Orientation 2017
VOL. CLXXIV
09.06.2017
No. 103 PREETI RISHI/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
www.thedartmouth.com
Copyright © 2017 The Dartmouth, Inc.
THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
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EDITORS’ NOTE
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
Table of Contents Join The Dartmouth, America’s Oldest College Newspaper The Morton Fire The Election
3 4-7 8-11
A Discussion on Flag Burning
12-13
Dartmouth’s Political Landscape
18-19
Alpha Delta Re-recognition Bid Denied
24-25
Article 9: On Student Residences
26-27
Dispute Over the Dean
28-31
Dining Scene Changes
32-33
THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Class of 2021 — welcome to Dartmouth! We are incredibly excited to welcome you to Hanover. Inside the 2017 Orientation Issue, you’ll find The Dartmouth’s coverage of some of the past year’s most important news topics. Beginning last fall, we saw a residence hall burn down, resulting in a housing scramble and the expulsion of two students. In November, we participated in the 2016 presidential election and experienced the aftereffects of the resulting political climate, which included an over 100-person discussion on flag burning in the middle of the Green on President Donald Trump’s inauguration day. The spring brought the potential end of Alpha Delta fraternity as we know it, with both the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruling against the organization and the College denying re-recognition. Local politics in the form of Article 9 took the town by storm, with nearly 3,500 students and townspeople alike flocking to the polls. A lengthy dispute over N. Bruce Duthu ’80’s appointment as dean of the faculty of the arts and sciences divided both the faculty and the student body, resulting in the Native American studies professor declining the position. You may come across these topics as you grow into yourselves here at Dartmouth — hopefully this collection of The Dartmouth’s coverage will provide some sense of what we’ve experienced in the past year. We also hope that this edition will inspire you to enthusiastically participate in the Dartmouth community. No matter what side you take on any of these sensitive topics, the diversity of thought and willingness to engage are what make the College unique. Lastly, we invite you to join our team here at The Dartmouth. Whether your passion is writing, editing, photography, data-driven journalism, blogging or business development, there is a role on the second floor of Robinson Hall for everyone. We pride ourselves on being a teaching environment while serving the important function of an independent, student-run college newspaper. We look forward to providing you with the most timely, accurate and transparent coverage available over your four years here at the College.
6175 ROBINSON HALL, HANOVER N.H. 03755 • (603) 646-2600
RAY LU, Editor-in-Chief KOURTNEY KAWANO, Executive Editor CAROLINE BERENS, Managing Editor PRODUCTION EDITORS PARKER RICHARDS & ZIQIN YUAN, Opinion Editors LAUREN BUDD, ANNETTE DENEKAS & MAY MANSOUR, Mirror Editors EVAN MORGAN & CHRIS SHIM, Sports Editors HALEY GORDON & MADELINE KILLEN, Arts Editors EMMA CHIU & LUCY TANTUM, Dartbeat Editors JESSICA CAMPANILE, Multimedia Editor TANYA SHAH & ERIC WANG, Design Editors JACLYN EAGLE, Templating Editor ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN, Survey Editor
PHILIP RASANSKY, Publisher ERIN LEE, Executive Editor NOAH GOLDSTEIN, Managing Editor BUSINESS DIRECTORS ALFREDO GURMENDI, Finance & Strategy Director ROSHNI CHANDWANI, Finance & Strategy Director SHINAR JAIN, Advertising Director KELLY CHEN, Product Development Director EMMA MARSANO, Marketing & Communications Director HENRY WILSON, Technology Director PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORS ELIZA MCDONOUGH HOLLYE SWINEHART TIFFANY ZHAI
The D Sports Awards: Moment of the Year
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Orientation 2017 Schedule Schedule of required core events via www.dartmouth.edu/~orientation
THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
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Join The Dartmouth, America’s Oldest College Newspaper By 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 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 real-world 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 the Dartmouth community, informing campus and our broader audience with happenings from all corners of the College. When Dartmouth-related news breaks, the community looks to The D for the important details. Recently, we’ve covered topics such as the new residential house system, changes in Greek life and controversial administrative appointments. Through investigative pieces, we delve deeper into campus issues and incorporate data analysis and visualization, providing insight into topics from political leanings on campus to the impact of social programming. Sports The Dartmouth’s sports coverage extends beyond game recaps to include columns, Q&As, weekly features and “Roundups” of a week’s game activity. Recent content included a series of columns on senior athletes and their last terms as well as The Dartmouth Sports awards for the year’s most outstanding players. The sports section has featured a broad range of topics, from Mormon players and how their faith ties into football to different coaching styles by different coaches and how they motivate their players. Arts Arts highlights creative endeavors at the College, covering everything
from performances and exhibitions at the Hopkins Center for the Arts to new movie reviews. The arts section also regularly features profiles of the College’s own artistic talent, such as student writers, playwrights, musicians and painters.
Opinion The opinion section offers staff columnists and community guest columnists a platform for lively debate on relevant issues, both on and off campus. Recent pieces have taken a critical look at the current political environment, perceptions of feminism in today’s culture and Dartmouth’s social interactions. Opinion also features work from student cartoonists commenting on campus and popular culture.
bound sales strategy that makes up the bulk of the paper’s revenue.
Technology Our technology staff supports The Dartmouth’s web and mobile presence. They create customized websites for our Special Issues and help design and implement changes to our website. More recently, they have begun work to integrate the paper with mobile news mediums, such as Apple News, Facebook Instant Articles and Snapchat. Strategy If you’d like to solve real-world business problems, then our strategy staff is the place for you. They
operate as The Dartmouth’s internal consultants. Each quarter, they split up into teams and tackle pressing issues we face every day. How do we effectively recruit and retain talent? How can we change our advertising offerings to fit a mobile-first media landscape? How do we better foment a strong community of the paper’s alumni? The strategy staff has tackled all these questions and more over the last couple years.
CommunicationsandMarketing This staff aims to refine and improve both the internal and external perspective of the paper. Internally, they focus on staff development, helping plan termly socials along with our annual Changeover and Banquet
celebrations. Externally, they manage staff recruitment, run our social media accounts, help with recruiting and develop our alumni network. Product Development Ever been told that print news is a dying industry? Try telling that to members of our product development team. They focus exclusively on making sure that our product offerings remain useful and relevant with our readers by developing alternative revenue streams that add to The Dartmouth’s core news offering. Recently, they’ve worked on building out a digital classifieds section and have begun development of a Dartmouth-themed coffee table book based on the paper’s historical archives.
Mirror The Mirror, our weekly eight-page magazine published every Wednesday, focuses on campus culture and student life through both long-form features and lighthearted stories. In addition to senior columns, photo essays and “Through the Looking Glass” reflection pieces from guest writers, The Mirror has recently examined themes such as friendship, fact and fiction and underrepresented voices. Dartbeat Dartbeat is our daily blog, which features content such as weekly “overheards,” surveys, Dartmouthedition “Texts From Last Night” and more. Check out the page for your fill of Dartmouth-specific laughs and musings. BUSINESS While our editorial staff is working around the clock making sure our pages are filled with relevant, up-todate information on the goings on of campus and the Upper Valley, our business staff works to ensure that the production and operation of the paper run as smooth as possible. That’s because The Dartmouth receives no funding from the College — we are a registered nonprofit in the state of New Hampshire and are the largest studentrun business in Hanover. That is, The Dartmouth operates as a business run entirely by you, the students, and the business staff provides an unparalleled real-world opportunity to engage in this business with a variety of different teams. Advertising The advertising staff works to sell the ads that fill our pages on a daily basis. The bulk of their work includes building relationships with local clients — from Dartmouth academic departments to local grocery and hardware stores — to ensure that our advertising platform fits with their specific marketing needs. Together, they build and implement the out-
ZACHARY BENJAMIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Members of the Class of 2019 work on an edition of The Dartmouth during sophomore summer.
AMANDA ZHOU/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
The offices at The Dartmouth are open to staff members for newspaper-related work, homework or socializing.
THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
The Morton Fire On the morning of Oct. 1, 2016, a fire broke out in the East Wheelock residential cluster. After six hours and with the help of several other Upper Valley fire departments, the Hanover Fire Department extinguished the flames, but Morton Hall was uninhabitable. No students were injured, though the fire displaced 67 students and contributed to housing shortages for the rest of the 2016-2017 school year. Two students in the Class of 2019 admitted to causing the fire and were subsequently expelled from the College. Morton Hall reopens this fall after nearly a year of reconstruction.
Four-alarm fire breaks out in East Wheelock cluster around 12 a.m. By THE DARTMOTUH SENIOR STAFF
This story was originally published early the morning of Oct. 1, 2016. A four-alarm fire broke out in Morton Hall in the East Wheelock housing cluster at 12:05 a.m. Saturday morning, according to a press release from the Hanover Fire Department Saturday.
There are no reported injuries, and the fire was reported extinguished in a 6:21 a.m. email to campus from Facilities Operations & Management. The fire was considered contained but not extinguished according to a 3:25 a.m. FO&M campus-wide email. An earlier 2:23 a.m. email requested that students avoid the East Wheelock cluster. Over two dozen firefighters are on the scene from 10 Upper
Valley fire departments. Firefighters broke through the window of Morton Hall around 1 a.m. in an effort to contain the fire. East Wheelock assistant director Josiah Proietti said that McCulloch, Andres, Zimmerman and Morton were evacuated and at least 300 students were expected to be displaced Saturday night. By 3 a.m., students had reentered McCulloch. Temporary housing has been
made available for students, according to the email from FO&M. A residential life staff member said that students will most likely be relocated to Dick’s House, deans’ houses and potentially local hotels. House Center A, behind the Topliff tennis courts, is being used as a meeting point for East Wheelock residents. At the center, residential life staff were checking names, if students have rooms to
stay tonight and asking if students have necessary medications in their rooms. Those with places to stay were asked to inform their undergraduate advisor, and housing will be arranged for the remaining students, Proietti said. Sara McGahan, Priya Ramaiah, Annie Ma and Rebecca Asoulin contributed reporting.
College to relocate 67 students after Morton fire By REBECCA ASOULIN
The Dartmouth Senior Staff
This article was originally published on Oct. 1, 2016. All 67 students living in Morton Hall will be relocated to new rooms after a four-alarm fire broke out Saturday morning around midnight, said Mike Wooten, residential life director. East Wheelock assistant director Josiah Proietti, whose apartment is in the building, will also be relocated. At a 4 p.m. meeting Saturday in House Center A, Wooten informed Morton residents that they would be given 10 minutes to retrieve their most important belongings before dark. Each floor’s group of residents were divided in half and allowed to enter in small groups to walk through their rooms for belongings. Masks were available for students as a precaution while re-entering their rooms. Full retrieval of other possessions will be possible early next week, while the house center will serve as a resource hub. The Red Cross was in Brace Commons assessing student needs and providing resources like blankets and gift cards for affected students after they gathered their belongings, Wooten said. The College has been looking at using vacant residential hall spaces, converting halls’ lounge spaces and some of the College owned real estate in Hanover, Wooten said. Wooten noted that College housing is at “virtual capacity” already.
Housing director Rachael Class-Giguere worked on assigning students to new rooms, using the housing office’s priority system as well as trying to keep roommates together, Wooten said. “Acknowledging that when you displace 67 people and we’re already at virtual capacity, it’s very difficult,” Wooten said. Residential life, Safety and S e c u r i t y, t h e H a n ove r F i re Department and administrators held a noon meeting for affected students. As early as Saturday morning, firefighters helped some students with medications retrieve them from their rooms, Wooten said. Dick’s House staff members were available at the House Center. Toiletries, sheets, bedding and towels were provided for students. Residential life also has a DA$H card available for students for laundry and food. The campus laundry service, E&R, has been made available to students. Computing services is providing laptops and other technology to students. Deans are informing faculty to make sure they are aware of the situation and how it may affect students’ class work. Wooten said that students filled out intake forms at noon so the College could assess student needs, and they will continue to provide support once students determine more what they need after accessing their rooms. All students living in Zimmer man, McCulloch and Andres have been allowed back
into their buildings. Wooten said that there potentially would be some residual smoke in the halls. Last night, students could sleep in House Center A, but many found temporary accommodations with friends, Wooten said. There were no reported
injuries, and the fire was reported extinguished in a 6:21 a.m. campus wide email from Facilities Operations & Management. Wooten said that he has never seen a fire of this magnitude in his 20 years in residential life. He said that community members, staff,
students and faculty have been reaching out to residential life staff members to offer rooms. “It’s going to be tight,” Wooten said. “It’s going to be not exactly perfect accommodations for everyone. But we have a bed for all of our students.”
SARA MCGAHAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Firefighters on the ladder truck break through the window of Morton Hall around midnight on Oct. 1, 2016.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
Morton fire caused by unattended charcoal grill By REBECCA ASOULIN and ANNIE MA The Dartmouth Senior Staff
This article was originally published on Oct. 1, 2016. UPDATED: Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016 at 11:59 a.m. The four-alarm fire in Morton Hall was caused by a charcoal grill left unattended on the roof of the building, according to a press release from the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal. The hibachi-style grill was placed on a flat section of the roof outside of a dormitory window. Grills are listed by the College as prohibited in student residences, with possession subject to a $50 fine as well as disciplinary action. Students are also forbidden to place any items on a roof, fire escape or similar location. According to the Office of Residential Life individual room policies, the College assumes no financial or legal responsibility for any student injured as a result of such actions. ORL community policies also state that the College does not assume any responsibility or carry insurance for the loss of personal property within residences due to fire,
accidents, flood and other catastrophes. The fire marshal said that the investigation is still ongoing. Further interviews will be conducted as the investigation continues. Morton Hall is currently uninhabitable as a result of extensive smoke and water damage caused by a fire that started at 12:05 a.m. on Saturday, according to a Saturday Hanover Fire Department press release. College spokesperson Diana Lawrence said in a statement that the College is beginning to assess the extent and cost of the damage, and the building will need to be dried out before any repairs are made. The New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Hanover Police Department are investigating the fire. Two firefighters who sustained minor injuries remained on duty at the site. Hanover Fire Chief Martin McMillan said that the fire was particularly difficult to put out due to the building’s roof structure. Morton Hall has a large empty space at the top that helps air circulate for ventilation during the summer, but the increased airflow kept the fire burning. Special saws were required to cut through the structure to fully expose the fire.
“This fire was one in a million, very unique because of the structure,” McMillan said. “It’s the first one that I’ve seen and I’ve been doing this for 43 years.” No one was injured in the fire and students were evacuated prior to the arrival of the fire department. The initial firefighters requested first-alarm assistance and began an interior fire attack. They conducted a search and rescue operation on the upper two floors, reporting near zero visibility on the fourth floor as a result of thick black smoke and high heat conditions. They reported moderate smoke on the third floor. As soon as McMillan arrived, he immediately requested second-alarm assistance. Several New Hampshire and Vermont fire departments, including Lyme, Lebanon, Enfield, Claremont, Hartford, Norwich, Thetford, Bradford, Windsor and Hartland, assisted the Hanover department. The Lyme FAST Squad and Upper Valley Ambulance were on site to assist firefighters. The American Red Cross helped all responding agencies at the scene. Priya Ramaiah contributed reporting.
ANNIE MA/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Morton Hall was uninhabitable for nearly a year as a result of extensive smoke and water damage.
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Community organizes for Morton residents By FRANCES COHEN The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on Oct. 13, 2016. In the wake of Morton Hall fire on Oct. 1, groups on campus, as well as those in the surrounding Upper Valley, have come together to provide support for the 67 displaced students through initiatives such as fundraising and donations. The residents were forced to relocate to new rooms. Students in six rooms likely lost everything, according to a College press release. Theta Delta Chi, Gamma Delta Chi and Chi Heorot fraternities teamed up to organize a fundraiser for victims through GoFundMe, an online crowdsourcing website. In eight days, the campaign has raised $4,224 from 97 unique contributors. Cameron Lee ’16, the organizer of the GoFundMe campaign and a member of TDX, said he has been in touch with College President Phil Hanlon about allocating the funds after the campaign concludes. Lee said the funds will be distributed according to “who lost the most and what those students need to get through the term, especially during midterms season.” Heorot service chair Scott Hammond ’17 said that each of the
three fraternities behind the campaign donated some of their own house funds and encouraged individual members to donate as well. Hammond added that TDX, GDX and Heorot fraternities are “pretty close” and thus decided to work together in this endeavor. Lee said that GDX president Paul Gudmudsson ’17, Heorot president Devon Birch ’17 and TDX president Jesse Brown ’17 each pledged $1,000 of house money to the campaign. As of press time, only Heorot has already made the donation. The vast majority of the GoFundMe contributions came within the first week of the campaign, which Lee plans to end on Friday. He will then begin to plan the fund’s apportionment. Shortly after the fire was extinguished, residential life director Mike Wooten informed Morton residents that they had 10 minutes to retrievetheirmostimportantbelongings from their rooms. Residential life staff said that students would eventually be able to fully retrieve their belongings, but in the meantime, other forms of community support have attempted to offset the losses. Alpha Xi Delta sorority is holding a clothing drive. Rachel DeChiara ’17, the clothing drive organizer, said that when she learned about the fire, “all [she] could think of was what [she]
could do to help.” By the Monday after the fire, the house already had hundreds of items. Donations ranged from basic clothing to necessities such as shoes and backpacks. AXiD extended an open invitation to Morton residents to come by the house at any time and take what they needed from the drive. Campus groups and local businesses also donated items to the drive. Indigo — a clothing store on Main Street — donated shopping bags so that Morton residents could carry what they took. The DEN Innovation Center also
donated a large amount of clothing, DeChiara said. E&R Laundry Services, which provides a regular service to about 400 Dartmouth students, volunteered to launder affected victims’ belongings for free. The laundry services are still ongoing but will likely finish by the end of this week, sales director Patrick Caveny said. Caveny said that on top of managing E&R’s busiest time of the year, he and his colleagues worked extra hours this past weekend. Much of the victims’ laundry requires extra
attention, as a large amount of it is wet or smells of smoke. “It’s a big job but one that we’re tackling,” he said. The College’s Infor mation Technology Services department handed out laptops to victims who lost their computers. The American Red Cross New Hampshire and Vermont Region offices continue to accept donations for those affected by the Morton fire. Rachel DeChiara is the publisher of The Dartmouth.
REBECCA ASOULIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Pieces of Morton Hall’s roof were scattered around the burnt building the afternoon of the fire.
