The Dartmouth Freshman Issue 2019 by The Dartmouth Newspaper

08.22.2019

VOL. CLXXVI NO. 58

@THEDARTMOUTH / WWW.THEDARTMOUTH.COM ARTWORK BY LAUREN SEGAL

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH FRESHMAN ISSUE

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EDITORS’ NOTE

Table of Contents Join The Dartmouth!

Students, residents discuss Dartmouth’s relationship to Hanover

Architectural landscape reflects changes over Dartmouth’s history

Efforts to boost faculty diversity are ongoing, inequities remain

Sophomore rush, ‘frat ban’ give freshmen unique Greek experience

Students find opportunities for political involvement on campus

Dartmouth student voters gain experience in swing-state politics

Student Assembly president and VP discuss campus issues

Sexual misconduct lawsuit against Dartmouth: a timeline of events

Service groups interact with the Upper Valley community

Q&A with new Dean of the College Kathryn Lively

DIVYA KOPALLE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Dear Class of 2023, Welcome to campus! It seems so long ago that the two of us first arrived for orientation — intimidated, excited and certainly a little nervous. As we carried our clothing bins up flights of stairs, we had no idea what to expect from Dartmouth. After Trips, we hope you’re excited: excited to meet more of your classmates, to move into your dorm, to select your classes, to settle into the place that will be your home for the next four years. Maybe you made great friends on your trip and loved dancing the salty dog rag. But maybe, instead, you’re just tired or sore, or maybe you found that contra dancing isn’t your thing. Maybe, before reading another word of this issue, you just want to take a shower. That’s fine too. Regardless of your Trips experience, at some point in the next four years you will likely experience both the ups and the downs of Dartmouth. You will have the highest highs here: sipping farmer’s market lemonade, dancing on pong tables or staying up late to watch the stars. And with the highs will come the lows: the times when you feel overwhelmed and just need to find a few minutes to yourself to go for a walk (or a “woccom,” one of many Dartmouth phrases you’ll soon learn). But although it may not feel like it now, you’ll have plenty of time to settle in and make the most of Dartmouth. You’ll find your people to help you get through — on your floor, in your classes, in your extracurriculars. So, from us to you, best of luck finding the pieces of this school that suit you best. When we got here two years ago, we turned to The Dartmouth’s Freshman Issue for a flavor of what we might expect for the next four years of our lives. This issue is not an exhaustive list of what you might need to know, but it does provide the answers to some of the questions we had before starting classes in the fall. Want to know how this massive operation called Trips came to be? How Dartmouth students interact with the surrounding community? How you might experience the Greek system this year if you can’t join a house? If you’ll be able to vote in New Hampshire? We’ve got you covered. Maybe you’ll read this once and recycle it, or maybe, like us, you’ll save this issue and pick it up at the end of your sophomore summer, when you might want to sit and remember how it felt to arrive at this crazy place for the first time. We’ve been doing that a lot lately. So happy reading, ’23s, and welcome home. With love, Abby and Eily

6175 ROBINSON HALL, HANOVER N.H. 03755 • (603) 646-2600

DEBORA HYEMIN HAN, Editor-in-Chief

NIKHITA HINGORANI, Issue Mirror Editor PRODUCTION EDITORS CAROLINE COOK, Issue Opinion Editor DIVYA KOPALLE & MICHAEL LIN, Photo Editors

Mapping Dartmouth: Your go-to Campus Guide

Dartmouth Dining Services Hacks

“The move”: Your Dartmouth Lingo @now

TTLG: To the ’23s

Lessons from Dr. Seuss

The History of Pong: A Dartmouth Tradition

Quintessential Dartmouth Classes

TTLG: Making Dartmouth Home from Far Away

M10

Dartmouth balances teaching and research as an institution

Tenure at the Dartmouth: the path of recognition for faculty

Dartmouth Dining to see changes at multiple locations

College, community grapple with sustainability on campus

Perspectives on house system four years after founding

ELIAS: Choose Confidence

SHI: Take Your Time

LEVY: Comfort Isn’t Everything

KHANNA: Beautiful Imperfection

A look into the history and traditions of First-Year Trips

AIDAN SHEINBERG, Publisher

ALEX FREDMAN, Executive Editor EILEEN BRADY, Issue Editor

TTLG: The Myth of the Ugly Duckling

ABIGAIL MIHALY, Issue Editor JUSTIN KRAMER, Issue Mirror Editor BUSINESS DIRECTORS JASMINE FU, Issue Advertising Director ERIC ZHANG, Technology Director

SUNNY TANG, Issue Design Editor HATTIE NEWTON, Templating Editor ELIZA JANE SCHAEFFER, Engagement Editor

BY: NEELUFAR RAJA ’21

THE DARTMOUTH FRESHMAN ISSUE

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019

Join The Dartmouth! B y THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

The offices of The Dartmouth are located on the second floor of Robinson Hall, affectionately known as “Robo.” With editors and reporters cycling in and out as well as business staff facilitating the day-to-day operations, the offices are always filled with activity. The Dartmouth holds the distinction of being America’s oldest college newspaper (founded in 1799) and prints daily. In addition to our day-to-day written content, we have a blog (Dartbeat) as well as a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. With nearly two million online page views every year, The Dartmouth serves an important role as the College’s independent newspaper. Most importantly, we are a teaching institution: Many of our current Directorate members had their first taste of journalism at The Dartmouth and have stuck with it since, gaining realworld skills in editing, communication and management. Keep an eye out for applications for both our editorial and business sections during Orientation. The newspaper and the Dartmouth community welcome you to Hanover — our doors are always open. EDITORIAL News The news section keeps up with the pulse of our community, informing campus and our broader audience with happenings from all corners of the College. When news happens at Dartmouth, the community looks to The D for the important details. In recent months, we’ve covered topics such as changing trends in admission to institutions of higher education, the impact of national policies on the lives of students on campus and the evolution of sexual assault and misconduct policies at the College. More investigative pieces, on topics from administrative growth to phenomena such as grade inflation in instutions of higher education, allow us to dig deeper into campus issues and incorporate innovative techniques such as data visualization in the process. Sports Covering both club and varsity sports, the sports section keeps the Dartmouth community up to date with Big Green athletics. In the past year, we’ve ramped up our sports analysis, showcasing hard-hitting investigations into coach departures as well as a number of regular columns by dedicated student journalists who also happen to be sports aficionados. Sports is found on the back of the paper every Thursday in addition to an eight-page Sports Weekly published every Monday. Arts The D’s arts and entertainment

section highlights creative endeavors at the College, covering everything from performances and exhibitions at the Hopkins Center for the Arts to new movie reviews. Arts also features profiles on the College’s own artistic talent, such as student playwrights, musicians and painters. Opinion and Cartoon Our opinion section gives staff columnists and community members a platform for lively debate about relevant campus and nationwide issues. Recent pieces have tackled the tenure process for faculty of color, free speech’s role in political correctness and College divestment from fossil carbon fuels. Opinion also encompasses our comic section, where student cartoonists can humorously critique campus and popular culture. (Check out the “Badly Drawn Girl” series by Mindy Kaling ’01 for a notable example.) The opinion section is also where The Dartmouth Editorial Board publishes its weekly in-house editorials, called the Verbum. The Editorial Board consists of opinion staff columnists, the opinion editors, the executive editor and the editor-in-chief Mirror The Mirror, our weekly magazine published every Wednesday, takes a critical look at campus culture through both long-form features and more lighthearted pieces. In addition to photo essays, regular senior columns and “Through the Looking Glass” reflection pieces, some of the Mirror’s recent work include examinations of taboos, dating culture and religion at Dartmouth. Multimedia Our Multimedia team is responsible for publishing The Dartmouth’s Snapchat each week. The writers and designers on the Snapchat team put out The Dartmouth’s weekly Snap story, featuring a mix of humor, campus commentary and news. In addition to the Snap, the multimedia section produces video projects and livestreams important campus events such as the Student Assembly debate during election season. Whether you’re an aspiring designer, an experienced video editor or a budding humor writer, the multimedia section has a place for you. Dartbeat Launched five years ago, Dartbeat is the paper’s irreverent, wildly outspoken younger sibling and online blog, which is now our fastest-growing section complete with its own website. In addition to commentary on campus quirks (see “The Definitive Ranking of 1902 Room Portraits” and “Types of People You See at Green Key Concerts”), dining hall innovations and the popular Overheards and Trending@Dartmouth weekly lists, Dartbeat has expanded into lifestyle quizzes, giving students a chance to

ponder philosophical questions with a Dartmouth-specific twist (e.g. “Which Collis Stir Fry Sauce Are You?”). Photography and Design Editorial isn’t just about the written word. Our reporting would not be complete without the hard work of our photographers and graphic designers, whose visuals complement each story we publish. Our design staff works to create visually-appealing illustrations and infographics for all our sections, with highlights including Mirror cover art as well as graphics for the Editorial Board’s weekly Verbum. Data Visualization From conducting original surveys to visualizing data to complement our reporting, the data visualization team works with a variety of programs, including Qualtrics, R and Stata, to bring numbers to life. Engagement Engagement is the newest section of The Dartmouth, created this year to respond to the ever-evolving landscape of journalism and media. Our engagement team works to package and deliver our content on a variety of different online social media platforms, translating print stories for online viewership and working to consider how digital mediums can serve as platforms for storytelling. Templating and Layout The nature of The D’s daily print schedule lends special importance to our copyediting and layout teams. Members of our layout staff learn and use InDesign software (no prior experience necessary) to arrange stories and photos in a coherent and readable order. BUSINESS People are often surprised when they learn that The Dartmouth is a completely student-run organization and that we receive no funding from the College. In fact, The Dartmouth is the largest student-run business in Hanover, offering students an unparalleled level of real-world experience. The business side of our staff works to ensure that the paper’s editorial content can reach its intended audience and remain an independent, unbiased source of information. Students with a wide range of interests can find a place in one of the various sections comprising the business staff. Advertising and Finance The advertising and finance section sells the ads that fill the paper’s pages and appear on the website. Students build long-term client relationships to create mutually beneficial advertising packages and plans. The team works closely together to develop forward-looking strategies and promotions.

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Technology Our growing technology staff support the paper’s online presence. Tech staff at The D troubleshoot issues with our website and work on projects such as the creation of a mobile app to centralize our content and highlight exceptional work. Strategy The strategy staff works in teams to solve the paper’s most pressing problems. Where should we be distributing the paper each day? How should we redesign the website? How do we effectively recruit and retain talented staff given that all positions at The D are unpaid? The strategy team is a great place to work closely with peers to unpack the big-picture questions involved in managing and developing a business. Product Development The product development staff works on alternate revenue streams — from smaller-scale ventures like student classifieds and apparel to more longterm projects. This team offers a mix of strategy, creativity and implementation that directly lends itself to the skills needed in careers like management consulting. Communications and Marketing The communications and marketing staff focuses on staff and alumni relations as well as social media. The social media team develops and implements social media strategy on all platforms, while the communications team works on alumni outreach, staff recruitment and internal development. This staff also plans our termly social, called D-Tails, and our annual Banquet and Changeover events. Both the business and editorial staff offer a wide-range of learning opportunities to build valuable skills and to work alongside diligent and creative peers. Mentorship is an invaluable component of working at The D, and you can often find upperclassmen giving advice to underclassmen on classes, job interviews, campus social life and everything in between. With a great network on campus and beyond, The D is a great place to gain practical skills while building lasting relationships. Our alumni have gone on to win Pulitzer Prizes, write for publications such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and hold positions at elite finance and consulting firms. Come say hello to our staff at the activities fair or during our open house during the first week of classes each term, and be on the lookout for a blitz about hiring and applications. If you have questions about the Editorial staff, feel free to email our editor-in-chief at editor@thedartmouth.com. If you have questions about the Business staff, please reach out to our publisher at publisher@thedartmouth.com.

Students, residents discuss Dartmouth’s relationship to Hanover B y BErit Svenson The Dartmouth Staff

Dartmouth has long been known for its small-town charm and picturesque New England campus. As the smallest university in the Ivy League, the College appeals to students who appreciate its quaint setting coupled with the academic rigor common among its peer institutions. But of all the charming towns scattered in the Northeast, why was Dartmouth founded in Hanover, and how does the College’s relationship with the town stand today? Eleazar Wheelock, a Congregational minister, educator and founder of Dartmouth College, began his quest to “properly educate” Native Americans in Lebanon, CT. While the “improvement and conversion of the Indian tribes” was not an original idea, Wheelock believed he could more effectively educate them by “removing the children for a term of years entirely from their native influences, and bringing them in contact with English youth in a mixed school,” according to the book “A History of Dartmouth College and the Town of Hanover, New Hampshire.” As a result, Wheelock founded Moor’s Indian Charity School in Lebanon in 1755. While the school did draw students and was successful in its stated purpose, additional funding became necessary to maintain its function. A trust, led by William Legge, the second Earl of Dartmouth, to aid Wheelock’s effort was subsequently established; however, the school continued to struggle due to the difficulty of bringing Native Americans to Lebanon. To overcome this challenge, Wheelock endeavored to relocate the institution to a town in closer proximity to tribal territories. He searched

for available land throughout New England, hoping to secure a charter near some body of water. “We must in a little time determine where to fix it, in order to build conveniently for it,” Wheelock wrote to Sir William Johnson in January 1763. “Governor [Sir John] Wentworth has offered a tract of land in the western part of the Province of New Hampshire, which he is now settling, for the use of it if we will settle it there …” After several years struggling to procure land for his school, Wheelock ultimately found success in Hanover. On Dec. 13, 1769, Wentworth issued a royal charter in the name of King George III and provided a location for Wheelock’s institution. The charter asserted that the school was created “for the education and instruction of Youth of the Indian Tribes in this Land in reading, writing & all parts of Learning which shall appear necessary and expedient for civilizing & christianizing Children of Pagans as well as in all liberal Arts and Sciences and also of English Youth and any others.” This mission has since been critisized by those who say it is discriminatory. In his book “The Indian History of an American Institution: Native Americans and Dartmouth,” Dartmouth history and native american studies professor Colin Colin Calloway explains that the College was initially “an instiution at the forefront of the English assault on Native American cultures.” He writes that when the College was founded, Dartmouth was convinced Natives could only survive if they were anglicized and so the College attempted to change them. The ninth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, the school was named Dartmouth College, after Legge, who was an

instrumental in Wheelock’s earlier efforts to establish the school. Since its founding 250 years ago, Dartmouth and the town of Hanover have remained inextricably linked. According to town manager Julia Griffin, there are currently around 11,250 residents in Hanover, including Dartmouth students. Of the roughly 6,000 non-students, Griffin estimated that about half are affiliated with the College and another 20 percent are employed by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. “It’s less likely to find a resident in Hanover who isn’t working for the College or DHMC,” Griffin said. “There’s also a lot of alumni that choose to come back later in life and raise kids here.” Lillian Daley, a Hanover resident who has lived in the town for most of her life, echoed this sentiment. She said that the majority of Hanover residents have some ties to the College, creating an inclusive community. She said that people consider themselves a part of both the Dartmouth community and the Hanover community, which “makes community relations much easier.” Despite the generally positive town-gown relationship, misguided perceptions of both the town and the College persist, according to Jessica Rosien ’21, who grew up in the neighboring town of Etna, NH. “I think people living in the surrounding area have a pretty outdated impression of Dartmouth that is based on ‘Animal House’ [the 1978 film based in part on a Dartmouth fraternity] and Ivy League student stereotypes,” she said. “There are also harmful stereotypes from students about the local community and greater New Hampshire area.” She added that these beliefs seem to be dissipating, but a greater understanding of each perspective

would facilitate a better relationship between Dartmouth and the town. She said she was “really shocked” once she became a student at the College and learned that Dartmouth is “nothing like” what she and her Hanover friends had perceived it to be. Griffin said that the relationship between the College and the town has always been a positive one; however, in her 23 years as town manager, she noted that there has been change. She said that when she first arrived in 1996, the town didn’t have a planning or a zoning board, so the College was able to pursue its own goals in terms of growth. Griffin called the town a “company town,” headed by an older generation of College administrators who had spent their entire working lives at the College. While this characterization proved consistent throughout the 1990s, the population’s makeup has shifted in more recent years, according to Griffin. “In the last generation, people spent their whole careers at a place — that’s definitely not the case anymore,” she said. “There’s so much turnover at the College, particularly at the administrative level.” Consequently, Griffin added that the town and College no longer have deep connections between their respective leaderships as they once did. This shift parallels the recent desire of Dartmouth’s administration to expand and update the College, a change that has aroused backlash among town residents. According to Jill Butler, who owns the J List, a clothing and gifts store located on Main Street, another frustration faced is the lack of support for local businesses. Although Dartmouth community members consistently frequent stores in Hanover, the school has not reached out to local store owners to offer help despite signs of struggle, a

frustration for some Hanover residents and storefront owners. “It would be great if a dean from the College came and said, ‘Is there anything we can do to support you guys? Because there’s a number of empty storefronts, and that’s really not good for a small Ivy League town,” Butler said, suggesting that prospective students, faculty and others may see the College differently due to the state of Hanover’s Main Street. Butler decided to move The J List from its location in Norwich, VT to Hanover about four years ago. She said that when she first moved to Hanover, Dartmouth students didn’t seem to know about the store, but that now the store both employs and sells to many Dartmouth students. Despite the challenges, Butler said that having a store in a college town like Hanover, is “one of the best gigs you can have,” noting that the customers were friendly and that she enjoys the Hanover environment. Daley said that the biggest frustration for many local residents is the tension between Dartmouth’s desire to keep growing and the College’s characteristic small size and said that she hopes the College will refrain from developing its green spaces, such as Pine Park which is located off Rope Ferry and Occom Ridge roads just north of Dartmouth’s campus. Daley added that Hanover’s small-town nature and historic character are important to the unique identity of both the town and the College. Regardless of why Wheelock may have chosen Hanover as Dartmouth’s location, the town has become emblematic of the Dartmouth brand. “I love living in [Hanover] … most adults who live here have seen a lot of different places around the country and world and could live elsewhere,” Daley said. “But we choose to live here.”

THE DARTMOUTH FRESHMAN ISSUE

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019

Architectural landscape reflects changes over Dartmouth’s history B y ARIELLE BEAK The Dartmouth

Most students can remember the first time they stepped foot on Dartmouth’s campus. Perhaps they were struck by the red brick and white columns of the dorms, or the impressive outline of Baker tower puncturing the blue sky. Or maybe it was the stately white of Dartmouth Hall, framed on either side by Thornton and Wentworth Halls. Many of these first impressions of Dartmouth involve the College’s architecture, which has come together as the result of decades of College history. Dartmouth was one of nine colleges founded in what became the United States prior to the Revolutionary War, and because it came to being in the late 18th century, there are several references to the colonial era in its architecture. The colonial origins of the College account for a certain harmony that permeates the campus — surrounding buildings are wrapped in red brick and trimmed with white, with windows peeping out between green shutters, according to art history professor Marlene Heck. Heck, who specializes in the history of architecture, said that while parts of campus were built at different points in time, the same materials and stylistic choices connect the buildings into a cohesive whole. The distinctive “look” of Dartmouth’s campus nonetheless includes the necessary variety that allows students to continue to discover their surroundings in new, unconventional ways, studio art professor Zenovia Toloudi wrote in an email to The Dartmouth. “This variety is crucial to break homogeneity … and to also help us develop some special connection with particular ‘corners’ on campus, to find a spot, a space that feels [like] home,’’ Toloudi wrote. Dartmouth’s campus cannot be separated from its location in rural New Hampshire, with its open spaces and natural setting integral to the school’s identity. The Bema and the Connecticut River are a mere minute’s walk away for students seeking respite outside. The Green also represents a unique facet of the campus; Dartmouth is one of few college campuses where the town and college merge together in the middle. Eleazar Wheelock’s home, located where Thornton and Reed Halls now stand, was the first building on campus. Dartmouth Hall was built beside it as the first permanent academic building, and the College consisted only of Dartmouth Hall until the early 1820s when Wentworth and Thornton Halls were built, followed by Reed Hall in the 1830s. These buildings were designed in what is referred to as the Georgian style, which originated in English-speaking countries between 1714 and 1830 and was inspired by the symmetry and proportion of classical Greek and Roman architecture. The architectural style features minimal ornamentation on the exterior of buildings and adapts

classical influences to smaller, more modest buildings, Heck said. In the 1920s, Dartmouth’s campus underwent a major expansion, and most new buildings were built in Georgian Revival style. The Gold Coast dorms went up, the Tuck School of Business was relocated and the iconic Baker Library was built, along with Sanborn House, Carpenter Hall, Silsby Hall, Butterfield Hall and Russell Sage Hall. Many buildings on campus have previously had different identities. Until 1930, for example, McNutt Hall, which now houses the admissions and financial aid offices, housed Tuck. The Collis Center was known as College Hall until 1993, and Webster Hall was redesigned to accommodate Rauner Special Collections Library in 1998. Along with changes and additions, Dartmouth’s campus has also seen demolitions. According to Heck, two buildings known as Gerry and Bradley Halls were torn down in the early 1960s in the current location of Haldemen and Kemeny. The late 1950s and early 1960s were a period of modernity for Dartmouth’s architecture, as Dartmouth’s president at the time, John Sloan Dickey, wanted the school to shed its small college character — Gerry and Bradley, as well as the Hopkins Center for the Arts, Leverone Fieldhouse and the Thompson Arena, were all part of Dickey’s efforts to revamp Dartmouth’s rural character with modern architecture. Dartmouth’s architectural development took place in spurts in accordance with campus needs. However, with the time that has passed in between each construction period, architectural tastes have changed and building campaigns have naturally featured different styles, according to Heck. “After all, you wouldn’t want to build anything that looks like Rollins Chapel in the earliest 20th century,” she said. The Haldeman Center, Kemeny Hall and the McLaughlin Cluster were all designed by Moore Ruble Yudell, an architecture and planning firm, in the early 2000s. The designers looked at the space north of Baker-Berry and formulated a master plan that looked at the district of the campus as a whole and how it would expand. Jeanne Chen, principal architect of the team of design architects for the three projects, took a holistic approach to designing for the campus. Chen said it was crucial to the team to not only respect the “language,” or style of pre-existing buildings, but more importantly to respect the natural environment of the college that forms Dartmouth’s character. The team hoped the new expansions would unify the campus and create a stronger sense of connection and inclusion. McLaughlin, Kemeny and Haldemen were purposefully built to feel accessible and welcome, aided by the sweeping glass windows that were intended to open up the buildings, Chen added. One of the greatest challenges when approaching construction

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Baker Library is one of the most iconic buildings on Dartmouth’s campus. Its bell tower rings every hour to signal the time.

of the McLaughlin dorms and other new buildings was meeting the demand for a large building space while simultaneously creating an inviting and inclusive space, Chen said. To approach this obstacle, Moore Ruble Yudell took a big building and broke it down into smaller series of forms. The separate buildings are linked by grassy, white elements and are brought together with a commons in the middle to draw the community together. “One of the things that works the least well is if you take this Georgian style and take this big building style and don’t respect the spirit and history of the campus,” Chen said. “It becomes more of a wallpaper because it doesn’t capture the essence of the project.” Kemeny, meanwhile, is “L-shaped” to frame the back of the library, to not only reinforce the historic campus but also simultaneously convey modernity and fulfill the need for social spaces. “That’s what we think makes a

project rich and responsive — it’s that will house the Magnuson not just about the language but it’s Center for Entrepreneurship and about asking if it is welcoming, Electron Microscope Facility, and does it make the other and additions are being made to buildings better,” Chen said. buildings at the Thayer School of The obvious answer to Engineering. The new Arthur L. creating visual harmony on an Irving Institute for Energy and existing campus Society will be is to simply “I think that buildings located between imitate the style Tuck and of previous need to speak of Thayer, and a b u i l d i n g s , their time. A building new dorm is Chen said, that’s put up in 2020 also underway but noted that where House capturing the shouldn’t look like Center A “spirit” of the an earlier building or currently other buildings stands. While is often more a copy of a historical the buildings important than style.” will not copy copying their the Georgian look exactly. revival style, Dartmouth -MARLENE HECK, ART they will is presently HISTORY PROFESSOR incorporate going through red brick and a significant reference construction spurt, including stylistic elements of the era. the recently renovated Hood Heck said that, in Museum of Art and Black Family her opinion, new buildings Visual Arts Center. A new Center should reflect the era of their for Engineering and Computer construction. Science is currently being built “I think that [new] buildings need to speak of their time,” Heck said. “A building that’s put up in 2020 in Dartmouth shouldn’t look like an earlier building or a copy of an earlier historical style, but in a way that it relates to buildings around it. It should speak to good design as something that contributes to the campus but, it should also be a good neighbor to all of the buildings that came before it.” Campus architecture at the College is often a contentious issue with students, as many students dislike the modern aesthetic of newer buildings such as the Hop or the Choates. Heck noted, however, that every building on campus is a record of a moment in the College’s past and “what the College wanted to say about itself at a certain moment in its history.” She said that she believed tearing down buildings for the sake of visual continuity is an unnecessary rewrite of Dartmouth’s history. “Not everything is worthy of being preserved in its entirety,” Heck said. “But keeping something that was a part of what we’ve pulled down or changed as a record of a certain moment in our history is important, because the ’23s will come in, and they won’t know that there’s been a MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF lot of change lately. This is their Fairchild Hall boasts tall ceilings and long windows, allowing sun to fill the earth sciences building’s lobby as students pass through each day. Dartmouth.”

