A Voice Crying Out for Tradition

As the Spring Term begins and my Editorship begins, I am filled with a sense of hope and optimism for the coming year. In large part thanks to the leadership of our previous Editor-In-Chief Rachel Gambee, The Review is in the best shape that I have seen in my time at the College. The staff is the strongest it has been in recent memory, with a core group of committed senior-level members that is complemented by a broad and strong group of ancillary staff members. Top-to-bottom I could not ask for a better staff, and I am both excited and proud to lead a group of such wonderful and talented people.

Personally, I have seen The Review both in strong moments, such as the excitement of the ’23s class upon first joining the paper, and in weak moments, such as the doldrums of the COVID disappearances and remote learning. I remember my first week of Freshmen Fall when I walked into the office wary of whether I wished to join an organization with such an immense (and sometimes burdensome) history, but the vision of the paper which Devon Kurtz and Jason Ceto (then Editor-In-Chief and President) pitched to me immediately sold me on the organization. Since that fateful Wednesday night in September of 2019, I have been in love with The Review. Through all the late nights and tight lines, walking the tightropes of controversy, wondering when we would finally return to campus, this feeling of love has been consistent throughout. If I did not find this seemingly unending love for this organization inside me over and over again, my time at Dartmouth and my College experience more generally would be nowhere near the same. I hope that this love, a sentiment I know the rest of the Senior Staff shares for the paper, will fuel the paper for the next year under my Editorship. I know that love of the paper, love of the College, and love of all the old Dartmouth Traditions is the only force powerful enough to motivate an organization like The Review to keep going forward.

The Review is a willy ole beast, and there is no other organization quite like this one. Burdened by history, the mark of the paper can be fear-inducing for some on campus, and while unfortunately this mark can scare away some potential writers (don’t be afraid, we don’t bite), I also am a firm believer that there is immense power in this mark. We at Dartmouth are fortunate for The Review. We are fortunate that those who came before us created an institution that is solely dedicated to preserving the traditions which made the College great in the first place. In a society, where so many sacred and esteemed institutions have seemingly pruned their own roots in a fruitless wish to be free to float in the wind, Dartmouth has been given a great gift with The Review.

One of my great concerns at Dartmouth is that the traditions have indeed died, and we are simply watering dead land. Dartmouth prides itself as being one of the few elite colleges in the nation that still cares about its own traditions, but at points, these traditions seem just to be a skin suit that the admin wears to elicit donations from alumni and to differentiate itself from the madness of the college crowd. But no, I believe the Spirit of the Ole Dartmouth Man is not quite dead yet. His spirit is hidden in the trees of campus, buried in the Green, sleeping in fraternity basements, just waiting for a voice to cry out to awaken him. My vision for the paper is to be the voice that awakens tradition on campus. Even the most mealy-mouthed Dartmouth liberal cracks a smile when he sees the pomp and show of the traditions of the College. I can’t help but be reminded of a story from the early days of The Review in this case. On Veteran’s Day around the time of the founding of the paper, students organized some type of protest against “American Imperialism” on campus. As the event was commencing, the great Keeney Jones, one of the esteemed founders of the paper, began to blast out John Philip Sousa music, throwing a great ruckus of a Veteran’s Day party nearby. This energy, fueled by a love of both the College and the Country, is what I wish to revitalize and rejuvenate through The Review. The great traditions of the College are still alive but beating slower and slower by the day, and the voice needed to resuscitate them does and has always belonged to The Review. My great hope for the coming year is that we have the courage and fortitude to cry this voice of tradition into the wilderness of campus.