Students admit to causing Morton fire in online petition By REBECCA ASOULIN and ANNIE MA The Dartmouth Senior Staff
This article was originally published on Nov. 11, 2016. Sebastian Lim and Daniel Ro admitted to causing the Oct. 1 fire in Morton Hall in an online petition on the Care2 petition site. In the letter, titled “Change Our Lives,” Ro and Lim apologized for their
actions and asked people to sign the petition in support as the two have been expelled from the College for posing “a threat to the community at large.” In the letter, Ro and Lim described their actions as a mistake and said that the College’s emails to campus did not fully capture the details of the events leading up to the fire. The two welcomed students to reach out to them for further
details, noting that students “should not rely on the rumors.” The two wrote that they do not believe they pose a continuing threat to the community. “While we made a mistake that could have potentially injured people, it was just that — a mistake. We implore you to take a minute to consider what occurred,” Lim and Ro wrote. As of press time, 160 people have
signed the petition which is addressed to the Dartmouth Community and targeted to Vice Provost of Student Affairs Inge-Lise Ameer. Seventeen people have commented on the petition in support of Lim and Ro. The supporters wrote about the character of the two former students, with many noting that he had made an honest mistake and should be given a second chance. The four-alarm fire in Morton
Hall was caused by a charcoal grill left unattended on the roof of the building, according to a press release from the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal. The hibachistyle grill was placed on a flat section of the roof outside of a dormitory window. Morton Hall is cur rently uninhabitable as a result of extensive smoke and water damage caused by the fire.
Petition will not change disciplinary outcome By EMMA DEMERS
The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on Nov. 15, 2016. The online petition created by Sebastian Lim and Daniel Ro will not play a role in their disciplinary process, according to College spokesperson Diana Lawrence. Lim and Ro admitted to causing the Oct. 1 fire in Morton Hall in an online petition on the Care2 petition site. In the letter, titled “Change Our Lives,” Ro and Lim apologized for their actions and asked people to sign the petition in support as the two have been expelled from the
College for posing “a threat to the community at large.” The petition has garnered approximately 1,100 signatures as of press time. “The fire in Morton Hall was a very serious incident that endangered the lives of students, staf f, and fir st responder s,” Lawrence said in a statement, adding that federal law prevents her from confirming that Lim and Ro were expelled. A c c o rd i n g t o t h e Fa m i l y Educational Rights and Privacy Act, “a school may not generally disclose personally identifiable infor mation from an eligible student’s education records to
a third party unless the eligible student has provided written consent.” Comments on the petition cite various reasons for signing, including that the College had been too harsh on Lim and Ro, and that they showed strength of character by admitting their mistake. “Daniel and I are really happy with the petition and the support it gave,” Lim said. He declined to comment further on the investigation but stated that he and Ro would thank the community for their support soon. Morton fire victim Abigail Buckley ’19 expressed concern over the fact that the College has not
released any information regarding the investigation. After hearing about the online petition and Lim’s and Ro’s possible expulsion on Nov. 11, Buckley immediately contacted head of Safety and Security Harry Kinne for the results of the investigation, but was not given any information. “As someone whose term has been negatively impacted academically, socially and emotionally by the fire, the least I and the rest of former Morton residents are entitled to is information,” she said. Buckley added that until Lim and Ro or the College release a statement on the investigation, the public should refrain from casting
judgment. “I believe it is extremely premature to take a stance on an issue we really know nothing about until the results of the investigation are made public,” she said. The four-alarm fire in Morton Hall was caused by a charcoal grill left unattended on the roof of the building, according to a press release from the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal. The hibachistyle grill was placed on a flat section of the roof outside of a dormitory window. Morton Hall is cur rently uninhabitable as a result of extensive smoke and water damage caused by the fire.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
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College denies Ro and Lim’s appeal By ZACHARY BENJAMIN
The Dartmouth Senior Staff
This article was originally published on Dec. 20, 2016. The College has denied an appeal by Daniel Ro and Sebastian Lim to reverse their expulsions for causing the Oct. 1 fire in Morton Hall. Ro and Lim posted news of the
denial as an update to an online petition entitled “Change Our Lives,” addressed to the Dartmouth community and targeted at Vice Provost of Student Affairs Inge-Lise Ameer. The two posted the petition in early November on the Care2 petition site seeking support in appealing their expulsion. In the update, they thanked those who had signed the petition for their support.
The four-alarm fire started after a hibachi-style charcoal grill was left unattended on the roof of the building. Morton Hall is currently uninhabitable as a result of extensive smoke and water damage caused by the fire, leaving 67 students displaced. In the petition, Ro and Lim apologized for causing the fire and said that they were willing to accept the consequences of their actions.
However, they disputed the College’s position that the posed “a threat to the community at large,” saying that the fire was a mistake and that the College had not fully disclosed what had occurred. The petition did not elaborate on what information they said the College had withheld. The petition, which has now closed, had a goal of 2,000 supporters. At the time it closed, it had received
1,255 supporters, 568 of whom were listed as being in Hanover. Ro and Lim wrote that they included the comments from supporters of the petition, totaling 53 pages, with their appeal. College spokesperson Diana Lawrence said in a previous statement to The Dartmouth that the College would not consider the petition as part of the appeal process.
Morton Hall expected to be rebuilt by next fall By ALEXANDRA STEINBERG The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on May 2. The reconstruction of Morton Hall dormitory following last fall’s fire is expected to finish this summer, according to associate dean of residential life Michael Wooten. The building will house 84 students and assistant director of residential education for East Wheelock Josiah Proietti this fall. Construction began soon after the Oct. 1 fire caused by an unattended hibachi-style grill on the roof that left the building uninhabitable. Original plans to restore Morton expanded to include redesigning the building, which was originally constructed in the 1980s. The College’s Board of Trustees approved the renovation on March 3, according to the campus services website. The residence hall, which had 67 beds and no elevator before the fire, will now have 84 beds and an elevator in the area that was previously a center stairwell, as well as common spaces on each floor and temperature controls in every room. By eliminating Morton’s former suite-style floor plan in favor of a layout of singles, singles with private baths and doubles, the College will house 17 additional students in Morton compared to the prior design. Morton will have more single rooms than before and the same number of singles with private baths, Wooten said. T he common spaces will accommodate approximately 25 students and will be used for First-Year Residential Experience meetings between undergraduate advisors and their residents as well as for resident studying. The mechanical, electrical and fire protection systems and elevator shaft construction will continue this week, according to the campus services website. Both Proietti and Wooten were involved in designing Morton, and both cited creating space for programming as a priority. Wooten is optimistic about the expected results of the newly
renovated Morton Hall. He said the mix of singles and double rooms will better suit student preferences and the common spaces will be conducive to a community atmosphere. Overall, it will be a “nicer space than it was before,” Wooten said. East Wheelock house professor Sergi Elizalde sees the construction daily from his residence’s living room window. While he said the noise of a construction site is not ideal, Elizalde was impressed with the speed and progress of the project. “I don’t think it could be done any faster,” Elizalde said. Students can choose to live in Morton during the fall term room draw. Following the fire, Morton’s 67 residents and Proietti were displaced. The College compensated all students who sought reuimbursement for the cost of their damaged belongings and relocated them to new rooms. Former UGA of Morton’s first and second floors Taringana Guranungo ’18 and UGA of Morton third and fourth floors Issa Sylla ’17 both said they received compensation for their damaged items. Morton fourth floor resident Lillian Zhao ’19 and third floor resident Ellen Smalley ’19 both said they were initially told they would need insurance to cover the damages. The College’s dearth of housing accommodations caused some Morton residents to be placed in “creative” situations and “nontraditional beds” after the fire, Wooten said. Some students were housed in converted lounges or other residences on campus typically used for graduate students or new faculty members. Some of the displaced students are still residing in these spaces. Proietti said that Morton’s vacancy made the East Wheelock community quieter and negatively impacted revenue at the East Wheelock snack bar. Elizalde said the dispersal of the former Morton Hall residents across campus slightly decreased participation in house events. After the fire, Guranungo and Sylla lived in a converted McCulloch Hall lounge for the remainder of the fall term. Guranungo then moved to
North Fayerweather Hall to serve as a UGA there for the winter and spring terms. Sylla became a UGA for Fahey Hall. Guranungo said he stopped thinking about the fire during winter term and does not resent the students who started the fire. “As for me, it’s kind of a thing of the past, at this point,” Guranungo said. “And even some of my residents, they forgot about it. Some of them were off last term, and when they came back, it was like it didn’t really happen. For some, maybe it’s different.” Zhao said that the initial effects of the fire caused a “major disruption academically,” but now tells the story
of the fire as a unique experience. “At this point, it’s kind of one of those stories you tell and people say, ‘Wow, that’s really wild,’” Zhao said. Sylla said although moving multiple times in his senior year was difficult, the Morton fire does not still impact him. Sylla also mentioned he is thankful that all Morton Hall residents were safe and that most material possessions lost were replaceable. “I wouldn’t put [the fire] down as one of the major things that impacted my senior year because I’m just very grateful nobody was hurt, and the things that we lost were, more or less, replaceable,” Sylla said. Sylla also said that while some of
the initial housing conditions were “unfavorable” for some residents after the fire, such as living in the basement of French Hall, most of his former residents moved to “better” accommodations than than their initial housing. Guranungo’s main concern is whether the construction will be finished by the fall. If assigned to be a Morton UGA next year, Guranungo said he had no reservations about moving back into the building because it would be a new and renovated space. Proietti, who will be moving back into Morton Hall upon the completion of the renovation, voiced similar sentiments.
HOLLYE SWINEHART/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Construction of Morton Hall continued in May following the fire in October 2016.
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
The Election Dartmouth saw more than its fair share of political engagement this past election cycle. Discussion was plentiful, though our surveys showed that students primarily supported the Democratic Party ticket of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine. After Donald Trump clinched the presidency, campus saw an increase in political activity, including a protest the day after the election. The conversation continues today as students respond to policies and rhetoric from the Trump administration.
Clinton support as high as 85 percent among students By ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN The Dartmouth Senior Staff
This article was originally published on Nov. 1, 2016. With the presidential election just one week away, a recent survey conducted by The Dartmouth found that students overwhelmingly support Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Despite this near unanimity, dissatisfaction and pessimism regarding the election pervades student opinion. The survey also found a sharp split among Republicans, with Clinton, Republican nominee Donald Trump and Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson each pulling 25 percent from this group’s support. When offered to choose from five different candidate options, 76 percent of voter-eligible students said they would vote for Clinton. Johnson came in second with 8 percent, Trump in third with 5 percent, while 5 percent of students remain undecided. When given only the two major party nominees as candidate options, Clinton’s lead grew to 83 percent and Trump’s to only 6. A likely voter screen increased Clinton’s support in both vote choice questions. Once narrowed down to students who said they were “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to vote in the general election — which 81 percent of the student body chose — Clinton’s lead in the five-way question jumped three percentage points to 79 percent, and two points in the two-way question to 85 percent. Non-major party support tends to fade the closer we are to Election Day, and thus the 85 percent mark for Clinton — among likely voters in the two-way question — provides the clearest picture of student vote intention at the moment. The likely voter screen peeled support away from other candidates. Even then, when choosing between several candidates, third party candidate Johnson receives greater support at 7 percent than Trump does at 5 percent. The vote choice results represent marked increases of support for Clinton among students. In a survey of members of the Class of 2018 in August — who are representative of the student body — Clinton received 67 percent of support from likely voters when all candidate options were given, and 76 percent when only Clinton and Trump were candidate options. With the caveat of small question wording differences between surveys, Clinton appears to
have consolidated Dartmouth student body support over the last few months. The closest national comparison one can draw is with vote intention numbers from 18-29 year old likely voters. A Politico/Morning Consult tracking poll in late October found that among these young voters, 56 percent opted for Clinton and 31 percent for Trump. While it presents the largest disparity by age at the national level, Clinton’s advantage here pales in comparison to hers among Dartmouth students, who skew much more liberal and come from much higher socioeconomic backgrounds. This latter quality may explain why Trump receives relatively little support from even his own party’s rank-and-file voters on campus. Among likely voters who self-identify as Republicans, 26 percent support Trump, 25 percent plan to vote for Clinton and 24 percent back Johnson. Without third party candidates listed, Trump sits at 32 percent and Clinton at 29 among Republicans. This stands in great contrast to the other major party’s internal dynamics. Among likely voters who self-identify as Democrats, Clinton received 92 percent of support in the five-way option and 99 percent in the two-way option. Feelings about the election
Among likely voters, Dartmouth students as a whole are slightly more inclined to vote “against” Trump (44 percent) than “for” Clinton (42 percent). A similarly small difference holds when comparing the vote choice motivation of only Hillary Clinton supporters. In the two-way question among likely voters, 49 percent of Clinton supporters said they were voting “for” Clinton, while 50 percent said they were voting “against” Trump. When only looking at Democrats on campus, the motivation takes a more affirmative tone — 53 percent for their candidate and 45 percent against the opposite one. For a national level comparison, a recent ABC News poll found that 56 percent of Clinton voters mainly supported Clinton, while 42 percent mainly opposed Trump. In other words, Clinton supporters across the entire United States support their candidate much more in the affirmative than Dartmouth ones do. Students also showed great signs of dissatisfaction with the candidate options in the election. A plurality at 36 percent said they were very unsatisfied with their choices, and in total, 68
percent of likely voter students said they were very or somewhat unsatisfied with the candidate options. Interestingly, among likely voters who support Clinton, 65 percent said they were unsatisfied with the field of candidates compared to 25 percent who were satisfied. Out of all three partisanship groups, Democrats were most satisfied with their options, as only 62 percent said they were unsatisfied, compared to 81 percent of independents and 89 percent of Republicans. In describing the emotions that this election has engendered, students expressed overwhelmingly negative feelings. Feeling “frustrated” was most common among students at 69 percent, and 60 percent of students said they felt “disgusted” and 50 percent “scared.” These answers heavily outweighed more hopeful outlooks: only 8 percent felt “optimistic” and 9 percent felt “excited.” Even interest in the election came in at low levels, with only 27 percent saying they were “interested.” Compared to the entire country, Dartmouth students expressed a more pessimistic outlook on the election on all counts of these feelings. A Pew Research Center survey from earlier this fall found 57 percent of registered voters saying they were frustrated, 55 percent disgusted, 43 percent scared, 31 percent interested, 15 percent optimistic and 10 percent excited. Candidate perceptions Throughout the primary and now the general election season, both major party candidates have been criticized
for their ideological orientations. Liberals have decried Clinton as being too moderate, while conservatives pointed to her being too liberal to gain their vote. Those on the left have condemned Trump’s apparent rightwing extremism, while many on the right question Trump’s ideological consistency. Among likely voters, 59 percent of Dartmouth students categorize Clinton as “somewhat liberal,” 29 percent see her as “moderate” and only 10 percent as “very liberal.” This perceived ideology mirrors the distribution among Democrat students well — for example, 63 percent of Democrats see her as “somewhat liberal” and 32 percent as moderate — but among Republicans, Clinton gets classified as “somewhat liberal” 46 percent of the time and “very liberal” 38 percent. Perceptions become much more extreme when evaluating Trump, however. Among likely voters, 45 percent of students see him as “very conservative” and 44 percent as “somewhat conservative.” Interestingly, fewer self-identifying Republican students — 24 percent — view him as “very conservative.” It’s nevertheless clear that Dartmouth students view Trump as staunchly conservative. At the same time, it’s worth noting that this perception may not be as clear-cut in light of certain political science research. This line of research came to term Trump as an “ideological moderate,” not because he’s moderate on individual issues, but because his extremism on various issues averages out to moderation. For example, in the context of GOP politics, while very
conservative on immigration, Trump is relatively more liberal on government spending. In other words, the mixed bag and inconsistent nature of his support doesn’t make Trump moderate by any means, but puts him far out of step from conservative orthodoxy — and thus less solidly conservative. Finally, Dartmouth students responding to the survey were asked whether they think Trump’s influence on American politics — the voter base he’s attracted and the ways in which he’s redefined the Republican Party — will continue past this election cycle. Among all respondents, 61 percent agreed that his effect would continue, 25 percent were not sure and 14 percent disagreed with this notion. While self-identifying Democrats and independents were in line with these average perceptions, Republicans were more likely to believe their party and the political system would shed itself of Trump – 51 percent said Trump’s influence would last, while 29 percent said it would not. Methodology From Oct. 25 to Oct. 31, The Dartmouth administered an online survey of Dartmouth student attitudes on the 2016 Election through Pulse, an online survey platform designed to collect and share student public opinion. The survey was sent out to 4,602 students and 517, or 11.2 percent, responded. Using an opt-in survey such as this one does not make for a random or entirely representative sample. Results were weighted to match the demographic makeup of the Dartmouth student body by gender and graduating class year according to Office of Institutional Research data. The survey results have a credibility interval of +/- 4.4.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
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Over 300 march in protest of Donald Trump presidency By DEBORA HYEMIN HAN and JULIAN NATHAN The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on Nov. 9, 2016.
ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
At 4 p.m. this afternoon, over 300 Dartmouth students, faculty and Upper Valley community members participated in a “Walk for Love and Justice” to protest the election of Donald Trump to the White House. The march — organized by Alyssa Jorgensen ’17 and Ashley Zepeda ’18, among others — follows a night in which more than 6,500 Hanover residents voted for Clinton and 926 cast ballots for Trump. The march began on the Green at the site of a sit-in where students had camped out the night before. At the outset of the march, about 100 people were present, including demonstrators who had been sitting-in throughout the day. By the end of the walk, over 300 people had joined the group. As they walked into Hanover through Main Street, Lebanon Street, Crosby Street and East Wheelock Street, demonstrators alternated between chants of “Love trumps hate,” “No justice no peace,” “F— Donald Trump” and “Black Lives Matter.” Demonstrators occupied the right lane of the road and brought vehicular traffic to a standstill on Main Street. In a show of support, several drivers gave demonstrators a thumbs-up. Upon the demonstrators’ return to the Green, the crowd formed a circle and began chanting “down with white supremacy.” Following this chant, Jorgensen addressed the crowd, calling for a moment of silence to honor “the people here today who choose compassion and love over what our nation chose last night.” Afterward, various speakers were given the opportunity to address the crowd. Among them was Corinne Kasper ’17, who said, “Apparently we are loud and apparently we are powerful.” Though several subsequent s p ea k er s we re g re e t e d w i t h widespread applause when they encouraged demonstrators to hold onto their beliefs and resolves despite the results of last night’s election, a divergence of opinion within the crowd became clear when speakers addressed the fragmentation of political movements along racial lines. Ke v a B u i ’ 1 7 e x p r e s s e d
f r u s t r a t i o n w i t h w h a t t h ey perceived to be a failure of mainstream political movements, such as feminism, to address the issues faced by LGBTQIA groups and people of color. “This is not about Hillary Clinton. This is not about white women … this is not about white feminism,” they said. “This is about our communities’ resistance and revolution against the system of violence that has been perpetuated against us for centuries.” English professor Alexis Jetter later challenged Bui’s indictment of “white feminism.” “As a white woman, and as a feminist, and as a lesbian, and as a leftist, I don’t want anyone here to say ‘This is not about white feminism’ as if white feminists didn’t fight for Bernie, didn’t fight for Hillary,” she said. Jetter then explained her belief that splitting the feminist movement across racial lines makes it easier for right-wing politicians to create and exploit divisions within the liberal electorate. “Don’t do the right-wing haters’ work for them,” she said. “Don’t divide up like that.” Maieda Janjua ’17 rebutted, saying that she believed feminism should address various racial and socioeconomic factors. She then vocalized her perception that “white feminism” has failed in this regard. Janjua had the final word before the group dispersed. “Your feminism is not feminism if it is only for white people,” she said. Immediately following the d e m o n s t r a t i o n , Jo r g e n s e n explained that the demonstrators’ walk around Hanover was organized by Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority, but that many of the demonstrators assembled serendipitously. Zepeda added that she was pleasantly surprised by the large turnout of students and residents and was particularly impressed by the demonstrators’ rapid postermaking. While she explained that she was still upset following the results of last night’s election, she found the large body of support for today’s demonstration empowering. Jorgensen echoed this sentiment and explained that observing the crowd’s large size as she walked through Hanover caused her to feel a sense of empowerment. Eliza Rockefeller ’17, who said she was upset by the election results, found it consoling to feel supported by “like-minded people.”
THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
STAFF COLUMNIST DANIEL FISHBEIN ’19
VERBUM ULTIMUM THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD (FALL 2016)
Trump’s Silenced Supporters
Hillary Clinton for President
Disliking a candidate does not excuse discounting his supporters.
This column was originally published on Oct. 20, 2016.
to listen to what he had to say and thus learned about his perspective as a man who put so much effort into his work but still felt If you’re a Donald Trump supporter at overlooked by his country’s leaders. Dartmouth, you might as well be invisible. As Trump continues his outright assault In visiting campus this past week, Bill on logic, we need to listen to what his Clinton continued the trend of liberal supporters tell us. When thinking back to candidates speaking my conversation with to liberal students on my barber, I can see why a n o v e r w h e l m i n g l y “If you’re a Donald Trump appealed to him. liberal campus. This Trump supporter at Trump is a candidate who trend implies that it’s complains about how the acceptable if “you’re Dartmouth, you might media tries to sabotage with her,” but there’s no as well be invisible.” him, how the Republican place for you here if you establishment has turned want to “make America against him and how great again.” h i s o p p o n e n t s h ave I support Clinton as c o n t i nu a l l y t r i e d t o much as most people I know. This term, destroy his character. My barber, as a I have been working to get out the vote small business owner often overlooked or and spending a good chunk of my time discounted by politicians, felt the same everyday trying to make sure she wins in New frustrations. Trump and his supporters are Hampshire. To me, Trump is completely bound by anger and the belief that their unfit for the presidency, an orange man voices do not count. To continue ignoring with a comb-over who spews vitriol at his supporters, to silence them and remove minorities and forces his tiny hands on the them from your surroundings, only enforces women around him. But while I disdain these frustrations. the candidate, I try my best to refrain from For many of us, Trump represents bashing his supporters. Just because they elements of an antiquated world we want support a man who many to change. He is a rich, liberal college students “For many of us, white man who tells lies view as a bigot does not Trump represents on national television, mean they are bigots, and and he is so full of himself any attempt to silence elements of an that he thinks women their opinions represents antiquated world we want to be groped by the same xenophobia we him and so unaware of want to change.” hate about Trump. his faults that he feels in Last winter, in my the right when he mocks small, predominantly minorities. white and middle-class hometown in central Yet by ridiculing him, Clinton supporters Massachusetts, I had a conversation with my have only fed the fire. In the presidential barber about politics. I had been watching debates, Clinton herself has not taken the Fox News on the barbershop TV, and high road and cogently talked about her the anchors were talking about Trump’s policies when Trump so clearly has none invasion of the Republican establishment. of value. Rather, she has tried to silence When I asked my barber if he supported him by calling him a liar and a fraud. In the Trump, he told me that he did, explaining past, she has even written off large chunks that, while he did not endorse many of of his supporters as degenerates. Trump’s comments about immigration, he We all need to recognize this contradiction. felt that past candidates had overlooked While beliefs in feminism, tolerance small business owners like himself. In his and equality have led many, including eyes, Trump represented a healthy dose of myself, to cringe at the sound of Trump’s change; in that way, Trump was unlike many voice, we cannot just ignore the fact that of the other Republican many reasonable people candidates and the polar “By blindly labeling who are not racist or opposite of Clinton. incredibly narcissistic Trump supporters as If I wanted to, I could agree with him. In have objected to many bigots without letting discounting their beliefs, of the points my barber them have their voices we effectively become made. I thought that the type of person we he did not fully grasp heard, we fan the fire denounce Trump for that Trump’s proposed that feeds Trump’s being, one who refuses economic policy would to listen to others. And success.” mostly benefit rich people in doing so, we push his or know that Trump had supporters to see Trump actually ruined many as a candidate who will small business owners in not ignore them but, his time as a real estate magnate. I could have rather, speak to them and at least claim to tried to educate him on my personal belief care about their interests. By blindly labeling that Bernie Sanders and his democratic Trump supporters as bigots without letting socialism far better represents the type of them have their voices heard, we fan the fire candidate my barber wanted. But I chose that feeds Trump’s success.
Clinton is the best choice to lead America for the next four years.
This column was originally published on Oct. 21, 2016 and written by The Dartmouth Editorial Board for fall term 2016.
role in shaping policy, and Bill Clinton often described them as a “twofer” — two presidents for the price of one. As Secretary of State, she continued to fight for causes she believed in, Every four years, presidential candidates consistently raising the issue of the rights and and their supporters stress the importance of treatment of women and children around the the current election. Hyperbolic statements world. about the apocalyptic future that would be Clinton’s detractors have often criticized in store for us if the other her for being a “career person wins color every “Before us stand two politician.” Dedicating cycle. However, we can one’s life to serving one’s candidates that seem say, without a great deal country, however, shouldn’t of reservation, that this to be diametrially be a reason to tear them election is at least one opposed, if not on down — it should be a of the most important in reason to celebrate them. the last quarter century every single issue then If this reflects an intense — or even in the last at least in experience, ambition to be president, 80 years, according to what is so wrong value and demeanor.” then some experts. Before us with that? It seems that stand two candidates that someone who has had her seem to be diametrically eye on the presidency for opposed, if not on every single issue then at several years is more likely to be invested in least in experience, values and demeanor. It her performance than someone who turned a is traditional for The Dartmouth to endorse mere publicity stunt into a campaign for one a candidate for president. During this election of the most powerful positions in the world. in particular, we feel a responsibility to make The criticism that Clinton is dishonest the case to all of our readers, whatever their or “crooked” is likewise unfounded and political affiliations, that there is only one unfair. During this election, this sentiment choice to be made if our country’s prosperity, has often been supported by catchphrases future and values are to be secured. That is about Benghazi and her email scandal. The why, after much deliberation, we the editorial opposition has even gone so far as to outright call staff have chosen to endorse Hillary Rodham her a criminal, and “Lock her up!” has become Clinton for President of the United States. one of their more popular catchphrases. While it is important to note that Clinton’s One thing should be made perfectly clear: opponent has made remarks and committed independent government agencies investigated actions that are racist, sexist, misogynistic, both of these instances. In both cases, they homophobic, xenophobic and Islamaphobic reached the conclusion that Clinton’s actions and has repeatedly proven himself unfit to hold did not warrant charges against her. Whether an office as serious as that of the president, this or not one chooses to doubt the integrity of election should not be about choosing between this system, as Clinton’s opponent has done “the lesser of two evils,” as the media has often vocally, is up to them. Admittedly, Clinton framed it. It should be about choosing the did not handle these situations as well as she most experienced, qualified and competent should have, and she herself has admitted to as presidential candidate — and no matter how much. However, in decades of public service, you look at it, that candidate is Clinton. even the most effective leader is bound to Clinton’s résumé of public service make mistakes, and Clinton certainly wouldn’t is staggering. Since her be the first presidential days as a law student “In the last several candidate to have done so. a t Ya l e U n i v e r s i t y, This doesn’t mean that we months, this election where she worked on as voters should discount a the Senate subcommittee has often felt more like long and impressive record on Migratory Labor, to a reality TV show than of exemplary service. her time as First Lady In the last several of Arkansas and later anything else. Amidst months, this election has the U.S., to her service the drama, tweets and often felt more like a as a U.S. Senator and reality TV show than name-calling, it may then Secretary of State, anything else. Amidst the Clinton has spent decade be easy to forget what drama, tweets and nameupon decade serving the this contest is truly calling, it may be easy to American people. Not only forget what this contest is has she done so by holding about: choosing the truly about: choosing the office; she has also used that most effective person most effective person to time in office to champion our country for the to lead our country for lead important causes, ranging next four years. Clinton from education to women’s the next four years.” has proven, through her rights. Upon graduating storied career of service law school, for instance, to the public, that she is she went to work at the Children’s Defense the most qualified person to hold that office. Fund. As the First Lady of Arkansas, she established and chaired organizations for the The editorial board in fall term 2016 consisted of protection of children and families. As First the editorial chair, the opinion editors and the opinion Lady of the U.S., she took on an unprecedented staff.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
STAFF COLUMNIST SOFIA STANESCU-BELLU ’20
CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST TYLER BAUM ’20
The Pulse of the Nation
Why I Voted for Trump
A millenial Republican’s path to voting for Trump and a call for unity.
Hillary Clinton’s loss stemmed from her distance from the electorate. This column was originally published on Nov. 11, 2016. I remember a year ago sitting in my high school cafeteria with my friends and confidently proclaiming: “Hillary’s going to win.” My friends and I saw Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s victory as a given since, living in Michigan, a state that has voted blue for the past 24 years, we couldn’t imagine the vote going any other way. Yet look at us now, in the aftermath of an election that shocked the world — and an election in which Michigan bled red instead of blue — and that put a man into power who, as recently as a year ago, no one thought would be a presidential candidate yet alone the 45th President of the United States. Polls had Clinton consistently up in the weeks leading up to the election. She had the endorsements and the money and yet, on Tuesday night, Republican President-elect Donald Trump pulled off a win that rattled the nation. In looking at the exit polls and voting distribution, we can begin to understand this discrepancy between polls and reality: Hillary was simply not able to polarize the nation, or at least large enough parts of it, to guarantee her the election. Clinton managed narrow leads with women, youth and Hispanics: 54 percent, 55 percent and 65 percent, respectively, voted for her. In addition, Clinton had the overwhelming support of 88 percent of the African American community, according to polls. While these numbers may look promising, however, Trump’s appeal with men, particularly white men, swung the election in his favor. These schisms in gender, race and age illustrate a growing divide in America — a divide that Clinton and all the polls projecting her victory just couldn’t see. The unhappy, white middle class chose Trump because he appealed to their fear of being forgotten in the shadows. Faced with an increasingly diverse America, that demographic, dubbed the “forgotten men and women” by Trump himself, turned out to vote in historic numbers. According to the Nov. 9 New York Times article “Trump’s Victory and the Rise of White Populism,” these voters cast their ballots for Trump to combat their fears of social change and to prevent their “identity” from being erased. Minority voters — also disgruntled by the insufficient progress they’ve made over the last eight years — needed someone slightly more leftwing than Clinton to be their champion. Data shows that Clinton won a smaller share of minority votes than did President Barack Obama in 2012 while Trump improved on Romney’s share of minority votes, indicating that minorities weren’t as happy with Clinton as many had assumed. Both voter demographics felt ignored and misrepresented by the American government. Clinton was the antithesis of what both of these groups wanted. She was a member of the establishment as the rich, white wife of a former U.S. president. It didn’t matter if she was a Democrat or a Republican — she simply didn’t have her finger on the pulse of the nation. That isn’t to say she shouldn’t have won — far from it. I think Clinton was by far the most qualified and experienced candidate in this election and that she would have striven to move this country
in the right direction. However, try selling that image to the masses, who resent political dynasties as it is. It also didn’t help that Clinton struggled to relate to the very demographics she was trying to attract. With my generation, Clinton tried too hard to be relatable and “cool,” making appearances on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, holding concerts with Beyoncé and premiering a t-shirt designed by Marc Jacobs and worn by Kendall Jenner. Clothing lines and concerts, however, aren’t going to bring people out to vote. Human interaction — a real, genuine connection with the constituents — is. Clinton had the potential to be a better candidate and truly polarize a nation in desperate need of progressive change. However, her desire to hold on to elements from her political career — elements that flag her as a member of the establishment — made her a weak candidate to mobilize the nation. Trump, on the other hand, while lacking in the human connections department, managed to attract a more potent support group: the abandoned, white middle class. Trump somehow managed to sense the fear and, arguably, hatred of diversity that lies at the heart of middle class America and utilized it to his advantage. He was anti-establishment and ran with radical ideas that incited ridicule and surprise from political elites, media and liberals alike, but that ultimately managed to attract the so-called forgotten men and women — the forgotten men and women who happen to make up a rather sizeable part of the electorate and that decided the country’s fate. This is why Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would have most certainly beaten Trump at his own game. Like Trump, Sanders was antiestablishment. He ran his campaign with ideas that invigorated the youth, the elderly, the middle class and minorities. He felt the pulse of the nation, just like Trump did, and saw that people were unhappy with the way things were, that they hungered for change. Unlike Trump, however, Sanders preached love and acceptance and tried to turn the election in a positive direction. I am certain Sanders would have won. For better or for worse, Trump is the next president of the United States. I condemn the way Trump ran his campaign and the insults he fired at anyone and everyone that stood in his way, but the principles of democracy must hold: the people have spoken and they chose him. His success should be a lesson to those in power to reconnect with the masses they left behind when they moved into their ivory towers. Americans are disgruntled; they wanted change and, in this election, Trump was the only one who could deliver to them the most radical of changes. Those of us who are disappointed, to put it mildly, about the results of this election need to dust ourselves off and keep moving. The progressive road is still before us. This setback should fuel our fire to come back strong in 2020 and show the world that America stands for love, not hate. The pulse of the nation shouldn’t be one of fear and hatred; it should be one of diversity and tolerance, of love and unity, of support and strength. Though it may seem that the love has stopped flowing, our hearts will beat with fervor again.
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This column was originally published on Nov. 15, 2016. Again.” My personal endorsement of Trump, however, did not come reluctantly. It did not even Shortly after Florida Sen. Marco Rubio result from my dislike of the only other realistic announced his candidacy for president of the choice, former Democratic presidential candidate United States on April 13, 2015, I pledged my Hillary Clinton, whom I have consistently viewed support to his campaign — a campaign largely as a sly, disrespectful, corrupt politician with a grounded on the rural conservative ideologies I “pay-to-play” agenda. was raised with. My support for the Republican Rather, my support for Trump grew organically candidate’s campaign strengthened as the GOP as I listened to his plans and visions in greater detail. debates progressed last fall, and I did not look I grew to appreciate his strong “tough-guy” stances back. I distinctly remember when Rubio, while on a wide variety of issues including his opposition on the campaign trail in Waverly, Iowa this past to illegal immigration, the Common Core and January, promised an atheist voter that “no one’s taxes, as well as his commitment to many of my going to force you to believe in God. But no one’s values, particularly a stellar national defense and going to force me to stop talking about God.” As the protection of rights such as the freedom of an evangelical Christian and a Constitutionalist religion, freedom of speech and the right to bear who supports atheists’ rights as firmly as those arms. of Christians, I became even more committed to Yet on Oct. 8, following the release of his 2005 Rubio and his campaign after hearing this. conversation with Billy Bush, I painfully wrote a Then February arrived plunging a dagger in the statement on Facebook denouncing my support heart of Rubio. A few weeks later, Rubio suspended for Trump as president. Although I remained his campaign and, with it, his promise to usher in very strongly opposed to Clinton and her corrupt a “New American Century.” This was not what campaign, I explained, Trump’s disrespectful I wanted to hear, but I faced this adversity with comments toward women were “far beyond my prayer and trust in both the Lord and the other threshold to support this man for president,” and candidates in the Republican Party. I expressed my hope that the GOP produce better I soon realized, however, that I would not candidates for this important office. have to look far for a candidate to support. After I quickly transitioned from identifying as a a conversation with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at the pro-Trump voter to an anti-Clinton voter, torn Conservative Political Action Conference in between writing in an almost certainly unsuccessful March, I knew I could count on him, an evangelical vote for Central Intelligence Agency Officer Evan Christian like myself, to represent my core values McMullin or reluctantly casting a vote for Trump. while maintaining a commitment to limited I took a step back from the political sphere until government and protecting the Constitution, free- Election Day, taking the time to seek counsel from market capitalism and national defense. professors, pastors and Republican Party operatives. Although I cast a vote for Cruz in the The only sure thing in my mind was that I was Pennsylvania primary, however, President-elect determined to vote for a conservative Supreme Donald Trump won every county in that state, Court and to ensure that Clinton would not see nearly solidifying his path to the GOP nomination. another day in the White House. As I received my Just a week later, following his loss in Indiana, Cruz absentee ballot, I almost wrote in McMullin and suspended his campaign. I felt heartbroken and prayed for a GOP victory. hopeless. Trump would be the nominee of the Yet in a Pennsylvania county distinct for being Republican Party, and my political role models one of the most important in the entire election, I were headed back to the Senate. instead voted for Trump. As a Republican, it is often difficult to express To clarify, I do not condone President-elect that I did not support Trump from the beginning. Trump’s comments regarding women, but I I was concerned by Trump’s campaign slogan believe in his ability and commitment to leading “Make America Great Again,” a slogan that I now our great nation. I trust that he will serve and fight cherish and defend to the core. With his disrespect for our citizens, just as he has throughout the past toward war hero and Arizona Sen. John McCain, 17 months as he earned the highest office of the his campaign’s lack of vision and unity, and, later, land and employed outsiders such as Kellyanne his rhetoric toward women, Trump was not the Conway, the first woman in American history to type of candidate that most traditional conservatives manage a successful presidential campaign. would support. The resulting divide within the party As Trump is now the president-elect, I would seemed lethal and historic, a surefire way for the like to draft a call to action for all Americans: GOP to quickly drown. unification. Thomas Paine once stated, “Those I discussed the possibility of a Trump presidency who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, with officials within the GOP, and I listened to like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.” speeches supporting Trump by Pennsylvania Without unification, our country will become more Rep. Keith Rothfus during his campaign for re- polarized, and, with a Republican-held White election. I was torn between the two sides within the House and Congress, the likelihood of liberal Republican Party: between traditional conservatism agendas being considered in the near future is slim and radical change with an outsider attempting to to none. shake up Washington and drain the swamp. I was My fellow Americans, rather than protesting even torn between two campaigns I was working on: the concrete result of this election, I challenge Rothfus’ re-election bid and Pennsylvania Sen. Pat you to unite behind President-elect Trump while Toomey’s re-election campaign, which disavowed continuing to positively profess your views, a right Trump’s candidacy. that the Constitution fervently protects. Clearly, I was not facing the easy decision I As a Republican, I reach my hand out to all had faced after Rubio dropped out of the GOP Democrats, Independents and Republicans alike. race. By the summer, I was all aboard the Trump We shall achieve much for every citizen only through campaign, prepared to “Make America Great unity.