THE DARTMOUTH FRESHMAN ISSUE

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019

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Efforts to boost faculty diversity are ongoing, inequities remain B y BLAKE MCGILL

The Dartmouth Staff

Academia has historically been a white and male sphere. According to the National Center for Education, in 2016, 53 percent of full time professors were white males, while another 27 percent were white females. Despite an increasingly diverse student body, Dartmouth’s own campus reflects these national trends. According to the Office of Institutional Research, 80 percent of the 316 tenured professors at the College in 2018 were white and 62 percent were men. By contrast, nearly half of the newly-admitted Class of 2023 are Americans of color and 12 percent are international citizens, according to the College Admissions Office. Across the nation, students and expers alike are discussing why it might be important to have faculty members that reflect the diversity of the student body. In the Dartmouth community, many expressed frustration at the College’s lack of faculty diversity when Asian American female professor Aimee Bahng was denied tenure in 2016. Almost 4,000 people signed a petition calling for College President Phil Hanlon to reconsider this decision. From opinion pieces in newspapers to conversations among experts and articles in education journals, many voiced concerns that a lack of faculty diversity may limit the perspectives and conversations in the classroom and can cause minority and female students to feel that they do not have mentors they can rely on. Dartmouth’s faculty is moving toward more diversity — white faculty members decreased from 87.8 percent in 2017 to 80 percent in 2018 and male faculty decreased from 74.3 percent in 2017 to 62 percent in 2018. Vice president for institutional diversity and equity Evelynn Ellis said that while she believes this change over the last two years represents some progress, the percentage of non-white tenured professors is still too low. She added, however, that

Dartmouth’s percentages are roughly similar to that of its peer institutions. In 2017, 79.9 percent of Harvard University’s tenured professors were white and 74.7 percent were male. That same year, 81.2 percent of Yale University’s tenured professors were white and 74.5 percent were male. The tenured faculty at Brown University, Cornell University, Duke University and Stanford University also had similar percentages of white and minority professors. Ellis said her office is constantly working with the College’s administration to ensure all parties “buy in” to the conversation regarding the critical need for a diverse faculty. She added that since she began working at the College over a decade ago, there has been much progress in the conversations about diversity her office is having with the College’s administration. “Our discussions are so much futher along than when I started here,” Ellis said. “What’s happening is a culture shift, which is what you need.” She said she is optimistic about the future of diversity at Dartmouth. “If all the mechanisms we are trying to put in place now stick over the next three to five years, I think [the faculty makeup is] going to look drastically different,” Ellis said. To formally prioritize diversifying the College’s faculty, Ellis and her office joined the administration in launching the Inclusive Excellence Action Plan in 2016, an initiative with the broader goal of supporting diversity at the College through the creation of a more inclusive environment. While the IE action plan was crafted to tackle problems of exclusion more widely on campus. One goal was achieving a faculty of 25 percent minority faculty, according to special assistant to the president Christianne Hardy, who said she believed it was possible to reach the goal by 2027. According to Hardy, the IE action plan includes funding to support diversity hires and help increase the number of diverse scholars in the path

to tenured professorship. The plan also includes the review of all hiring, promotion and tenure processes for bias against minority candidates. Hardy said she believes these efforts are beginning to pay off. In the three years since the IE action plan was launched, the percentage of minority faculty institution-wide has increased from 17 percent to 19 percent, and 20 percent within the Arts and Sciences division. “We are making progress. This is, however, a long game,” Hardy wrote. She said a natural turnover rate of about 5 percent of faculty each year both allowed diversity in hiring each year, and risked losing diverse faculty members. Aparna Parikh, the 2018-2020 Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow with the Leslie Center for the Humanities, said that in her experience, post-doctoral fellows add significantly to the diversity in their departments, adding that many of the courses tackling subject matter surrounding diversity are taught by post-docs. In the past year, Parikh has taught two courses in the geography department, one course on gender and development that had been taught before at the College, though not recently, and GEOG 80.06, “Women in Asian Cities.” In addition to adding diversity to course material, Marianna Peñaloza ’22 said that she and other minority students often find themselves looking to professors of color and female professors for guidance. “It would be really difficult to navigate [Dartmouth] as a firstgeneration, minority student if I did not have this mentorship,” Peñaloza said. Parikh said she has acted as a mentor for a number of students and has served on a number of panels in the past year on the subject of diversity and inclusion. Racial and gender percentages, however, only represent some of the ways to measure the diversity of Dartmouth’s teaching staff, according to Parikh, who emphasized that some

elements of diversity — such as firstgeneration status, class, sexuality or ability — are often less visible. “It is a complicated landscape when one is talking about diversity,” Parikh said. “It is also something that is not just a question of who I am, but of what kinds of things I think about in my research.” Another less visible element of diversity is diversity of thought. Government professor Lucas Swaine wrote in an email that the College benefits from a diversity of and respect for various political attitudes. He said that although he can’t speak to other departments, faculty in the government department have a broad range of outlooks and approaches. “There must remain space for healthy disagreement and questioning, and it is crucial to value and protect freedoms of speech, thought, and association, all of which promote political diversity,” he wrote. International student and history major Janel Perez ’22 agreed with Peñaloza that a lack of diversity amongst professors is reflected in the courses taught at the College. She wrote that she thinks diversity in the history department is best summed up by the department’s divisions: the U.S., Europe, AALAC (Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Carribean). Perez said such divisions — and the grouping of the AALAC category — made it easy to understand the U.S. and euro-centric strengths of the department. She said that the department could hire more faculty in the AALAC division in order to allow each section to stand on its own. Perez noted, however, that she loved how responsive the history department is, and wrote that the faculty has a “healthy diversity of gender and race (at least considering how small the department is).” She also said that history is “inherently a dynamic discipline,” so narratives and interpretations are constantly evolving. Although Perez mentioned that she sees room for improvement, she also said she has been impressed by

the fast action taken by the history department heads to resolve issues of diversity raised by students. She explained the major is undergoing changes following department-held student focus groups, in which the issue of faculty diversity was raised. Ellis said her office recognizes that one of the most important issues related to diverse faculty is faculty retention. Her office focuses much of their efforts on supporting new faculty and fellows and said she encourages the College’s perennial faculty to do the same. Ellis said she believes that the academic environment must be welcoming and that once someone is hired, there needs to be a plan in place to support them. According to Hardy, the College has instituted a mentoring program that pairs female faculty members and faculty of color with mentors to serve as resources during their years as junior faculty. Hardy said the mentorship program is not formally named, but that department chairs are asked to encourage senior faculty to mentor junior faculty. Associate deans meet with all junior faculty to aid in pairing mentors and mentees as needed, either within the same department or across departments and schools. She also said that the Employee Resource Networks run by IDE helps faculty and staff transition to living in the Upper Valley, including for Black, Asian, LGBTQIA+, Latinx and female employees. Ellis said that there are some people who end up working in completely different professions who would have made great professors because the environment of academia may not be conducive to retaining those not traditionally represented. “Once professors are in [academia], they need to know they can move up in the workplace regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, ability,” Ellis said. “If they believe the playing field is not level … they aren’t going to come into [academia] because they don’t have to. They have options.”

Sophomore rush, ‘frat ban’ give freshmen unique Greek experience B y Hannah jinks

The Dartmouth Staff

In 1978, “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” a comedy film that documented the ventures of several fictional fraternity brothers, was released. Chris Miller ’63, one of the movie’s writers, based parts of the movie on his personal experiences in Dartmouth’s former chapter of Alpha Delta. The film received critical praise, but its depiction of Greek life and party culture has entrenched a lasting negative reputation on the College. Dartmouth has since attempted to overcome preconceptions about its social environment, especially after College President Phil Hanlon took office. Under Hanlon’s leadership, Dartmouth developed the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” plan in 2015, which aims to eliminate high-risk drinking and sexual assault on campus. In 2012, prior to the unveiling of the MDF plan, Rolling Stone published an article which characterized Greek Life at the College as a modern-day “Animal House.” The article, entitled “Confessions of an Ivy League Frat Boy: Inside Dartmouth’s Hazing Abuses,” detailed the disturbing hazing practices, binge drinking and rampant sexual assault experienced by former Sigma Alpha Epsilon brother Andrew Lohse ’12. His accounts, previously published in a guest column in The Dartmouth, shocked many, particularly prospective students. In 2014, Dartmouth’s application numbers fell by 14 percent. Sana Nadkarni ’22 said she hadn’t read the article before her freshman year began, but her friends warned her that Dartmouth is a “terrible place.” “When I got in, one of my friends from high school who already goes [to Dartmouth] told me not to read the article,” Nadkarni said. “It was an eyeopening experience to [eventually] read it.” But, she said, the Dartmouth she has experienced has differed dramatically from the popularized “Animal House” archetype. “[The article] is not the Dartmouth I’ve seen throughout my freshman year,”

she said. “But, I’m only in my freshman summer, so I’m not fully privy to what goes on behind the scenes.” Greek life plays a significant role in the College’s social atmosphere to this day, as roughly half of Dartmouth students are members of Greek organizations. Greek participation among eligible students, however, is even higher — 67 percent as of 2014 — because students cannot rush until their sophomore year. Inter-Sorority Council president Kenya Jacob ’20 said this unusual rule — every other Ivy League school permits first-year rush — serves to ease the transition for freshmen into college social life and diversify friend groups that may otherwise center around mutual affiliation. Consequently, freshmen must wait until their second year at the College to demystify the rush process. Jacob added that although delayed rush introduces logistical complications with the D-Plan, she strongly supports the policy. According to her, sophomoreyear rush allows students to find community outside the confines of their house. “Dartmouth has a strong Greek culture, but people can still say some of their closest friends are in other houses,” she said. “Having a strong sense of community entrenched before becoming affiliated is invaluable.” Students at the University of New Hampshire are allowed to rush their freshman or sophomore year, according to student Taylor Sheehan. She said she opted to rush sophomore year because the process felt “too intense,” especially with the added pressure of hurriedly assessing her compatibility with the houses. “I feel very confident now going into my sophomore year,” she said. “Certain sororities and fraternities have certain reputations and, if you really want to be in them, you have to fit their stereotype, but, now that I’ve been here for a year, I know what those are.” She added that some of her peers have indicated that they wish they had waited to rush because they struggled to balance the busy schedule with academics. Men’s rush, in particular, occurs around midterm season, she said.

However, some students at universities that allow first-year rush prefer that system. According to Eliza Thaler and Ben Heller, both rising sophomores at the University of Pennsylvania, first-year rush helped them find new friends in an unfamiliar environment. “[First-year rush] allowed me to expand my group of friends before everyone’s group was really solidified … [and] form friendships with upperclassmen who served as role models and guides to navigating college,” Thaler said. “I personally really liked having rush freshman year.” Heller is also glad he rushed freshman year, but he admitted the rush process compounded the stress of adjusting to college life. According to him, the University of Pennsylvania has on- and off-campus fraternities and, although formal rush for on-campus fraternities begins in January, “dirty rush” for offcampus fraternities starts in the fall. “By December, a lot of [off-campus fraternities] will have decided the bids they plan to give out,” Heller said. “Formal rush happens over the first week of [second semester] classes when there’s not much work, but I definitely felt a bit stressed during dirty rush.” Despite their inability to rush, Dartmouth freshmen may interact heavily with Greek houses, in large part due to fraternities’ open-door custom. Most nights, students may present their ID at the door of any fraternity and gain entry, although invite-only events still exist. According to Jacob, the opendoor custom is made possible by the “significantly higher” social and house dues that fraternity members pay to their chapters relative to sororities. Additionally, some national charters restrict certain sororities from hosting any social events in their houses. Greek houses at other universities, including the University of New Hampshire, tend to be more exclusive. “At the beginning of the year, my friends and I would dress up and walk down ‘Frat Lane,’ which wouldn’t get us anywhere,” Sheehan said. “There aren’t that many open parties, but I can bring two or three friends to my boyfriend’s

fraternity’s list parties. You just hope nobody is using you.” At Dartmouth, the open-door custom ensures that students — especially unaffiliated freshmen with few connections — can feel included in the Greek social scene, but only once the fraternity ban is lifted. Implemented by the Greek Leadership Council, the frat ban prohibits freshmen from attending Greek parties until Homecoming or the sixth week of fall term, depending on which occurs latest, according to GLC chair James Park ’20. Freshmen have access to certain College-approved “dry” parties prior to the lift. According to Jacob, the frat ban aims to address mounting concerns about the “red zone,” the period of time between freshmen’s arrival at college in August and Thanksgiving break. At Dartmouth, the “red zone” encapsulates all of fall term, but the frat ban typically ends in October. More than 50 percent of campus sexual assaults, primarily against women, occur during the “red zone,” as reported by Psychology Today. Jacob added that the ISC hopes to ease women’s transition into the Greek scene following the frat ban. Starting with the Class of 2023, sororities will hold more open-door events during fall term. She said it’s rare for sororities to maintain an on-campus culture at other universities, but Dartmouth has the unique ability to help women navigate a potentially dangerous transitional phase. Emily Pommier ’22 said her social life was similar before and after the lift. Even though some of her friends went out frequently, Pommier said she rarely participated in Greek life during fall term and never felt pressured to join them. “I got really close to my floormates and didn’t really feel the need to go out,” Pommier said. “I never really felt like I was missing out on anything.” She added that the Greek scene initially made her uncomfortable due to the prevalence of alcohol. Halfway through winter term, however, she began to attend Greek parties and realized that she did not feel pressured to drink. Not all students feel comfortable in traditional fraternities. Gender-inclusive fraternities — Alpha Theta, the Tabard

and Phi Tau — and Black Greek letter organizations — Alpha Phi Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta and Alpha Kappa Alpha — are some organizations that serve the LGBTQIA+ and Black communities on campus. Kai Frey ’22 said they never foresaw getting involved in a Greek house, but that they ended up spending more time in Phi Tau as an unaffiliated freshman than many of the house’s members. “I used to be scared of Dartmouth’s Greek culture — it was actually one of the main turn-offs when I applied,” Frey said. “But going there and realizing not all fraternities and sororities are what you expect them to be changed my perception — I’m going to rush Phi Tau in the fall.” Delta Sigma Theta reactivated its charter this past spring after 13 years of inactivity, according to Princilla Minkah ’21. Minkah said that several students banded together to reestablish Delta Sigma Theta because they felt there weren’t enough spaces on campus to cultivate their identities as Black women. “cultivate [themselves] as Black women.” Minkah added that freshmen may get involved in Black Greek letter organizations by attending termly events — including political engagement, financial literacy and social programming — often held at Shabazz. “Being in a school that only has about eight percent Black students, having an all-Black Greek space has been very important to [my] social growth and comfort on campus,” Minkah said. “It feels good knowing you have a safe space that you belong to and have ownership of whether that space is physical or not.” Regardless of where students choose to attend or rush, Nadkarni stressed that any modern-day “animal house” tendencies do not detract from the College’s culture of learning. “The reason I really like the Greek houses even though I really like academics is because coming to Dartmouth, I wanted to have a whole education,” Nadkarni said. “Learning socially, intellectually or even athletically — that’s what adds to the vibrancy of campus.”

LAUREN SEGAL/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Dartmouth recognizes 14 fraternities, 10 sororities and three gender-inclusive chapters.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH FRESHMAN ISSUE

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Students find opportunities for political involvement on campus B y Gigi Grigorian

The Dartmouth Staff

New Hampshire is neither red nor blue. While the state’s representation in Congress is entirely Democratic, a Republican, Chris Sununu, has been governor since 2017. Although Dartmouth remains majority liberal, the range of ideologies among campus political groups reflects the swing-state nature of New Hampshire. Dartmouth has already served as a hub for presidential candidates this election cycle. The College Democrats have hosted 11 of the declared Democratic 2020 presidential candidates on campus, according to Dartmouth Democrats member and former president Gigi Gunderson ’21, including Sen. Cory Booker (DNJ), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand ’88 (D-NY), Sen. Kamala Harris (DCA), U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (DMA). According to Gunderson, these events have drawn hundreds of students, many of whom have volunteered to work at the events. “So many presidential candidates are excited to visit

New Hampshire and therefore excited to come to Dartmouth,” College Democrats member Jake Maguire ’21 said. Unlike the political makeup of New Hampshire at large, however, the Dartmouth student body skews liberally. According to a survey by The Dartmouth in May of this year, almost half of Dartmouth students consider themselves to be broadly liberal, in addition to 13 percent who consider themselves to be socialist. Twenty percent of students said they were moderate, nine percent said they were conservative and six percent as liberatarian. With regard to party, 59 percent of students identify as Democrats while 25 percent identify as Independents. Thirteen percent identify with the Republican Party and 2.4 percent with the Libertarian Party. College Republicans treasurer Griffin Mackey ’21 said that Dartmouth is “a bubble” and that students tend not to interact with the Upper Valley. “I think [this lack of interaction] is another reason why we’re just on two different [political] planes from the New

SUNNY TANG/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Hampshire population,” Mackey said. In addition to hosting national election candidates, Dartmouth Democrats will also work to support and volunteer for candidates in local elections, such as Joyce Craig’s campaign for re-election as the mayor of Manchester, according to Maguire. While the College Republicans will be active throughout this election cycle, they will mostly gear up in the months leading up to the general election, said College Republicans chairman Daniel Bring ’21. He said the group will be supporting President Trump in the primaries and general election. “Fall 2020 will be a busy term for us, but we’ll still be actively supporting the Republican Party every day from now to Election Day,” Bring said. Outside of election-focused work, political groups at the College provide opportunities to engage with political ideas. This year, the College Republicans made a stir on campus when they hosted conservative commentator David Horowitz. His talk included controversial statements such as,“the only serious race war in America is against white males” and, “no one is oppressed in America.” Four police officers were present securing the event, which drew student protestors. “We try to bring speakers who are famous, interesting, exciting, who introduce new ideas to campus,” Bring said. “I think that there’s a definite value to having speakers who attract a large crowd.” Bring explained that one goal of such “high-profile” speakers is to attract moderate or more politically indifferent students so that they might consider and

SUNNY TANG/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

reflect on the ideas presented. The College Democrats, on the other hand, tend to bring politicians rather than commentators to campus. In addition to the presidential candidates hosted already this year, the College Democrats have hosted New Hampshire politicians including congresswoman Annie Kuster ’78 (D-NH) and 2018 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Molly Kelly. Some members of political groups have stated interest in strengthening the work across political groups in future years. According to Gunderson, the College Democrats have worked with Planned Parenthood but are looking to expand their collaboration to other liberalleaning groups on campus such as Divest Dartmouth — a student-run activist group which advocates for Dartmouth to cease investment in fossil fuel companies. Despite interest among some students to have political discussions across party lines, debates of this nature and events of thus kind are difficult to bring

to fruition, according to Bring. William Reicher ’22, cofounder of the Dartmouth Political Union, an organization that works to facilitate open discussion of political issues at the College, said that the Dartmouth Democrats and the Dartmouth Republicans tend to host separate events and bring their own speakers to campus, and tend not to opt to collaborate. To try to bridge this gap, the DPU was re-established this fall, after being inactive since it was discontinued in 2010. Revived by Reicher and Vlado Vojdanovski ’22, the DPU hosted a discussion this spring about foreign policy by members of the College Democrats and the College Republicans that was attended by about 40 people, Reicher said. But with the presidential primaries right around the corner, regardless of which campus group might appeal to new students the most, ’23s have many ways to get involved in politics, should they choose to. Jake Maguire is a member of The Dartmouth staff.

Dartmouth student voters gain experience in swing-state politics B y Cassie Thomas The Dartmouth Staff

Incoming freshmen may be bracing for their move to Hanover by investing in parkas and wool socks, low-cost Swedish furniture and new laptops. They may not expect, however, that moving to a swing state with a population of just 1.36 million people means they will also experience tight election races. In New Hampshire, elections have recently been, and may continue to be, decided by margins smaller than a Dartmouth class. Domestic students new to the state will have to make the decision of whether to vote absentee from home or partake in Hanover elections. “When [students] arrive on campus and see how important voting is here, it really energizes a lot of people who didn’t ordinarily want to be involved in politics,” said Dartmouth Democrats member and former president Gigi Gunderson ’21. According to Gunderson, in the 2018 election cycle, Dartmouth students were at the front lines of elections, rallying their classmates to register to vote and reminding them of the weight of their ballot. Gunderson dedicated an offterm to organizing on campus for New Hampshire’s coordinated democratic campaign. Many political organizations, including the College Democrats and NextGen America, initiated major pushes encouraging students to vote in New Hampshire elections. The “Get Out the Vote” campaign in fall 2018 led to over 1,000 new Dartmouth voters in the midterm elections, Gunderson said. However, this voting push has been promoted in large part by left-leaning groups on campus, due to the Republicans’ views on voting in New Hampshire versus a students’ home state. “We’re unequivocally opposed to students voting in New Hampshire,” said College Republicans chief of staff Alexander Rauda ’21. Upon arrival at Dartmouth, non-international students over the age of 18 must decide whether they would like to register to vote as a New Hampshire resident or as a resident of their home state. For students like Rachel Florman ’21, a member of the Dartmouth Democrats, it was clear that voting in New Hampshire had a greater impact than voting in her home state of New York. “I didn’t even think about

switching my registration to New York City, which is where I’m from, because I’ve spent so much more time at school in the last two years than I have in New York,” Florman said. “I live here, I care about what happens here and I was excited to vote here.” However, most Dartmouth students only live in New Hampshire for approximately 30 weeks each year. College Republicans treasurer Griffin Mackey said that, for this reason, he thinks it is wrong for students to make lasting political decisions for the state. He also noted that the lives of most Dartmouth students are centered around the campus, with little involvement in local communities. Though Maddie Sach ’21 also hails from the state of New York, she said she chose to maintain her home-state registration due to the importance of local politics and the fact that she had volunteered for a state legislative candidate. “I figured out that local politics can be much more important than politics on the national level,” Sach said. “So my thought process was that I’ll vote in local elections absentee, and then I was going to re-register in New Hampshire for 2020.” Despite the state’s sameday voting policy, which allows voters to register within minutes at the polls on election, and the efforts of political groups to get students to register, recent policy changes may make it more difficult for students to vote. New Hampshire House Bill 1264, which reconstructs the definitions of “resident” or “inhabitant” and “residence” or “residency,” went into effect in July but remains in litigation. The bill was passed in 2018 by thenRepublican controlled legislature and signed by Governor Chris Sununu. Previously, voters only needed to demonstrate that they were domiciled in New Hampshire “more than any other place.” Now, however, HB 1264 requires those who wish to vote to present a New Hampshire driver’s license in order to prove residency For out-of-state students who wish to vote in New Hampshire, this new requirement means a trip to the DMV to purchase a driver’s license, whether or not the voter owns a car. When Democrats won a majority in both houses in the 2018 midterm elections, they passed HB 105 and 106, with aimed to repeal New Hampshire Senate Bill 3 and HB 1264. SB

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

A voter checks in for election day at Hanover High School, Hanover’s voting location.

3, which preceded HB 1264 and was passed in 2017, requires New Hampshire voters to provide proof of domicile within 30 days of an election. Sununu vetoed the bills in July, following a New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling HB 1264 as constitutional. SB 3 was also ruled as constitutional by the N.H. Supreme Court in 2017. Both chambers of the Democratic-controlled state legislature will likely meet in September to attempt to override the governor’s veto in September. Proponents of HB 1264 argue that the policy simply puts New Hampshire on par with the voting laws in other states. District 21 NH Rep. Dick Hinch (R), has argued that HB 1264 will decrease the chance of voter fraud and improve the security of elections. “Choosing New Hampshire as your domicile for voting should subject each and every one of us to the same obligation of state citizenship,” Hinch said. “This bill is about ensuring our elections remain fair for all who cast a vote in our state.” Others are not convinced that HB 1264 will improve election security as much as it will complicate and “convolute” voting in New Hampshire. Hanover town clerk Betsy McClain, who is responsible for the administrative tasks that have to do with Hanover voting, has held her office for around nine years and said she has witnessed voting dynamics in the state change over the years. According to McClain, policy

changes such as HB 1264 not only create new impositions for voters, but also place new strains on voting officials. Elections rely on volunteers who donate four or five hours of their time to facilitate voting on election day. Those volunteers, however, may not necessarily monitor policy changes in voting regulations the same way a paid official would, McClain explained. In addition to putting pressure on officials and volunteers on election day, HB 1264 stipulates that elected officials can’t advise voters on laws that apply to residents, McClain explained. “As these laws become more convoluted, it puts us in a position where we can’t be as helpful as we feel our citizenry wants us to be,” McClain said. Sach said that although she initially planned on switching her registration to New Hampshire before the 2020 elections, she decided that if HB 1264 goes into effect she would not go through with the process of getting a New Hampshire driver’s license in order to prove residency. “I don’t have a car, so it makes no sense to get a New Hampshire’s drivers license and have to register that way,” Sach said. Some frustrated Dartmouth students have decided to take action. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed Casey v. Gardner against the state of New Hampshire on behalf of lead plaintiffs Caroline Casey ’21 and Maggie Flaherty ’21,

to challenge the legality of HB 1264. The plaintiffs allege that the restrictions that the bill places on voters hailing from another state are unconstitutional. The plaintiffs assert that HB 1264 infringes on their right to vote by instituting a de-facto poll tax on voting and for targeting the voting rights of college students. “People often complain about young adults not voting, but Dartmouth students want to vote,” Flaherty said. “A lot of students vote in New Hampshire and we want to engage with our community here. That desire is genuine. We want to make this our home; we want to make this our community for the next four years.” McClain noted that the Office of Residential Life works with the Hanover town clerk’s office to help students obtain the paperwork they need to prove residency at Dartmouth. Although the future of voting policy in New Hampshire is still being debated by state politicians, for students like Florman, registering to vote in New Hampshire best reflects their concerns and interests, giving them an opportunity to contribute to politics in the state. “I pay taxes in New Hampshire, I study in New Hampshire, I live in New Hampshire,” Florman said. “It’s about democratic participation to begin with, because I care about what’s happening here, where I live.” Gigi Grigorian contributed reporting.

