Consistency or Wokeness? It’s Time For the College to Decide

On June 29th of this year, the College released the basic framework of what the 2020-21 school year would look like regarding both the number of students on campus per term and a list of standards that students, regardless of their respective physical locations, must abide by as a condition of their enrollment. Nearly two months later, the school affirmed it would push forward with their initial plan of inviting about half of the undergraduate student body to on campus for the fall quarter in the wake of many peer institutions, including three Ivies, moving to full remote fall terms. This affirmation came with the expectation that undergraduates electronically sign a “Community Expectations” agreement, indicating that they are aware of the College’s standards for student conduct and its ability to remove students from both campus or enrollment entirely. The contract notes that if students are removed from campus as a result of a breach of the expectations they agreed to, “there is no appeal of the decisions and directives of the dean and the decisions and directives shall be effective immediately.” Additionally, students who have their on-campus privileges revoked in this manner have twenty-four hours to vacate not only Dartmouth’s campus but also must vacate “the community [New Hampshire and Vermont]” unless either state is their state of “permanent residence.” The College does not have the legal jurisdiction over the entrance of students into entire states, and this statute would surely not hold up in any court of law in the United States, even with students’ signature on the contract. However, based on the College’s support of certain types of gatherings and not others, the College, if it wishes to be consistent, should force itself to vacate from campus and the states of Vermont and New Hampshire.

 In pledging their solidarity with protests of any kind, in this case, the Black Lives Matter movement’s protests, and even publicizing a protest on the College Green over this past summer term, Dartmouth is holding students to a standard that the school itself cannot even comply with. The standard in question are the points in the “Community Expectations” agreement regarding both the size and student behavior at gatherings. The agreement states that throughout the year, students pledge to “physically distance, maintaining at least a 6-foot separation between myself and others in all Dartmouth facilities at all times, where possible.” Additionally, students agree to not “host or attend in-person gatherings of more than 9 people in any location, on-campus or in the community, including my off-campus residence, unless the gathering has been approved by Dartmouth.” The College’s stance on supporting protests, however, tells a different story of their institutional priorities. On June 10th of this year, along with pledging their support for Black Lives Matter on social media channels such as the Dartmouth College Instagram page, the Dartmouth Admissions Instagram page posted a black square with the words “Black Lives Matter” and the statement, “Dartmouth supports active citizenship and applauds students’ expression of their constitutional right to peaceful protest. Doing so will not inhibit your chances of admissions.” 

Thus, by the College’s declarations, gathering in large groups to protest during the global coronavirus pandemic is encouraged and will not impede your chances of becoming a student at Dartmouth. However, once you officially become a student, just gathering in a group of over nine people, regardless of being socially distanced or coming within less than six feet of other people will revoke your status as a Dartmouth student for the year. This hypocrisy extends to the way in which Dartmouth wishes to present itself from a public relations standpoint, with images of the June 10th Black Lives Matter protest still proudly displayed on its news website, with students standing elbow-to-elbow and protesters not adhering to the 2020-21 school year Community Expectations Agreement. Some may argue that these protestors were not necessarily affiliated with Dartmouth, as the College Green is not the school’s property. However, in the captions accompanying the photographs, the College claims the protestors as “members of the Dartmouth community” and even identifies the non-socially distanced student protestors by name and class year. In the Community Expectations Agreement, the College also defines the “community” as all of New Hampshire and Vermont, meaning that the College Green, while off-campus, falls into the places where the expectations must be adhered to for the 2020-21 school year. 

It is clear that there has been no effort put forward by the College to exemplify the expectations that it set for its undergraduates for the 2020-21 school year. Instead of consistency, the College has chosen “wokeness,” and with it, set its priority as politically-correct public relations. Regardless, coronavirus, the American court system, and the College’s court of public opinion—its students, parents, and alumni—do not or should not care about political correctness. Coronavirus couldn’t care less if people are gathering in large groups for a weekend party, at a restaurant, or at a protest, regardless of whether the protest is for Black Lives Matter or any cause on either side of the political aisle. If the College has placed heavy restrictions on student activity in the name of their perceived public health agenda, then the examples they set and gatherings they prop up to appear more “woke” should not be the priority. Regardless of whether or not students of the College agree with the level and type of restrictions within the Community Expectations Agreement, the College would earn more respect from its “court of public opinion” if it practiced what it preached.

— Anne of Kiev