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
A Discussion on Flag Burning The political reaction to Donald Trump’s presidency reached a peak on Dartmouth’s campus the day of the 45th president’s inauguration. A student organized a discussion on flag burning in the middle of the Green, prompting a response from both supporters and protestors. On January 20, over 100 people gathered on the Green for the demonstration, which resulted in no flags burned and a lively discussion on the implications of the new presidency.
Demonstrators gather on Green to discuss flag burning By PETER CHARALAMBOUS The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on Jan. 24. Around noon on Friday, Donald Trump placed his hand on a Lincoln Bible, repeated an oath and became the 45th President of the United States. About four hours later, Timothy Messen ’18 traveled to the Green to protest the new president’s administration by beginning a dialogue about flag burning and discussing the rights threatened by the president. However, when Messen arrived on the Green that Friday afternoon, he encountered more than the 50 or so people he originally expected, he said in an interview several days later. More than 25 counter-demonstrators arrived, including members of Rolling Thunder New Hampshire Chapter 2, a Claremont branch of an advocacy group that helps local veterans and raises awareness for missing American prisoners of war. The crowd consisted of a mixture of protestors, counterprotestors and onlookers. In total, over a hundred students and community members stationed themselves on the Green in anticipation of the event. Messen first expressed his views in a guest opinion column in The Dartmouth, entitled “A Call to Protest.” His column criticized the plans of the Trump administration and directly mentioned Trump’s Nov. 29, 2016 tweet regarding flag burning. “In this moment, we need neither unity nor healing but an active and engaged citizenry unafraid to exercise its rights,” Messen wrote. “I invite Dartmouth’s community to join me on the Green this Friday for a discussion on what rights are threatened by the incoming administration, what steps we can take to ensure that they are not simply taken away and what burning an American flag might achieve. And then, if we so wish, we will burn the flag, for we are free to do so.” Following the column’s publication, Sandor Farkas ’17, the editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth Review, began to plan a counter-demonstration. “Immediately after I saw the opinion piece on Thursday afternoon, I sent an email out to a conservative listserv [the Review’s listserv] making people aware of the piece and suggesting appropriate ways to demonstrate and warning about inappropriate ways to demonstrate,” Farkas said.
Farkas also reached out to Keith Hanson, the host of WNTK-FM’s “Live and Local in the Morning.” Hanson disseminated the news of the possible flag burning during his morning program the day of the protest. Meanwhile, on campus, Messen consulted with associate dean for student life Eric Ramsey as to how to secure the permits necessary to start a fire in a public location, although the College took no official stance on the action, Messen said. The College’s statement on freedom of expression and dissent notes that “Dartmouth College prizes and defends the right of free speech and the freedom of the individual to make his or her own disclosures, while at the same time recognizing that such freedom exists in the context of the law and in responsibility for one’s own actions.” By Friday afternoon, the actors had gathered on the Green, waiting to see Messen’s actions. “We had heard a rumor from somewhere that someone was going to be up here protesting, burning flags,” Rolling Thunder member Jim Campbell said. “So we put some emails out, some texts, and got a bunch of guys to come up and brought up our flags to show our support for not burning the flag.” Shortly after the arrival of the counter-demonstrators, an ambulance and members of both the Hanover Police Department and Safety and Security arrived to supervise the discussion and prevent the possibility of conflict. “Our presence is the first step to keeping things peaceful and calm,” said Hanover Police Chief Charlie Dennis regarding the police department’s role in the event. While the counter-demonstrators waited near the center of the Green, Messen met with Ramsey and officials from Safety and Security as well as the Hanover Police Department in Collis Center. They discussed safety concerns and the possible risks of the protest, Messen said. After the meeting, Messen and other supporters walked onto the Green to begin their demonstration. As Messen began his speech, he and other demonstrators were confronted by counter-demonstrators who attempted to disrupt him. He clarified that he did not intend to burn the flag at that time but rather intended to start a dialogue. “I’ll make the argument today that burning the flag is an act of respect,
rather than sacrilege, that the values this flag represents are protected by burning it,” said Messen, according to his speech transcript. However, counter-demonstrators attempted to overpower Messen’s speech by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in unison. “Today, Donald Trump became the president of the United States, and with him he brings an astounding number of dangerous policies and dangerous people, both new and old to this government,” said Messen, in his speech, over the crowd. He spoke out against what he called Trump’s “racism, ableism, sexism [and] classism,” as well as what he sees at Trump’s lack of concern for the first amendment. Yelling into a megaphone, Messen ignored the interjections and questions posed by the counter-demonstrators. His approach received mix opinions from the crowd. Hanson, who was in attendance, and others asked the crowd to let Messen speak. “I wish that he had allowed dialogue when he had the [megaphone],” said Mali-Agat Obomsawin ’18, a demonstrator who stood alongside Messen, in a later interview. At one point in the speech, a counter-demonstrator directly confronted Messen, who continued to speak into the megaphone with two officers by his side. At another point,
counter-demonstrators with flags stood in front of Messen and created a circle around him. Throughout the afternoon, officers and fellow demonstrators protected Messen from any potential hostile action. “We stand here, because we care deeply about America’s fate and because we will not lamely step aside and watch you turn back the clock to your ‘Great America’ of the early 1800s,” Messen wrote in his speech. “You will have to wrench our rights from us. This nation won’t come together if you threaten us. We will dissent as boldly as we can.” After Messen finished reading, Hanson addressed the crowd about Messen’s right to burn the flag. He said that while Messen has a right to burn the flag, he must approach that right with responsibility. Furthermore, that right was secured by the efforts of America’s armed services, he said. Messen then thanked the crowd and asked the protestors to reach out to him via email with questions about his beliefs. He was then escorted by officers off the Green. Meanwhile, demonstrators who stood with Messen remained on the Green to continue the discussion with the community members, veterans and other students. After leaving the Green, Messen met with Skip Rollins, a member of Rolling Thunder and a New Hampshire House of Representatives state representative, in a Collis
conference room. Rollins, a “goldstar” parent — a parent who has had a child die in the military — spoke about his son, U.S. Army Specialist Justin Rollins, who lost his life fighting in Iraq, Messen said. The two discussed the respect associated with the flag and the right to burn it. After concluding their discussion, they exchanged emails and mentioned the possibility of working together to help veterans in the future, Messen said. Messen left the demonstration still undecided on whether he made the right decision not to burn the flag. “I recognize that they have a different relationship to the flag, but the fact alone that I would burn it does not mean that I disregard their concerns or that I don’t respect what the flag means to them,” Messen said in an interview. “To me, the flag ought to represent the values of a liberal democratic republic devoid of any ethnic or religious affiliation, which divide more than unite.” Ultimately though, Messen saw his demonstration as a success due to the resulting dialogue. “I think [the discussion was] a success because it sparked a kind of political engagement that’s more than just writing something on Facebook or watching a TV show,” Messen said. “It’s people taking responsibility for their beliefs. Because everyone felt so passionately about this, people went out and voiced their opinion.”
PETER CHARALAMBOUS/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
Timothy Messen ’18 addresses a crowd of counter-demonstrators, supporters and on-lookers on the Green.
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GUEST COLUMNIST TIMOTHY MESSEN ’18
STAFF COLUMNIST STEVEN CHUN ’19
A Call to Protest
To Burn a Flag
We must protest — and consider our right to burn the American flag. This column was originally published on Jan. 19.
It’s time to stand up for yourself and stand up for others. We need to act and stand up for our integrity, rather than be lulled into After President Barack Obama’s historic complacency by “unification” as Trump and presidency, President-elect Donald Trump his supporters have advanced. will follow him into the White House with a Trump tweeted on Nov. 29, 2016 that regressive agenda. He is responding to and flag burners should be stripped of their playing on fears many citizenship or sentenced Americans rightfully have to jail. We should neither in ways that may enrich “After President Barack take this threat nor his his family and inner Obama’s historic ignorance of the First circle of supporters. This Amendment lightly. The cynical appropriation of presidency, Presidentbest way to defend our American nationalism elect Donald Trump rights is to exercise them. that enabled the takeover To place the value of the will follow him into of the government by an American republic on ultra-wealthy cabal has the White House with a piece of striped cloth brought latent hatred to a regressive agenda.” with 50 stars on it, rather the surface of public life. than the liberties and Since Trump’s election democratic institutions on Nov. 8, 2016, we have that make this country seen an increase in sexual and racial violence remarkable, is to misplace and misvalue that has drawn us a portrait of an America what is wonderful about living here. Polishwhere racial profiling and sexual paternalism German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg — as well as sexual harassment — are once wrote in a critique of state censorship dire realities. Trump has in the early years of the ignored the values of “We need to be Soviet Union, “Freedom this republic: freedom, is always the freedom of equality, individualism strong, stand up dissenters.” She added: and diversity. Today, we and speak out. It’s “If ‘freedom’ becomes are living in an America ‘privilege,’ the workings time to stand up for that not only turns a blind of political freedom are eye to racism but also yourself and stand broken.” The Trumpian entrenches institutional up for others. We rhetoric of unity attempts racism while rejecting the to undermine exactly that principles of gender and need to act and stand freedom of dissent and sexual freedom. Trump’s up for our integrity, the working of political proposed border wall freedom. To burn the rather than be lulled and Muslim ban are U.S. flag is fully within shining examples of his into complacency by our rights. Ceding ground d i s c r i m i n at i o n - b a s e d ‘unification’ as Trump on this right for fear of proposals. We shall not disturbing some unity, yield to this bigotry under and his supporters which has never really the banner of patriotism. have advanced.” existed — much like T he days, months the “Great America” and years to follow will Trump tells us is past — be decisive for America. capitulates to the antiRight now, we need more than a dialogue civil libertarian views already clearly voiced in the pages of our newspapers and on by the incoming administration. our television screens — so much more, In this moment, we need neither unity as guest columnist Adam Gardner Med’17 nor healing but an active and engaged suggested in a column on Jan. 12. We need citizenry unafraid to exercise its rights. action, because little I invite Dartmouth’s w i l l b e a ch i eve d by community to join me on discussions of whether “And then, if we so the Green this Friday for a Trump supporters are wish, we will burn the discussion on what rights good or bad people threatened by the flag, for we are free to are since Trump’s politics incoming administration, implicitly and explicitly do so.” what steps we can take threaten Americans and to ensure that they are citizens of the world. not simply taken away We need more than and what burning an discussion because history does not repeat American flag might achieve. And then, if itself; it rhymes. In ignoring our own dreadful we so wish, we will burn the flag, for we are history that has brought us injustice, misery free to do so. and murder, we risk writing a new verse of history to rhyme with the centuries of slavery The Dartmouth welcomes guest columns. We and genocide on which America was founded request that guest columns be the original work and has glacially acted to reform thanks to the of the submitter. Submissions and questions may liberal republican values our history classes be sent to either opinion@thedartmouth.com and teach us we need to utilize against injustice. editor@thedartmouth.com. Submissions will receive We need to be strong, stand up and speak out. a response within three business days.
Discussion is good but attacking others’ dearest beliefs can cause harm. This column was originally published on Jan. 26.
flag was the image of it draped over the coffins of soldiers, friends returning from overseas, who considered flag burning a desecration Any discussion of flag burning must start of the lives lost in the act of service. That from one critical point: it is constitutionally resonated with me. How could it not? You protected as free speech per the Supreme can oppose a war, you can oppose violence, Court’s decision in United States v Eichman. but you cannot deny loss and sorrow. That Last Friday, Timothy Messen ’18 gathered a is not political; it is human. While politically group of people of different views together valid, burning a flag in front of people for for a discussion on flag burning — and I whom it means so much felt cruel. walked away from the Green that day, more In more far-left circles, I’ve heard the confident in human goodness and able to very act of possessing conservative beliefs rethink the way we treat those with whom decried as causing tangible harm or being we disagree. an existential threat to Americans. That may If you somehow missed the large, eclectic be somewhat valid for those on the far right gathering of sign-wielding students, leather- such as anti-Semites and white supremacists, clad members of a New Hampshire chapter especially when a subsection of those beliefs of Rolling Thunder and curious onlookers, suggest policies that target certain groups. But then here’s the skinny: a Dartmouth student if that is valid, then it seems equally valid that wanted to meet to discuss burning a U.S. flag burning a flag is causing real harm to those as a response to President Donald Trump’s for whom the American flag is a fundamental comments on the matter. Word got out symbol of their lives and service, especially to a group of veterans who organized a when it is symbolic of the loss of a friend. counter-demonstration. What happened was Both actions — being a conservative a generally polite, respectful and ultimately and burning a flag — are entirely legal. valuable encounter between the two polar What matters is that in both cases, the caps of the political spectrum. other side sees that action as an attack Flag burning is provocatively theatrical on the things most fundamental to their — but that label doesn’t diminish its lives. It may be their religion, their service, significance or power. In the same way that their access to contraception, their Second the dissident punk group Pussy Riot uses Amendment rights or their economic wellloud, unsanctioned musical performances to being. Whenever the crucial aspects of our fight against authoritarianism, flag burning lives seem threatened, we are driven not uses shock, awe and insult to make political to reasoned discussion and debate, but to statements. They’re both meant to draw the desperate action. This desperation seems to attention and ire of their opponents. This characterize the harshness with which both kind of political showmanship has become a conservatives and liberals attack that which common tool: each side has its provocateurs the other side holds dearest. who revel in angering those across the aisle. I’m not trying to address the politics Bill Maher loves to provoke with raunchy behind this all, but rather the way we treat and sarcastic rhetoric. Milo Yiannopoulos’s the other side. If you disagree with this entire career is built on reminding people article because of a political difference, then that the First Amendment protects his absurd you’re not seeing the point. As this election free speech fundamentalist theater. In many has brought out the far right and far left, ways, it’s low-grade politics, but it rouses we’ve increasingly gone for the jugular. Our support and riles enemies. political discourse is crafted not to be the At first, my thoughts on flag burning were most convincing but to cause the most harm black and white. It’s totally legal, and I find to the other side. We’ve become convinced Trump abhorrent. Even better, the student that because our own political beliefs are the wanted to have a discussion — not just to right ones, vicious or ad hominem attacks make a statement. I’m not usually one for are justified. extremes, but this seemed different. But as The flag burning event on the Green was events unfolded, the act took on a different beautiful. It was the total opposite of the form. Those who had gathered to counter- political discourse I’ve just described. Once protest were largely respectful — although each side started interacting with each other, they occasionally tried to both seemed far more drown out Messen. After interested in conversation “We’re all trying to Messen spoke, a man than in scoring political from the anti-flag burning protect the things points. I’m afraid that this counter-demonstrators’ that matter to us. We is much harder to do in group responded with his echo chambers or online. own speech. Both talked should remember But if there’s a lesson to many on both sides that.” here, it’s that taking the of the protest thereafter. other side’s feelings into No flag was burned, and account sometimes makes the point had been made. for a better political But it was the conversations I heard and had outcome. Far-left college students horrified afterward that made me rethink flag burning. by Trump aren’t “safe-space snowflakes” I heard a man express his frustration at the and conservatives horrified by a flag burning paradox that he fought to protect an act of aren’t racist or misogynistic or ignorant. free speech that he so strongly opposes. I spoke We’re all trying to protect the things that to a man whose strongest connection to the matter to us. We should remember that.
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Dartmouth’s Poli
By Alexander Agadjanian and Amanda Zhou The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on April 26. With intense political discourse persisting well beyond this past election, The Dartmouth set out to examine the contours of Dartmouth student public opinion regarding current events. In a campus-wide survey fielded from April 9 to April 13, 432 students answered questions about several issues, such as tolerance for and relations with opposing political viewpoints, views toward President Donald Trump and recent government actions like the Syrian missile strike earlier this month. The findings speak to contemporary debates and provide an understanding of where students stand on current political issues. Among all respondents, 63 percent identified as Democrat, 23 percent as Republican and 14 percent as independent. Interpersonalpoliticalrelationshaveincreasingly gained attention on college campuses. One way to get a sense of this dynamic is to assess comfort levels among college students when interacting with others of opposing ideologies. When students at the College were asked how comfortable they would be having a roommate with opposing political views to their own, 49 percent said they would be very or somewhat comfortable, whereas 34 percent said they were very or somewhat uncomfortable. This sentiment of openness to politically divergent roommates was not equally distributed across students of different political stripes. While 61 percent of independents and 69 percent of Republicans said they would be comfortable with a roommate of opposing political views, only 39 percent of Democrats said so. Few independents (16 percent) and Republicans (12 percent) said they would be uncomfortable, while statistically Democrats were as likely to say they would be comfortable as they would be uncomfortable. President of Dartmouth College Democrats Charlie Blatt ’18 said she was not surprised that most Republicans reported they were comfortable with having a Democratic roommate, given that a majority of students at the College are Democrats. “It’s unfortunate — I wish we had more political
diversity,” she said. “I think the dialogue is good.” Vice president of the Dartmouth College Republicans Abraham Herrera ’18 echoed Blatt’s sentiment, saying that since Republicans are a minority on campus, they will end up with a roommate of opposing political views the majority of the time. Herrera said he was surprised by the large number of Republicans and the lack of Democrats that were comfortable with an out-party roommate. If anything, managing editor of the Dartmouth Political Times Sydney Walter ’18 said she would have expected a greater divide in the potential discomfort between Republicans and Democrats. Many of the claims about political intolerance on college campuses have stemmed from student reactions to invited speakers who tend to espouse conservative ideology and rhetoric. To speak to this issue, Dartmouth students were asked whether, regardless of their own political views, they thought certain figures from the political right should be allowed to hold a talk or event at Dartmouth. The set of figures was chosen to create a mainstream-extreme right-wing spectrum: former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, conservative author Charles Murray, Trump, alt-right personality Milo Yiannopoulos and white nationalist Richard Spencer. For almost every speaker, a majority of students said they should be allowed to speak at the College: 94 percent said yes for Romney, 75 percent for Trump, 65 percent for Murray, 54 percent for Yiannopoulos and 50 percent for Spencer. The greatest opposition came for Yiannopoulos, with 38 percent saying he should not be able to speak at the College, but nonetheless many more students said he should be allowed. Breaking up the same results by party revealed Democrats as being more reluctant to say some of these speakers should be allowed to give a talk. Namely, more Democrats said no to Yiannopoulos — 38 percent yes, 52 percent no — and Democrats were about equally divided on Spencer — 35 percent each saying yes and no, while 30 percent
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were unsure or unfamiliar. For Murray, 54 percent of Democrats were okay with him holding an event at Dartmouth while 10 percent were not okay. On the other end, Republicans were overwhelmingly okay with allowing every speaker listed — Spencer was the lowest on the list, but even then, 83 percent of Republicans said he should be allowed to speak at Dartmouth. Different students emphasized the importance of hearing dissenting opinions and commented on the nature of political tolerance at the College. Walter said she expected more people to have been against Yiannopoulos as a speaker. Blatt said that she was surprised there was not more “uproar” when Yiannopoulos visited campus this last November. She also said she “falls under the school of thought that more speech is good speech,” and response to speech with which one disagrees is still more speech. “I vehemently disagree with everything Milo Yiannopoulos stands for, but that does not mean I [think] we shouldn’t have him on this campus because I think we should have him here to challenge his views,” she said. Based on the protests over Emily Yoffe, a speaker from October 2015 who held controversial views regarding campus sexual assault, Herrera said that he does not think that all Dartmouth students have the same opinion that all discourse is good. He added that he does not consider Charles Murray to be “that problematic” as a speaker since he brings discourse based on research. “I think some of the points that he makes may seem [uncomfortable] at first, but he does research and he’s a scholar on these issues so he doesn’t bring a biased perspective in my opinion,” Herrera said. The publicity surrounding Charles Murray at Middlebury College, where students violently protested his talk, may have convinced Dartmouth students that such speakers should not be brought to campus because it was “so rough” on Middlebury, Blatt said. She added that the term “controversial” at the College is now often thought of as “probably right-leaning” since the balance
Following a tumultuous election cycle, Th examining student opinion on current even student political leaders on campus. The m hearing opposing political perspectives an varied among topi of political opinions is left-leaning. Walter added that students in the middle of the political spectrum are not as politically engaged and visible, which is reflective of the rest of the country. “We only really tend to hear from people from either ends of the spectrum,” Walter said. When she works with conservative students in writing for the Dartmouth Political Times, Walter said they feel
Overall, 49 percent of students said they would be comfo
ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Eighty-five percent of students strongly or somewhat disapprove of the job President Donald Trump is doing in office.