THE DARTMOUTH FRESHMAN ISSUE

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Student Assembly president and VP discuss campus issues B y Anne George

The Dartmouth Staff

In April, Luke Cuomo ’20 and Ariela Kovary ’20 were elected as Student Assembly president and vice president, respectively. They ran on a campaign that advocated for the creation of a unified sexual misconduct policy, subsidized bus tickets for the Dartmouth Coach, and increasing the value of Dartmouth Dining Services’ meal swipes. They said that this summer they have begun laying the groundwork for creating a central network for class syllabi and organizing an orientation session for incoming freshmen to learn more about how to get involved in Student Assembly. The Dartmouth sat down with to Cuomo and Kovary to discuss why they chose to run, their advice to incoming freshmen and the issues they are interested in addressing once in office, including making Student Assembly work more visible on campus and integrating the house system governments and the Student Assembly sentaors. What motivated you to run for Student Assembly president and vice president? LC: I had done Student Assembly for my first three years at Dartmouth, and when the opportunity presented itself, I figured I had the experience and a lot of ideas. There were a lot of issues I wanted to tackle, and running for Student Assembly president seemed like my best chance to make some sort of impact on campus before I left. AK: Going into my senior year got me thinking about how I could go out with a bang, but also about whether I was doing the most I could to give back to the community in some shape and form. It is super exciting to know that whatever changes or programs we implement will benefit the entire student body. Only about 1,850 votes were cast during the last election. Do you think this is an indication of student apathy? If so, how do you hope to combat this? LC: Voter turnout was actually relatively high even though it was below 50 percent. When you look at the other Ivies, Dartmouth is in the top half in terms of votes, and I think in this election there was quite a bit of involvement from the student body. There is certainly some apathy and disinterest among portions of the student body, but I think that’s natural in any case. If you look at national politics, we can barely crack 60 percent participation in the presidential election, so it’s not dire. Obviously, I would love to have more involvement.

During my term, being more visible on campus, talking with people, working with different communities on campus and showing people that we are making progress on changes will be the only way we can combat apathy. The Elections Planning and Advisory Committee has revised campaigning rules for next election so that the campaign is now longer by about a week or so, and this will give students a better chance to engage with the candidates, the platforms and will hopefully help with the apathy issue. AK: The way to combat these numbers is to get people involved in what we’re doing. Because we only have a week to campaign, it is hard for students to learn about everyone’s platforms in meaningful ways. But now, we’re in office, and it’s more than a fleeting thing that happened spring term. Next year, we want to see actual engagement all across the board. Are there specific initiatives from the previous Student Assembly leadership that you are hoping to continue, and is there anything you want to change? LC: One of their most impactful projects was the Dartmouth Coach and Co-op voucher program, from my observation. We are going to be working on streamlining it, hopefully, and moving it off Student Assembly’s books — creating an institutional home for it in the College. The previous Student Assembly was very good at increasing their visibility on campus by hosting regular office hours and communicating through blitzes. There is nothing major I want to change about the way previous SA president Monik Walters ’19 and previous SA vice president Nicole Knape ’19 ran things. There are some streamlining and constitutional tweaks that need to be done, but mostly we want to build on what they did and not erase it. AK: We definitely want to continue putting more funding towards the take a professor out to lunch initiative, because that’s come to serve as a vital gateway to connecting students to their teachers or to potential mentors outside of the classroom. It has helped with outsideof-class engagement and understanding that your professor’s a real person too. You actually get to know them and what their interests are. They can give you advice on anything, and it doesn’t have to be academic. In terms of our relationship with the administration, there’s more to develop. I want to be on a “dap up” basis with President Hanlon, but we will see if that will come in due time. In March, when the College released a draft of the its new Unified Sexual Misconduct Policy

COURTESY OF LUKE CUOMO

and Procedures, some members of the student body expressed concern that they were not given the opportunity to adequately offer feedback. How is SA working with the administration to ensure that the new policies reduce sexual assault and address sexual violence awareness on campus? LC: The only way I can really have an impact on these College policies, which are mainly written behind closed doors by lawyers with foremost legal implications, is by having a good relationship with College leaders, like President Phil Hanlon and dean of the College Kathryn Lively. People complain or claim that there wasn’t enough student input, and that’s a valid concern, because sometimes we feel like the College isn’t really listening to us — and to an extent, I would agree with that. But we also have to recognize that there’s a lot of different things that need to be taken into account, one of which is the voice of the student body. I’ve already actually set up some meetings with different groups on campus who are looking to have a meeting with President Hanlon and Dean Lively. We’re in the process of bridging that gap between the administration and the students. That’s how I think I can best impact policy. AK: We’ve created initiatives, like clubs and even exterior entities such as WISE, and then at the College we have learning programs, including Movement Against Violence and the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault. If we’re not connecting all of them together, then it’s like we’re all trying to battle this one problem but not as a united front. If students have specific things they want to say about

policies, we’re definitely open to hearing it and we’ll show them who to talk to. The College introduced the House system in 2016 with hopes that it would become a key source of community. How does SA plan to improve the housing communities and encourage students to get involved in its activities? LC: The Student Assembly Senate is an institution that only has existed for three years. The government of the house system has really evolved a lot in the last three years. It’s been a little difficult to keep track of where the power is and where the money’s flowing, so that’s something we’re trying to keep up with. One of the things I’ve talked with several of our Student Assembly senators who are really involved in the house system is integrating the house government and the Student Assembly government. People get super confused with that during the elections, so we basically want to clarify the demarcation between the two but also ensure that there’s more coordination between them. AK: The house system is fairly new, so it is clear that the impact it will have in the future will be different. Identity and pride needs to form around the houses. Being in a house, so far, serves the function of sorting students into dorms for four years, and so people are critical of the quality of the dorm and how they can’t live with their friends. But it’s a chance to make new friends through this random assortment. I don’t expect the incoming class to necessarily adopt the house system, but if the College keeps funding it and having full belief in it, the system will kick off. What advice do you have for

incoming freshmen? LC: Don’t be afraid to get to know upperclassmen. They can email me as student body president, and I would be happy to help. There are so many upperclassmen who would be overjoyed to impart their wisdom and experience to a freshman. I think freshmen should be aggressive. They shouldn’t burn themselves out, but they should really pursue a lot of new opportunities. There’s so much on campus that they probably never had in high school — the groups, the people, the experiences. And now, as a senior, I’m kind of sitting here and saying, “I only have three terms left.” During freshman year, you always feel that everyone else has things figured out, they’re finding a great group of friends, and they’re really succeeding. You have to remember that is pretty much an illusion and everyone is struggling in their own way. AK: College is hard, and you’re going to be engaging with people you’ve never met or seen before. They’re very different from you. Or maybe they’re similar to you. They’re all going to be right there all the time. And you’re going to deal with daily stresses as well as sweet simplicities. You’re gonna have huge ups and huge downs, and it’s a roller coaster of a ride and you’re gonna make it through to the end. But meanwhile, keep your head up, float above water. Swim if you must. It’s an experience like no other. And you’ll be grateful for it for the whole time, even if you hate something or you’re totally in love with something. I’d say definitely keep your head on your body and focus, but enjoy the experience overall. Don’t quit. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH FRESHMAN ISSUE

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Sexual misconduct lawsuit against Dartmouth: a timeline of events

AMY HU/THE DARTMOUTH

B y Kyle Mullins The Dartmouth Staff

Editor’s note: The class action lawsuit against the College about which this article is written concluded on Aug. 6 with an agreement for settlement. As of press time, the parties have requested a 15-day extension to to file the Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement from the original Aug. 20 date. Many of the interviews featured in this article were conducted prior to when the settlement was reached. Just weeks after the New York Times first reported allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse by Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein, sparking the worldwide #MeToo movement, the Dartmouth community first learned of allegations against three professors in the psychological and brain sciences department. Reporting from The Dartmouth in Oct. 2017 unveiled the existence of the investigation and that the accused professors had been placed on leave and barred from campus. That November, further reporting revealed the scope of the allegations when 15 students signed a statement alleging the creation of a “hostile academic environment” that included drinking and sexual harassment. In the summer of 2018, the three accused professors — Todd Heatherton, Bill Kelley and Paul Whalen — all resigned or retired following recommendations for dismissal. Though investigations by multiple law enforcement agencies, including the New Hampshire attorney general’s office, continued, the College’s investigation concluded, bringing what appeared to be an ending to the saga just as the Class of 2022 arrived on campus. The Rapuano lawsuit In November 2018, however, the alleged misconduct of these professors was thrust back into the spotlight. Seven women sued Dartmouth, alleging that the departmental culture created by the professors resembled a “21stcentury Animal House” and that the College failed in its “duty to protect its students from unwanted sexual harrassment and sexual assault.” Six of the plaintiffs were named in the lawsuit, while one used the pseudonym “Jane Doe.” The class action suit, which asked for $70 million in damages, garnered national news attention. Closer to home, the Dartmouth community’s response to the allegations in the plaintiffs’ filing, as well as Dartmouth’s subsequent legal actions, have become part of the broader conversation on campus about sexual misconduct. The lawsuit alleged that the three professors “leered at, groped, sexted, intoxicated and even raped female students.” It also asserted that the professors, among other suggested abuses, “conducted professional lab meetings at bars, invited students to late-night ‘hot tub parties’ in their personal homes and invited undergraduate students to use real cocaine during classes related to addiction as part of a ‘demonstration.’” The suit alleged further that Dartmouth “has known about bad behavior by these professors for more than sixteen years,” but that it failed to take action, “thereby ratifying the violent and criminal acts of its professors.” Diana Whitney ’95, a founding member of the Dartmouth Against Gender Harassment and Sexual Violence group characterized her initial reaction to the allegations in the lawsuit as “shock” and said she felt “appalled.” “How could this happen at Dartmouth?” Whitney recalled asking. “The allegations … are horrific, and they date back to 2002,” she said. Itzel Rojas GR ’19, a recent graduate of the experimental and

molecular medicine program, said she felt a sense of “sorrowful empathy” for the plaintiffs who were impacted as graduate students, knowing how vulnerable graduate students can be to toxic relationships when it comes to mentorships in graduate school. In an email to the Dartmouth community on the day the lawsuit was filed, College President Phil Hanlon defended the College, writing that the College’s actions to remove the professors from campus were “unprecedented” and that the investigation into the allegations was “rigorous, thorough and fair.” The community reacts and responds A response to the lawsuit emerged first from various groups in the wider Dartmouth community. Some alumni said that they would cease financial support of the College, while others wanted to wait until the College filed a response. “The thing that’s most factually in dispute is, “Were we [the College] told? And [did the College] fail to act in an appropriate manner and allow this to continue based on a totality of the circumstances?” said Catherine Duwan ’89, a New Jersey lawyer who said she would reserve her judgement until the lawsuit runs its course. “If all of these allegations are true, that’s a horrible failure on the part of the College,” she added. Whitney and others took action immediately, helping to found the Dartmouth Community Against Gender Harassment and Sexual Violence. The activist organization began organizing online, circulating petitions and creating a statement of support for the seven plaintiffs in the suit. “Going back to those first few weeks, that was what felt the most important: recognizing how brave these seven women were, current and former Dartmouth students, to have come forward with this lawsuit and these allegations,” Whitney said. She criticized Hanlon’s initial response as “unsatisfying at best” and “collegial but evasive.” In December, nearly 100 faculty members signed a letter in support of the plaintiffs that was published as a Letter to the Editor in The Dartmouth. The same week, a letter with over 500 student, alumni, faculty, staff and community member signatures was published that condemned “an institutional culture that minimizes and disregards sexual violence and gender harassment.” It called on Dartmouth to “acknowledge their glaring breach of responsibility, issue a public apology, and begin a transparent overhaul of regressive practices” and eventually garnered nearly 800 signatures. The College launches C3I On Jan. 2, 2019, DCGHSV delivered a list of demands to Hanlon. It included symbolic actions, such as the removal of past-tense language from communications about the campus culture and the planning of a lecture series on the topic of sexual violence; as well as more concrete changes, such as the hiring of ombudsmen, new educational initiatives for faculty, staff and students, and quarterly reporting requirements for reforms. The following day, Hanlon announced the Campus Climate and Culture Initiative, abbreviated as C3I, in an email to campus. According to the email, the initiative would create a unified sexual misconduct policy for faculty, staff and students, bring in an independent authority to oversee department-level reviews, expand the Title IX office and require all faculty to undergo new online Title IX training, among other changes. It would also mandate an annual report on a variety of progress indicators. Hanlon also promised to “commit the resources and energy

required to overcome the biases and barriers that women and many others face on our campus.” He also wrote that, when implemented, C3I would ensure that “members of our community can advance their careers in a campus-wide environment that is productive, nurturing, professional, and supportive.” In a statement in response to the announcement of C3I, DCGHSV praised the independent advisory committee. However, it also asserted that portions of the plan “have vague promise but lack the details and context needed for anyone to assess their potential impact.” Women’s, gender and sexuality studies professor Giavanna Munafo said that C3I would work in addition to existing initiatives on campus, such as the Student Wellness Center’s creation of a four-year sexual violence prevention curriculum. Nevertheless, she worried C3I would ultimately be “more of the same.” “I worry about it as a … P-R response to the lawsuit,” Munafo said, but added “If it helps, I’ll be happy.” She emphasized that many people at the College are doing C3Irelated work, as well as work that pre-dated C3I. Dartmouth responds in court On Jan. 15, Dartmouth filed a response to the allegations in which it claimed the College “moved expeditiously” to investigate and take action against the former professors. The filing asserted that any alleged delays in the Title IX process were due to the anonymity the plaintiffs requested, the thoroughness of the investigation that Dartmouth conducted and the extra steps that must be taken to dismiss a tenured professor. The response also stressed that “Dartmouth does not speak for, and has no intention of speaking in defense of, the Former Professors.” While it said that Dartmouth has “insufficient evidence to admit or deny” many of the allegations in the lawsuit, it firmly asserted that “relevant personnel” were not aware of any serious misconduct until April 2017 and that anything reported was addressed “promptly.” “If [College officials] knew and didn’t do anything about it, I would think a legal construction argument could be made that it’s tolerating it,” Duwan said, adding that the College would then be “culpable of violating the law.” She stressed, however, that the public should refrain from making judgements before all the facts of the case are known. “Don’t jump to conclusions and don’t assail the College based on what individuals did — unless in fact it was the case that [they] knew and [they] didn’t do anything about it, or [they] didn’t do enough about it,” Duwan said. Whitney, on the other hand, called the College’s response a “horrifying document in its victimblaming rhetoric.” “It’s very clear that their legal strategy was to say ‘there were three bad apples, and we got rid of them and there’s nothing else wrong,” Whitney said. “They denied all responsibility; there was no question of this idea of how this could have gone unchecked since 2002, and that somebody must have known or been aware.” New plaintiffs and anonymity challenge The next major development in the case occurred on May 1, when two additional plaintiffs joined the class action suit under the pseudonyms “Jane Doe 2” and “Jane Doe 3.” The amended complaint included additional allegations of nonconsensual sex, sexual harassment, coercive behavior and inappropriate sexual relationships on the parts of the three professors. It also alleged that Jane Doe 2, an undergraduate student, left the fields of neuroscience and

clinical psychology because of her experiences in the PBS department, while Jane Doe 3, a graduate student and post-doctoral fellow, changed her area of research. On May 14, the College filed a response challenging the use of pseudonyms by the two new plaintiffs, arguing that “anonymity would prejudice Dartmouth’s ability to defend itself in this case” because it would “present unworkable challenges” in determining whether the plaintiffs constitute a class. This filing, which if adopted by the Court would have stripped the three anonymous plaintiffs of their anonymity, also garnered national media attention. The New York Times wrote that the legal strategy runs against “longstanding legal practice intended to protect plaintiffs in sensitive disputes” and noted that Florida A&M University had recently made a similar request in a lawsuit of its own. In the Times article, the College’s vice president of communications Justin Anderson said that Dartmouth supported the rights of women to file anonymously in individual cases, but not in a class action case. Duwan said that while she personally disagreed with the College’s decision to file such a motion, she speculated that the College was concerned about additional plaintiffs joining the suit anonymously. Rojas said that the challenge to anonymity seemed like an intimidation tactic, noting that she believed it was “unnecessary and damaging.” “I can only imagine how it felt for women who had thought they were coming forward with this protection,” Rojas said. In response, DCGHSV circulated a petition condemning the College’s motion to remove the Jane Does’ anonymity that gathered over 600 signatures, including those of District 5 NH Sen. Martha Hennessey ’76, Congresswoman Annie Kuster ’78 (D-NH) and several presidential candidates, including U.S. senators Kirsten Gillibrand ’88 (D-NY), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). A settlement is reached On May 24, the plaintiffs and College entered mediation and delayed legal proceedings. On July 29, the judge in the case, Landya McCafferty, granted an extension until August 5. College spokesperson Diana Lawrence told The Dartmouth in a statement after the extension was issued that the College “would much prefer to reach a mutually acceptable conclusion to the case outside of the litigation process.” On Aug. 6, after approximately one week of mediation, a formal settlement was announced by the plaintiffs and College in a joint press release that hails the agreement, pending approval by the court, as “a historic partnership seeking to enact meaningful change.” It includes damages of $14 million for the plaintiffs and states that the terms of the settlement will be made public. “Taking on a challenging societal issue in a collaboration such as this reinforces Dartmouth’s mission and values in a powerful way,” Hanlon wrote in an email announcing the settlement to campus. Hanlon added that the College would “continue to strengthen a culture where — without exception and across disciplines — all members of our community can thrive in a learning environment that reflects a deep understanding of the perspective of survivors and is welcoming, professional, supportive, and productive.” In a joint motion, the plaintiffs and College requested until Aug. 20 to file the Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement and a schedule for remaining legal filings. Regarding the decision to enter mediation, Duwan noted

that generally people prefer not to go through “protracted legal proceedings.” After the settlement was announced, Duwan said that would allow both parties to “get on with their lives,” particularly the plaintiffs. She added that the legal process will have made an impact on Dartmouth, giving the College an opportunity to update its procedures. DCGHSV released a statement in response to the news of the settlement that praised the plaintiffs’ “heroic endeavors.” “[We] hope that their settlement ushers in a new era of institutional transparency, establishing a platform for the eradication of sexual violence and gender harassment,” the statement said. DCGHSV also re-emphasized its commitment to “seek meaningful change” and stated that Dartmouth must “take a survivor-centered approach and assume full responsibility for the abuses that occurred in PBS.” The statement listed questions and issues that DCGHSV argued Dartmouth must address, such as “factors that allowed this abuse to develop, go unchecked, and worsen over time;” the impact of abuse on faculty and staff; and the College’s “misguided” legal motion to oppose the plaintiffs’ anonymity. Duwan cast doubt on the idea that the settlement would address any responsibility on the part of the College, and believes that it will likely “regurgitate” the C3I reforms already in motion. “It’s going to be designed to put Dartmouth in the best light possible,” she said, adding that it also may not address the accuracy of the allegations in the plaintiffs’ complaint. Before news of the settlement broke, Whitney indicated that she had mixed feelings about the parties’ decision to enter mediation. “As an activist and as a survivor of sexual assault, I want these plaintiffs to take the course that is the right course for them,” she said. “In terms of visibility and maximum impact for Dartmouth and even nationally on the issue of sexual assault on campus, on some level, yes, I was hoping for a trial.” Regardless of the terms of the settlement, some still believe more action needs to be taken by the College. Both Whitney and Munafo believe that the PBS department should be put into receivership, meaning that a nonPBS administrator would chair the department and potentially make changes to how it is run. Now that the lawsuit is nearly concluded, such a move may be less legally risky. Munafo pointed out that while the lawsuit was pending, appointing a receiver could have been seen as an admission on the part of the College that something was fundamentally wrong at the PBS department. “If you can’t acknowledge anything is wrong, it’s a roadblock to reform,” she said. Rojas, Whitney and others also helped to create a website, Dartmouth Speaks, that posts stories, some anonymous, of sexual misconduct at Dartmouth. “Something we’ve hoped for is, in our roles and in our positions, to be a platform to speak for others when they can’t speak, to give a safe space for people to speak comfortably and safely and to provide a space where others can read, reflect, and either learn about their own behavior or find that they’re not alone in their experiences,” Rojas said. For Whitney, that openness is important. “I’m so glad that people are actively talking about this and speaking out about it, because that will be how something changes,” she said. The attorneys for the plaintiffs in the suit declined to comment for this article. The attorneys for the College did not reply to requests for comment.

THE DARTMOUTH FRESHMAN ISSUE

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019

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Service groups interact with the Upper Valley community B y SAVANNAH ELLER The Dartmouth Staff

The “Dartmouth bubble” is a term heard frequently around campus among students who feel shut-in by the College’s close-knit community. For many, Dartmouth can seem like a world unto itself, disconnected from the usual distractions and connections that living in society entail. “The terms are so intensive that students tend to get caught up in the 10 weeks that they spend here,” said Becky Milner ’21, “and it can be hard to take a step back and realize that there’s a whole world happening outside of campus.” Despite the effects of the “bubble,” Dartmouth is nonetheless deeply connected with the surrounding region. The College and Hanover are at the center of the Upper Valley — a series of communities that span along the Connecticut River in both New Hampshire and Vermont. Dartmouth and Hanover serve as the heart of this New England region, with the surrounding towns of Norwich, Lebanon, Hartford and Claremont making up its core. Since the inception of the Upper Valley as a concept, the place and its residents have remained tied together through geographical and cultural commonalities. Its boundaries are hard to define; a 2016 study by Garret Nelson, a former post-doctoral fellow in the geography department, found that maps of the Upper Valley drawn by residents in an online survey could

vary widely. Yet the existence of the region as an intangible concept is strong. Lebanon city manager Shaun Mullholland agreed that the specificities of the physical Upper Valley region vary according to the resident who defines it. Mullholland said he personally conceives of the region in economic terms. He said the towns included in the region are tied together through shared commercial hubs and transportation routes and differ from areas to the south more closely connected to Boston. Dartmouth as an institution holds a unique position in the Upper Valley. According to Mullholland, the College and the DartmouthHitchcock Medical Center are the largest drivers of the Upper Valley’s economy, employing the most people in the region. “Dartmouth is a quintessential, key focal point of the Upper Valley and is the engine for a lot of our businesses,” he said. The College and the surrounding town of Hanover stand out for population diversity and the many cultural events and opportunities available to students and residents. Hanover is also one of the wealthiest parts of the Upper Valley, according to a 2019 DHMC Community Health Needs Assessment. While the median income in Hanover is $113,925, in Lebanon — a mere 12-minute drive away — the median income is less than half that figure at $56,448, according to this same Health Needs Assessment. Norwich

and Lyme also have median incomes of above $100,000, in contrast to the majority of the upper valley region. While 15.2 percent of residents have an income below 200 percent Poverty Level in Hanover, 25.7 percent do in Lebanon, and 31.7 percent in Dorchester, NH. Housing prices are also higher in Hanover, according to Mullholland, who said that several communities in the Upper Valley have housing prices that preclude low income residents. Within the Upper Valley, economic disparity is also sharply visible between the region’s wealthiest communities and those with fewer resources, according to Mullholland. He said that the issue was one that many in the area are trying to address, but that little headway has been made. This context is important for students of Dartmouth to be aware of, said Hanover town manager Julia Griffin. Playing an active role in the community in which students have chosen to live is not difficult and should be a priority, Griffin said. “Don’t assume you’ve gone to the back end of nowhere with nothing to do,” she said. Students like Milner and Julia Snodgrass ’21 agree. Both became part of volunteer groups run through the Dartmouth Center for Social Impact during their freshman year. The DCSI has a branch of programs called Youth Education and Mentoring Programs tailored to help students get out into the Upper Valley and find connections to the wider community.

