indeed, the unofficial slogan of Wright & Co. seems to be "Hypocrisy in Action." (A new theme for the capital campaign, perhaps?).
This year's Convocation ceremonies were but one small example of the arrogance of the administration's audacious deception. Seemingly eager to appease all but please none, Dean of the Tucker Foundation Stuart Lord prayed to open this year's convocation—but did so "in the name of the spirit of Community," which is presumably the bastard step-son of the Holy Spirit. Just a short while after Student Assembly President Noah Riner '06 gave his bold and controversial speech (see page six) calling for Dartmouth students to realize the need for moral character along with their education (and citing real rather than imaginary religious figures is the process), President James Wright had the gall to brag about visiting wounded Marines in the Bethesda Naval Medical Center. Wright himself was a Marine, and visiting injured soldiers is certainly a noble cause, but what he neglected to mention is that he is responsible for preventing Dartmouth ROTC cadets from receiving full scholarships because of objections to the Army's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for homosexuals. Wright claimed that he encouraged the wounded troops to pursue their education; presumably, he also told them they would find little support at Dartmouth.
Similarly, the administration-backed efforts to change the Alumni Association's constitution (see page ten) reek of arrogance. According to the Alumni Governance Task Force, the new constitution "seeks to invigorate Dartmouth alumni governance" through "renovation" and "enrichment." The new constitution is not only four times longer than the original constitution, but also would make it more difficult for petition candidates to win alumni Trustee elections, as T.J. Rodgers '70, Peter Robinson '79, and Todd Zywicki '88 have all done in recent years. The new constitution would also strip the larger, more representative Alumni Association of its powers and give them to the un-elected Alumni Council, which, in an Orwellian twist, will be renamed the Alumni Assembly. The proposed changes closely resemble those enacted following the election of John Steel in 1980: a scared administration cannot persuade alumni on the issues in Trustee elections, so it resorts instead to changing the rules in a transparent grab for power.
The same arrogance extends to the administration's treatment of the faculty. Michael Gazzaniga is, or was, one of Dartmouth's few super-star professors who was not only the director of Dartmouth's Center for Cognitive Neuroscience but also a member of the President's Council on Bioethics. Wright left him out to dry when, as Dean of the Faculty, he incurred the professoriate's wrath. Gazzaniga has since left town and is now teaching at the University of California-Santa Barbara. On the heels of Gazzaniga's departure, Jennifer Richeson, one of Dartmouth's professor of psychology who pioneered research into the cognitive effects of racial biases, left to take a new position at Northwestern.
Jon Appleton, who taught at Dartmouth for 38 years and created the College's electroacoustic music graduate program, is leaving for Stanford because, as he told The Daily Dartmouth, "There is an exodus of people who want to see a vigorous intellectual climate here." Appleton said that "he never felt dissatisfied by any previous dean of the faculty or the four college presidents he worked under before current College President James Wright." These departures all have one common thread: dissatisfaction with James Wright and his administration. Wright claims Dartmouth is already a "university in all but name," but if he is right, it is quickly becoming a second-rate research institution. Over-subscribed courses in government and economics only underscore the administration's devotion toward moving the College away from its teaching tradition. Dartmouth did recently acquire one employee, though—Colleen Larimore '85, the sister of Dean of the College James Larimore and now the Associate Dean of First-Year Students.
So how can the the administration's unbridled arrogance be reined in? Wright and his coterie need to learn the virtue of humility. Wright has gone on listening tours in an attempt to appease alumni concerns, but his actions makes clear he has heard little. Though it has been more than four months since the election of petition candidates Robinson and Zywicki to the Board of Trustees, the message sent by their election has been taken to heart only so far as the administration is conniving to change the election rules to discourage future petition candidates. James Wright has heard an unpleasant noise, and his only response is to cover his ears so as not to hear it again.
It would not be hard for Wright's administration to lessen its vainglory. Genuinely listening and addressing alumni concerns would be a good start; appeasing some of Dartmouth's star professors would further help the cause. More transparency would go a long way in dispelling the administration's haughtiness. Pig-headedness and Wright's desire to avoid criticism aside, there are few reasons why Dartmouth's faculty, students, and alumni should not have even the most basic knowledge of the College's spending priorities and long-term vision.
Before any of these changes can be implemented, however, President Wright and his comrades must realize their hypocrisy. English scholar C.S. Lewis, who agreed with Dante that pride is the greatest of all sins, wrote "If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed." A little self-awareness can go a long way; just ask Cenodoxus.