Seventy-five percent of students surveyed think that President Don
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itical Landscape
The Dartmouth fielded a survey in April nts and political viewpoints and interviewed majority of students expressed openness to nd dissenting opinions, though the results ics and party lines. uncomfortable voicing their opinion in fear that they will experience backlash. “I think they feel that if they voice something that’s even a well-educated and well-founded opinion, just because it might come from a conservative stint, people will refuse to hear it,” she said. Blatt said she would be curious to see how Republicans at the College would feel about a controversial liberal
ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
ortable with a roommate with opposing political views.
Methodology Notes: From Sunday, April 9 to Thursday, April 13, The Dartmouth fielded an online survey of Dartmouth students on community-related topics. The survey was sent out to 4,200 students through their school email addresses. 432 responses were recorded, making for a 10.3 percent response rate. An opt-in survey such as this one does not produce a random or entirely representative sample. Using administrative data from the College’s Office of Institutional Research, responses were first weighted by Greek affiliation for all non-freshmen, and then weighted by class year, gender, race/ethnicity and international student status for all students. Iterative post-stratification (raking) was the method used for weighting. Survey results for all respondents have a credibility interval of +/- 4.8. Note: Only differences within a demographic that were statistically significant are reported.
speaker such as Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood. Popular political accounts of the College’s student body often portray a staunchly left-leaning campus. Public opinion data backs this up well, and so it is no surprise that a Republican like Trump receives poor approval ratings from students on campus. When asked whether they approved or disapproved of the way Trump is handling his job as president, 11 percent of students said they strongly or somewhat approved, while 85 percent said they strongly or somewhat disapproved. Interestingly, the disapproval percentage exactly matches the percentage of students who intended to vote for former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton when The Dartmouth polled about voting choice in the run-up to the 2016 general election. This might imply that students initially against Trump continue to be so, unchanged by the election result, inauguration or the first few months of the Trump presidency. Gauging student opinion on Trump among different partisanship identities adds another layer of understanding. Democrats are resolutely against the president, as just under 100 percent of them say they disapprove. Independents who do not lean toward any party hold similar levels of distaste: only 3 percent approve of Trump, compared to 92 percent who disapprove. Republicans, on the other hand, are much more split: 47 percent approve of Trump and 40 percent disapprove. Because of a small sample size, that different is not significant, but the result does imply that roughly equal numbers of Republicans on campus approve and disapprove of the president from their own party. Blatt said people usually have a strong instinct to defend the political candidate or party that lines up with their ideology, even when confronted with contradictory information. Given the relatively high level of education of the student body, Blatt said it is interesting that students at the College align with what political research says about party affiliation and loyalty. “You’d think that if anyone was going to change
ALEXANDER AGADJANIAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
nald Trump should be allowed to hold a talk or event at Dartmouth.
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their opinion about a president, it would be this group of people,” Blatt said. Walter said the results play into the narrative that Trump supporters have a low bar for support given the style of his presidential campaign. “I think he demonstrated the full gambit of who he is from the election, and if they were still willing to vote for him, I’d be shocked now if they decided to turn away,” she said. At the time of the survey’s administration, a topical issue was the recent chemical attack in Syria and Trump’s response in the form of a missile strike. Students were asked whether or not the U.S. should have responded to the chemical attack and how appropriate a response was a missile strike. Only 11 percent of Dartmouth students said the U.S. should not have responded at all, while 70 percent said it should have responded in some way. Within this 70 percent who thought a response was necessitated, 34 percent said the U.S. should have responded but it went too far, and 30 percent said that the U.S. should have responded and the missile strike was the right level of response. Only 6 percent said they approved of a response but did not think the missile strike went far enough. Democratic, Republican and independent students were about equally likely to say that the U.S. should have responded in some way. However, 42 percent of Democrats said that the missile strikes went too far, while 59 percent of Republicans viewed the strikes as the right level of response. Blatt said that even as a staunch Democrat and someone who studies international relations, she has a difficult time figuring out what is the best course of action. Thus, she was not surprised by the wide range of responses to the question. Under the foreign policy of former President Barack Obama’s administration, the United States refused to use military retaliation with Syria but reserved chemical weapons as a “red line.” However, when evidence of chemical weapons was found, the Obama administration opted to negotiate a deal with Russia and Syria with the promise that Russia would supervise the removal of all chemical weapons.
Walter said there was a lot of conservative frustration over these policies and said this was a clear example of Obama not following through on his own policy. The rationale was that there would be no way to prevent becoming further involved with Syria, Blatt said. Walter pointed out that there could be a knowledge gap on the conflict. In other words, if a student is interested they will know a lot about the issue, but otherwise it is more of a “headline thing.” “[The results] are close enough, in my opinion, that people are just like, ‘He responded and what would my ideological leaning tell me about this,’” she said. The “yes-side” indicates the excusability of chemical weapons, while the “no-side” represents an unwillingness to become further involved with Syria in a slippery slope, Blatt said. Herrera agreed that Syria has become a contentious issue with both Democrats and Republicans opposing and supporting the strikes. Democrats, in general, likely responded more positively to the strikes since it seemed to be the first “presidential” action Trump had taken without any scandal or mishap, Walter said. “It was a strong step that showed leadership,” Walter said. Now while there is conservative support of Trump taking action in Syria, many more Americans are “war-weary” or not interventionists, Walter said. “The United States is going through a little bit more isolationist nationalist rise that we’re seeing across Europe as well and led to the Trump presidency,” she said. Herrera said he considers himself a “neoconservative” when it comes to foreign policy in that he thought the response was at the right level and that the U.S ought to become more involved with Syria. He also added there may be an element of “political expediency” or that public opinion has shifted on how aggressive U.S foreign policy should be.
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Seventy percent of students thought that the United States should have responded to the chemical attack in Syria.
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Alpha Delta Re-recognition Bid Denied Alpha Delta fraternity’s almost two-year battle for reinstatement came to its apparent end this spring, when the College informed the organization it would not be considered for re-recognition. The New Hampshire Supreme Court also upheld a zoning board ruling preventing AD from using its house as a student residence. The fraternity that inspired “Animal House” was derecognized in April 2015 after branding allegations and did not take a rush class after the Class of 2017.
NH Supreme Court upholds ruling against Alpha Delta By PETER CHARALAMBOUS and ANTHONY ROBLES The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on April 12. UPDATED: April 20, 2017, at 11:52 p.m. On April 11, the New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld a ruling against derecognized fraternity Alpha Delta in the case of Dartmouth Corporation of Alpha Delta v. Town of Hanover. The ruling concludes a lengthy legal battle between AD and the town and means AD cannot use its house on 9 East Wheelock Street as a student residence. The opinion reaffirmed the September 2015 decision of the Grafton County Superior Court in support of Hanover’s Zoning Board of Adjustment, which determined that using AD’s house as a student residence violated the town’s zoning ordinance. The zoning ordinance requires student residencies to operate in conjunction with an institution, which in this case is the College. “The Supreme Court appeal was one avenue for us to clarify our zoning status, but there are others that we are exploring, and our corporation maintains its intention for our undergraduate organization to return and make a positive impact on Dartmouth and the community over time,” AD board chair Lionel Conacher ’85 wrote in an email statement. “While we don’t agree with the decision of the Supreme Court, we respect the judicial process and will live with the decision.” Civil attorney Carolyn Cole, who represented AD in the case, declined to comment on the Supreme Court’s decision because she is representing another fraternity that currently has a case pending in the Superior Court. The College derecognized AD as a student organization in April 2015 because of a “violation of the school’s standards of conduct” related to allegations of branding. This derecognition resulted in the College revoking the fraternity’s residential status. According to the Supreme Court’s opinion, the town first notified AD on April 23, 2015
that continued use of the property violated town zoning ordinances and the town of Hanover also told Alpha Delta that continued occupancy of the property needed to “cease immediately.” The fraternity appealed this decision to the ZBA on April 29, 2015. Despite the order, Hanover town manager Julia Griffin said that the house remained occupied that following summer. Griffin said that there were a couple of emergency calls to the house during this period, including one instance when the fire alarm was pulled and the fire department was subsequently barred from entering by the residents. “We worked with the trustees of Alpha Delta as a result of the experiences that summer to ensure that students were not living in the property starting in the fall of 2015,” Griffin said. “The trustees were very helpful in ensuring that that [did] not happen. By the time the fall term started, the house had been completely vacated.” Griffin added that aside from some minor issues, such as the occasional usage of the house’s parking lot and a few incidents in which someone entered the house, there have been no significant incidents on the property since it was vacated. Following the appeals hearing in June 2015, the ZBA reaffirmed its previous decision and issued a statement rejecting AD’s argument that the house was grandfathered, or exempt from the town’s zoning ordinance because students had lived in the house before the zoning ordinance was adopted. Additionally, the ZBA wrote that AD did not sustain the burden of proving its property fell under “nonconfor ming use,” which would have allowed the lawful use of the house as a student residence even without conforming to the ordinance requirements. Had it been able to do so, the house could have been legally used as a student residence despite its inability to conform to the town’s ordinance requirements. The board further rejected the fraternity’s argument that it met the town’s “in conjunction with” requirement, which would have allowed for usage of the house in conjunction with another institution besides the College on the basis
that all residents of the house have been and would be students of the College. AD subsequently requested a rehearing with the ZBA, which was denied. Soon after, in September 2015, AD appealed the ZBA’s ruling to the Grafton Country Superior Court. The Superior Court ruled in favor of the ZBA, stating that their decision was “neither legally erroneous nor unreasonable.” Much like the ZBA, the court rejected AD’s grandfathering argument and its argument regarding the “in conjunction with” requirement, as the fraternity did not provide sufficient evidence to show an association with the College after its derecognition. AD then appealed the decision of the Superior Court to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. The court released its opinion last Tuesday morning after hearing the case on Feb. 16. The court stated that AD’s example of
a 2014 zoning board decision regarding Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity, which was allowed to maintain its status as a student residence despite renovations due to being grandfathered in, was not sufficiently convincing because the example failed to address the “in conjunction with” language of the zoning ordinance. The court also did not think that past examples of laxness by the ZBA prohibit future enforcement. In the past, then-derecognized Zeta Psi fraternity was denied status as a student residence in 2003 due to aesthetic objections. In 2005, Phi Delta Alpha fraternity became a student residence after asking for approval to renovate its house. Because the College derecognized AD as a student organization, the court agreed with the ZBA’s ruling that the fraternity has no association with the College and therefore cannot operate in conjunction with the College. The court ended its statement by reiterating its
affirmation of the lower court’s decision, which found that AD’s use of its property as a student residence violated Hanover zoning rules. The court additionally stated that any further arguments by Alpha Delta did not merit further discussion. The legal battles of Alpha Delta prelude those of derecognized fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon, which is currently awaiting a decision from the Superior Court in regard to its appeal on zoning ordinances. “From the town’s perspective, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon case and the Alpha Delta case are virtually the same,” Griffin said. “The Sigma Alpha Epsilon case was heard in Superior Court about two and a half weeks ago, and we’ll wait for the Superior Court to issue the decision.” In an email statement, College spokesperson Diana Lawrence said that in regards to the Supreme Court decision, the College was pleased that the matter had been resolved.
PAULA KUTSCHERA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
Following an 18-month ordeal, Alpha Delta fraternity will not be considered for re-recognition.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
Alpha Delta will not be re-recognized By ERIN LEE and ANTHONY ROBLES The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published April 25. The College notified derecognized fraternity Alpha Delta last month that the organization will not be considered for re-recognition, a move that concluded over 18 months of negotiations and discussions. A confidential letter, sent March 13 and signed by Board of Trustees chair Bill Helman ’80, stated that although many derecognized organizations have been re-recognized in the past, going forward, the College’s policy will be clarified to specify that derecognition is permanent. “There’s been all kinds of different actionstakenasaresultof derecognition,” Helman said in an interview. “In a post[Moving Dartmouth Forward] world, 2017, permanent derecognition means permanent derecognition.” The letter stated that the Board had to choose between “harming the College’s relationship with a group of alumni who have contributed a great deal to Dartmouth” and undermining the Moving Dartmouth Forward initiative, an effort implemented in January 2015 to target “high-risk behavior.” The MDF plan states that “moving forward, student organizations will be held to a much higher standard than they have in the past … individuals and organizations that choose not to fulfill these higher standards will not be a part of our community.” Chair of the Alpha Delta board Lionel Conacher ’85 wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth that AD has been working with College President Phil Hanlon and administration to find a “mutually agreeable structure” for AD. He added that though AD hopes to become a recognized organization, the organization will continue to exist regardless. “We hope we will be recognized, but if not, we will continue on as a private organization,” he wrote. Derecognition AD was derecognized in April 2015 over branding allegations following several years of disciplinary sanctions. From September 2011 through November 2014, AD had been under sanctions of varying degrees for 11 of 14 terms. In September 2014, AD was suspended in relation to two incidents earlier that year involving unregistered parties and serving alcohol to minors. The College extended the suspension indefinitely in March 2015 over allegations that members of AD branded new members the previous fall. At the time, attorney George Ostler ’77 released a statement acknowledging that branding had occurred but claimed it represented “self-expression,” was not a requirement for membership and was limited to a small group of members.
On April 13, 2015, the College derecognized AD as a student organization in relation to the branding allegations. After a finding that officers and older members had branded 11 new members, the Organizational Adjudication Committee determined that the branding constituted a violation of the Standards of Conduct and a violation of the terms of AD’s suspension, both of which were causes for derecognition, according to a letter sent April 13, 2015 from Judicial Affairs to AD. A report released by Judicial Affairs states that the brothers described personal knowledge of the practice dating back a decade and that this was an “open secret” of the fraternity. In an interview, interim director of Judicial Affairs Katharine Strong said the decision to derecognize an organization is “entirely context dependent.” “The OAC is making that decision based off of the context of the situation, [such as] other responses to similar situations in the organization’s judicial history,” she said. OAC sanctions include warnings, fines of up to $100 and alcohol or College probation, which restrict the privileges of organizations. Derecognition is the most severe disciplinary sanction. As of July 1, 2015, the Office of Judicial Affairs defines loss of recognition as “permanent revocation of recognition as a student organization by the College community and loss of all privileges of such status.” In June 2014, then-interim Dean of the College Inge-Lise Ameer reinstated the policy that students may not live in a Greek Letter, undergraduate or senior society facility that is not recognized by the College, which only affected AD at the time. However, after an investigation by the Hanover Police Department that concluded in summer 2015, no criminal charges were filed against either AD or any individuals involved. The OAC also found AD not responsible for hazing, according to its April 2015 letter to AD. Ostler, who represented AD in the police’s hazing investigation, said that the criminal statutes have specific definitions of what kind of conduct violates the law, which may differ from the College’s policies. “It’s a relationship between private entities, and so the College can set their rules,” he said. “The College sets their rules, they review the facts and they make the determination. It’s different from in court where you have a neutral arbiter, the judge, determining whether a law has been violated.” Ostler noted that College hazing policy at the time referenced the New Hampshire hazing statute. “Certainly I thought it was a good argument … hazing policies weren’t violated because there was no violation of the state criminal law, but the College found otherwise,” Ostler said. According to Dartmouth’s hazing policy, as of July 1, 2015, the College’s
definition of hazing “includes but is not limited to activities that would fall within New Hampshire statutory definition of hazing.” If occurring as part of initiation or admission into an organization, the consumption of alcohol or drugs, removing or destroying property or violating any Standard of Conduct or College policy can be defined as hazing by the College. AD unsuccessfully appealed the derecognition on April 20, 2015 and encountered several legal setbacks regarding the use of its house over the course of that year. Following AD’s derecognition in April, the town of Hanover notified AD that the use of the property as a student residence violated zoning ordinances, a decision that AD appealed later that month. In June 2015, the Hanover Zoning Board upheld its decision from April, and in September 2015, AD then appealed the case to the Grafton County Superior Court, which ruled in favor of Hanover. AD appealed the case once more to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, which came out with a decision on April 11, 2017 upholding the ruling in favor of the town. As a result, AD is unable to use its house as a student residence as long as it is unaffiliated with the College. Re-recognition discussions and a change in policy
Over the course of 18 months, starting in June 2015, AD and the College explored whether there was a path to re-recognition, a plan that was ultimately rejected through the Board of Trustees’ letter sent in March. According to the letter, “some of the communications between the College and the [AD] corporation stated or implied that re-recognition was possible if the corporation undertook certain changes, including forming a new board, identifying a faculty advisor, closing the house for a period of time and shutting down unauthorized rush.” AD met all of these criteria — according to the AD board’s email, alumni leadership changed completely, members eventually vacated the house and AD did not recruit new members that fall. AD also selected new faculty advisors, including economics professor Maura Doyle, Geisel School of Medicine professor of microbiology and immunology Maureen O’Leary and economics professor Charles Wheelan ’88. In December 2016, Helman and Nate Fick ’99, chair of the trustee committee on student affairs, took over discussions on the College side over concerns that Hanlon, as a former AD member and current member of the AD corporation, could have a conflict of interest. Following an initial call between Helman, Conacher, president of the AD board Chris Niehaus ’81 and Fick, the Board of Trustees discussed AD during its meeting in March. The subsequent discussion resulted in the Board of Trustees’ letter and both a
call and an in-person meeting between Hanlon and AD leadership. “During the process, it became clear that a bunch of statements, processes, etc. were not clear,” Helman said. “So one of the things we wanted to do is overcommunicate, be crystal clear and be sure all of the written materials were consistent.” The Board of Trustees’ letter specifies that “organizations that have been permanently derecognized will not be considered for re-recognition.” The letter also notes that the Greek Letter Organizations and Societies handbook and student handbook will be amended to reflect this policy. In an email statement, College spokesperson Diana Lawrence confirmed the authenticity of the letter and wrote that the student handbook has always stated that derecognition is permanent and language was added to the GLOS handbook to further clarify derecognition. The letter went on to state that the administration would consider an application for a new student organization to be housed in AD’s house, though current steps AD has taken to create a new organization are not sufficient. “AD as AD is not consistent with the kind of change and guidelines that President Hanlon has put forth,” Helman said. The letter and the Board of Trustees’ decision came as a surprise to AD leadership. According to an email sent on April 12 from the AD board to organization members, AD felt it had reached an understanding with College administration on a path to re-recognition and was surprised when the path was rejected in the letter. “That we had done everything that the administration had requested of us over the past 18 months makes it even more disheartening,” the AD board wrote. In the past, several derecognized fraternities have been allowed to come back to campus. In 2004, Phi Delta Alpha fraternity returned to campus after being derecognized in 2000. In 2008, Beta Theta Pi fraternity returned as local fraternity Beta Alpha Omega after being derecognized by the College in 1996. Most recently, in 2011, Zeta Psi fraternity returned after being derecognized by the College in 2001. “At Dartmouth, ‘permanent’ has not always meant permanent, and all, or nearly all, organizations seeking re-recognition have eventually been re-recognized,” the Board’s letter reads, acknowledging that College administrators “clearly sent mixed signals” to AD regarding re-recognition. Helman said that the main goal of the letter was to provide clarity. “I think that was part of the problem — because nothing had been written down,” Helman said. “Sometimes writing things down is what’s part of providing clarity, so we felt it was time to do that, and we did it.”