Milner became a mentor with Directing Through Recreation, Education, Adventure, and Mentoring, or DREAM, a YEM afterschool program for elementary school children in the Upper Valley. The program pairs Dartmouth students long-term with a child living in a low-income housing community in the Vermont towns of White River Junction, Wilder or Windsor. Each Friday, Milner meets with her mentee to spend time together and have fun, an experience which she said has helped her stay grounded and made her aware of what was going on beyond the insulation of campus life. “I think most of the time I do feel a little separate, but doing DREAM has made me much more aware of the issues that the larger Upper Valley faces,” Milner said. “Before, I knew that there was poverty and substance abuse issues in the region, but I hadn’t really internalized it.” Snodgrass became involved with Outdoor Leadership Experience, another YEM program for Upper Valley outreach. As an OLE participant, Snodgrass volunteers to lead outdoor programs for fifth through 12th graders in Canaan, NH. OLE mentors help children develop leadership and outdoor recreation skills such as canoeing, rock-climbing and hiking. She said the program was a perfect fit, as she had always had a passion for the outdoors as well as “engaging with people from different backgrounds.” Students also have academic opportunities to become more

involved citizens of the Upper Valley. Several classes offered in different academic departments include excursions or projects in the region. Called Social Impact Practicums, the classes benefit from funding and organizational help through the DSCI and other on-campus partners. LATS 37, “Migrant Lives and Labor in the Upper Valley: Latinx Studies for Community Engagement” was one of over a dozen of these classes sponsored by the DSCI in spring of 2019 to connect the undergraduate learning experience with needs identified by nonprofit organizations in the Upper Valley. The course brought students off campus to meet and engage in projects with migrant workers on local dairy farms. Spanish professor Douglas Moody said he developed the class in 2017 as a way to teach students about the immigrant experience and to interact with people who are affected by immigration issues. Students in the class spend time with Upper Valley migrant workers to help them practice English. “It’s an opportunity for students to have real world experience,” said Moody. However students choose to engage with the Upper Valley, Snodgrass said it is vital to be open to the possibilities the region offers. “It’s important not to take for granted these four years in this little ‘bubble’ and instead work to expand your reach and immerse yourself in the surrounding opportunities,” she said.

Q&A with new Dean of the College Kathryn Lively B y Grayce Gibbs

The Dartmouth Staff

In June, sociology professor and South House professor Kathryn Lively was named Dean of the College. She previously served as interim dean since July 2018, when former Dean of the College Rebecca Biron returned to teaching. As dean, Lively will oversee undergraduate academic life, the Student Affairs division and the six house communities. Her term began on July 1. In the following interview with The Dartmouth, Lively discusses her goals related to the house system, Greek life and more topics important to students. What does it mean to be dean of the College? KL: I oversee the division of Student Affairs and all student activities and organizations that are not academic in nature, so all student organizations, student life cocurricular activities, the centers for social impact career and professional development and the Tucker Center for spiritual and ethical life. It’s essentially everything that the dean of the faculty is not responsible for. I think my role is to advocate for students’ perspectives. My role is to help facilitate student communication with the administration and to make sure that, when decisions are made on campus, the student perspective is always present and at the table. Dartmouth’s small classes and programs like “Take a Faculty Member to Breakfast or Lunch” are meant to help students foster close ties with faculty members. As dean, what plans do you have to facilitate communication and interaction between students and professors? How do you plan to stay

connected to the student body?

KL: One of the things that I negotiated is for the Dean of the College to live on campus, which hasn’t happened for many years. I realized, having been a house professor, that there’s so much power in having people over to a home and the kinds of conversations and connections that you can make in a living room as opposed to an office. I’ll be working closely with members of my staff to think about the best way to remain open and to get to know students. One of the things that I would really like to do is to make the role of Dean of the College much friendlier and much more accessible for students than it has been in the past. With the house system still in its early years, what do you think has worked best and how do you plan to address students’ concerns with these communities? KL: I think that one of the biggest concerns that students have is the lack of choice. But it’s important to remember that four years ago, students’ biggest concern was the fact that they got bounced around between dormitories all the time and they never knew who they were going to be living with or where they were going to be living. Moving around campus was just as disruptive to their friendship networks as the D-Plan was. You’re either going to have stability and house communities or you’re going to have this issue about student choice. It’s one or the other. That’s just a function of the system itself as it was designed. One of the things that we are changing about the system that didn’t work well is that first year was that students were gathered all over campus. You didn’t necessarily know that everyone in your dorm

was also in your house. You would just know the people on your floor and maybe the people above you. There was no real way for firstyears to get to know members of their house community. So what we’ve been able to do, working really closely with the Office of Residential Life, is make sure that all first-year students in a house will be co-located together. Not only will they be together, they’ll actually be closer to their upper-class dorms. With roughly two-thirds of eligible Dartmouth students involved in Greek life, what measures are in place to ensure that the organizations are safe and inclusive? Are there any changes you want to make to the system, or ways that you hope it will evolve over the next several years? KL: I think that the system is actually stronger now than it has been in terms of Greek leaders’ ability and their willingness to work among themselves to solve problems. I would like to tip my hat to the student leaders who have really stepped up in order to appreciate the efforts of our students, faculty and administrators to move Dartmouth forward and to adhere to and to take very seriously President Hanlon’s desire to make us a more inclusive and safer campus. There’s obviously still work to do, and I think that the Greek Leadership Council has been really good at working with their members. What I would like to continue to see happen are those conversations that members of Greek houses continue to participate in and the training that we’ve been asking everyone on campus to adhere to through groups like the Sexual Violence Prevention Project and the Dartmouth Bystander Initiative. I think we’re being faced with new challenges in terms of what does it truly mean to be inclusive. Five years ago, no one was having a conversation about gender. It was totally binary. All of these conversations are new and people make mistakes. I think that as a campus, as a society, certainly as a nation, we have a lot of work to do. And I actually think that our student leaders are really on the forefront of that. Thirty-four percent of female undergraduates at Dartmouth report experiencing nonconsensual penetration or sexual touching involving physical force during their time at the College. New initiatives, like the recentlyunveiled Unified Sexual Misconduct Policy and Procedures, have been put in place in an effort to address this. What other measures do you hope to implement to help keep students safe on campus? KL: The first year of training done by the Sexual Violence Prevention Program is completely done, and they’re about to roll out year two. They have put in an incredible amount of work

in conjunction with the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault as well WISE and the Student Wellness Center as we’re beginning to really unveil SVPP and its four-year capacity. We need to continue to have conversations about what consent means. I think that our Greek leaders have been doing a good job about this. We need to make sure that people are doing these trainings and having these conversations in groups where they feel safe, whether it’s on athletic teams or whether it’s an affinity houses so that people can really be vulnerable and express their concerns and their confusions without judgment. I think what happens now around issues of racial bias, homophobia, high-risk drinking or sexual assault is that people aren’t willing to have open conversations about what they know or don’t know because everyone’s afraid to come across as racist or sexist or a rapist. If we can begin to really shed light on these and allow ourselves to be educated and to learn skills to have difficult conversations and understand the perspective of people who are dissimilar from us, I think that we will be better as a campus. According to the 2018 Dartmouth Health Survey, 62 percent of Dartmouth students agreed or strongly agreed the campus climate has a negative impact on students’ mental and emotional well-being. Recently, the College has seen an increase in student demand for mental health resources, and Dartmouth’s “The Call to Lead” capital campaign allocates $17 million to supporting these resources. How do you hope to improve the quality and expansiveness of our mental health resources? KL: The good news is that we’re starting the year with three more mental health counselors than we had last year, and our goal is to grow that number. We’re in the process of thinking about new ways to deploy the services that we have. Right now, health services, and mental health services in particular, are piloting a new program that if you have a one-visit problem, you can elect to skip triage and see someone that day. That is a pilot that they’re going to be trying out through the end of the summer and perhaps into the fall to see if that helps with some of the demands that students have. Being fully staffed is going to make a difference. I’m going to continue as I meet with donors and go to campaign events to really talk about the need for increased mental health services so that we hopefully will be able to hire the remaining positions that we have available. I think one of the things that would be most important for firstyear students coming in is, in the midst of the flurry of things that are going to be thrown at them during orientation, just to make sure that they keep of the resources in mind because there are actually a ton of resources on campus, whether it’s

through wellness or mindfulness activities or meditation or through the Center for Spiritual Life. According to the New York Times’ The Upshot, Dartmouth enrolls more students from the top one percent of income earners than the bottom 60 percent. How do you plan to make Dartmouth more accessible for lower-income students and adequately support students from all backgrounds throughout their time at the College? KL: One of the things that we have been doing is that we’re extending our First Year Student Enrichment Program from four days to four years. Part of the gift that came in for that also includes money for academic coaching, but there’s also money that will be set aside for what we internally call “barrier removal.” Essentially, it’s funds for student who come up against a cost that might prevent them from taking part in an opportunity. We’ve always done that, but the funds have been relatively low. I’ve been working with the Provost and the Executive Vice President to look at the issue of food insecurity, which is not only specific to Dartmouth, but to campuses all across the nation. We’re working very hard to eradicate that on this campus. The Guarini Institute for International Education received a gift which will make all international programs accessible to students regardless of financial need. What advice would you give the Class of 2023? KL: I think my advice to the Class of 2023 is the advice I would give to all Dartmouth students, which is to always stay curious — and that this is your home, too. Don’t wait until you’re a second- or third-year student to feel like you could make a difference, because you can make a huge difference in a four-year period. In Dartmouth terms, that’s a lifetime. This is a really safe container to try something, even if you fail, and failing is actually fine because there’s a safety net here and there’s always going to be people here who are going to help you figure out what happened so that you won’t make that mistake again. I think it can sometimes be really intimidating coming to a place like Dartmouth, and you’re afraid to think outside of the box or do something that you’ve never done, or you might be afraid to take a risk, whether it’s to raise your hand in class, or to take a class in an area that you’ve never had before, or to try out for an acapella group or audition for a dance ensemble. Take the risk and enjoy it. Sometimes it can feel like you’re really stuck, but a term is only 10 weeks. You can do anything for 10 weeks and then it all starts over again. I think that’s actually a really important thing to remember. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

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Dartmouth balances teaching and research as an institution B y RACHEL PAKIANATHAN The Dartmouth Staff

Dartmouth has a reputation as an institution that excels at both research and undergraduate teaching. Incoming students are likely familiar with this notion, having read it in admission pamphlets or heard it during campus information sessions. Like its students, many of the College’s faculty chose to pursue a career at Dartmouth because of this dual excellence. But this double goal — quality teaching as well as quality research — isn’t achieved without challenges. According to provost Joseph Helble, Dartmouth faculty are encouraged to build comparable research programs to those of other top-ranked research universities. At the same time, he said, they are held to higher teaching expectations. “It’s a challenging space to operate in.” Helble said, “Because if your entire institutional focus was on teaching as it is at most small liberal arts colleges — in most of the NESCAC schools for example — almost all of your resources are devoted to teaching. This is the focus of the institution. You’re not being asked to do two challenging things at the same time.” Physics and astronomy department chair John Thorstensen said that many small liberal arts colleges, such as Williams College and Amherst College, publish high-quality research, but he described those institutions as

an “exception to the rule.” He noted that faculty at small colleges solely focused on undergraduate teaching often do not have the time to maintain strong research programs. “Basically, the teaching loads for people at those schools are so high that they really don’t have a lot of time to stay highly competitive, for the most part,” he said. At Dartmouth, faculty in the sciences teach around three courses a year, and faculty in the humanities and social sciences teach about four, according to Thorstensen. He added that the teaching loads of Dartmouth faculty are larger than those of faculty at most research universities, though he said they are not “huge,” as at some smaller colleges. He noted that larger teaching loads require faculty at Dartmouth to put many hours towards both teaching and research. “It’s not an easy job being a Dartmouth faculty. There’s basically two full-time jobs,” Thorstensen said. He added that Dartmouth’s dual focus and small size can make it difficult for the College to compete with the research programs of large research universities. In 2018, Dartmouth regained its “R1” status — the top research classification determined by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education — after losing it in 2015. “Dartmouth clings to its R1 status by a rather slender thread,” Thorstensen said. “We’re not Harvard, we’re not Yale, we’re not

Princeton in terms of sheer size. We don’t have a graduate school which is as big as the undergraduate school, for example. We just don’t have that kind of horsepower.” Thorstensen said this means that the College has to work harder than other universities to maintain its R1 status. Quantitative social science program chair Michael Herron and Thorstensen both said that expectations for scholarship and research have become more rigorous in the time they have been at Dartmouth. Thorstensen said he attributed the heightened focus on research to the more competitive market for faculty members in academia. As an example, Thorstensen pointed to the astronomy department’s 2011 hiring of professor Ryan Hickox, who he said was chosen from a pool of 149 applicants. “In many fields, academic fields, there are far more people out there who would like an academic job than there are academic jobs available,” Thorstensen said. “So we can really find, because it’s such a buyer’s market, so to speak, incredibly strong people to populate the Dartmouth faculty.” Herron said that in the social sciences, the College hires new faculty primarily based on their research records. He said that teaching ability is considered, but that most applicants who consider Dartmouth are already interested in balancing research and teaching.

He added that he has seen the College increase its focus on good scholarship, but does not see the shift as threatening Dartmouth’s liberal arts model. “The world moves faster than it did 20 years ago,” Herron said. “I do think there is more of a focus now on making sure that the faculty members are better scholars. Now, I don’t think that means that we’re becoming a research university. I see that it’s sort of making sure that the liberal arts model is good.” The College does allow for a certain level of flexibility and some “ebb and flow” between teaching and scholarship, according to Thayer School of Engineering Dean Alexis Abramson. “Certainly, if a faculty member wins a big grant or a big award and his or her attention is drawn away for a few years, he or she might not spend as much time in the classroom,” she said. “But then they return three years later when the grant is winding down and are able to bring all of the great lessons learned or the research conducted back into the classroom.” Herron said he believes faculty members who conduct research can be better teachers for their students, as academic fields are constantly changing, and it is important to have “people who are at the forefront” of these changes. In most cases, he said, those people would be publishing, active scholars.

“You really want people teaching you who are publishing, because the fields change, the areas of interest change, the techniques change,” he said. “You want to make sure you’re being taught by the people who are at the forefront. And those people are publishing and they’re active scholars.” Nina Pavcnik, economics department chair, said she agreed that a focus on scholarship ultimately benefits undergraduate students. She said that rather than teach five to six courses with different themes, Dartmouth faculty can specialize in and keep updating a small number of courses. She noted that she has taught ECON 49, “Topics in International Economics,” a “culminating experience” course, for 15 years, but teaches a “completely different” curriculum today from when she began teaching the course. Herron added that the teacherscholar model allows students to learn the most relevant material from their professors. “I can teach the latest techniques, teach what the literature is engaging [today], as opposed to saying, ‘What did the literature engage 20 years ago?’” he said. “[In QSS,] we’re trying to teach students what’s going on with data science and all that’s new. And if I were teaching what was new when I was in grad school, that would not be good for the students.”

Tenure at the Dartmouth: the path of recognition for faculty

B y DEBORA COBON The Dartmouth

At Dartmouth, classes are taught by faculty members with varying titles, from “instructor” to “assistant professor” to “professor” — and everything in between. Though the specifics of each position are often unknown to students, these different titles generally refer to stages in an important process: faculty tenure. Tenure is a life-long permanent employment awarded to professors after a number of promotions and a lengthy selection process involving review by department and program faculty, associate deans, the Dean of the Faculty, the Committee Advisory to the President, the College President and the Board of Trustees. Of the 632 faculty members currently employed across the academic departments and programs in the Arts and Sciences at the College, over two-thirds are either tenured or on the tenure track. This is a stark contrast from national trends, which predict that around 70 percent of faculty employed nationwide are on non-tenure-tracks, according to sociology professor Emily Walton. A professor’s journey to tenure often begins upon completion of a Ph.D. or the comparable advanced degree or experience. However, due to the College’s prestige, most professors granted tenure at Dartmouth hold prior teaching experience, according to computer science professor Thomas Cormen, who started teaching in a tenuretrack position at Dartmouth in 1992 and received tenure in 1998. Cormen said that there are two ways to get on the tenure track at Dartmouth. A professor can either be hired with tenure — typically if he or she has previously achieved tenure at another university — or he or she can be hired as an assistant professor or instructor and work through the tenure track. The difference between an assistant professor and an instructor simply refers to whether that individual has completed a Ph.D. or equivalent degree — an assistant professor has completed his or her advanced degree requirements at the time of appointment, whereas an instructor has not. Instructor appointments last two years and are followed by appointment as an assistant professor, provided that the advanced degree requirements are completed, according to the Handbook of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences. Professors given either of these titles are referred to as junior faculty members who are just beginning on the tenure track. Recently, the competition for tenuretrack positions has made it more difficult to land a position immediately out of graduate school, even in the computer science department, which hires faculty members frequently, according to Cormen. As a result, he added, there has been an upward trend of hopeful candidates gaining industry experience or completing postdoctoral fellowships prior to applying. A candidate’s search for a tenure-track position involves finding positions aligned with his or her particular research interests

and finding the right fit, which can take a few years, according to Walton, who was hired in 2012 and received tenure in 2018. “I spent two years on the job market and in my first year, I interviewed at four places and didn’t receive a job offer — that was typical,” Walton said. “In [the sociology department], we might receive about 200 appplications for a job and narrow the list down to three people to contact for interviews. It’s definitely very hard.” All professors who have obtaineda tenure-track position as a junior faculty member will be reviewed for tenure six years after their initial appointment, allowing ample time to begin building up their tenure case, according to government professor Lisa Baldez, who previously served on the Committee Advisory to the President. That committee makes recommendations for tenure directly to the President and is comprised of six full professors, two from each of the three academic divisions: Arts & Humanities, Sciences and Social Sciences. A majority vote is needed from the Committee Advisory to the President for a case to be passed along to the President of the College. Baldez noted that, in certain cases, a professor may be reviewed for tenure earlier than six years into the job if he or she feels his or her case is strong enough. Occasionally, she added, tenure candidates receive extensions on their review due to family leave or other extenuating circumstances. Prior to being considered for tenure, tenure-track professors undergo a reappointment evaluation in the winter term of their third year of employment. “You’re not guaranteed a job for six years; you’re guaranteed a job for three years,” Cormen said. “If you don’t get reappointed, you’re given one more year — the ‘terminal year’ — to figure out what your next landing place is going to be. However, most people here get reappointed because we hire well.” In a professor’s sixth year, tenure cases are based on three criteria: research, teaching and service. At Dartmouth, research and teaching are weighed equally and more heavily than service, which is not the case for all universities, according to Cormen. A large research university may heavily favor the quality of a candidate’s research over teaching and service, for example, whereas Dartmouth values quality teaching equally to research. “One aspect of research that is important is obtaining external funding,” Cormen said. “If you do not obtain external funding, that can be an indication that your work is not well-received by your peers and by funding agencies, which can be a real impediment to getting tenure.” A faculty member’s portfolio includes a curriculum vitae, a list of eight to 10 individuals qualified to review his or her scholarly work, a list of students qualified to speak about his or her teaching and mentoring, published works or other evidence of artistic or professional work, published reviews of the candidate’s work and a five-page statement outlining his or her achievements

and goals related to scholarship, teaching and other contributions to the College and to the profession, according to the College’s Handbook of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “We’re looking for someone who has completed really high quality work and has every likelihood of continuing to do high quality work for the remainder of their career,” Baldez said. “Tenure is life-long employment and it’s an incredible privilege, so it’s a decision that the university takes very seriously, so we may see anywhere from three to six tenure cases a week.” The last component, service, considers how a professor has contributed to his or her department, the College and his or her professional community, according to Cormen. Service can include being on program committees, reviewing papers, serving as an editor for a journal or organizing workshops amongst other professional and departmental duties. Tenure cases are given multiple rounds of evaluation including recommendations based on

departmental votes, an associate dean’s recommendation and the Committee Advisory to the President’s recommendation before being presented to the President of the College. If the president votes in favor of the candidate, that decision is then reviewed and voted on by the members of the Board of Trustees, comprised of the President of the College, the governor of New Hampshire and 24 alumni. Walton said that in her department, about half of people who apply for tenure receive it, highlighting how difficult and thorough the tenure selection process is. Once a professor reaches the status of associate professor, they have earned life-long employment and can be promoted further to full professor, which involves a similar review about six or seven years after getting tenure. “At that point, you have to demonstrate leadership in your field beyond just research output and have to show that you’ve taken extra steps, which often refers to your commitment to service to the College” Walton said.

The majority of courses at Dartmouth are taught by tenuretrack faculty, but a department may reach out to hire visitors and lecturers to teach courses depending on interferences with faculty schedules or sabbaticals. Some departments, such as the Institute for Writing and Rhetoric, teach all incoming freshmen and thus need to have a large faculty pool, so it is not uncommon for courses in the department to be taught by lecturers and other non-tenured faculty, Walton said. Along with a feeling of relief, tenure grants the benefits of significant salary increases, job security and more time to focus on teaching, according to Walton. “Everyone comes in with this idea of ‘publish or perish,’ and we measure our success by our research output,” Walton said. “It’s lifechanging to receive that phone call saying you’ve been approved. You can focus more on your teaching and have more investment in the institution because they support you as someone they want to keep around.”

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Dartmouth Dining to see changes at multiple locations B y ELIZABETH JANOWSKI

Additionally, the 2019-20 school year will mark a shift in The Dartmouth Staff the range of meal plans available As we look forward to the 2019- to students. Meal plan options for 2020 school year, new changes the upcoming academic year have — from new meal plans to a new been reduced to the Ivy Standard feature of the GET Funds app that Unlimited, the 115 Block+, the 80 would allow students to place food Block+ and the 5 Meals Weekly orders ahead of time — will affect — a reduction from the variety students’ interactions with food on of weekly meal plans offered in campus. previous years. Dartmouth Dining Services An extension to the Ivy oversees student meal plans as well Standard plan introduced last as day-to-day offerings at each year, the Ivy Standard Unlimited dining facility on campus. There plan will grant students continuous are currently four DDS-operated access to Foco throughout the dining locations where students day, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. can get meals throughout the Students on the plan will receive day: the Class of ’53 Commons, three guest passes for family colloquially known as Foco; Collis members and friends to access Café; The Courtyard Café, called Foco, in addition to $250 in dining “the Hop” due to its location in dollars for the term, according to the Hopkins Center for the Arts; Plodzik. and the Novack Café. Additionally, Plodzik noted that the Ivy there are three student-operated, Standard Unlimited plan will residential snack bars on campus, hopefully create a “culture shift” located in Brace Commons, within Dartmouth’s dining Goldstein Hall and House Center facilities, transforming Foco into an B by the Allen House and School all-day study area where students House dormitories. can come and go as they please. Students have a wide spectrum Freshmen will automatically of opinions on DDS and the be enrolled in the Ivy Standard services it provides, and, according Unlimited plan for their first term to DDS director Jon Plodzik, DDS at the College, after which they implements changes in response to can elect to switch into a different students’ ideas. meal plan. While it is common for One of the biggest changes to students to opt out of the default dining is a new feature on the GET meal plan after their freshman fall, Funds app, an app which currently Caroline Atwood ’21 remained on allows students to track their dining the Ivy Standard plan throughout balance, among other features. her sophomore year. According to Plodzik, students will “It’s nice not having to worry be able to place orders for food about whether or not I’ll have ahead of time at the Hop beginning enough DBA for each meal,” in October. Atwood said. Plodzik said the “I’d say it’s a change comes “Those cookies are good plan for in response certainly hard to people who keep to student a regimented f e e d b a c k resist! Believe me, I eating schedule, regarding long eat here twice a day, or for athletes lines and wait who need to eat every day.” times at the a lot throughout Café. He also the day.” said that he -JON PLODZIK, H o w e v e r, hopes that the Atwood noted service will be DARTMOUTH DINING that in light expanded to SERVICES DIRECTOR of the new other dining Ivy Standard facilities in the Unlimited plan, near future, depending on how well which costs $80 more per term the pilot program at the Hop runs. than her previous plan, she is The next few years will also considering other, less expensive bring the expansion of Dartmouth’s options. dining facilities. According to Lidia Balanovich ’22 echoed Plodzik, a new dining facility in the concerns about the affordability of Dana Medical Library — which is dining options at the College. In still under construction — is slated particular, she expressed frustration to open in the winter of 2020 and with the lack of variety in meal will offer a range of new food plan offerings, as well as the fact options for students. That café will that all students are required to pay offer a variety of beverages and for a meal plan. snacks — most notably, products “Just think about how much from Starbucks, which students will money someone could save if be able to purchase using dining they were just allowed to cook dollars, commonly called “DBA.” for themselves and not be forced With the construction of the on a meal plan, or if they could new computer science building have a cheap meal plan option and Irving Institute for Energy and without having to live off campus,” Society on the west end of campus, Balanovich said. Plodzik said he hopes DDS will be She added that the high prices able to open additional locations in of à la carte items across DDS’s the upcoming years. locations exacerbate these financial

MADISON WILSON/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

issues. During the busiest parts of a “My student loans are going to Dartmouth term, the dining hall be paying for my $5.95 kombucha dishes out over a thousand of its for like 10 years,” she joked. “I signature dessert per day, according do think that marking up prices is to ’53 Commons general manager honestly and unfortunately normal Jennifer Nakhla. across all colleges in the United “Those cookies are certainly States, but how Dartmouth does it hard to resist,” Plodzik laughed. is just too much.” “Believe me, I eat here twice a day, Each dining facility offers its every day.” own staple dishes and styles of For Atwood, the Hop holds service. As an all-you-can-eat a special place among the dining buffet-style eatery, Foco boasts an options on campus. array of stations serving comfort “The Hop is definitely my foods, vegan and vegetarian cuisine, preferred place to eat,” Atwood kosher options, desserts and more. said. “I like the fact that I can just Students can get made-to-order use a meal swipe and get the special sandwiches, stir-fry, sushi and for the day, and it’s always good pasta from Collis and it’s always Café and can something head to the Hop “It can be upsetting different.” for grilled foods because you want to Atwood such as burgers noted that the and quesadillas, eat healthier, but then Hop’s chicken as well as a buying junk food is just bowl special variety of freshly— a platter way easier.” prepared salads. with chicken, Located in Bakercorn, mashed Berry Library, -SEYSHA MEHTA ’21 potatoes and Novack Café gravy — is her offers a selection favorite meal of grab-and-go sandwiches, snacks served on campus. and drinks. Items at Collis, the Hop However, Seysha Mehta ’21 and Novack Café can be purchased noted that for vegetarian students using dining dollars, while most like herself, satisfying meals are not attending Foco opt to use meal always as easy to come by. swipes. “Especially for vegetarian At Foco, its gooey chocolate options, the food can feel really chip cookies are a perennial repetitive,” Mehta said. “[For favorite among students, professors example,] all you can really have and visitors to the College alike. for Collis stir-fry is tofu and the

same limited range of vegetables. It’s kind of tiring.” Mehta added that the high prices of fruits and vegetables pose a unique dilemma to vegetarian students. “I feel like we’re disincentivized to eat vegetables and fruit because they’re always so expensive,” she said. “It can be upsetting because you want to eat healthier, but then buying junk food is just way easier.” According to Plodzik, DDS receives student feedback from the Dining Advisory Group — a session hosted by DDS twice a term, open to students who wish to share their concerns — as well as through an annual survey distributed to the student body. He said that a primary takeaway from the past year’s survey was the need to reduce the lines and waiting times at DDS locations. Plodzik said that he welcomes students to voice their suggestions and concerns regarding dining at Dartmouth, and they can text DDS using “The Scoop” messaging service. He added that he can frequently be found on the main floor of Foco, where students can approach him with ideas for changes they would like to see within DDS. “I like to think of myself as the CHO — the Chief Happiness Officer here,” Plodzik said. “I want folks to say they love dining. This should be one of the high points of your day.”