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In the AD board’s email, the board expressed frustration with the College. “Like many of you, we feel that we are part of a Dartmouth family and are deeply loyal,” the email reads. “This experience strains our loyalty deeply. In reviewing the last 18 months in total, the College Administration and Trustees have been bureaucratic and adversarial with us despite our every effort to be collaborative and creative … We have been ready to invest in AD for the future and instead been stifled. It is a sad state of affairs.” Conacher wrote in an email that AD believes it has presented a plan in line with the goals of MDF and continues to work with Hanlon to reach an agreement, though it will continue to exist as a private organization if it cannot be recognized. “Regardless of the outcome of those discussions, we intend [to] re-organize and create a thriving organization that will positively contribute to undergraduate life at Dartmouth within the goals of Moving Dartmouth Forward,” he wrote. Looking ahead Helman said that the policy of permanent derecognition applies to all organizations going forward, not just AD. “It’s our view, it’s the [Board of Trustees’] view, that we all as a community committed to that behavior [as outlined by MDF], to the ideals and principles in that report, and we need to live by it,” Helman said. Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity was derecognized by the College in February 2016 after it was suspended by its national organization for five years. At the time, then-director of Judicial Affairs Leigh Remy wrote in a statement that while the chapter will not be re-recognized as a local organization because of misconduct, SAE could return to campus after its five-year suspension passed. AD is discussing potential changes to its proposal to form a new organization with Hanlon and is developing a new proposal. AD continues to own its house at 9 East Wheelock, but the building cannot operate as a student residence and thus does not have a permitted use. According to the email from AD leadership, AD is exploring zoning options that do not involve recognition, which could include a special exception for a private club use or potential upcoming changes to the zoning ordinance at the town meeting on May 9. “These have been dark times for [AD] at Dartmouth,” the email concludes. “We are painfully reminded every time we visit campus that our house is silent and decaying and in spite of our best intentions for it to be vibrant, renovated and making progress for Dartmouth. We hope we have better news soon. Until then, we will strive tirelessly towards our goals.”
THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
Article 9: On Student Residences Local politics was alive and well in Hanover this past May, when students and town members voted on Hanover’s zoning laws at the annual town meeting. Of particular interest was a measure, Article 9, that would have changed the town’s definition of a “student residence” and potentially affected the houses of derecognized fraternities Alpha Delta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Several different campus and town groups organized voting efforts both for and against the zoning ordinance amendment. In the end, the vote for Article 9 fell short of the two-thirds needed to pass, garnering 42.5 percent of the total ballots, or 1,471 votes. Normally, votes at the annual town meeting total between 500 to 800, while this year nearly 3,500 votes were cast on Article 9.
Students, town to vote on zoning amendments By PAULOMI RAO
The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on May 9. Hanover residents and the Dartmouth community will head to the polls today to vote on nine proposed measures, including an amendment to the town’s zoning laws regarding student residences. The measure, called Article 9, would change the town’s definition of “student residence.” If the amendment is passed, student residences would no longer be required to operate in conjunction with the College. The current zoning ordinance provides two separate definitions for student residences, one for residences in the institution district and another for those in residential districts. Both define student residences as buildings occupied by students in conjunction with another institutional use, which refers to affiliation with the College. If passed, Article 9 would replace both definitions with a new, general definition: “a building designed for residential student occupancy, which may include living units with social rooms and kitchen facilities for any number of students.” The main difference between the proposed Article 9 definition and the two current definitions is that student residences will no longer need to operate “in conjunction with another institutional use.” Phi Delta Alpha corporation president George Faux ’84, who has been involved in the effort to pass Article 9, said the measure is a way of maintaining and protecting property rights. He added that there is currently a lot of ambiguity in private property laws in the town, which Article 9 would help clarify. “The College has its own rules ... but the town rule has been ambiguous, and we think there’s been some significant ramifications of that,” Faux said. “We see students in housing that’s crowded, we see students move into residential neighborhoods, we feel this could help reverse that and bring people closer to campus where they belong.” If approved, the amendment could allow derecognized fraternities Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Alpha Delta to operate as student residences without official recognition from the College. A group of individuals submitted a
warrant article, signed by 25 Hanoverregistered voters, to put Article 9 on the ballot, Hanover town manager Julia Griffin said. In New Hampshire, anybody can submit a warrant article to amend the zoning ordinance, and as long as the measure has 25 signatures, it automatically goes on the official ballot. Griffin said the College submitted a petition to the town approximately a week ago that will require Article 9 to receive two-thirds of all votes, a “supermajority,” to pass, instead of the usual simple majority. Any entity that owns more than 20 percent of the land in the Zoning Board of Adjustment’s area of oversight has the right to submit a petition requiring a supermajority vote, she said. According to town documents, the Hanover Planning Board recommends that the amendment be disapproved because the Zoning Board of Adjustment has issued two rulings clarifying the current definitions of student residencies in regard to AD and SAE. The SAE court case is still under current litigation, while the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled against AD and in favor of the town on April 11. According to the Planning Board, the proposed Article 9 amendment would eliminate direct health and safety oversight of student residences, which is currently provided by the College. The Planning Board recommended approving the eight other measures up for vote. The Planning Board’s recommendations will be indicated on the ballot. The College also opposes Article 9 due to the possible public safety implications and reduced oversight by College officials, according to a College press release. Griffin said the town is against changes proposed by Article 9, even though currently the College faces the burden of regulating Greek letter organizations, not the town. If the zoning system was to change, the town would be responsible for the regulations and liability of student residences not operated by Dartmouth. Griffin said that Hanover’s police and fire departments are not large enough to ensure comprehensive enforcement. Town documents also state that the town “would consider implementation of a fee” to cover the additional incurred costs of fire safety and health inspections.
Griffin said that if the article passes, the town will consider denying place of assembly permits, which are required to host large gatherings, and would require private residences to obtain a liquor license from the state of New Hampshire. Last February, the College derecognized the College’s SAE chapter after the fraternity was suspended from its national organization for violation of hazing policies. Following their derecognition, SAE filed an appeal with the town to continue to be considered a student residence, testifying that the organization should be “grandfathered” in under previous zoning ordinances. The zoning board accepted SAE’s appeal last April when the College failed to present any evidence countering SAE’s claims. Later, the College requested a rehearing, and the zoning board reversed its decision last July. As a result, SAE lost its status as a student residence. As part of their appeal in Grafton County Superior Court, SAE has attempted to claim that the organization itself could serve as an “institution,” thus granting it student residence status. If Article 9 is passed, the “in conjunction with” clause would be removed entirely from the zoning ordinance. The case was heard in March and is awaiting decision. Faux said the SAE case and Article 9 are two separate issues, as he believes Article 9 is beneficial to not just students in Greek letter organizations, but also other students who want to live off campus. The current SAE president, who asked to remain anonymous due to SAE’s derecognized status, said he hopes the amendment will allow the Greek system to have the authority to continue improving on campus. “This will make the Greek system [have] less of a combative relationship with the College,” he said. “I think this will allow frats to be at a much more equal footing with the College and work with them to make important improvements because the system needs improvements.” The SAE president does not believe that there will be an immediate push for other student organizations to disaffiliate from the College. “It’s important to know that we do acknowledge there are benefits to being supported by the College, and I don’t think this is going to create a
system where everyone is suddenly independent,” he said. Vice president of communications Justin Anderson wrote in an email statement that “allowing fraternities and other groups to house large numbers of students without any affiliation or supervision by Dartmouth College has significant public safety implications for the town.” The SAE president recognized that the College had legitimate complaints about the current Greek system, adding that members within it were also hoping to make lasting changes to improve the system as they too do not want an unhealthy Greek community. The SAE president noted that many student apartments in the town are operating without problems and are not currently monitored by the College. If Article 9 passed, SAE would operate under the same fire safety codes and other regulations that these apartments do, which differ from College regulations. “In no other town do they need student oversight for college residences,” he said. “The fire department will still do walk-throughs and check for safety,
and an adult will own the house and is liable for something goes wrong. This is not a wildcard for any student to just do whatever they wanted; there is still legitimate oversight.” Griffin said most town meetings usually see 500 to 800 voters. Hanover currently has 8,000 registered voters. She said she expected to see a higher voter turnout at this year’s meeting because of the heightened interest related to Article 9. Faux said that he does not know whether or not Article 9 would pass, but that at the least the issue has started a dialogue that will continue past the proposal. “We are hoping to maximize turnout and do what we can,” the SAE president said. “For students, this will improve the Greek system because it will make real change possible, make off campus housing more affordable, closer to campus and safer.” Ballot voting will last from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Hanover High School. During the annual town meeting, which begins at 7 p.m., the results will be announced and posted on the town’s website later that evening.
MORGAN MOINIAN/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
On May 9, town residents and students alike voted on Article 9.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
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After large turnout delays results, town votes against Article 9 By AMANDA ZHOU and THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on May 10 and updated on May 11. Early Wednesday morning, the town of Hanover released results from the annual town meeting the night before and did not pass zoning board amendment Article 9, which concerned the town’s definition of a student residence. Out of 3,464 total ballots cast on the measure, 42.5 percent (1,471) were in favor of the measure and 57.5 percent (1,993) were against it. Article 9 needed a “supermajority,” or two-thirds of the votes, to pass. The results, which are normally announced during the town meeting held after the polls close, were delayed due to the large number of ballots cast. In a previous interview with The Dartmouth, Hanover town manager Julia Griffin said that most town meetings see 500 to 800 voters. The article would have changed the town’s definition of “student residence,” making it such that student residences would not have to operate in conjunction with the College, affecting derecognized fraternities Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Alpha Delta. SAE and AD are currently not designated as student residences.
Both Greek houses underwent individual court cases to maintain their statuses as student residencies. On April 11 of this year, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled against AD. SAE’s court case is still ongoing. “I knew when we woke up today, regardless of where this came out, for the vast majority of those who supported Article 9, our relationship with the College is not going to change,” Phi Delta Alpha corporation president George Faux ’84 said. He added that as the president of a recognized organization, he values the benefits of recognition. Faux said that he expects the mutually beneficial relationship between the College and the Greek system to continue in the long run. Faux said that the public perceived Article 9 through a lens focused on the rivalry between the College and the Greek system, the town and the Greek system or the College and its situation with AD and SAE. However, he said that Article 9 covered a much broader scope. “SAE and AD are taking a judicial path to managing their challenges or their issues with the College,” Faux said. “[Article 9] was a legislative path to clarify our relationship with the town.” He added that Article 9 was “not necessarily a house having an issue with the College.”
“The impetus of [Article 9] was the town putting forth an amendment to the ordinance that was going to tighten up the definition of ‘student residence’ in a way that we felt was disadvantageous to those who hold private property,” Faux said. Voting occurred Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Hanover High School, and the results were posted on the Hanover town website at 2:45 a.m. Wednesday morning. During the voting period, students carpooled and took chartered buses to the polling area, while multiple Greek houses hosted barbecues along Webster Avenue to encourage students to vote. The zoning ordinance has two definitions for student residences, distinguishing residences in the institutional district from those in residential districts. Both of those definitions labeled student residences as any building occupied by students in affiliation with the College. Article 9 proposed one overall definition, which was “a building designed for residential student occupancy, which may include living units with social rooms and kitchen facilities for any number of students,” eliminating the requirement of operating “in conjunction with another institutional use.” Hanover deputy fire chief Michael Hinsley said he was surprised by the difference in
votes cast on the different articles at the town hall, although he was happy that so many Dartmouth students turned out to participate. While Article 9 received nearly 3,500 votes, several other articles received 2,500 votes or less. Hinsley noted that the main i m p a c t o f t h e vo t e i s t h at fraternities, sororities and affinity houses will continue to maintain their ties to the College. As a result of this relationship, Hinsley said that Greek houses receive help from the College for services that they would otherwise have to provide themselves, such as fire alarm testing. Had Article 9 been passed, the town would have had to take over more responsibilities in ensuring the safety of the buildings. Hanover resident Jason Berry said that he did not want the town to have to assume responsibility for monitoring fraternities. “I think that it doesn’t seem to make sense to me to lower the burden of monitoring fraternities under the town when Dartmouth assumes it for free,” Berry said. Another Hanover resident, Helena Witcham, echoed similar thoughts, saying that Dartmouth should be responsible for its fraternities, because the buildings house Dartmouth students. According to town documents, the Hanover Planning Board recommended that the amendment
be disapproved since the Zoning Board of Adjustment had issued two rulings clarifying the current definitions of student residencies with regard to AD and SAE. According to a College press release, the College also opposed the measure due to the reduced oversight of misconduct by College officials, in addition to possible public safety implications. According to the Planning Board, the proposed Article 9 amendment would have eliminated direct health and safety oversight of student residences, which is currently provided by the College. Faux said sometimes town residents do not appreciate the full contributions that Dartmouth students make to the greater town of Hanover, adding that it is necessary for the College, the town and the students to work together to make the community safer and better, since the “three elements are inextricably linked.” Articles 2 through 8, which were also on the ballot, passed. Article 23, a proposal to commit Hanover to join the “Ready for 100 Action” campaign, moving the town towards a goal of 100 percent renewable energy sources of electricity by 2030 and renewable sources of fuel for heat and transportation by 2050, also passed during the town meeting. Re p r e s e n t a t i ve s f o r S A E declined to comment.
CAROLINE BERENS/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
In total, 1,471 votes, or 42.5 percent, were cast in favor of Article 9 and 1,993, or 57.5 percent, were cast against. The measure needed two-thirds of the vote to pass.
THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
Dispute Over the Dean Concerns about N. Bruce Duthu ’80’s March 27 appointment as the next dean of the faculty of arts and sciences peaked in May when economics professor Alan Gustman circulated a letter to the faculty addressing Duthu’s 2013 support of a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and tying it to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, which Gustman called anti-Semitic. After a series of faculty-wide emails between Duthu and Gustman, Duthu declined his appointment on May 22, prompting a mixed reaction from the community. Faculty showed its overall support at a previously-scheduled termly meeting, voting to support Duthu in the event he reconsidered his decision to decline the appointment. In an interview with The Dartmouth, Duthu said he would not reconsider, closing a tumultuous chapter for the deanship. Biology professor Elizabeth Smith was appointed to the position on June 21.