PAULA KUTSCHERA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Students peruse dining options at the Class of ’53 Commons, Dartmouth’s all-you-can-eat dining hall. The Grill, one of Foco’s stations, consistently offers chicken tenders, grilled cheese and hot dogs.

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College, community grapple with sustainability on campus B y Reilly Olinger The Dartmouth

Hanover has committed to becoming 100 percent dependent on renewably generated electricity by 2030, and renewably generated transportation and heating fuel by 2050. This decision, which the town has been working toward since 2017, came as a part of the Ready for 100 program designed by the Sierra Club in order to move towns and cities to transition to sustainable energy practices. According to town manager Julia Griffin, residents of Hanover and members of the College community have generally been supportive of this goal and are prepared to make changes to become more sustainable. During the spring of 2016, volunteers from the Sierra Club of the Upper Valley organized a grant application for the Ready for 100 program and worked with the Sustainable Hanover committee, according to Griffin. Although these plans require capital investments, Griffin said that Hanover residents are more than willing to help out. “Residents have been very eager to jump onboard,” Griffin said. “People understand and agree that climate change is important and we understand that we need to get real busy to reduce or prevent the impacts that climate scientists are predicting.” One important factor in moving forward with the town’s sustainability goals was the support of the College, which Griffin said is the largest energy and fuel user in the town. Griffin said that former and current faculty, as well as members of Dartmouth’s sustainability office, work with the town to pursue mutual goals. “We’ve got a lot of cross-pollination happening between the College and the town as we both drive toward similar goals,’’ Griffin said. “I don’t think we would have moved forward with something as ambitious as we did if we didn’t have the support of the College.” Dartmouth Sustainability Office director Rosalie Kerr ’98 described the ways in which Darmouth is creating more sustainable energy. According to Kerr, Dartmouth has a current total of 13 solar arrays, with plans to build more in the near future. The College’s heating mechanism will also become more sustainable, according to Kerr. She said that the campus is currently heated by moving steam, a system heated by No. 6 fuel oil via a network of underground pipes. According to Dartmouth News, the

College is transitioning to a system that would instead be powered by hot water, which is 20 percent more efficient and which will be heated using biomass fuels. The College plans to begin construction of the new plant in 2023, and have the new system fully operational by 2025. The new system will eliminate fossil fuels from the heating process by instead burning wood chips. Hot water is an improvement from the current infrastructure since

the part of the College than an accurate way to describe the environmental implications of using biomass as an energy source. He said that although biomass is “technically renewable” since trees can be regrown, he does not agree that the method is truly carbon neutral since it involves burning wood chips instead of oil. Kerr acknowledged that biomass is not a flawless solution, but said she believes that it was the most appropriate decision for Dartmouth right now.

She said that she invites criticisms, since sustainable change needs to affect everyone, and said these concerns have started great conversations. Some Dartmouth community members are concerned about the sincerity of Dartmouth’s commitment to green energy, such as Miller. As a member of Divest Dartmouth, Miller said the College lacked a good excuse to remain invested in fossil fuels. With regard to the presence of fossil fuel companies in the College’s

MADISON WILSON/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

it is more adaptable and requires less maintenance, Kerr said. Additionally, it will enable better control over building temperatures. Alexander Miller ’20, a member of Divest Dartmouth — a student organization that advocates for Dartmouth to discontinue investments in fossil fuel companies — said he is not convinced that Dartmouth is committed to renewable energy. Although he said he is aware of the challenges of finding a carbon-neutral energy source and sees biomass as an improvement over No. 6 fuel oil, he is still disappointed by the College’s characterization of biomass technology. Miller said that the term “renewable” was more of a “rhetorical choice” on

“There is not a perfect answer,” Kerr said. “I would love to generate all our heat and electricity with solar and wind right away, but because of the lack of accessible battery technology, our scale and the historical importance of some of our infrastructure, it isn’t simple.” Kerr said that the fact that New England weather isn’t ideal for solar energy generation combined with challenges with finding sites for solar and wind power pose difficulties in Hanover. She said it is especially difficult to find satisfactory sites since the Hanover community cares about the character of the town. Kerr added that since the College neeeded to burn something, burning biomass in the short term is the best path forward.

investment portfolio, Miller said that the school’s commitment to reaching 100 percent renewable energy can hypothetically be separated from the school’s aim to contribute to financial aid and other new programs to benefit students, which can be achieved through profiting off of the carbon economy. “I wouldn’t say that myself, or anyone in the sustainability community, believes that this is a reasonable excuse to be investing in fossil fuels,” Miller said. Samantha Newman ’22 said that she questions Dartmouth’s dedication to sustainability overall. Newman worked as an Eco Reps intern — a first-year internship program through the Dartmouth sustainability office —

during her freshman fall, and was active in the implementation of the Green 2 Go program, which instituted reusable take-out containers in on-campus dining locations. With regard to the institution’s values, Newman said that the Sustainability Office is doing great work but that sustainability isn’t at the top of the College’s priority list. “The sustainability office is doing great work and by funding it [the College is] doing something, but there are many things that are much higher on their list of priorities,” Newman said. She said that although the College may not emphasize sustainability to a high enough degree, there are many students and staff members who work to implement greener practices. Although not all students may be informed about the nuances of climate activism, both Newman and Miller said they believe that most people aim to be more sustainable, even in small ways. “Even people who are just hopping on the bandwagon of Green 2 Go, who are carrying around the containers or carrying around sporks, are really encouraging to see,” Newman said. Miller characterized Dartmouth’s s u s t a n a b i l i t y c o m mu n i t y a s fragmented, grass roots and issuebased, and said there are many different ways to get involved in the sustainability community. Kerr said that sustainability chairs of greek houses, faculty interest groups, student organized initiatives and the Irving Energy Institute work in tandem to pursue the college’s sustainable goals. “Students are involved at every level, whether they are in the sustainability core, or student intern, or if they aren’t involved directly with are office but are a part of a group like Divest or living in the SLC which our office oversees,” Kerr said. “They might be working on it as a job or an academic interest or just as a life interest. They’re all a part of our community.” Kerr said she would tell incoming freshmen to “follow their passion and get involved in the issues that they care about.” She invited students to come to the sustainability office with their ideas and to learn how best to create change in the sustainability field. Griffin echoed this statement, and said that it is important for the city of Hanover to engage young people who are passionate about the environment. “There is such a huge role for students in all of this,” Griffin said, “The student generation of leaders is inheriting a planet that we screwed up, and the expectation of all of you is get on board and get busy.”

Perspectives on house system four years after founding

B y lorraine liu

The Dartmouth Staff

In 2015, Dartmouth introduced a new house system in an effort to provide more continuity in the student residential experience. The system was introduced as a part of the Moving Dartmouth Forward plan, which aimed at eliminating high-risk behavior and increasing inclusivity, with a goal of promoting “intellectual engagement, community, and continuity.” The system officially went into effect in fall 2016, with the Class of 2020 as the first incoming class to participate in the system’s programming. With the entrance of the Class of 2023, all classes will have entered Dartmouth assigned to a house. The six house communities, which include Allen, East Wheelock, North Park, School, South and West, are configured based on the proximity of different residential buildings to each other and the appropriate bed space so as to create communities, according to dean of residential life Mike Wooten. Incoming students are randomly assigned to a house community before they arrive at the College and live with members of their house during their four years at Dartmouth, with the exception of those who choose to live in Living Learning Communities. The Class of 2023 was assigned living spaces for the upcoming year according to an updated house plan, according to math professor Craig Sutton, the house professor for School House. In past years, freshmen in the same house community have lived on the same floor, but different floors in the same building might have accommodated members of different houses. However, this year, freshman members of Allen House will live in Wheeler and Richardson Halls; South House freshmen will live in the Fayerweather dormitories; and West House freshmen will live in the River cluster. School House and North Park House will share the Choates cluster; North Park freshmen will reside in Brown Hall; and School House freshmen will occupy in Bissell, Cohen and Little Halls. Freshman

members of the East Wheelock house community will live in McCulloch, Morton and Zimmerman Halls. In addition to the slight change in the layout of freshmen residences, the ’23s are also likely to encounter more involved upperclassmen student leaders who help with programming house events, according to School House assistant

executive council of Allen House, said his house had six students who frequently came to weekly executive council meetings in spring term. “The actual leadership structure of the house has grown a lot since I’ve been here,” Brenckle said. “I think because the students that are currently on campus have fully known the house system, there is a little bit

programming over the last few years. Overall, Wooten pointed out that the system and its personnel have become more skilled at utilizing its programming and appealing to the students. “[The system] has gotten better at connecting with students’ interests, getting them involved, and including them as a part of the governance

SUNNY TANG/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

director Joseph Brenckle. Allen and School House administrative assistant Erin McMahon noted that, compared to student engagement in the first few terms of the system’s establishment, clearer student leadership teams, known as the house executive councils, have started to take shape and stabilize. For instance, School House currently has 20 members on its executive council after recruitment efforts in the spring of 2019 boosted membership up from five, according to Brenckle. Virgil Alfred ’22, who serves on the

more involvement and engagement.” Alfred noted that in planning house events, executive councils first need to obtain approval from their assistant directors to provide them with the proper funding. Funding comes from an overall budget assigned to the house leadership teams — house professors and assistant directors — in different amounts annually depending on the needs of the executive councils, according to Wooten. Wooten said the budgets assigned to the house communities are “generous” and have offered the executive councils the resources to organize

and programming of the houses,” Wooten said. “It’s just that we’ve become more sophisticated over the last four years and a little bit more precise at what we’re doing.” While the house system is mostly operated by students now, when it first hit the ground in the fall of 2016, it was completely run by the College’s residential education staff, including the assistant directors and administrative assistants for the houses, McMahon said. She added that she thought initially, many students were unaware that they were supposed to be an “integral” part of the system. Now,

with the help of students, the house system functions much better, she said At present, however, Alfred said increasing house members’ participation in community events proves to be a challenge to members on the house executive council who organize programming. He expressed that his team has been struggling with improving students’ engagement in School House events. Currently, Alfred said his team’s main efforts to raise the participation rate are reaching out to different groups such as undergraduate advisors and house professors to spread the word. Graduate students are another element of house community leadership. They were incorporated into the house system when it was established as residential fellows,who organize house activities and often hold office hours within their subject areas. Each house has approximately four residential fellows who serve as members of the house leadership teams, according to Brenckle. Wooten said that, in the future, he hopes to involve more graduate students in the house system, though he noted that the primary goal of the system is to improve the experience of Dartmouth undergraduates. The house system also aims to increase staff and faculty involvement in future years, according to Sutton. He said that this goal aligns with the house system’s mission to promote intellectual engagement and is an element unique to Dartmouth’s system as compared to other Ivy League’s residential systems, which he claims put less effort towards cementing students’ contact with faculty. The system was never explicitly announced to downplay the role of Greek life, but many undergraduates worry about this aspect, according to Sutton. As more students accept the system over time, apprehension has decreased, according to Wooten. Still, some students who are critical of the house system would compare it to the Greek system and indicate the former’s inability to create strong communities. “Our new program, the house system, needs to drive how we imagine residential space,” Wooten said. “And that will be our future.”

THE DARTMOUTH FRESHMAN ISSUE

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019

PAGE 15

STAFF COLUMNIST CHANTAL ELIAS ‘22

STAFF COLUMNIST KATIE SHI ‘21

Choose Confidence

Take Your Time

Be the big fish in the Dartmouth pond.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with your Dartmouth experience.

Welcome to Dartmouth — a place of self- hierarchy of seniority, experience and earned discovery, creativity and humility. Perhaps it was respect. To be a leader in Cabin and Trail, for the very subtlety of students and professors’ example, one must go through extensive training intelligence that drew you to the school — it and successfully progress to a leadership role. certainly was at the top of my pros and cons list Membership in a Greek house is an example a year ago. The College is composed of devoted of a segment of Dartmouth life that is not even intellectuals who prefer to walk the walk over accessible to freshmen. Superficially, it can seem talking the talk. But while humility is a uniting as if the seniors are the only students with a voice thread throughout Dartmouth — professors and on campus. A year ago, I was more than happy students rarely share their accomplishments— I to buy into the hierarchical framework. I was encourage you to be bold, brave and confident as embarrassed by my self-diagnosed intellectual you take on freshman year. inferiority and had seamlessly taken on the role I vividly remember receiving The of “small fish.” Dartmouth’s Freshman Issue a year ago. I challenge you to reject the pressures of Dartmouth mail was gold to me — a reminder comfortable conformity and I encourage you to that my acceptance wasn’t a stay on the high school high silly mistake. After reading that earned you a spot at the newspaper front to back, “It took me six months Dartmouth. My first-year I felt more confident than to realize that I could journey taught me, perhaps ever in my assumptions too late, that confidence at be a big fish in a big about my upcoming this College is key. I adored freshman year: I was going pond.” my fall term classes; they to be the bottom of my class. were engaging, stimulating My ideas were not and challenging. I sat in outlandish, and they did not surface unprompted. class with my eyes wide open and ideas running My high school experience was akin to what rampant through my head. But I sat there, mute, many of your experiences probably looked like. in fear that I would waste my professors’ time or I was at the top of my class academically, the become the laughing stock of my classmates. The passionate go-getter and the student who was same problem followed me into extracurriculars, involved in just about every extracurricular. I was where I hesitantly joined a couple clubs and held the big fish in a very small pond. But as soon as my tongue in fear of exposing my naïvety. I settled on attending Dartmouth College, I was It took me six months to realize that I could swamped with messages of caution and warning. be a big fish in a big pond, and no one would My friends and family were excited for me to learn shame me for it. In my winter term, I took a class among the brightest, but they stressed the need in which I was the only freshman and the majority for an adjustment in expectations. I was not going of my classmates were seniors. I had already to be the student with the best class average, and prepped myself for failure and rationalized any I wasn’t going to be the extracurricular queen. I grade drops with my lack of Dartmouth academic was told that I would get by, but it wouldn’t be a experience. I would wait to answer questions until walk in the park. As I marched across my high a senior first offered a comment — until their school stage with my diploma in June 2018, I was comments fizzled out and the air was available already making the switch from an A+ happy for my contribution. Slowly though, I grew back dance to a B- celebration. into my high school confidence and utilized the My ego continued its downwards plummet small 20-person class to become comfortable in when I arrived at Dartmouth’s campus in my new home. I challenged myself to raise my September. I began to audition and try out for hand and feel confident in my ideas. I set a goal a plethora of clubs and teams. I was instantly to speak at least twice each class and did not allow reminded of my inferior place here as I received myself to wait for the older students to take the a slew of rejection emails from academic clubs lead. and musical groups. I was conscious of my Your first year at Dartmouth is going to be growing need to find a new identity — one a chaotic journey not matter how many selfthat did not involve the word “success.” I was reflective opinion columns you read beforehand. hungry to be recognized as something more That being said, I want you to heed the words than an average first-year student, and yet I was of a self-proclaimed Dartmouth underdog: You operating in a major contradiction. As I became don’t need to be the naïve, scared freshman close friends with rejection, I started retreating student. You can be the dynamic community from opportunities because I deemed myself too member who loves to participate in class inexperienced. I hesitated from putting my name discussions and feels confident in their opinions. forward for leadership roles because I wanted While confidence may seem like a faux-pas in a to watch the professionals, the experienced humble environment, you must believe that you Dartmouth students, take the lead. I decided that offer something unique and will add immense I would be a follower for my first year. value to the Dartmouth community. So, welcome I have chosen to share my story because to Dartmouth — don’t be afraid to flourish as a it is not a unique one. Dartmouth is built on a big fish in the Dartmouth pond.

I spent the summer before Dartmouth spring and sophomore fall, however, I talked to in a constant state of buoyancy. I was finally many affiliated upperclassmen I admired and done with high school, which meant I was learned how Greek life at Dartmouth differs finally free to do whatever I wanted in college. greatly from the sororities I was familiar with The possibilities felt endless. I told myself, as back home in the South. I ultimately joined Carey Mulligan did in “An Education”: “I’m a sorority that made me feel comfortable and going to read what I want and listen to what supported, and it’s where I’ve made some of I want, and I’m going to look at paintings and my closest friendships. I wouldn’t have had this watch French films and I’m going to talk to experience if I had maintained my freshmanpeople who know lots about lots.” Early on, I year attitude toward Greek life. set my heart on economics and comparative On a similar note, finding your friends can literature double-majors and a minor in music also take time. Many freshmen grow close to with the kind of confidence of someone who their Trippees or their roommates, but don’t knew nothing. The D-Plan, with all its touted feel pressured to become best friends with flexibility, seemed like the perfect vehicle for my everyone on your floor just because you want to academic plans. And as someone who wanted fit in immediately. I met many wonderful people as much range in her studies as possible, I during my freshman year, including classmates, thought the combination I had chosen was teammates and peers who shared my interests, perfect. as well as well-meaning upperclassmen. It As soon as I actually began venturing into wasn’t until my sophomore year, however, that those three fields, however, I found out I didn’t some of my deepest friendships with these want to commit to any of them beyond taking a acquaintances truly began to develop. Many of few classes out of interest. That discovery threw these friendships are ones that I would never me off balance. What could I study that would have expected to make before college, but now, challenge me and allow me I cherish them. to wholeheartedly commit Try to keep an open “If you want to do my passion and time? mind, and you’ll be Luckily, I discovered something, the surprised by how far it takes something else about you. I’ve asked professors answer, more often Dartmouth: The liberal if I could do research or arts system gives students than not, is ‘yes.’ take classes with them all four years of college to People will give you and emailed supervisors figure out what to study. about student jobs.If you Although we technically the resources and want to do something, the have to declare a major by mentoring you need to answer, more often than the winter of sophomore not, is “yes.” People will year, nothing is set in succeed.” give you the resources and stone. I took LING 01, mentoring you need to “Introductory Linguistics” succeed if you’re willing to my sophomore fall and absolutely loved it. I put in your time. ended up declaring a linguistics concentration Being ambitious is admirable — if your in the quantitative social science major — childhood dream is to become a doctor, then two fields I hadn’t even known about the year by all means, stay on the pre-health track. But before. Exploring unfamiliar departments led what I’ve learned here, over and over again, me to an unexpected academic major. is that deviating from previous expectations As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one — has only enhanced my college experience. I a senior in my LING 01 class took multiple wouldn’t have met as many people or learned linguistics courses for the next three terms nearly as much if I had stuck to the plans I had as new additions to his major. I have friends made when I was 18. Don’t be afraid to try new who have switched from the pre-health track things. Join a dance or acapella group, even if to computer science or government; who you’ve never performed on stage before. Think decided to study engineering at the end of of your first year at Dartmouth as a number of their junior year; and who tacked on a second different doors. Open as many as you wish; you major or minor their senior year. Four years at can always close those doors later. Dartmouth is a lot longer than you’d expect, Deviating from previous expectations and you can make the most of it by staying was the best thing I could have done for my open-minded. college experience. What you’ll find is that your I’ve found this to hold true on occasions Dartmouth experience is quite malleable. Let beyond academics, too. During my freshman things that spark your interest and keep your year, I hadn’t considered affiliation at all. I wasn’t passion drive your decisions, even if it isn’t interested in Greek life and knew nothing about what everyone else is doing. You might find the rush process; I firmly believed that I would that the paths that Dartmouth’s defined don’t remain unaffiliated for the rest of my time at suit you well enough — if that’s the case, you’re Dartmouth. Over the course of my freshman more than prepared to carve out your own.

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST GABRIELLE LEVY ‘22

STAFF COLUMNIST MAYA KHANNA ‘22

Comfort Isn’t Everything Try not to settle into too much of a routine.

Looking back now, I have very few regrets from my first year of college. After all, freshman year is meant to be a time of trial and error. From randomly choosing a dance partner for the “Salty Dog Rag” (a First-Year Trips tradition) to painstakingly selecting courses for the fall, Dartmouth freshmen are presented with a multitude of choices right off the bat that often define their first term. Luckily, there are no wrong choices. No matter who you meet or what courses you take, you will grow from your decisions and learn for the future. I’m a strong proponent of the belief that things do happen for a reason. For instance, I unwittingly signed up for a challenging biology class my freshman fall. In retrospect, I wouldn’t have taken it — it isn’t a requirement for my academic plans nor a particular interest to me, and I received a final grade that disappointed me at the time. But these can be great lessons, too. I met one of my best friends in the class and gained valuable perspective about grade expectations. I hardly count it as a misstep. Freshmen should cut themselves a lot of slack in their decision-making. However, if there is anything I do regret from my freshman year, it’s that I settled into the comfortable rhythm of day-to-day life that lulled me into coasting a bit after the first barrage of big decisions. Thus, my advice to incoming freshmen is to try to resist that seductive temptation to “settle in.” Instead, keep reaching for the new and challenging as much as you can. This flies in the face of popular advice. Yes, the point of freshman year is to give yourself time and space to adjust to the ups and downs of college and the radical changes from your high school life. But while it is important to get comfortable with dorm living and settle into classes, I now see how equally important it is to keep stretching yourself in your second and third terms of freshman year. At Dartmouth, familiar patterns can be addictive. The problem with patterns is that the opportunities awaiting in undiscovered paths will be lost to you. During orientation and the first few weeks of class, I made a very conscious effort to join groups, meet people and push myself out of my comfort zone. But once I had collected a solid number of extracurriculars and surrounded myself with a good group of friends, I let myself lapse into a comfortable predictability. This entailed eating a cinnamon raisin bagel from Novack (a library café sometimes faulted for its meagre offerings and watery coffee) each morning, having dinner with the same group of friends almost every night, and hanging in the same dorm rooms and fraternity basements each weekend. I will admit that this

formula of living did facilitate a strong focus on academics and deepened some great friendships, but I see now that it also narrowed my world and restricted my potential for personal growth. I recently had a conversation with one of my good friends about branching out freshman year. While we discussed the comfort of having a close group of friends to call a “home base,” we both agreed that we could have made more of an effort to get to know new people. After all, hanging out with the same group of people all the time prevents one from hearing challenging opinions and learning from diverse experiences. Moreover, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture by following the same patterns day after day. For example, I came into Dartmouth torn between the worlds of natural science and social science; I was interested in biology and pursuing a pre-health track, but was also fascinated with government and anthropology. In the fall, I hedged my bets and took both a government and biology class. As the winter and spring quarters flew by, though, I soon found myself engulfed in pre-health requirements and forgetting to explore other plans for the future. Although I am currently still pre-health, I have stepped back and made a conscious effort to diversify my academics and extracurriculars. Here, everyone seems to latch onto a label like “pre-health student” or “engineer” in the blink of an eye. A prospective major is as vital to an introduction as a name is, so it can be hard not to define yourself. It is easy to hurl yourself into an academic trajectory and then forget to stop and question whether you are pursuing your passions or exposing yourself to opportunities that will help you discover buried interests. At the end of the day, Dartmouth students are busy. So, when you inevitably settle into some sort of routine, you may feel as though you have no time to change. This isn’t true. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the way you start off Dartmouth is the way you must end it, or that everyone’s already made all their friends or that you’re strictly a science or non-science person. Never allow yourself to get too comfortable because routines can be limiting. Lean into the unease, discomfort and excitement of orientation and let these feelings stay with you for the duration of your time at the College. It’s never too late to break free from your dayto-day grind by hanging out with a new group of people or picking up a new intramural sport or even changing your major. As you traverse the mountains and valleys of freshman year and beyond, keep in mind that your Dartmouth story isn’t over until it’s actually over — until you’ve earned your degree and thrown your cap high up into the air.