N. Bruce Duthu ’80 will be the next dean of the faculty of arts and sciences By PETER CHARALAMBOUS The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on April 5. When N. Bruce Duthu ’80 arrived at Dartmouth in 1976 to begin his undergraduate education, he wanted to be a priest. After realizing that his main interest was social justice, he decided to study and practice law. Only after working as an attorney in New Orleans for three years did Duthu start to consider academia. “I am what you might call ‘the accidental academic’ in the truest sense of the word,” Duthu said. Despite his original career plans, Dartmouth’s “accidental academic” was promoted from associate dean of the faculty for international studies and interdisciplinary programs and appointed as the dean of the faculty of arts and sciences by College president Phil Hanlon and Provost Carolyn Dever on March 27. He will begin his four-year tenure on July 1. “He has a core commitment to the liberal arts, and he understands what we need to do to take that forward into the 21st century,” Dever said. Michael Mastanduno served a fiveyear term and an additional two-year term as dean of faculty. Over the course of his seven-year tenure, Mastanduno organized the hiring of 25 to 30 faculty members each year, oversaw the over 400 regular and 200 adjunct faculty members, assisted in fundraising efforts and aided in the creation of programs like the Political Economy Project. In July, Mastanduno will begin a yearlong sabbatical, after which he will return to the College to teach and conduct research. “I get to go back and do the best job in the world, which is … being a professor at Dartmouth,” Mastanduno said. While Hanlon made the final decision, a committee selected final candidates to succeed Mastanduno from a pool of candidates from both inside and outside of the College. Geography professor Mona Domosh and chair of the biology department Kathryn Cottingham co-chaired the committee that selected Duthu. They made the selection alongside Italian
professor Graziella Parati, music professor Steve Swayne, mathematics and computer science professor Peter Winkler and history professor Robert Bonner. “[Duthu] stood out for his scholarship, commitment to the liberal arts, and extensive administrative experience,” Cottingham and Domosh wrote in a joint statement. Duthu eventually majored in religion at the College. However, he began studying at Loyola University School of Law instead of the seminary. After graduating from law school, he began working with civil rights litigation at a private practice in New Orleans. While practicing as a lawyer, Duthu was reintroduced to Dartmouth by serving on the College’s Native American Visiting Committee. The committee, which was founded by then College President JohnKemeny in 1970, invites Native American alumni to judge the College’s involvement with Native American students, Duthu said. A member of the Houma Nation in Southern Louisiana, Duthu served on this committee when he was told that the director of the College’s Native American Program, which offers support to Native students, was leaving the College to attend law school. Although Duthu was offered the position, he originally declined. He later accepted a position as an adjunct professor of Native American studies as well as the position of director of the Native American Program in 1986. “Once I got in the classroom, I knew I would never be a traditional lawyer again,” Duthu said. After five years at the College, Duthu joined the faculty of Vermont Law School in 1991. Vermont Law School awarded Duthu tenure and a full professorship in 1996 and he served as the vice dean of academic affairs from 2002 to 2005. During his summers at Vermont Law, Duthu returned to Dartmouth to teach classes. Duthu resigned from Vermont Law and joined the Dartmouth’s faculty as a tenured professor of Native American studies in 2008. He became the Samson Occom Professor of Native American Studies in 2009 and the Frank J. Guarini Associate Dean of the Faculty for International Studies and
Interdisciplinary Programs in 2016. He also helped create an off-campus program through the Department of Native American Studies at the Institute of Native American Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “We collectively wanted to create an experience for Dartmouth students that would be fundamentally different in nature than what we could offer here in Hanover,” Duthu said. Over the last eight years, he has consistently shared his passion for social justice by teaching a government course entitled “Federal Indian Law,” a class he plans to continue to teach as dean of faculty. Duthu’s first book, “American Indians and the Law,” published in 2008, examines the relationships between sovereign Indian Nations and the United States. His second book, “Shadow Nations: Tribal Sovereignty and the Limits of Legal Pluralism,” which was published in 2013, examined the United States’ “legacy of national coexistence.” Former President Barack Obama nominated Duthu to serve on the National Council of the Humanities
in September 2016, although the nomination was never confirmed. “Even though [the appointment] did not transpire in the end because of the outcome of the national election, it is something that I will always treasure that I was nominated for that role,” Duthu said. In his role, Duthu will aid both Hanlon and Dever in an upcoming capital campaign. He will promote a set of priorities which he believes will not only set a clear vision for the “Dartmouth of the next 25 years” but also attract donors, he said. He will also speak to alumni and donors during this campaign. He also wants to help solve Dartmouth’s limited office space and reexamine the College’s faculty governance structure to ensure that faculty members time on committees are productive and “well-spent,” he said. Duthu said he is also interesting in discussing the creation of a “faculty seminar series.” The series would be comprised of seminars made for faculty members by faculty members. Duthu said he hopes that this program will allow faculty to share their knowledge
with one another and “strengthen the intellectual community among the faculty.” Duthu will also assume the task of hiring 25 to 30 new faculty members each year. When hiring these members, Duthu hopes to not only increase diversity but also find candidates who fit the job well and have the potential to become long-term faculty members. “It’s not just racial and ethnic diversity, but also we have people on the faculty who increasingly represent the demographics of the country in terms of perspectives, experiences, values, all of those kinds of things,” Duthu said. While taking on this new position, Duthu plans to still teach classes and interact with students. For students like JoRee LaFrance ’17, who conducted an independent study with Duthu and is a member of the Crow tribe, Duthu’s ability to connect with students can be one of his most meaningful abilities. “Every single time I have a conversation with Duthu, I leave his office just wanting to strive for more and just staying positive,” LaFrance said. “That’s just his personality.”
COURTESTY OF N. BRUCE DUTHU
Native American studies professor N. Bruce Duthu ’80 was appointed as the next dean of the faculty of arts and sciences.
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Concerns arise over Duthu’s appointment as dean of the faculty By MIKA JEHOON LEE The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on May 12. Recent discussion regarding Native American studies professor N. Bruce Duthu ’80’s appointment as the next dean of the faculty of arts and sciences has elicited controversy. On May 3, economics professor Alan Gustman sent out a facultywide email addressing Duthu’s coauthorship of a 2013 declaration supporting a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. He signed onto the declaration, titled “Declaration of Support for the Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions,” as the treasurer of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, a position he held from 2012 to 2015. Gustman’s email stated that Duthu’s co-authorship signifies that he is an active advocate of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, a “Palestinian-led movement” that has been “challenging international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism,” according to its website. In his email, Gustman argued that BDS is anti-Semitic due to its core goal. He referred to the 2013 declaration, which stated that “the NAISA Council encourages NAISA members to boycott Israeli academic institutions because they are imbricated with the Israeli state and we wish to place pressure on that state to change its policies.” In an interview with The Dartmouth, Gustman said he believes the BDS movement is “an antiSemitic, anti-Jewish movement,” adding that it is not proper for a school of Dartmouth’s reputation and standing to appoint someone who has taken a pro-BDS position but has not publicly renounced it. In the email, Gustman asked Duthu to “either publicly disavow the full ramifications of the BDS positions he has publicly endorsed, or resign his position as dean and return to his faculty position where expression of these views is sanctioned as academic freedom, but is not representative of Dartmouth College or its faculty.” Jewish studies professor and chair Susannah Heschel disagreed with Gustman’s interpretation of Duthu’s co-authorship, saying that the declaration does not endorse the BDS movement, as it does not explicitly mention BDS. She added that she believes BDS is a “very dangerous, wrong and nasty” movement. History and Jewish studies professor Udi Greenberg said that support for BDS does not necessarily indicate anti-Semitism. Greenberg added that “as an Israeli, someone who has [a] Ph.D. from Israel, who
has a lot of academic ties in Israel and whose family has suffered from anti-Semitic persecutions,” he finds this accusation “deeply misguided and honestly pretty offensive.” “ T h e B D S m ove m e n t i s composed of multiple movements and individuals — some of them are idiots, demagogues and antiSemites,” Greenberg said. “The position itself of BDS — calling for the academic boycott of Israel, in under no circumstances can be constructed as anti-Semitism automatically.” Michael Salzhauer ’84, a member of the Dartmouth chapter of Alum for Campus Fairness, a national organization that, according to its website, “fight[s] the anti-Semitism” on college campuses, said that as a dean of the faculty, Duthu will represent the College and its policies. Salzhauer noted that Duthu coauthored a policy that does not align with the policies of the College, as evidenced by College President Phil Hanlon’s statement on Dec. 28, 2013 affirming that Dartmouth does not support the boycott of Israeli institutions. Although Hanlon did not explicitly mention BDS, Salzhauer said the statement’s message suggested a rejection of the movement. Salzhauer said Duthu has to be aware that boycotting Jewish academics is a “long and cherished go-to position of anti-Semites.” According to Heschel and Greenberg, Duthu has actively supported the College’s academic ties with Israel, supporting student exchange programs with Israeli institutions and faculty members’ publications in Israel. Heschel said Duthu facilitated visits from professors working in Israel, which she said is a complex and cumbersome process. “He is not promoting or facilitating the boycotting [of Israeli institutions] ... on the contrary, he is doing the opposite of boycotting,” Heschel said. In a written statement to The Dartmouth, College spokesperson Diana Lawrence reaffirmed that Duthu “has embraced” the College’s institutional position against the boycott of Israeli academic institutions. Gustman said he had originally not wanted to make a public statement regarding his reservations about Duthu. He said he sent letters to Duthu, Hanlon and the Board of Trustees in hopes of them resolving the issue internally. He received a response from Duthu but did not find it satisfactory. “No matter how I disagreed with some people in the administration in the past, I never would have gone public, even on controversial things, so this is an issue that rose to such importance that I didn’t think I had any choice,” Gustman said. Gustman added that some faculty
members expressed agreement with his email to him personally, voicing concerns about, for instance, potential problems negotiating on research topics related to BDS with Duthu as a dean. He said, though, that they did not want to speak openly about the issue due to personal interest. “It takes a lot of courage to get up when this person is going to be driving the budget of your department,” Gustman said. On May 9, Duthu sent a facultywide email in response to “recent charges” that his support of the declaration should disqualify him from serving as the next dean of faculty of arts and sciences. In the email, Duthu said he “continue[s] to believe in the right of private citizens to express criticism of any country’s government policies.” Duthu added that at the same time, he does not believe “a boycott of academic institutions is the appropriate response” and that he fully supports Hanlon’s statement that the College will not support the boycott of Israeli academic institutions or academic boycotts of any kind. He also wrote that in his current role as associate dean for international studies and interdisciplinary programs, he has “embraced this position.” Heschel said that through the May
9 email, Duthu has renounced the views expressed in the declaration that he signed in 2013, calling his new stance “a change of heart.” Greenberg said that through the email, Duthu unequivocally expressed his opposition to academic boycotts and thus, Greenberg believes the matter is closed. He noted, though, that even if Duthu had not expressed opposition to these boycotts, such a stance should not affect his appointment to an administrative position. “To me, the notion that someone’s politics is a yardstick that determines their appointment to an administrative position is hugely problematic,” Greenberg said. “I think that the position people hold in person is their own business.” In a May 9 statement sent to the faculty in response to Duthu’s email, Gustman said Duthu did not clearly state that he repudiated his support of the BDS movement. Gustman wrote that “if [Duthu] does not clearly and unambiguously repudiate his position and support for BDS, the anger directed his way will only get louder.” “I just wanted [Duthu] to issue a statement that says, ‘I know in 2013 I was a public supporter of the BDS movement — I no longer hold those views or repudiate those views,’”
Gustman said in the interview. “That is all I wanted him to say, and in the latest letter he sent, he still doesn’t do it.” Economics professor Andrew Levin said he does not understand why Duthu “[didn’t] simply say in plain English that he no longer supports the BDS movement.” He called Duthu’s letter “helpful but ambiguous.” Levin said he is concerned by ambiguity because “there is potentially a much bigger issue about how we are going to have an open and transparent community.” Salzhauer said Duthu’s statements imply an unrealistic compromise. “His statement to the faculty attempts to have feet in both thought camps and that isn’t possible,” Salzhauer said. Lawrence wrote that “Duthu has publicly condemned anti-Semitism.” She added that Duthu has offered to meet with Gustman to discuss his concerns, but that Gustman declined. Heschel said she hopes people will “accept the reality instead of the fantasy.” “The fantasy is that Duthu boycotts [Israeli institutions],” Heschel said. “The reality is that he does not.” Duthu did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.
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N. Bruce Duthu ’80 declines dean of faculty appointment By THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
This article was originally published on May 22. UPDATED: May 22, 2017 at 2:38 p.m. N a t i ve A m e r i c a n s t u d i e s professor N. Bruce Duthu ’80 announced today in a faculty-wide email that he has declined his appointment as the next dean of the faculty of arts and sciences. His announcement follows concerns regarding his co-authorship of a 2013 declaration supporting a boycott of Israeli academic institutions In his announcement, Duthu stated that he will also step down from his current position as associate
dean of the faculty for international studies and interdisciplinary programs on July 1 and return to the Native American studies department as a faculty member. Duthu acknowledged in his statement that his appointment “remains a source of concern and contention.” “Whether warranted or not, this matter has been and will likely continue to be a significant distraction for me professionally and a source of considerable pain and frustration for me personally,” Duthu wrote. “It also has the great potential to be damaging to the college in the long term, given the higher visibility and engagement with external audiences that come with the dean’s position.” According to the statement, Duthu notified College President
Phil Hanlon of his decision this past weekend. He was to succeed current dean of the faculty Michael Mastanduno on July 1. Hanlon and Provost Carolyn Dever sent a campus-wide email later that afternoon expressing regret for Duthu’s decision. The email referred to Hanlon’s 2013 statement affirming that the College opposes boycotts of academic institutions and expressed support for Duthu. “In principle, we condemn bias against any group or individual and have complete confidence that Bruce does, as well,” the email stated. “In fact, his life’s work has been dedicated to supporting social justice and fighting bias in all its forms.” The email stated that plans for moving forward are under
development. On May 3, economics professor Alan Gustman sent a facultywide email stating that Duthu’s co-authorship of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association’s 2013 “Declaration of Support for the Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions” signifies that he is an advocate of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. In his email, Gustman asked Duthu to disavow the “BDS positions he has publicly endorsed” or resign his position as dean. Duthu responded to Gustman’s email on May 9 in a statement to the faculty, saying he does not believe “a boycott of academic institutions is the appropriate response.” He added that as associate dean, he fully supports the College’s position of opposing the boycott of academic
institutions. Gustman responded on May 9 expressing dissatisfaction with Duthu’s statement. On May 19, Native Americans at Dartmouth sent a campus-wide statement in support of Duthu and criticized heightened scrutiny of his credentials and scholarship. “When people of color are appointed to positions of power, they are met with racist backlash disguised as bureaucratic scrutiny from communities who benefit from a system that lacks diversity,” the statement reads. “These attitudes, when accommodated, inhibit institutions from becoming an equally secure environment for all students.” As of press time, 499 people had signed on in support of NAD’s statement.
Faculty discuss Duthu’s decision at termly meeting By PETER CHARALAMBOUS and JULIAN NATHAN The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on May 23. Yesterday afternoon, over 150 faculty members and around 50 student demonstrators gathered at Alumni Hall for the termly faculty of arts and sciences meeting. The meeting followed College President Phil Hanlon’s campuswide email earlier yesterday afternoon announcing that N. Bruce Duthu ’80 had declined his appointment to dean of faculty of arts and sciences following weeks of discussion surrounding his appointment. Student demonstrators attended the meeting in support of Duthu, carrying signs that read “Fight 4 Faculty of Color” and “This is Why Faculty of Color Leave Dartmouth,” among other messages. At the beginning of the meeting, Hanlon said that Duthu had his “unwavering support” and that opposition to Duthu’s appointment originated from “external” sources, not from individuals on campus. During the meeting, several faculty members said that the administration should have done more to communicate its support for Duthu, comments that received applause from faculty and students alike. Italian language and literature professor Graziella Parati said during the meeting that it was important for Dartmouth faculty to show their support for Duthu to demonstrate their commitment to diversity. After Hanlon’s statement, current dean of faculty of arts and sciences Michael Mastanduno
addressed the audience. He began by saying that he had “deep respect” for Duthu, who was to succeed Mastanduno on July 1, and said that Duthu’s credentials were “impeccable.” Mastanduno added that Duthu found himself in a “difficult” situation, and Mastanduno was “not interested in debating” whether or not Duthu was at fault for signing a declaration calling for the boycott of Israeli academic institutions in 2013. At certain points, faculty members and students alike interrupted Mastanduno with interjections supporting Duthu’s qualifications for the position. “I may be in full agreement with any of your signs, but please have the respect to allow the faculty to do its business,” Mastanduno responded at one point to an interrupting student. After Mastanduno made the majority of his remarks regarding Duthu’s decision, one faculty member proposed a motion to vote to urge Duthu to reconsider declining his appointment. After the motion was seconded by another faculty member, Hanlon asked the faculty members present at the meeting if they were willing to vote on the motion. The vast majority of faculty members raised their hands in favor of voting on the motion while none raised their hands in opposition. Since at least two-thirds of the faculty were in favor of voting on the motion, Hanlon then asked faculty members to vote for or against urging Duthu to reconsider his resignation. After more than twothirds of the faculty voiced their support again, Hanlon announced that the measure passed but did not specify further how Duthu would
be notified of this motion. Julie Solomon ’17, who attended the meeting with a sign that read “Don’t Do DartMYTH,” said that she learned of the faculty meeting through friends, not through any campus organizations. She said that while she respected Duthu’s decision to refuse his appointment, she was upset because she believed that opposition to Duthu’s appointment undermined the College’s stated goal to employ a diverse faculty. Solomon also added that she does not believe that Duthu’s stance on the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement amounts to anti-Semitism. Classics professor Lindsey Whaley, who voted in favor of the motion, said in an interview that Duthu’s appointment had “tremendous faculty support” and that the controversy surrounding the appointment upset most
faculty members. He added that despite his belief that Duthu is well qualified for this position, he respects Duthu’s decision to refuse his appointment. In an interview after the meaning, Parati said that “it would be naive to think that race had nothing to do with the opposition [to Duthu’s appointment].” Parati, who was a member of the search committee for the dean of the faculty position, said she believes that Duthu is an ideal choice. She added that she was glad that faculty had the opportunity to vote on the resolution because it gave them the chance to “send a strong message” of support for Duthu’s appointment. She said she believes that faculty members, and not “external forces,” have the right to decide who would represent them as their dean. Hanlon and Provost Carolyn
D e v e r a n n o u n c e d D u t h u ’s appointment on March 27. On May 3, economics professor Alan Gustman sent a faculty-wide email raising concerns about Duthu’s co-authorship of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association’s 2013 “Declaration of Support for the Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions.” Gustman argued that Duthu’s involvement implied support for the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement, which Gustman called anti-Semitic. Duthu responded to “recent charges” in a May 9 facultywide meeting, noting that he “condemn[s] anti-Semitism” and supports the “right of private citizens to express criticism of any country’s government policies.” Gustman responded to this email on May 9, saying that Duthu did not clearly repudiate the BDS movement.
ERIN LEE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Over 150 people attended the May 22 faculty of arts and sciences meeting in Alumni Hall.