Beautiful Imperfection Embrace the bad days at Dartmouth.

When I first stepped off the Dartmouth Coach in early September to begin my freshman year at Dartmouth, I thought that I was dreaming. It was the kind of afternoon that those of us familiar with northern New England’s erratic climate hope to experience once or twice a season. With golden sunshine reflecting off of the rooftops, brightly colored autumn leaves and a bright blue sky set against the silhouette of Baker-Berry Library, Dartmouth’s beauty enchanted me the second I laid eyes on campus. Heaven, I thought, could not be more wonderful than my beautiful new school. But for all of its beauty, the wonder of any new place soon becomes lost amidst the hubbub of daily life. Classes get tough, extracurriculars get busy and the dynamics of friend groups ebb and flow. The sparkle of novelty fades, and each of us is left with everyday realities of imperfection. A tough class, a falling-out within a group of friends or overwhelming responsibilities can obscure the easy effervescence that frequently bubbles forth during the first few weeks of a student’s freshman fall. Wonder fades, and in its absence, disappointment often festers as students realize that the reality of life at Dartmouth is not always the picture-perfect image that the school may have first presented. This realization hits different students at different times, but eventually, most come to realize the impossibility of sustaining a pristine reality consistent with the College’s glossy brochures. Past the first few weeks of freshman fall, it is unlikely that you will ever again experience Dartmouth through rose-colored glasses of wonder. Yet in recognizing the impossibility of living out the “perfect” Dartmouth experience, we gain the freedom to create a life at the College that is entirely our own—a life that will inevitably be splintered into some of the best moments of our lives and the worst moments, and all of the variety that exists between those two extremes. Thus, it becomes necessary to not just rely on moments of perfection that come few and far between, but to find smaller sources of personal fulfillment among the routine. On some days, fulfillment might mean searching for small snippets of everyday joy nestled among the chaos of Dartmouth’s 10week terms. Bursts of happiness found in good dessert nights at Class of 1953 Commons, laughing with friends or appreciating the magic of the first snowfall of the year can add up quickly if we take the time to notice the unexpected joy these moments can evoke. Fulfillment does not necessarily need to remain

predicated on joy, either. Instead, we can realize our desire for fulfillment by expanding our definitions of achievement. Learning a new skill, finishing the first draft of a paper or trying a new activity may or may not bring joy in the traditional sense of the word, but all are likely able to evoke a sense of achievement that can go a long way in creating fulfillment. This is not to say that simple kernels of positivity in any situation can overcome a student’s very real disappointment, loneliness or hurt. A poor grade on a midterm, two weeks of below-zero weather and difficulty adjusting to college life — these are just a few of the challenges many students face during their first few months at Dartmouth. These challenges are very real and can be extremely painful for many students. Sometimes, it becomes nearly impossible to perceive even a smidgen of happiness at these low points, and students often embrace the dark clouds that lie beyond any attempts at silver linings. However, even in times of struggle, it is often still possible to retroactively perceive small moments of fulfillment. A hug from a good friend, a lesson learned or even just the recognition that bad things happen and life still goes on can mean as much upon reflection as a day in which everything went perfectly. Those dark moments have the capacity to teach. Nearly a year has passed since I first stepped off the Coach for the first time and into my new life here at the College. I have long since given up my belief in the fairytale perfect institution that awed me when I arrived. Yet, in place of that awe, a love for the very real and imperfect place that Dartmouth is has arisen. The nuanced nature of life at Dartmouth has allowed me to appreciate the one million and one moments worth living for in each day and the people who make all those moments possible. In the space between perfection and rock bottom, there are all of the everyday adventures that characterize life in all shades of grey here at the Big Green. When you arrive on campus in the fall, ’23s, and are filled with wonder as you gaze out at mountains alight with fall colors and the golden sunshine reflecting off the roof of Baker-Berry, appreciate that moment. Know, too, that even as you begin to experience the inevitable reality of “bad days” here at Dartmouth, there is still much love to be found here. The best, the worst and in everything in between — these are the realities that have transformed Dartmouth from “my beautiful school” into the small corner of the world that I am now proud to call my home.

PAGE 16

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH FRESHMAN ISSUE

A look into the history and traditions of First-Year Trips B y charles chen

climbing club and the mountain biking club. The Dartmouth Staff “We have mountain biking trips In August and September, in part because we have an active members of the College’s incoming mountain biking club and we have class arrive on campus for First-Year student leaders who are active in Trips, a five-day outdoor program that,” he said. run by students before orientation The relationship between DOC week. Trips, officially run by the sub-clubs and their respective trips Dartmouth Outing Club, involves is key to success of trips as a whole, over 90 percent of the incoming Gawler said. He added that this class and includes over 300 student relationship allows leaders within volunteers. It has roots that can be sub clubs to teach technical and traced to humble beginnings over safety skills, leaving trip leaders to 90 years ago. In the near-century focus on interacting with freshmen. that has passed, the program has According to Qu, when she led undergone numerous changes to a Hiking II trip her sophomore year, shape it into its current form. it was her second time ever hiking. According to “Reaching That “It was scary,” she said. “But Peak: 75 years of the Dartmouth I think Trips does a good job of Outing Club,” the first First-Year helping beginners because I learned Trip was planned in 1935 after a lot during [leader] trainings.” seniors on the then-highly popular Computer science professor “Senior Trips” program to Mount David Kotz ’86 served as Trips Washington expressed regret over director his senior year while not becoming involved with the completing his undergraduate DOC earlier. studies. He said that the most The inaugural trips went out unique trip he saw attempted that fall in September 1935, with the was a trip to Boston catered for stated goal to introduce freshmen to people without a background in the DOC so that they “might be a the outdoors. swell advance guard on talking up “We actually set up trips to the Club to the rest of the class.” Boston and had them walking the Maddy Waters ’19 is the Freedom Trail and seeing the sites,” director of Trips this year. She he said. “That was a disaster. We did shares a temporary office with [the trip] one year and it was not associate director of Trips Dorothy deemed either logistically feasible Qu ’19 GR’20 on the second floor or enjoyable.” of the Collis Center in an office Several other changes have tucked at the end of the hallway. also occurred in the time since the A large calendar of the month of first trip went out. Among the most August with important dates in notable is the number of freshmen preparation for Trips dominates that participate in the program. the room. As late as 1970, only about half College of the incoming archivist Peter student body C a r i n i n o t e d “When they come went on Firstthat in the 1930s, back [from Trips], you Ye a r T r i p s , membership according to i n t h e D O C can see it in their faces Gawler. was declining, when they get off “There and the Trips was a sort of that bus. They know a a n i n f l e c t i o n program was a great way for the few people; they feel point in the say club to attract more comfortable; early ’80s, late new members. ’70s, where the Thus, the first they’re ready to enter prog ram had year of Trips, orientation in college.” grown to a sort of each freshman an awkward size received a notice where it’s much that the DOC -DAVID KOTZ, COMPUTER of the campus intended to take SCIENCE PROFESSOR but not most of freshmen, “over t h e c a m p u s, ” the Moosilauke Gawler said. Range, with its wild ravines, According to Waters, at a and over Franconia Range, a certain point the program was magnificent set of mountains.” changed to reflect and attract a The packing list suggested a pair wider audience as trip participation of dungarees and noted, “If the grew. sun affects you, add one old hat.” With this increased population While First-Year Trips still do of “trippees,” or participants in the include hiking — now split into Trips program, came a required four levels based on difficulty — the expansion to the organization types of trips offered has expanded capacity of the First-Year Trips over the years. For example, Waters program as well. In 1983, the went on the horseback riding trip program was computerized for the her freshman year while Qu went first time. Kotz wrote the code for white water kayaking during hers. the original program for tracking Rory Gawler ’05, general trippees and trips his freshman manager of the DOC, noted that spring and noted that he still has many of the new trips reflect the the magnetic tape reel containing growth of the DOC itself, which the code. has expanded by adding new “subTrips also used to recruit clubs” that specialize in certain faculty members to act as trip outdoor activities, such as the leaders. According to Waters, the

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Around 90 percent of each incoming class participates in the Trips program, which takes freshmen to explore the great outdoors.

practice was discontinued once Trips became large enough that faculty trip leaders were no longer necessary. “Dartmouth enjoys the unique reputation of organizing one of the most unusual introductions to college for incoming freshman,” wrote John H. Graham, Jr. ’76, the 1975 director of First-Year Trips, in a letter to College administration and faculty. “The overwhelming success of this program has been attributed to the numerous College officers, faculty, and staff who have participated.” Kotz, who also served as faculty trip leader on multiple occasions, recalled reviewing faculty trip leader applications while he was Trips director in 1986. “[Faculty] would apply like anyone else, and the Trips director would decide whether that person had the relevant skills and aptitude,” he said. “I remember, as a senior, finding it quite interesting that I had the power to accept or reject the faculty applications.” Another more recent shift was the creation of many positions within the Trips directorate to help facilitate Trips. According to Gawler, when he was an undergraduate at the College, there was little organization beyond the Director of Trips and the leaders. Now, however, there are positions such as the “Vox Croo,” which organizes safety logistics, other “Croos” and trip leader trainers. “Every detail is thought about and managed to a degree that one person 20 years ago just could not possibly have done,” he said. Kotz served as Hanover Croo chief his junior year. While he said that many of the same traditions

remain — such as the “silliness” meant to reduce anxiety among the freshmen — structurally, the different crews have grown and become more organized since his time. “[Hanover Croo] was just whoever was around that day,” he said. “Some days you’d have six people and some days you’d have 16.” “Croolings,” or members of Croos, also have not always received meals or housing from the College, according to Kotz. He added that Hanover Croo would ask trippees, who would get a meal provided for them through College dining, to smuggle out food for them. One of the biggest changes to Trips came in 1972, when the College began admitting women. According to Ed Nierson ’80, the skewed ratio between women and men in the first years when the College began admitting women meant that not all trips were co-ed. “My bicycle trip was in Section G, the last section, so I had the ‘privilege’ of being on the last allmale Freshman Trips group at the Lodge,” he wrote in an email to The Dartmouth. With a new Trips directorate chosen each year, changes to FirstYear Trips occur on a yearly basis. This year, the Trips directorate has focused on broadening the ex p e r i e n c e t o a c c o m m o d at e the needs of more participants. T his includes additions such as eating disorder and mental health education for leaders and encouraging leaders to check in with their trippees individually. A new trip, called “Explore the Upper Valley,” was also implemented, according to Waters.

She added that the trip will be using a wheelchair accessible cabin, and trippees will be shuttled around by volunteers and visit different parts of the Upper Valley that have historical value. Regardless of how many changes are implemented to Trips, the most important part of Trips remains the interactions within each trip, according to Gawler. “The core of the program is when the students are out on their trip with their trip leaders in their trip group,” he said. “That’s when the real bonds form.” According to Carini, the Trips program is a phenomenon unique to Dartmouth that other colleges look to. He recalled that when he began working at the College, colleagues at other institutions asked him what the “Dartmouth secret” to Trips was. “A lot of institutions are very impressed with how Dartmouth manages a tight-knit alumni base, and a lot of that is attributed to Trips,” he said. To Kotz, the main goal of Trips has always been the same: to make incoming students comfortable and prepare them for orientation. “What Trips does, when it does its best, is help students who are really nervous about entering college and leaving home,” Kotz said. “When they come back [from Trips], you can see it in their faces when they get off that bus. They know a few people; they feel more comfortable; they’re ready to enter orientation in college. That transition is the real value of the program.” Dorothy Qu is a member of The Dartmouth staff.

DEREK LUE/THE DARTMOUTH

MIRROR 8.22.19

DARTMOUTH DINING SERVICES HACKS 5

LEARNING FROM DR. SEUSS 7

HISTORY OF DARTMOUTH PONG 9

SUNNY TANG/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

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Editors’ Note

The Myth of the Ugly Duckling TTLG

DIVYA KOPALLE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

The painter. The poet. The nerd who owns it. The swimmer. The hiker. The party-all-nighter. The baker. The maker. The family caretaker. The bundle-of-nerves-for-this-term-long-icebreaker. You all have unique experiences that have shaped your identities coming into college. Every Dartmouth student — from those who come from “Just Outside Boston” to those who come from Rwanda — has their own world of memories and skills to share with the Dartmouth community. You are all so different, yet you all ended up here, in middle-of-nowhere New Hampshire, for the most transformative years of your lives. Over the next four years, the identities you brought with you to college will inform how you interact with the friends you make, how you choose your classes and how you decide which communities you choose to stick with and which clubs you pass on. These identities will morph as well: Your morals will be tugged at, your priorities will fall in and out of order and your memory banks will be flooded with starry nights on the golf course and snowball fights on the Green. In this issue, we discuss how to beat the symptoms of “duck syndrome,” learn from one of our most notable alumni and reflect on the possibility of finding a home away from home. We also fill you in on many core aspects that define our campus’s culture, such as our zany lingo, features of our breathtaking campus, heartfelt peer-advice and, of course, Dartmouth pong. This is just a taste of what makes Dartmouth Dartmouth, and we’re so excited to see how you’re going to make this place your own. Class of 2023, we hope Dartmouth allows you to fall in love with cities you’ve never been to and people you’ve never met. We also hope that Dartmouth makes you appreciate who you are, where you come from and all that you have to offer. These next four years are going to fly by right before your eyes. Make sure to make the most out of this opportunity, but don’t lose yourself along the way. Best wishes, Nikhita Hingorani and Justin Kramer

follow @thedmirror

8.22.19 VOL. CLXXVI NO. 58 MIRROR EDITORS NIKHITA HINGORANI JUSTIN KRAMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DEBORA HYEMIN HAN PUBLISHER AIDAN SHEINBERG

By Novi Zhukovsky

Freshman orientation: For most, it’s a time of awkward introductions, forced smiles, getting lost and, if you’re lucky, the feeling that you might just have met someone who could be your new best friend. It’s also a time when it seems like your entire life has burst open with the opportunity to become a new person, develop new skills or concentrate on an interest that you haven’t yet had the time or courage to put out there. And so it was for me for a few glorious days of freshman fall — that is, until I was struck down by what I like to call the Freshman Plague. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had colds before. And the symptoms of the Freshman Plague weren’t far off from a regular seasonal sickness. My throat was so sore that I sounded like a chain smoker, and I had so much phlegm in my system that I had to carry a pack of tissues with me everywhere I went. But what makes the Freshman Plague so distinctly terrible is that it’s essentially a death sentence for anyone trying to meet new people and make friends. For the first week of school, every time I introduced myself, people either thought I went by Bovi or remembered me as the girl with the dying cow voice. So much for a good first impression. However, this facet of Dartmouth Thankfully, I eventually regained my voice and even managed to culture can make even the busiest make a group of friends with whom student feel like they aren’t involved I am still close with to this day. The enough. Being surrounded by so experience also allowed me to see the many gifted people with seemingly generosity of many of my peers who unending lists of talents and hobbies were always quick to offer me a cough was intimidating to me. I felt like everyone else drop or suggest around me was their favorite pursuing all of cold medicine. “We may not all be these amazing The only lasting swans, but we are activities, while impact that not ugly ducklings, I, sopping up the the Freshman lingering effects Plague had on either. Every student of the Freshman my Dartmouth at Dartmouth has Plague, had experience was already fallen that it made it something to offer, behind. I began difficult to apply regardless of whether look down to all of the or not it entails being a to upon the feature exciting clubs that I once and activities I member of a club.” thought was the had wanted to best part of the join. Devoid of a voice, energy and a clear mind, I College. As freshman fall continued, was barely able to sort through all the application emails that flooded my however, I began to focus my efforts inbox. Any sports team try-outs were on the groups I was actually involved certainly out of the question given in. I began writing articles for the my physical state. It was only by some newspaper for all of campus to read: miracle that I managed to fill out an a task that I had absolutely no prior application for The Dartmouth and experience with and, to be frank, got accepted. But after seeing my really terrified me. But as I wrote friends get morning wake-ups with more and more, I began to realize the exciting news that they had been just how much I loved it. My stories accepted into this a cappella group pushed me in ways I could not have and that club sport, I began to worry predicted: cold-emailing random that I wasn’t involved in enough. The students, interviewing professors I prospect of having to wait until the had never met, questioning some Dartmouth’s foundational next term — or even the next year — of assumptions and, most importantly, to reapply doubled my worries. I’ve come to realize that our finding my own voice. I began to realize that writing school’s culture of extensive student involvement is one of the things I love for the paper enabled me to take most about Dartmouth. Everyone a look at and assess every facet of has their own set of interests and life at Dartmouth. I was having hobbies. This may be due to the conversations with students and fact that we’re in the middle of professors I would never have imagined, searching nowhere, so instead of looking to a otherwise big city for entertainment, students through Dartmouth records and engage in campus activities to keep theses in Rauner Library and through busy. Dartmouth students are truly it all, learning so much. I came to the impressive in the breadth of their realization that focusing my efforts interests. This makes it almost on writing for the paper didn’t mean impossible to label a Dartmouth I was falling behind in the activity student as a certain “type.” The sweepstakes. Being a writer enabled soccer girl might also be really great me to enter any environment on at drawing and improv comedy. The campus and get an insider’s view of crunchy Dartmouth Outing Club what was going on. Even though I fanatic could also be really into sports wasn’t personally involved in every broadcasting and have a knack for activity, my articles helped me get close. Maybe the Freshman Plague writing poetry in French.

COURTESY OF NOVI ZHUKOVSKY

prevented me from trying out for a cappella, but it couldn’t stop me from writing about it. As my mindset surrounding campus involvement began to change, I realized that many other people shared a similar fear of missing out — even those who, to me, seemed to be members of every possible club on campus. While I was unable to apply to many of the groups I was interested in, many of my friends and peers who were able to did — and got rejected. I was too wrapped up in my own self-pity to recognize that many of the people around me actually felt the same way I did. When arriving on campus, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the vast array of talented people around you. It can sometimes make you feel like an ugly duckling in a pond full of glittering swans. But it’s important to remember that just about everyone else feels the same way. They too worry about being involved enough or acquiring as many obscure and impressive talents as the people around you. And instead of viewing Dartmouth’s vast array of impressive students as a source of anxiety, it should be seen as a valuable opportunity. Where else would you be surrounded by so many incredible people, all with unique interests and hobbies? And when else will you have the freedom to pursue the activities that excite you, without worrying about whether they all tie together in a nice little story for a college essay? (May those forever rest in peace.) We may not all be swans, but we are not ugly ducklings, either. Every student at Dartmouth has something to offer, regardless of whether or not it entails being a member of a club. We are not defined by the number of groups we are in but the effort we put into the things we are involved in — classes, friends, relationships and the activities we do end up choosing to dedicate our time to. There will always be another club to join or activity to partake in, but that should not make us feel like we need to do it all. We would all do well to remember that while Dartmouth’s ambitious and talented student body can be overwhelming, it is just one of the many factors that make our school so great.

SUNNY TANG/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

MIRR OR //3

The Dickey Center for International Understanding Become a globally conscious citizen who can truly make the world a better place. GREAT ISSUES SCHOLARS:

FIND US AT ORIENTATION: EXPO * Student Tuesday, Sept. 10

2-4pm Leverone Fieldhouse

Center * Dickey Open House

Thursday, Sept. 12 2:30-3:30pm Haldeman Center

http://dickey.dartmouth.edu t

Interested in engaging with other first year students in an exciting exploration of the vital issues of day? Apply to become a GREAT ISSUES SCHOLAR! Scholars have the unique opportunity to meet and interact with international scholars, politicians, humanitarians, and writers, as well as Dartmouth faculty experts to learn about and discuss global issues. Some Scholars live in residence at the Global Village but many do not. For first year students who will NOT be living in the Global Village applications are due: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 BY 11:59PM. APPLY ONLINE AT dickey.dartmouth.edu ON-CAMPUS OPPORTUNITIES: • Multiple student-run clubs and publications with a global focus • Scholar and Fellowship programs in development, global health and war/peace studies • Lectures and events with nationally and internationally recognized experts OFF-CAMPUS: International experiences challenge you to re-examine your world view and learn outside the classroom, and they push you to question assumptions about yourself and others. The Dickey Center offers: • International internships during leave-terms • Global research and special projects around the world GLOBAL STUDIES: A minor in International Studies enables you to investigate global issues from many different perspectives. A Global Health certificate helps you develop an understanding of global health issues through a combination of courses and a hands-on capstone experience.

4// MIRR OR

Mapping Dartmouth: Your go-to Campus Guide STORY

By Jacob Maguire

Whether it’s your freshman dorm, a bench on the Green or a library study nook, you will soon find a place at Dartmouth that you connect to. But first, you will get lost more times than you can count, even after you ask five upperclassmen for directions. Here’s to minimizing your confusion and providing basic details about the most important campus locations to know! The locations are in approximate order of North to South. Golf Course and Pine Park: Pine Park is a 90-acre forest of pine trees that starts at the northern end of campus and extends along the Hanover Country Club golf course. It features many trails and is a popular place for students who want to run or take a walk. You can sometimes see the crew teams rowing on the Connecticut River if you’re running through the park. LSC: Officially called the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center, the LSC is a 174,500-square-foot facility which houses classrooms, offices and laboratories for the biology department. It includes a 6,000-square-foot greenhouse which many students enjoy visiting during the winter term. Although the LSC is located a fair distance from the center of campus, it boasts sleek and modern architecture and has been recognized nationally for its sustainable design.

Rockefeller ’30. Affectionately called “Rocky,” this center offers a variety of programs, events and courses in the fields of public policy and leadership. Fairchild Physical Sciences Center: Burke, Fairchild, Steele and Wilder are a group of connected buildings which house the chemistry, environmental science, earth science, geography, and physics and astronomy departments at Dartmouth. Fairchild Hall notably includes Kresge Library — a study space on the third floor of Fairchild Hall that is intended to serve students, faculty and researchers in the realms of computer science, environmental studies, mathematics and the physical sciences (chemistry, physics and astronomy). Kresge can be a good study space separated from the main library because it is rarely crowded. Allen House First-Year Housing: Richardson and Wheeler Halls, which are located near Baker-Berry

the departments of art history, history and English, respectively. The Stacks: The Stacks are a series of nine floors accessible to students in the center of Baker-Berry Library. Six floors extend above FFB, with a bridge to 3FB, while two floors extend below FFB and are known as Basement Stacks. Many students go to the Stacks in order to study intensely and in silence. It houses the bulk of Dartmouth’s two million volumes. Beware of studying there too late at night (for further information on this, see the Dartmouth lingo story on page 6). King Arthur Flour Cafe and Novack Café: Berry library offers Novack Café, a DDS facility that many students prefer to use when grabbing breakfast on their way to class or grinding in Baker-Berry as they prepare for midterms. Look out for Moe’s at 6 p.m. on weeknights at Novack. In addition, Baker-Berry houses the King

B, the Cube is the focal point of the Allen House and School House communities at Dartmouth. The Cube has a modern, square-shaped glass design — hence its name — and is filled with outlets and comfortable chairs. In recent terms, the Cube has become a popular collaborative study space for students and also boasts a snack bar. East W heelock First-Year Housing: During the 2019-20 academic year, freshmen will share McCulloch, Morton and Zimmerman Halls. The East Wheelock dorms are relatively new and have air conditioning but are far from the center of campus. Morton Hall experienced a devastating fire in the fall of 2016 and the building was completely renovated. These dormitories also housed sophomores during the summer of 2019. The River Cluster — West House First-Year Housing: The River Cluster — which will

McLaughlin: The McLaughlin Cluster is a series of recently-built dormitories that house the majority of Dartmouth’s Living Learning Communities. There are various first-year LLCs, as well as a series of language communities, shared interest communities, identitybased communities and “Global Village,” a residential community which includes the Great Issues Scholars in Residence and multiple other language programs.

Robinson Hall: Robinson Hall holds the Outdoor Programs Office (first floor) and the headquarters of the various Dartmouth Outing Club student groups and ski team (first floor and basement). Upstairs, it hosts the offices of The Dartmouth (second floor), the Native Americans at Dartmouth office (second floor), the Student Wellness Center (third floor), the Residential Education headquarters (third floor) and the Dartmouth College Broadcasting/Radio office (third floor).

Collis Student Center: The Collis Center for Student Involvement offers a popular dining facility for students which allows them to order omelets, smoothies and stir fry and sandwiches with ingredients of their choice. Get to know the workers here! It also has a salad bar and a Coca Cola Freestyle machine. In addition, Collis contains One Wheelock, a well-liked, quiet study space and café for students, a room with pool tables and other entertainment equipment and Collis Common Ground, where many events are held. Collis — which plays host to many club meetings — also holds the Office of Pluralism and Leadership on the second floor and the Office of Greek Life on the third floor.

The Choates Cluster — School House and North Park House First-Year Housing: Composed of Bissell, Brown, Cohen and Little Halls, the Choates are one of the primary residential clusters at Dartmouth College for freshmen students at Dartmouth. Beginning with the 2019-20 academic year, Brown Hall will house all North Park residents while Bissell, Little and Cohen Halls will host School House residents. Each of the buildings in the Choates cluster previously held members of different housing communities. The Choates buildings are perhaps most distinguishable by the sky bridges that link Bissell to Cohen and Brown to Little with common rooms between them on the second floor. These buildings are not well-regarded for their construction but are located close to Baker-Berry Library and frat row. Despite the outdated nature of the buildings, generations of Dartmouth students have made lasting friendships during their year in the Choates.

Silsby Hall and the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences: Silsby Hall is sandwiched between Tuck Drive, Webster Avenue and North Main Street. It houses the departments of Dartmouth’s two most popular majors, economics and government. It also holds the anthropology department, the burgeoning quantitative social science program, and, until recently, it held the sociology department, which is now located in the Blunt Alumni Center. Silsby is attached to the Rockefeller Center, which is named in honor of former U.S. Vice President Nelson

Dartmouth Hall: Dartmouth Hall holds the classrooms and offices for Dartmouth’s various romance languages. If it had not burned twice over the last couple of centuries, Dartmouth Hall would be the oldest building at the College. Its white brick façade is one of Dartmouth’s most iconic symbols. On May 23, 1962, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a guest lecture on the civil rights movement to an overflowing crowd of students and local residents in Room 105. You will take a picture in front of Dartmouth Hall with the entire Class of 2023 — the last time the entire class will be in one place for a photo until commencement.

Foco: The Class of 1953 Commons — which Dartmouth students call “Foco” as shorthand for “food court” — is the premier, all-you-can-eat dining hall on campus. Students call the north-facing and south-facing dining rooms “dark side” and “light side,” respectively, based on the amount of natural light that seeps in. The dark side is often noted for its wood-backed chairs and longer tables that effectively accommodate large groups such as sports teams, while the light side has a combination of booths, high-top tables and long tables.

Dick’s House: Dick’s House is the headquarters of the Dartmouth College Health Service. Students generally visit Dick’s House for primary care appointments, counseling sessions, study abroad preparation checkups and more. Dick’s House is also the location to where students who have been “Good Sammed” are sent to recover. A “Good Sam” is a call made to Safety and Security to make sure an intoxicated or overdosed student gets medical care.

Webster Avenue: Generally referred to as “frat row,” Webster Avenue holds the majority of Dartmouth’s fraternities, as well as Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority and, for the first time, the Thought Project Living Learning Community — an LLC dedicated toward in-depth student dialogue, community building and the exchange of diverse thought. Freshmen can visit frat row for the first time when the frat ban ends around the seventh or eighth week of fall term. The West House professor’s home and College President Phil Hanlon’s home are also located on Webster Ave.

just steps from Dartmouth Hall.

Alumni Gymnasium: The Alumni Gymnasium includes the Zimmerman Fitness Center, two swimming pools, intramural basketball courts, an indoor track and a series of team locker rooms and facilities. The gym also offers P.E. classes for students looking to improve their exercise habits. Students will first visit Alumni Gymnasium when they have the opportunity to take the swim test during DOC First-Year Trips.

DOROTHY QU/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Library, Rauner Library and Rollins Chapel, will hold Allen House’s firstyear residents starting in the 2019-20 academic year. Baker-Berry Library: Baker-Berry Library is Dartmouth’s central library and is modeled after Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Baker — the original library — contains the Tower Room, the Orozco Mural Room (a national historic landmark as of 2013), the always-open Class of 1902 Room, the Class of 1913 Reference Room, study rooms and Baker Lobby, which students endearingly call “Blobby.” Berry — the newer section of the library — is most notable for FFB, which stands for First Floor Berry. FFB tends to be a popular, collaborative study space and is the place to go if you want to be “facetime-y.” Berry also houses the Jones Media Center on the second floor, offers the popular study space of “3FB” on the third floor and has a slightly quieter space on the fourth floor (known as — you guessed it — 4FB). In addition, Baker-Berry has two popular cafés, Novack and King Arthur Flour. Baker-Berry is attached to Carpenter Hall, Carson Hall and Sanborn Hall, which hold

Arthur Flour Café, or KAF, which is sandwiched between Baker Lobby, the entrance to the Stacks and FFB. KAF’s main headquarters is across the river in Norwich, VT. Freshmen should be aware that Novack accepts meal swipes and DBA, while KAF accepts only DBA and standard forms of payment. Thayer School of Engineering: Located at the end of Tuck Drive, the Thayer School of Engineering opened in 1871 and is one of the oldest professional engineering programs in the nation. It offers a variety of classrooms, laboratories and study spaces for students. Dartmouth undergraduates generally take courses that lead to the Bachelor of Arts degree in engineering, but most majors take additional courses in order to earn the professional Bachelor of Engineering degree. In 2016, Thayer became the first comprehensive research institution at which women earned more bachelor’s engineering degrees than men did, and Alexis Abramson was named dean of the school this past spring. The Cube: Known officially as House Center

house all West House residents at Dartmouth beginning with the 201920 academic year — is comprised of French Hall and Judge Hall. The dorms are located near the Tuck School of Business and the Thayer School of Engineering, but are about 10 minutes away on foot from Baker-Berry Library and the center of campus. Incoming freshmen should look forward to the possibility of making friends as they make the trek to and from Foco, Baker-Berry, Collis and early morning drill in Dartmouth Hall. For West House residents, the housing options will only get better as students get older: Sophomores, juniors and seniors live in the more-centrally located Russell Sage, Butterfield, McLane and Fahey Halls. The Fayerweathers — South House First-Year Housing: Starting with the Class of 2023, North Fayerweather, MidFayerweather and South Fayerweather will house all of South House’s firstyear residents. All three of the Fayes are connected to each other through their basements, typically serve as a primary space to hang out during the freshman fall frat ban and are located

The Onion: Known officially as House Center A, the Onion is the shared communal space for the South House and North Park House residential communities. Its white tent structure, spacious environment and curtained study nooks make it an excellent study space for collaboration or individual work. Hopkins Center for the Arts, the Hood Museum of Art and the Black Family Visual Arts Center: The Hopkins Center for the Arts is the primary location of student performances and entertainment events at Dartmouth, and it contains the Hinman Mail Center for students and faculty. It is directly connected to the Hood Art Museum, which opened this past year. The Hop also includes the Courtyard Café, Alumni Hall — where various campus events are held — and a series of auditoriums and theatres, including Moore, Spaulding and Warner Bentley. Both facilities are located near the Black Family Visual Arts Center, which houses the digital humanities program, the film and media studies department, the studio arts department and Loew Auditorium. Courtyard Cafe: The Courtyard Cafe, sometimes referred to simply as the “Hop” by students, is the DDS dining facility inside the Hopkins Center for the Arts. It offers a variety of á la carte options, cooked-to-order food and a salad bar. Tender quesos and General Tso’s chicken are two of the most popular meals here.

MIRR OR //5

Dartmouth Dining Services Hacks STORY

By Caitlyn McGovern

Glittering trays of chicken will be a perilous one. The line of nuggets, steaming hot waffles fresh all-knowing upperclassmen can be off the press and ice cream — so daunting, but fill up your container much ice cream — await behind (located under the salad bar) with the doors to Foco. At the start of your vegetables, hop behind the tall your freshman fall, I’m sure you’ll ’20 in front of you and be patient. eat one, two, three or maybe four If you want to do the meal swipe meals a day in Dartmouth’s only special, fill up a soup container all-you-can-eat dining location. with your vegetables, and let the But by the middle of October, Collis pasta gods (i.e. Brett) know the chicken nuggets will look like you’re doing this so they can mark regret, the hot waffles will leave you container accordingly (oh, and your heart cold and the ice cream don’t forget to write your own name … too much ice cream. It’s a grim on the container, too). With multiple place to be, and I was there once different types of pasta (gluten-free before. included!) and three different kinds Dartmouth Dining Services of sauce PLUS meatballs, you’re in — or DDS, as the kids these days good hands. P.S.A.: Add a side of call it — will be your best friend chicken from the stir-fry to your and greatest enemy this upcoming pasta. YUM. term. You’ll love DDS for the late For stir fry, you can use the night mozz sticks and macaroons, pre-mixed vegetables at the stir yet hate them for closing Collis for fry station or — if you’re feeling lunch and dinner on the weekends. adventurous — use your own from After doing some soul-searching the salad bar! Be sure to have through the your vegetables Collis stir fry weighed at the line, HOP salads cash register a n d N o v a c k “Dartmouth Dining before you get soup, I fell back Services — or DDS, as in the stir fry i n l o v e w i t h the kids these days call line, and you’ll my meal plan receive a slip sophomore year. it — will be your best of paper noting It took me much friend and greatest the cost of your longer than my corn and kale friends did to enemy this coming in exchange for realize that I did term.” your ID. There not, in fact, need are loads of to eat the same different sauces five things every you can top your day if I got just a little creative. creation off with, and don’t forget While you, ’23s, will never know Dave’s Original seasoning! the struggle of half-cooking your Got extra time (and DBA)? chicken at Foco’s do-it-yourself Make an avocado salad! Pick up a stir fry station or the joys of garlic ripe avocado, a handful of cherry bread being included in the pasta- tomatoes, a ring or two of red onion, dinner special at Collis, you should a dab of corn and as many lemon know how to make your Dartmouth wedges as you can. Slice and dice up dining experience enjoyable. your veggies (not the corn though), and toss them together with olive Foco (a.k.a. the Class of 1953 oil, salt and pepper, and you’re set! Commons, a.k.a. ’53, a.k.a. P.S.: Say hi to Brett, Dave and freshman fall) everyone else at Collis for me. They Over the course of a term, Foco are truly the nicest people, and are will put out just about anything you the unsung heroes of this campus. can imagine, from Chicken Monday (think housemade battered chicken, The Hop (a.k.a, the Courtyard mashed potatoes and lots of corn) Café) to the cinnamon monkey bread to Whether you’re craving a BLT, a tomato basil soup. With so many cinnamon bun or mozzarella sticks, choices to choose from, it’s easy to the Hop has something for everyone customize your own meal and make at every hour of the day. While the Foco your friend. everyday options are extensive and A fan favorite hack is making delicious, keep your eyes peeled for sandwiches using the variety of the daily specials both at the grill bagels found by the cereal bar. and hot bar. The mac and cheese Whether it’s a on Tuesdays is BEC (bacon, to die for and egg and cheese) when DDS puts in the morning “For dessert, grab two poutine fries out, or a melty you better bring toasted turkey freshly baked Foco your eating and cheese at cookies and put a pants along for lunch, you can he meal. If scoop of your favorite tyou’re go crazy with feeling any combo you Gifford’s ice cream adventurous, ask want. A literal between them.” for a chicken hot take would tender “tendy” be to make a wrap or opt for quesadilla in one of the Bob the sandwich sandwiches. Add toaster, adding on some guac from a hash brown in and you’ll never the sandwich bar. want to leave the Hopkins Center If you’re looking to spice up your ever again. breakfast or post dinner snack, roll through the ice cream bar and throw KAF and Novack (a.k.a. Bakersome toppings Berry Dream onto your Greek Team) yo g u r t . Fro m King “Glittering trays of chocolate chips Arthur F lour and M&M’s to chicken nuggets, — or KAF, as Reese’s Pieces steaming hot waffles we c a l l i t — and rainbow has delicious sprinkles, you fresh off the press and pastries, tocan add some ice cream — so much die-for quiches, pizazz to an fresh salads ice cream — await otherwise bland and beautiful bowl. If you’re behind the doors to sandwiches. f e e l i n g e x t r a Foco ... But by the E v e n b e t t e r, z e s t y, s n e a k bring your over to the hot middle of October, the own mug for a beverage area, chicken nuggets will chance to get a and add some free drink! Plus, look like regret, the h o n e y ! Fo r they sell freshly dessert, grab two hot waffles will leave baked baguettes f re s h l y b a k e d your heart cold and that you can turn Fo c o c o o k i e s into the perfect and put a scoop the ice cream ... too avocado toast. of your favorite much ice cream.” On top of that, G i f f o r d ’s i c e you can use your cream between extra DBA at them. Trust me, you’ll thank me the end of the term to buy custom later. ordered cakes for you and your friends. A huge win in my book. Collis (a.k.a. the student Novack sells everything from Hot center, a.k.a. the best place Pockets to Gushers to wellness shots. you’ll ever go) With something to eat at every hour Collis fills in the gaps for of the day, you can get a BEC on a the food you crave that Foco biscuit and muffin for breakfast or doesn’t quite have. The smoothies Moe’s Southwest Grill for dinner are fantastic (highly recommend (on certain nights of the week). If mango, strawberry and pineapple you buy a sandwich, be sure to ask with half guava juice half coconut for it to be warmed up. water), and you can have freshly And with that, I have bequeathed made sushi four nights a week. But upon you my DDS knowledge. where Collis truly shines is in its While I’ll be gone for the next two custom-made stir fry and pasta. terms studying abroad and getting Your first venture into making a taste of the “real world,” I’ll be your own bowl of tri-color pasta dreaming of Collis pasta with pesto with half-alfredo-half-red sauce until I get back in spring 2020.

JUSTIN KRAMER/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Foco is your go-to destination for all-you-can-eat food, but you should know how to hack it to make the most of it.

LORRAINE LIU/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

In addition to rooms for club meetings, Collis has a fresh café on the first floor, with stir fry, pasta, smoothies and more.

DIVYA KOPALLE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Students use Novack as both a social study space and a cafeteria where they can get DDS snacks, drinks and Moe’s. Foco is your go-to destination for all-you-can-eat food, but you should know how to hack it to make the most of it.

6// MIRR OR

“The move”: Your Dartmouth Lingo @now STORY

By Lily Johnson

As you transition to Dartmouth life, there’s something you need to study up on. No, it’s not prepping for your pre-med classes or trying to learn the alma mater (no one really knows that anyway), but it is much more essential: you gotta learn the lingo. Dartmouth students use a lot of weird slang in their day to day lives (maybe it’s because we’re in the middle of nowhere?), so to keep up with the times, here are all of the words you need to know so you can figure out what that girl next to you in Blobby is talking about: Blobby A combination of the words “Baker” (in reference to Baker-Berry Library) and “lobby” that is used to refer to the area past the main entrance of Baker-Berry Library. This is a common space to meet up for group projects or bump into your friends in between classes. Warmcut In the winter, Hanover becomes a cold, snowy wasteland. So, students create elaborate routes across campus that feature “warmcuts,” or ways to get somewhere by walking through buildings for warmth. Facetime-y No, this has nothing to do with Apple, but “getting facetime” basically means being super social or doing something (like studying) in a crowded space to see and be seen. A person or an activity can be “facetime-y,” and it can be used in both a positive and negative light. Dartmouth Seven The Dartmouth Seven

challenge in which students try to hook up in seven locations on campus. The locations include the following: the Green, the top of the Hopkins Center for the Arts, the front steps of Dartmouth Hall, President Phil Hanlon’s front lawn, a woodedarea of land known as the Bema, the 50-yard line of the football field and the stacks of Baker-Berry Library. Blitz A student’s Dartmouth email address, an email they send and/or the process of sending someone an email, as in, “I’ll blitz you!” (Get used to words with multiple meanings — Dartmouth students like to be complicated.)

humblebrag. All ’23s should shout this at someone who says that they placed into MATH11, “Accelerated Multivariable Calculus,” because they did well on the Advanced Placement Calculus exam in high school.

drops below freezing — be cautious!

A-side/B-side These terms were traditionally used in reference to fraternities and sororities, but now they are jokingly used to say that something is cool (A-side) or uncool (B-side).

@now Another way of saying right now, as in, “Meet me in the library @ now.”

Fracket A cheap jacket that students wear to the frats. Fracket theft runs rampant when the temperature

Frat shoes A pair of shoes dedicated solely to wear while going out. Frat basements, unfortunately, are not as clean as one would hope.

Lou’s Challenge A challenge during which you pull an all-nighter and then eat breakfast at Lou’s, a diner in town, right when it opens. Pro-tip: Do it during the week — Lou’s opens an hour earlier.

Trippee No, someone did not say that something is “trippy.” A trippee is someone who was on your First-Year Trip! Trippees will often be seen mobbing the Class of ’53 Commons together during freshman fall. Flair Fun, crazy clothes or costumes worn for a variety of different reasons. Any day is a good day to walk around in some flair. Don’t be the kid who is “too cool” for flair. There’s no such thing! “What’s the move?” Dartmouth for “What’s fun right now?” or “What should we do?”

Flitz/Fritz A blitz’s flirtier and friendlier cousins. A flitz is a flirty email, often in poetic form with many GIFs, sent to your crush to ask them to an event or on a chill date. A fritz is like a flitz, but to friends! Layup An easy class that requires little to no work. Layuplist.com is an unofficial course review site for Dartmouth and is a source students use to find classes to take — but beware, not every class called a layup actually is one! Off/on Due to the D-Plan, it is usually the case that students have different termly schedules. You’ll frequently hear people asking if someone is off (on an off-term) or on (staying on campus) next term. Self call Dartmouth’s

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

word

for

The lobby of Baker-Berry Library is a great place for students to be “facetime-y”, but make sure to call it “Blobby!”

To the ’23s TTLG

By Rachel Matsumoto

It’s strange to think that for us, it’s over. We’ve felt the heat of the bonfire, witnessed the stars while lying on the grass of the golf course, studied through late nights into the early mornings, walked across the snow-covered Green — and now, we’ve walked across the graduation stage. It’s strange to think that, for you, Dartmouth is just beginning. Your still haven’t picked your classes. You haven’t explored the steam tunnels or climbed Baker Tower. You haven’t struggled (and bonded) with friends through problem sets or stood in awe at the campus awash with fall colors. As you embark on this new journey, here are 15 hopes for the newest members of Dartmouth, from the newly departed ones.

find time to learn about themselves them to do so. and explore other things that they -Jared Solomon ’19 didn’t think they would find in I think that college. I found “I know a lot of Dartmouth is a the jewelry people at Dartmouth place that feels studio because like it is built for I had free time do things out of one specific sort and did not obligation, and the of person, but over schedule there are ways to things they do for joy myself. I find your place think it is very seem to get lost. There here and spaces important to is no reason that the that feel good leave time for to you. There yourself and things people need to are so many to enjoy the do can’t be the same opportunities moment. here. I hope that as the things they - N e l l y the ’23s are able M e n d o z a - want to do.” to learn a lot Mendoza ’19 about who they are and grow I hope -SYDNEY ZHAO ’19 in ways that I hope they try their best at the ’23s take are authentic to things they are passionate about advantage of themselves. so there is no room for regrets, the resources here. Some students -Neerja Thakkar ’19 regardless of the result. may not realize the unique -Benjamin Lee ’19 circumstances Dartmouth is willing I hope they will continue to foster to provide financial assistance for. safe and supportive communities I hope they have time for one In my case, they helped fly me to for people on this campus. When I another and Miami for my first came here, it wasn’t necessarily never get so busy “I think that c i t i z e n s h i p like that. Everyone felt like it was that they don’t interview, fly war all the time. Over the course of have a moment Dartmouth is a place to Columbia my four years, we’ve created a safer to stop and listen that feels like it is built to see my sick space on campus — an inclusive to a friend. I for one specific sort of g r a n d m a , space. I hope the ’23s continue to hope they always paid for my carry that forward. have a friend person, but there are GRE test prep -Jovany Carter ’19 who will stop and ways to find your place program and listen to them. offset the cost I hope everyone finds joy in what One of the most here and spaces that of having my they do on campus. I know a lot of valuable things feel good to you.” parents come people at Dartmouth do things out you can gain for graduation. of obligation, and the things they here are good Some students do for joy seem to get lost. There friendships and -NEERJA THAKKAR ’19 may take these is no reason that the things people relationships. things for need to do can’t be the same as the -India Perdue granted, but things they want to do. ’19 when you’re low income like me, -Sydney Zhao ’19 you know these actions go a long I hope they will take the time to way and really make you feel like I hope they have an open think and reflect about what they the College actually cares about mind and approach situations really want out of their college you. with nuance. For myself, I came experience. I hope they will not be -Daniela Garcia ’19 in thinking that the issues were afraid to commit themselves, try solvable with black and white something new, and just run with I hope they are able to stay solutions, but over the years, it. true to themselves throughout meeting so many different types -Jasmine Lee ’19 Dartmouth. Dartmouth is a place of people, I’ve realized that being that makes nuanced, openI hope they come into you reevaluate “I think that every life minded, and Dartmouth with an open mind the things that trying to see the is one of purpose and and an open heart. I think coming are important other person into this place with an optimistic to you. Some the fact that you are and where they attitude makes a huge difference. I people come here means that you are coming from hope they are excited to learn and into this has benefited change. Being open to all that and school and are belong here.” me more than not having any resistance makes b o m b a r d e d trying to solve for a better experience. with values that a problem and -ARTHUR MENSAH ’19 -Michael Harteveldt ’19 they have never arriving at a experienced solution. I hope they can try new classes before — and come out with -Ijemma Onwuzulike ’19 and new departments. I found different priorities, for better or out what I wanted to do with my worse. It would be awesome to see I hope they would be willing life because of that — it is really more people staying true to their to shake things up a little bit and valuable. goals and their dreams throughout change what seems to be set in -Dev Jhaveri ’19 college and not just doing what stone. I hope they get creative — they think they should be doing more creative than the previous My hope for the ’23s is that they because other people are telling classes — in thinking outside the

box in how to shape the institution, the world, and themselves. -Isaiah Briggs ’19

an anomaly in what seems like a high-achieving society. -Arthur Mensah ’19

I hope that, as they come, they will realize they belong here and not doubt their abilities. I think that every life is one of purpose and the fact that you are here means that you belong here. Even if things go badly and you have lows, it’s good to remind yourself that you are not

Finally, my hope for you is that you know the Dartmouth you will experience does not exist yet. You will help create it, shape it and experience it together. Be intentional with the Dartmouth you create. Here’s to you, Class of 2023. It’s your turn now.

MIRR OR //7

Learning from Dr. Seuss STORY

By Sarah Alpert

Welcome, Class of 2023! In case you haven’t yet received Dartmouth paraphernalia with “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” splashed across the cover, it’s time you learned about your new favorite author. Also known as Dr. Seuss, Theodor Seuss Geisel graduated from Dartmouth in 1925 before he went on to write over 60 books. While in Hanover, Geisel worked for the Jack-oLantern, Dartmouth’s humor magazine, adopted his famous pen name and even violated prohibition laws. Though Geisel is no longer with us, his legacy lives on in the Dr. Seuss Room in Baker Library, at the Geisel School of Medicine and, of course, in the hundreds of millions of children’s books on shelves around the world. One might even say that Geisel is Dartmouth’s most successful alumnus of all time. So sit back, relax and take notes from the Doctor himself.

For some people, that might not happen until Greek recruitment sophomore year. Others will be lifelong best friends with their freshman floormates. You might feel like you need to have the future planned out in perfect detail, but in reality, most people change their major or career plans before finishing freshman year. Don’t panic if you find yourself hating biology, despite already telling your friends and family that you were premed. It’s never too late to change your mind and discover what you really want to learn and do. Taking classes in different departments and trying different activities is the best way to figure it out.

“You have to be odd to be number one.” Looking around at your new peers, you might worry that they are all smarter or more accomplished than you. So many members of the Class of 2023 “You have brains in your were valedictorians, team captains head. You have feet in your or debate all-stars, and it’s easy to shoes. You can steer yourself feel lost or insecure when you are any direction you choose.” surrounded by such impressive and When you step off the ambitious people. Dartmouth Coach for the first time Luckily, the term “duck as a student, syndrome” exists take a moment “Everyone has bad for a reason. to fluff your Your classmates days, disappointing ego. They say might look like that getting into test scores, tough they leap every an Ivy League realtionships or long, hurdle, no sweat school is the — but no one hardest part — sleepless nights.” at Dartmouth is the jury’s out perfect. Everyone on whether or has bad days, not that’s true. But no matter how disappointing test scores, tough you got into Dartmouth, you have relationships or long, sleepless already shown the world (or the nights. Ask an upperclassman, and admissions office, at least) how they will verify that not a week smart and accomplished you are. passes without stress or exhaustion. Remind yourself that you deserve Don’t feel pressured to be the best to be here. You earned it. in your class. Instead, focus on Starting with orientation week, meeting your own goals and doing Dartmouth will throw opportunities the best you can do. at you like dodgeballs. You will want to catch as many as you can, “When he worked, he really but how can you avoid getting worked. But when he played, pummeled? Freshman fall, watch he really played.” the campus events listserv for clubs Dartmouth students work hard, and events that suit your interests but we play hard too. Regardless or pique your curiosity. It’s okay of whether you go out every “on if you gravitate toward the same night” (which includes Wednesdays activities you participated in during and sometimes, Mondays) or you high school. It’s prefer chill also okay if you “Starting with nights in, you’ll join nothing at soon catch on orientation week, all and focus to these weekly instead on Dartmouth will throw campus mood making friends. opportunities at you swings. By day, Just remember Dartmouth that there is no like dodgeballs.” students flood “right” way to the library, do Dartmouth. research labs In time, you will find the people and study spaces. But by Friday and organizations that help you night, people holler in the streets, learn, grow and have a crazy good tramping through snow or rain to time along the way. get to frat row. Having fun (with or without “And when things start to alcohol) is an essential way to happen, don’t worry, don’t de-stress and enjoy your time in stew, just go right along and Hanover. We aim for a balanced you’ll start happening too.” lifestyle. The options might seem That being said, it might take limited at first, but adventure awaits more than a term, or even more beyond just Webster Avenue. Take than a year, before you know a walk to the golf course and gaze where you fit in at Dartmouth. at the stars. Set up a movie in your That’s normal. Allow yourself common room and spend a meal time to find communities that suit swipe on popcorn. Sit by the river your personality and interests. watching car lights bounce across

JUSTIN KRAMER/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

There is a collection of Dr. Seuss books located in the Dr. Seuss Room on the east end of Baker-Berry Library.

the water — before it freezes over. And no one will judge if you need to finish that history paper before 12 on Friday night. “It is fun to have fun but you have to know how.” If you do decide to drink, watch out for yourself and your friends. Many Dartmouth students didn’t drink much before college, and people might not know their alcohol limits. Know that a “Good Sam” call is always an option — the best option if you think someone is in danger — but try not to reach that point. Before going out, take care of yourself. Drink lots of water. “Carbo-load” on Collis pasta or Foco pizza. Stay with a good group of friends, and make responsible decisions. “You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut.” The Upper Valley might be a quiet place, but it’s also beautiful, and opportunities for wholesome fun abound. When you arrive for orientation, campus will still be green, alive and bubbling with summer energy. Gather a group of friends and go to the Hanover farmers’ market on a Wednesday afternoon. Buy some kettle corn (a fan favorite), and watch locals strum banjos and children spin cartwheels across the Green. You are almost guaranteed to see cute puppies too. On a sunny day, take a break from studying and walk through Pine Park, which you can access through the golf course. Mysterious forces (see: chainsaws) have recently thinned the forest, but the trail remains lovely, snaking through the woods and along the

river. You might even spot crew teams racing upstream through the glittering water. When you pop back out onto the golf course, the vast skies and rolling hills will take your breath away.

from Week 3 to Week 8) and a “big weekend” each term: Homecoming in the fall, then Winter Carnival and Green Key in winter and spring. After your first term, you will settle into the stop-and-start rhythm of our short academic terms, and the weeks will start to fly by.

“I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny, but we can have lots of good fun that is funny.” “Just tell yourself, Duckie, Unfortunately, the perfect fall you’re real quite lucky.” weather won’t last long. By now, You should cherish the time someone you have at must have Dartmouth, “No matter what path warned you before it’s too about New you follow, Dartmouth late. It might H a m p s h i re will force you to grow, feel weird to talk winters. about endings Don’t fret: expand your horizons before you’ve W i n t e r and leap out of your begun, but four may seem years pass in the comfort zone.” endless and blink of an eye. dreary, but No matter what there are many ways to keep your path you follow, Dartmouth will spirits up when the temperatures force you to grow, expand your sink low. Dartmouth offers P.E. horizons and leap out of your credit for learning how to ski, so comfort zone. Cherish every take advantage of our very own minute here — even during the skiway down the road. Upon first hard times. The lonely nights. snowfall, get out there and battle The study sessions that make your friends in the late-night you want to scream. These are snowball fight. On weekdays, curl just growing pains, and you will up in Sanborn with free afternoon emerge stronger and wiser after tea. It might be cold out there, but you’ve made it to the other side. it’s always cozy inside. Every day, take a moment to appreciate how lucky you are to “How did it get so late so live and learn at Dartmouth. This soon? It’s night before it’s school provides opportunities that afternoon. December is here you’ve probably never dreamed before it’s June. My goodness of — from studying linguistics in how the time has flewn. How New Zealand to hiking 50 miles did it get so late so soon?” non-stop across New England You’ll soon find that time mountains. Squeeze out every passes strangely at Dartmouth. drop of experience, challenge We measure time in 10-week and joy that Dartmouth has to chunks, punctuated by midterm offer, and you won’t have a single season (which actually stretches regret.

DIVYA KOPALLE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

A portrait of Theodor Geisel ‘25 hangs in the Dr. Seuss Room, along with books and other paraphernalia.

8// MIRR OR

MIRR OR //9

TheByHistory of Pong: A Dartmouth Tradition Maggie Doyle STORY

Once upon a time, some Dartmouth fraternity brothers playing table tennis rested their mugs of beer on the table while they played. A few stray ping pong balls landed in the cups by divine accident, until someone proposed that it was more fun to aim for the mugs of beer themselves. According to both Dartmouth students and the “Origin” section on the Wikipedia page for “Beer Pong,” Dartmouth students invented pong. Though the story is impossible to verify, and the details get hazy, these bragging rights are sacred to many Dartmouth students. Jay Satterfield, head of Special Collections at Rauner Library, said that little record exists of beer pong’s origins. “I am afraid this is one of those Dartmouth traditions that wasn’t documented, which isn’t really a surprise, but it is still frustrating,” Satterfield said. However, the ambiguous legacy of pong lives on through its practice on campus today, and its borderline mythical history endures in the fond memories of alumni. Mary Es Anderson-Beaver ’90 remembers how popular the game was during her time at Dartmouth. “There were just huge crowds around the table all the time, so it was a really fun game that I think brought people together,” Anderson-Beaver said. “It was something that was unifying, sort of like freshman trips or the bonfire. It was something everyone did because it was fun, it was social and it was traditional.” After graduating from Dartmouth, Anderson-Beaver has since passed on the game to her daughter, teaching her how to play in their backyard — with water. Though some incoming freshmen may be familiar with beer pong, few know the version played at Dartmouth. Jenna Thompson ’20 recounts that she first heard about Dartmouth’s relationship to pong from her tour guide while visiting campus. “I don’t think he mentioned how prevalent it was on campus, but it was one of those anecdotes thrown in because it’s something that makes Dartmouth stand out,” Thompson said. Though pong was allegedly

invented in the 1950s at Dartmouth, it was not popularized nationally until the 1970s. As the game spread throughout the Northeast and eventually westward, the paddles disappeared from the game. At the place of pong’s founding, however, the paddles remain a critical element. Complete with handle-free paddles and a tree-shaped cup formation, Dartmouth pong differs from the more well-known version that involves throwing ping pong balls into a triangular cup formation, which Dartmouth students refer to as “Beirut.” According to a 2004 article for the Dartmouth Independent, the name “Beirut” has historical significance. In the early 1980s, responding to a series of brutal terrorist attacks and kidnappings in eastern Europe, then-president Ronald Reagan bombed Libya, one of the alleged culprits. The public demanded the same punishment for Beirut, Lebanon, where much of the same violence had also occurred. At the same time, college students

at Lehigh University had started playing a version of pong without paddles and were looking for a new name to differentiate their version from Dartmouth’s. According to the Dartmouth Independent article, Lehigh students noticed an analogy between the ping-pong balls going back and forth on the table and the back-and-forth idea that the U.S. should bomb Beirut in retaliation. While some enjoy the game, others believe its competitive nature contributes to a problematic drinking culture at Dartmouth. Crispus Knight ’03 voiced this opinion in his memoir “Three for Ship: A Swan Song to Dartmouth Beer Pong.” Knight describes his pong-playing college self as “a truly elite pong warrior and the most degenerate kid you’ve ever met.” In the book, Knight describes his own obsession with pong as a fraternity brother at Dartmouth. He blames pong for his eventual failure out of Dartmouth and subsequent alcoholism. “Pong, by its very nature, had incited a terrible rampage of

self-destructive tendencies and were allowed to play, especially unapologetic nihilism that crashed as underclassmen. She said she is violently into what had until that thankful to be a member of Sigma point been a promising young Delta, a sorority that has pong academic career,” Knight writes. tables of its own. Other critiques of pong focus on “We don’t really have to rely the hierarchies associated with it. on fraternities, which I find really Some consider e m p owe r i n g, ” pong to be a “We don’t really play Thompson said. male-dominated “We don’t really sport. Thompson with beer; if it’s just play with beer; said that because four sisters we’ll play if it’s just four Dartmouth sisters, we’ll play with water or juice, social likfe is with water or centered around or we’ll play pizza juice, or we’ll Greek culture, pong. play pizza pong.” fraternities tend Overall, to have control Thompson said, the rules of pong. -JENNA THOMPSON ’20 pong is a “really “They get to fun game” which decide what ‘line’ she associates is, they get to decide who’s invited with positive memories because it into the basement at all,” Thompson has been a great way to meet and said. “I think occasionally it can talk with people. be used as almost a transactional The fairytale beginnings of thing, socially or sexually.” beer pong influence its role in Though Thompson does Dartmouth culture now. Though not have any personal negative its legacy is complicated, pong experiences with pong, she said remains a core memory of the she has had friends who felt like social life on campus — for better they owed people something if they or for worse.

CAROLINE CASEY/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

Pong has evolved gradually over time, becoming an ingrained tradition at Dartmouth for both students who do and do not choose to drink.

Quintessential Dartmouth Classes STORY

By Yuna Kim

As a new freshman class arrives to campus every year, students come bearing differing academic visions for their next four years at Dartmouth: some pre-med, some engineering, some humanities, others perhaps more focused on languages or social sciences. However, many — like me — come to Dartmouth their freshman fall knowing next to nothing about what to pursue academically or professionally. This can make choosing one’s first term of classes quite an endeavor. Even as an incoming sophomore, I don’t yet have my academic pathways completely set in stone. However, over these past few terms, I did learn that there are some classes so quintessentially Dartmouth that it doesn’t hurt to put them on your radar to take over the next four years. One such course, beloved by Dartmouth students of all majors, is ENGS 12, “Design Thinking.” Don’t be intimidated by the daunting engineering label, even if you might feel you’re as far from an

engineering student as it gets. ENGS 12 is a collaborative, problem-solving course based on the design thinking process that challenges students to approach and tackle any problem creatively, whether it be building a roller coaster out of foam or solving income inequality on campus. Olivia Nadworny ’22, who took ENGS 12 her freshman winter, described the class as one that everyone should take because of the skills one can gain from taking it. “ENGS 12 is one of those classes that can be useful to any discipline because you learn critical thinking, teamwork and most of all, creativity,” Nadworny said. “The class really teaches you to find your own creativity through the design process, which you can truly apply to all parts of your life.” Nadworny said that ENGS 12 also helped augment her personal growth as a Dartmouth student and gave her a perspective that would improve her overall academic experience. Similar to the hands-on learning

experience gained through ENGS lecture-based courses offered that a tight-knit, 16-person discussion 12, a project-based curriculum are also quintessential Dartmouth group. Subject material in the known as Social Impact Practicum experiences. Humanities sequence spans over a offers courses across countless For example, PBPL 5, wide range of media, from classic departments of the College, including “Introduction to Public Policy”, is a works of literature to modern day environmental course that many paintings. s t u d i e s , “ENGS 12 is one of freshmen opt to According to Kaj Johnson ’22, a n t h ro p o l o g y, take, particularly managing the balance between those classes that psychology and because it opens lectures and intimate classroom e n g i n e e r i n g . can be useful to any up a wide range settings helped him gain a better According to discipline because you of internship understanding and appreciation for the Dartmouth and career all of the material covered. Center for Social learn critical thinking, opportunities. “The structure of Humanities 1 & Impact, these teamwork and most of One such 2 was something I found particularly classes provide opportunity is unique and rewarding, because we e x p e r i e n t i a l all, creativity.” the Rockefeller were challenged by our professors l e a r n i n g Center’s First- to further our comprehension of o p p o r t u n i t i e s -OLIVIA NADWORNY ’22 Year Fellows works through deep and thorough that connect program, an discussion,” Johnson said. Dartmouth eight-week Ida Claude ’22, who also took the students with community needs summer fellowship in Washington, Humanities 1 & 2 sequence, said that throughout the Upper Valley. D.C. at a public policy organization she would recommend the sequence In other words, for course led by a Dartmouth alumnus. to any student who wishes to dip credit, Dartmouth students have Katherine Smith ’22, who was a a toe into Dartmouth’s extensive the opportunity to complete real First-Year Fellow this year, recounted liberal arts offering. She said that this projects that immediately benefit her experience in PBPL 5 and how was especially helpful as a student local communities. the course led undecided on Beyond these interactive courses, her to intern her major. “The structure of there are, of course, countless for Sen. Kirsten A classroom Gillibrand ’88 Humanities 1 & 2 was experience at (D-NY). Dartmouth can something I found “For me, look like so many PBPL 5 showed particularly unique different things. me just how and rewarding, Although this complicated article by no because we were p u b l i c means covers a p o l i c y m a k i n g challenged by our comprehensive can be and that professors to further list of classes that the reality is that are must-takes getting anything our comprehension at Dartmouth, it passed at all of works through does, hopefully, is incredibly put some classic deep and thorough difficult,” Smith Dartmouth discussion.” said. ones on your Finally, while radar. What some classes at I am sure all Dartmouth are -KAJ JOHNSON ’22 upperclassmen solely lecturewill recommend, based and others though, is this: are purely hands-on, there are Try new subjects. Take challenging plenty of classes offered that provide classes in disciplines you know you a happy medium between the two. love. Ask others for guidance. Get In fact, Humanities 1 & 2, a course out of your comfort zone. Freshman series offered only to freshmen, year, if anything, is the perfect time provides the incoming class both to explore the many incredible NIKHITA HINGORANI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF the experience of participating in academic pathways that Dartmouth The first group project of ENGS 12 requires students to work in groups to construct a rollercoaster out of foamboard. lecture settings and being part of has to offer.

10// MIRR OR

Making Dartmouth Home from Far Away TTLG

By Samantha Hussey

When people find out that I go to Dartmouth, they often ask me, “How do you like it?” Even though I should know how to respond as a rising senior, it’s a question that I still struggle with. In the few seconds it takes for me to conjure up a response, I find it difficult to encapsulate all of my experiences, thoughts and feelings into a coherent response without seeming too enamored — or conversely, disillusioned by a lot of what I’ve experienced on this campus. My answer has evolved from term to term, but providing an honest and critical response to this question may seem inappropriate or perhaps ungrateful to some. It’s hard for me to explain to people why I struggle to place a value judgment on my experience. Reflecting back, I think about the enormous pressure I put on myself to present my best self to colleges in the application process. I spread myself thin juggling academics, athletics, leadership positions and other extracurricular activities throughout high school — often at the expense of my own physical, mental, emotional and social health. I thought if I invested my time and sacrificed certain experiences in high school, that it would all pay off: I would get into a “good” college, and I would be set. Students would kill to be in my position, and my family — especially my parents — sacrificed so much for me to have the opportunity to further my education at this institution. How could I not like it? My “coming-of-Dartmouth” is different from many of my peers’. My dad didn’t attend college, and my mom didn’t leave Hawai‘i to pursue either of her undergraduate or graduate degrees. It comes as a shock to many people when I tell them that as an underclassman in high school, I had never even heard of Dartmouth — it was never on my radar. Being born and raised in Hawai‘i, my perceptions of the “mainland” and the East Coast were skewed purely based on proximity and the fact that I had only traveled to the East Coast twice before arriving on campus. Much of what I knew of the East Coast was based on large cities like New York and Boston — thanks to sports teams — but anything outside of that seemed foreign and otherworldly to me. For the longest time, I assumed that I would attend a West Coast school like a majority of Hawaiʻi students. Going to a West Coast school just made sense: It was close to home, the weather was less extreme, I knew quite a few people at the schools I was looking at and it generally felt more diverse. I wanted a place where I could further my education and grow in a space where I didn’t feel totally out of place. The East Coast felt daunting. Not only was it far from home, but I knew that few Hawaiʻi kids attended East Coast colleges, and even fewer made it through graduation. The number of stories of upperclassmen transferring from East Coast colleges to West Coast colleges or back home worried me; I was turned off by the perceived lack of support for students so far from home. I’m not sure that I can pinpoint when I had a change of heart, but at some point Hawaiʻi began to feel too small, and I craved more. During my sophomore year of high school, I attended an older friend’s graduation party in which signs posted on the walls read “Dartmouth Bound.” I distinctly remember asking my parents, “What

is Dartmouth?” and instinctively googling “Dartmouth” discreetly under the table to read from its Wikipedia page that it is “a private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire.” “Why would anyone go to school in New Hampshire?” I thought, but I found myself talking to my friend more about Dartmouth and, eventually, I found out about the fly-in program she did, in which she visited the campus and fell in love with it. Over the next year or so, I looked more into Dartmouth and visited with my parents as part of a spring break college tour trip among a laundry list of other East Coast schools. The summer leading up to my senior year, I still felt confused about the “right” college for me. Everyone talks about finding a college that is the “perfect fit,” but COURTESY OF SAMANTHA HUSSEY the more I read about colleges, the more all of them seemed the same. I Samantha poses with two friends after running 20 laps around the Homecoming bonfire her freshman fall. wasn’t excited about any particular choice. During my senior fall, I had to go to bed early or nap when I and top-notch scholars in high government and psychology. I was the opportunity to participate in needed, but that didn’t help. I was school. Coming into college, we frustrated since this class seemingly Dartmouth’s fly-in program, and constantly tired and missing classes expect the same standard and threw off my four-year plan which I spent a few days touring campus, because I couldn’t physically stay up results from ourselves, not taking I had so carefully mapped out sitting in on classes and meeting for them, regardless of how much into account the other thousands using a Google spreadsheet. To my both current students and potential caffeine I pumped into my system, of equally talented and brilliant surprise, I enjoyed the course and new classmates. I knew that I really and it got to a point where my sleep students around us, which inevitably the professor — so much so, that liked the College, but I wasn’t sure schedule was completely reversed. I raise the standard much higher. I it is still one of my favorite courses if it was that “perfect fit” that I was frustrated by my body’s inability have fallen into the same trap I did I’ve taken at Dartmouth. had been looking for, so I decided to maintain the brutal schedule in high school of overcommitting It’s weird how things work out. to weigh my options through the that I had sustained throughout m y s e l f i n a c a d e m i c s , w o r k I am thankful that my journey regular decision process. high school, and I could not grasp commitments, extracurricular with mental health has led me to On Ivy Day, the feeling of what was happening or how I could activities and social events, just to new interests and opportunities opening the email from Dartmouth find support. As a result, I did very neglect my own physical, mental and that I otherwise would have never to the confetti fireworks and poorly in a then-major class and, emotional well-being. Dartmouth is experienced. Now, I can confidently swirls that welcomed me into the unfortunately, I have to live with an environment where students say that no one will remember your Class of 2020 was surreal. It felt that grade on my transcript as I are even smarter, more talented failures, but rather the way you pick unbelievable to me to have my apply to law schools in the next and more accomplished than in yourself back up. From that class, years of hard work and sacrifice year or so. high school. It was impossible not I tried out more sociology classes, validated, yet I was humbled that I hesitate to share this personal to demand more of myself until I declared a sociology major, had the such an esteemed institution would experience, and most people on reached a breaking point. opportunity to do research for that see the value in me. As a relatively this campus — even my closest I think there is a shame in same professor and am now in the methodical person, sometimes I friends — don’t know this about admitting that you’re struggling. process of writing a senior honors wonder if attending a college on me. I struggled to verbalize my Mental health is something that thesis with the department. the East Coast was my spontaneous experience, and it took me a full- only more recently has been talked While I’m still figuring things decision. Prior to Ivy Day, I had term and a bad grade for me to about on campus, but throughout out for myself going into my final been set on going to a West Coast realize that I could not overcome my three years, I’ve felt a pressure year, my last piece of advice (even institution and had already selected this on my own. It wasn’t until the to navigate through my own mental for myself): Do things that make housing and a roommate, but I spring term when I sought support health experiences on my own. As I you happy. As a first-year, there is was drawn to Dartmouth. Be it that I was diagnosed with seasonal the growing Hawaiʻi community affective disorder and depression, and familiar faces, the chance to and ended up going through experience academics at a top- treatment. Looking back on it now, institution or the down-to-earth I wish I had sought out help sooner nature of the students, I decided instead of trying to deal with it on to pull a 180 and enroll. my own, especially since 10-week One of my biggest struggles terms move so fast. Reflecting back at Dartmouth came during my on my freshman year self, though, I freshman winter. understand why A s a H aw a i ‘ i “It comes as a shock it was so hard. kid, I prepared strug g led to many people when I’ve myself — maybe to share this over-pre pared I tell them that as with my family — for what I was an underclassman and friends, told would be a particularly harsh winter. In in high school, I had here, because a way, winter never even heard of i t w a s w a s e x c i t i n g. embarrassing Dartmouth — it was I d i d n’t h ave to admit that I much exposure never on my radar.” could not handle to four seasons t h e p r e s s u r e. — let alone a As “duck true winter — and the thought syndrome” — a concept often of ice skating on Occom Pond, applied to college students who COURTESY OF SAMANTHA HUSSEY learning to ski and participating appear calm on the surface but are in the annual midnight snowball frantically struggling underneath Samantha and a friend jump for joy in front of Dartmouth Hall. fight only added to my anticipation. — suggests, Dartmouth students While it was nice to be back with are expected to juggle numerous got older, I started confiding in close a lot of excitement to meet people, friends I made during my first term commitments and expectations friends and resources on campus, participate in as many activities as and taking new classes, I found that seemingly effortlessly while living and the more I talked about my possible, excel in classes and attend I had drastically underestimated my the “work hard, play hard” life. It’s a experiences, the more I found that social events. There is truly nothing physical and mental preparation for norm to brag about all of the things others were struggling as well — like freshman fall: Revel in it. the term. you have to do from academics to often in the same way. At the end of the term and My freshman winter was the commitments for extracurriculars, This realization came as a even your time at Dartmouth, the first time I had ever been forced how little sleep you got the previous relief to me. One thing that I everyday stresses won’t matter. to confront issues of mental health night or how often you go out to admire about Dartmouth — You won’t remember that time you as I struggled to get out of bed, social events. Ideas of self-care are and have always admired about crammed in the library for that and when I did, I struggled to trivialized and poked fun at too it — are the incredibly talented one exam, but you will remember make it to my mid-morning classes often. and accomplished students and the random, little moments and because I felt so fatigued and in a As Dartmouth students, many faculty who are a part of this the people who make this place so constant daze. At the beginning, I of us have never experienced true community. I’ve grown so much in special. I encourage you to push just assumed that I wasn’t getting failure; we were the valedictorians, the conversations and exchanges yourself out of your comfort zones enough sleep, so I made an effort team captains, all-state champions with such diverse perspectives and to meet new people — they

COURTESY OF SAMANTHA HUSSEY

throughout my three years, and these interactions have enriched my experience here thus far. That being said, it’s hard not to constantly compare ourselves and accomplishments to those of our peers, and I’ve often felt inadequate and questioned my place both here at Dartmouth and beyond. My advice: It’s okay to fail; you are not defined by it. You should not feel embarrassed if you are struggling, nor should you feel ashamed to ask for help. You belong here just as much as anyone else, no matter how others see you, or how you see yourself. As I’ve reflected about what I want out of my senior year, I have come to terms with my struggles with mental health as a part of my journey. I think it’s important to note that I didn’t get better overnight. It was a process and recovery was not always linear. During the subsequent term or so, I remember feeling lost — academically, mentally and emotionally — and found myself enrolled in a random, filler third sociology class as I reconsidered my initial double-major plan in

will surprise you, but never feel pressured to do anything you don’t want to simply because it’s a norm or tradition. You know yourself best. College is supposed to be the best four years of your lives, or so they say. Yet, reflecting on my time here, I’ve experienced some of my highest highs and lowest lows. While I’ve experienced a myriad of challenges — experiences with mental health being the tip of the iceberg — I would not take back these past few years for anything, as I’ve matured and discovered more than I ever could have imagined. I’ve met some of the most passionate and accomplished students along the way — some that I’m extremely grateful to call friends — and have found communities and spaces that have pushed me to become my best, more confident self. So, do I like Dartmouth? The jury is still out. But do I regret choosing Dartmouth? Absolutely not. Samantha Hussey is a former member of The Dartmouth Senior Staff.