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Duthu will not reconsider dean appointment By PETER CHARALAMBOUS The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on May 30. N a t i ve A m e r i c a n s t u d i e s professor N. Bruce Duthu ’80’s nomination to succeed Michael Mastanduno as the next dean of the faculty of arts and sciences was met with much discussion, and on May 22, Duthu declined the position and decided to step down from his current position as associate dean of interdisciplinary studies, effective July 1. In the two months between his nomination and rescindment, concerns were raised over his 2013 co-authorship of a declaration supporting a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, sparking campus-wide debate. In a regularly-scheduled faculty meeting on the same day as Duthu’s announcement, the faculty voted to unanimously reaffirm their support of Duthu as dean of faculty. The motion passed without opposition. D e s p i t e C o l l e g e f a c u l t y ’s affirmation of support, Duthu does not plan to accept the position. In an interview with The Dartmouth, Duthu expressed the reasoning behind his decision and outlook following his rescindment. “I felt that my integrity was on the line in terms of being able to honestly look at the job and feel like, so long as this opposition is out there, then I could not adequately do my job as dean,” he said. “The other piece of it, to be completely honest, was that I felt that it would have been important to have a very strong and early and public statement of support from the administration at the earliest outset, which could have been very helpful to tamp down what became a louder call.” Duthu also expressed his frustration that Gustman denied his request to meet with him. Duthu noted that while he was able to have conversations with two pro-Israeli students, he was not able to have that same kind of conversation with Gustman. Economics professor Alan Gustman authored a faculty-wide letter criticizing Duthu’s affiliation with BDS on May 3. In his letter, Gustman called for Duthu to publicly denounce his affiliations with the BDS movement or resign his position as dean. “ I d o n’t a g r e e w i t h t h e language of [Gustman’s] letter, but I understand the motive,” anthropology and Native American studies professor Sergei Kan said. He noted that while signing a letter in support of BDS does not make a person anti-Semitic, the
Palestinian leadership and some of the European and U.S. core of the BDS movement is anti-Semitic. While Gustman wrote in his letter that he does not believe that Duthu is anti-Semitic, the letter was published in Frontpage Magazine on May 5 under the headline “Dartmouth Appoints Anti-Semitic Terrorist Enabler as its New Dean.” T houg h headlines are not always written by the authors of the piece, The Dartmouth could not confirm the origins of the headline with Gustman, who declined request for comment. Duthu responded to Gustman’s email by authoring a faculty-wide letter on May 9, claiming that he supports the right of private citizens to criticize government practices. He added that he does not support a boycott of academic institutions. He also wrote that he condemns anti-Semitism, bias and prejudice and claimed that his past support of boycotts has not affected his role as associate dean of interdisciplinary studies. Chair of the department of Jewish studies Susannah Heschel said that Duthu’s past support of boycotts has not affected his work as associate dean. She noted that he has consistently supported Jewish academia by helping bring Jewish and Israeli scholars to the College, attending events hosted by the department and introducing guest speakers from the Jewish studies department. She said that Duthu has been invited to speak at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Duthu said that while he would have loved to speak at the University of Jerusalem, he is prohibited from entering Israel due to his affiliation with BDS. Heschel also said that while the BDS movement is flawed and misguided, signing a petition in support of it does not make a person anti-Semitic. She also claimed that Gustman’s letter went too far. “I find Alan Gustman’s creed against [Duthu] was pretty horrific and offensive and wrong and damaging to [Duthu] and to Dartmouth,” Heschel said. “I am offended as a member of the Dartmouth community by the way he behaved.” Following Duthu’s response letter, Gustman authored another letter to the faculty on May 9. In this letter, Gustman noted that he found Duthu’s response letter inadequate, as he did not clearly repudiate the BDS movement. Gustman called for Duthu to either denounce the movement or return to the position of faculty where he can hold the beliefs of a “private citizen.” Heschel said she offered to
meet with Gustman three times, and College spokesperson Diana Lawrence said that Duthu also offered to meet with Gustman so that they could speak about their differences in opinion. Gustman declined these meeting requests. “For me to reach out to a faculty member and ask for a personal meeting and to have that rejected, to me was a signal that this was not about engagement,” Duthu said. Sandor Farkas ’17 was one of the two Jewish students who met with Duthu following his nomination. Farkas, the former president of Dartmouth Students for Israel, noted that he appreciated the opportunity to have a respectful dialogue with Duthu. Despite the conversation, Farkas still holds his beliefs regarding Duthu’s disqualifying support for BDS. “It’s your duty to encourage the exchange of ideas, not your duty to prevent,” Farkas said. “For as long as Dean Duthu supported BDS, I opposed his appointment as dean.” Duthu also noted that he blames the lack of conversation following his nomination on what he calls “corrosion of civil discourse” that stems from an “embolden[ed] right-wing and quite narrowminded perspective that thrives on hate and division instead of openness and fair mindedness to at least try to approach really tough issues with respect for both sides.” Duthu said that following his nomination, he received a substantial amount of hate mail from both named and anonymous authors. He cited a specific
example in which a senior partner at a law firm told him that his decision to resign benefits the College and that he should be ashamed that he ever taught Dartmouth students. When asked about his support for BDS, Duthu noted that he never fully supported the BDS movement. He claimed that NAISA instead only supported a boycott and that he no longer believes a boycott is necessary. “The motive was to express s o l i d a r i t y w i t h Pa l e s t i n i a n academics and to offer a critique of specific governmental policies of the state of Israel,” he said. “We were very clear in not endorsing BDS as a movement because we understood that there were segments within that very broad movement that could be interpreted as being anti-Semitic. Anyone who took the time to read out statement would see that we do not reference BDS at all.” He further noted that he believes that Gustman’s accusations were slanderous. “I deeply regret the statements made about me, including those made by Professor Gustman, that could be characterized as slanderous,” Duthu said. Duthu said that he does not plan to sue Gustman for slander. “When there is no prospect of true engagement, the only response is to pray for someone like that,” he said. “That is what I will do.” Duthu plans to continue his work at Dartmouth as a member of the faculty. He hopes that this position will allow him to
educate students without facing constant scrutiny for past his beliefs regarding BDS. “As distressing and spiritcr u s h i n g as t h i s exp e r i e n ce has been for me, it has been outweighed by the love, the respect, the encouragement that the overwhelming majority of faculty have shown for me,” Duthu said. On May 19, Native Americans at Dartmouth authored a letter of support for Duthu’s appointment, signed by 610 people at press time. College President Phil Hanlon an d Provo s t Caro l y n Dever issued a statement on the same day expressing regret that Duthu declined his appointment. On May 24, Dartmouth Students for Israel issued a statement in response to the NAD letter. In their email, DSI debated some of the points in the NAD letter, explained the dangers of BDS, noted instances of antiSemitism at the College and called Duthu’s decision “honorable.” On May 26, Coalition for Israel-Palestine issued a statement in solidarity with NAD. A s e a rch c o m m i t t e e w i l l convene to nominate a new dean. The College will also continue its search for a new associate dean of faculty, “The critically important thing in the dean of faculty position is to get a person who is absolutely passionate and committed,” Dever said. “Whoever that person is, if that person brings the right ingredients and the right talents and the right experiences, that’s the right person.”
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Dining Scene Changes The past year saw a few notable changes in Hanover’s dining scene. Beloved local restaurant Everything But Anchovies closed without warning on May 16, though the writing was on the wall after Domino’s opened in West Lebanon last fall and cut into EBAs’ late-night deliveries. For 38 years, the restaurant offered a variety of pizzas and sandwiches to the Dartmouth community and was mourned by students and alumni alike, including CNN’s Jake Tapper ’91 who chimed in on Twitter saying, “It was a small pizzeria, but there were those of us who loved it.” In addition, Hanover’s robust Thai food selection shrank in the summer when Thai Orchid closed and Kata Thai rebranded into Pho Q, leaving Tuk Tuk Thai Cuisine as the only Thai restaurant without a significant recent modification.
Domino’s bring competition to EBAs By ALEXA GREEN
The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on Nov. 15, 2016. There’s new competition to be the Upper Valley’s big cheese. Restaurant chain Domino’s Pizza recently established two locations in West Lebanon and Claremont, extending their delivery services to the surrounding area. The restaurants — open from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays and until 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays — pose a threat to the financial success of local businesses such as Hanover’s Everything But Anchovies, EBAs Marketing and Catering Manager Danielle Paro said. EBAs opened in Hanover in 1979. The restaurant serves pizzas, wings, pasta and sandwiches from
11 a.m. to exactly 2:10 a.m., making it an attractive choice for students in need of food late at night, Paro said. She said that Domino’s extended hours, as well as short delivery times, have contributed to the restaurant’s success among College students. “They opened a branch here and in Claremont at the same time, so they became a big presence in the Upper Valley,” Paro noted. Paro said that she met with a group of 20 Dartmouth students earlier in the term to discuss Domino’s opening and possible changes that could be made to encourage students to continue buying from EBAs. According to Paro, the students concluded that a large appeal of Domino’s was its faster delivery time. However, the reduced time is largely a function of Domino’s pre-made pizzas, she
added. In order for EBAs to increase their speed of delivery, Paro said it would need to reduce its menu size. “If we cut our menu down to just pizzas, it would make a difference, but that’s not what students order,” Paro said, adding that the chicken sandwich is one of the restaurant’s top sellers, but also requires at least 15 minutes to cook. “It’s finding that balance of what the students want with that expectation of time.” Domino’s has also undertaken a significant marketing effort on campus and in the area, offering discounts to Dartmouth students. Given its large marketing budget, the chain has been able to produce both television and radio advertisements. Although EBAs also has some radio advertisements, the company primarily relies on newspaper ads, Facebook posts and fliers to attract customers,
Paro said. EBAs also sponsors events such as the Prouty and Children’s Hospital at DartmouthHitchcock Hero races, Greek life philanthropic activities and Dartmouth athletics, Paro said, noting that this difference between EBAs small-scale marketing and Domino’s widespread advertising has definitely affected delivery sales to campus and the Upper Valley. “I generally order delivery, and this term I have ordered more from Domino’s just because they are open later and generally deliver faster than EBAs,” Rebecca Holland ’17 said. However, others such as Alexa Dlouhy ’19, say that Domino’s later delivery hours do not influence their choice. Dlouhy said that she usually purchases more from EBAs in order to support local business. Another unforeseen competitor
in Hanover is Dartmouth Dining Services’ food truck, which opened this fall. Featuring sliders, fries, brownies, churros and cheese fritters in addition to vegan options, the DDS food truck accepts payments of DBA and meal swipes in addition to credit cards. The DDS truck likely deters some students who do not want to or cannot take the $10 or $20 out of their pockets, Paro said. Speaking as the chair of Hanover’s Local Business Council, she added that EBAs and other local establishments would “absolutely” accept College dining dollars, but the school will not allow the restaurants to do so. “Will Pine and Canoe Club see a direct effect [from Domino’s opening]? No, probably not,” Paro said. “Will Boloco or myself or the Chinese delivery places? We will.”
EBAs late-night deliveries decrease following Domino’s opening By ANTHONY ROBLES The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on May 5. Everything But Anchovies has faced increased competition since restaurant chain Domino’s Pizza opened two locations in West Lebanon and Claremont this past fall. EBAs, known for its pizza, wings, pasta and sandwiches, has been a staple in Hanover and a popular choice among students since it first opened in 1979. The operating hours of the West Lebanon Domino’s location are from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. from Sunday to Thursday and stays open until 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, whereas EBAs stays open until 3:10 a.m on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. In mid-January, EBAs extended its closing time from 2:10 a.m. to an hour later. EBAs president Maureen Bogosian said that Domino’s presence has negatively impacted EBAs’ night sales. “It’s impacted our late night deliveries,” Bogosian said. “They’ve decreased [about] 20 percent in the midnight to 1 a.m. slot.” Bogosian said that EBAs noticed the impact immediately. She noted that Domino’s has corporate backing,
while EBAs and other local pizza establishments in town such as Ramunto’s and C&A’s do not. “Every time a new restaurant opens up, we feel the competition,” Bogosian said. “It’s not unique to Domino’s. Every time there’s more competition it affects everybody, and then things level out after a while.” Additionally, Bogosian cited EBAs’ closer proximity to campus, as well as its wider selection of foods, as advantages that EBAs has over Domino’s. According to West Lebanon Domino’s manager Robert Keene, Domino’s decided to establish locations in the area because of its previous success with locations in college towns. Keene added that the Upper Valley was a growing market with a sizable population, which he deemed “an ideal place to build a store.” Keene said the two Domino’s locations are locally owned and operated franchises, with Keene himself owning part of the store as a partner. Keene acknowledged that the opening of the Domino’s locations likely negatively affected local pizza places, but this was not the “goal in [them] coming.” In regards to Domino’s sales, he added that his location has been successful since opening.
“We’re a growing business,” Keene said. “We came here for ourselves to be able to be successful. I’m sure it probably would hurt a lot of different quick-service restaurants – McDonald’s, EBAs, Wendy’s. There’s a piece of the pie to be had here.” Additionally, Keene said Domino’s does not currently have a company policy regarding how their establishment of new Domino’s locations might affect preexisting restaurants. “That’s kind of the nature of businesses — to want to grow,” Keene said. “To increase profitability, to increase sales, to stay competitive and that’s what Domino’s has done since 1960 when we opened the first store.” When choosing between the two establishments, Zeke Carlos ’19 stated that she found it hard to decide which of the two she preferred because she frequently visits EBAs for its specials, but usually chooses Domino’s for better late night food at relatively cheaper prices compared to EBAs. However, she said that between the two restaurants, Carlos believed that Domino’s was “taking over [EBAs] completely.” “I go to EBAs every Monday for dinner and it’s usually pretty empty,” Carlos said. “I think it’s kind of surprising that on campus I always see Domino’s cars. Even though EBAs is
right here I feel like a lot of people just know Domino’s from their own homes.” Carlos suggested that for EBAs to remain competitive more people would
need to know about their daily specials. “If people knew about the deals EBAs offered, I think that would help them tremendously,” Carlos said.
MARGARET ROWLAND/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
Since Domino’s opened in West Lebanon this past fall, Everything But Anchovies suffered a 20 percent drop in late-night deliveries.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
EBAs closes following recent profit losses By SUNPREET SINGH The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on May 26. Following months of financial struggles, local restaurant Everything But Anchovies abruptly closed on May 16. The restaurant was run by EBAs president Maureen Bogosian and her family since 1979, serving pizza, burgers and wings to the Hanover and Dartmouth communities for 38 years. Hanover town manager Julia Griffin said she was not surprised when she heard about the closure due to the changing face of EBAs’ competition. Griffin said that EBAs had been suffering from a loss in pizza delivery business ever since a Domino’s Pizza opened in West Lebanon and began offering delivery until 3 a.m. She added that while the arrival of the restaurant franchise hurt business for other local pizza places such as Ramunto’s Brick and Brew Pizzeria and C&A Pizza, they did not suffer losses as much as EBAs did because EBAs specialized in the late-night delivery business, which is Domino’s forte. Bogosian declined to comment. A May 5 article in The Dartmouth also reported that EBAs saw a 20 percent decline in late night deliveries following the opening of the Domino’s franchise last fall. Ramunto’s owner Tim Cullen added that Domino’s has corporate software and advertising resources, while EBAs was a local family business. “They did a lot of late night pizza delivery and Domino’s offers specials upon specials upon specials and ... that’s not the best thing to do,” he said. “I think that you should stand by your product and not necessarily be discounting it all the time. I think that hurt EBAs a lot.” Ramunto’s felt the presence of Domino’s with an initial dip in profits but has since recovered, Cullen said. He added that his business has seen a general uptick in sales from Dartmouth students and faculty since the closure of EBAs.
Cullen said that he thinks some of the void left by EBAs will be filled by Ramunto’s and other local restaurants, but he expects Domino’s to continue to get more of the late-night delivery business. While the arrival of Domino’s played a large role in EBAs’ decision to shut down, Griffin said there were other significant factors. The College’s decision years ago to change its term calendar to include a five- to six-week winter break harmed the profits of many Hanover businesses, she said. Following the calendar change, faculty and students leave campus before Thanksgiving and return at the start of the winter term in early January. This reduced profits for EBAs, which had previously seen high profits during November and December. Griffin added the arrival of the College’s late-night food truck also affected EBAs’ business. “The College now has a late-night food truck and on the one hand, trying to meet the needs of students is what Dartmouth Dining Services is all about, but that was also a sucker punch to EBAs, because before Domino’s came in big time and the College added the food truck, a quarter of the late-night food delivery market was EBAs,” Griffin said. “This was a triple whammy that hit the restaurant that resulted in their decision to close.” Griffin said that while many wondered about the timing of the announcement and decision, it was ultimately the Bogosian family’s collective decision to shut down the restaurant on its own terms and timing. Griffin said that the loss of EBAs was particularly disappointing for the town of Hanover because the town strongly supports locally-owned businesses. “We hate to see a big chain stamp out another locally-owned business,” Griffin said. “We just hate to see that happen. No comment on the quality of Domino’s pizza. It’s just that this is a region of the state that really supports locally grown, locally owned and homegrown businesses and we hate to see them lose out to national chains.”
Griffin said that she is curious to see whether another restaurant moves into EBAs’ previously-held restaurant space on Allen Street because of its proximity to the College’s campus. She hopes there will be another restaurant tenant looking to locate there but doubts that any new restaurant will be looking to enter the competitive nighttime delivery corner of the market due to Domino’s presence. Associate dean for student life Eric Ramsey said that when he found out EBAs had closed, he was shocked and immediately concerned for those who worked at the restaurant. Ramsey had placed an order for a Green Key midnight breakfast event when he was notified that EBAs was closed and that his order could not be fulfilled. “I have worked at Dartmouth for 13 years, and they were my trusted, go-to caterer — whether it was a large formal event we were having or all of a sudden we needed dinner for 30 people in 45 minutes, they were always the ones to deliver and deliver well,” Ramsey said. “They have always been so flexible and nimble and willing to try anything for us. I have always appreciated the partnership and we could not have done so many of our events without them, so I hope someone steps up and fills the significant void that EBAs has left in Hanover.” Ramsey said that he thinks most student organizations at the College ordered regularly from EBAs because they were a local caterer that understood students’ needs better than a generic national restaurant chain. Hanover resident Shelley Gilbert has gotten her lunch everyday for the past 30 years from the salad bar at EBAs and was disappointed when she found out through Facebook that the restaurant had closed down. “It’s a loss for the town in that EBAs served all the sports teams; it was a great place for young kids to go and be independent and have a meal out, and they were open late so it was great for college students,” Gilbert said. “I think it was just great for the community across the board, and it’s a real loss for the town.”
TIFFANY ZHAI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
After 38 years of service, local restaurant Everything But Anchovies permanently closed on May 16.
Hanover eateries close, rebrand
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revamping and rebranding itself, Thai Orchid has chosen to leave Hanover The Dartmouth Senior Staff entirely. Its website says that it plans to This article was originally published on reopen in a new location that is more accessible — the Hanover location July 7. was on the second floor of a plaza For a year and a half, Dartmouth — and has more parking options. students and Hanover residents The restaurant’s voicemail says that have had a choice of three Thai it plans to reopen in Lebanon in the restaurants in town — a high number near future. given Hanover’s size. But one of The restaurant, which has not these restaurants has shut down and provided any updated contact plans to relocate, while another will information, could not be reached be changing its name in the coming for comment. months and expanding its menu to Hanover town manager Julia Griffin said that the town faces a high serve Vietnamese food. Thai Orchid, previously the oldest demand for parking due to the busy restaurant in town, has shut down retail and restaurant presence in the its Hanover location and plans to town. In comparison, both downtown reopen in Lebanon. Kata Thai, which Lebanon and other locations in opened last January, was Hanover’s the area, such as Highway 12A or newest Thai addition. However, it Mechanic Street, have much more will rebrand itself as Pho Q in mid- open parking than Hanover, she said. August, serving both Vietnamese and Ken Pace, manager of Hanover’s third Thai restaurant, Tuk Tuk Thai Thai food. Kata Thai manager Leanna Wong Cuisine, called Thai Orchid’s closure said that “Pho Q” is short for “Pho “shocking.” Pace said he and his wife Queen.” The name refers to a kind Pannipa Pace, who owns Tuk Tuk, of Vietnamese soup noodle that had no ill will towards Thai Orchid. includes meat, rice noodles and herbs Pannipa Pace had previously worked as a cook in broth. Janet at Thai Orchid Wo n g, K a t a “People like healthy before eventually Thai’s owner and leaving to Leanna Wong’s [food more] now.” open her own sister, came up restaurant. Ken with the name. Pace said that In addition -LEANNA WONG, KATA when Pannipa to Vietnamese THAI MANAGER Pace left, Thai foods like pho Orchid’s owner and bánh mì had delivered — a kind of Vietnamese sandwich — Pho Q will some heated comments to her, continue serving the most popular spurring her on to succeed at Tuk Tuk. Thai dishes from Kata Thai, like pad In 2015, the Valley News reported thai, fried rice and curries, Leanna about a possible personal rivalry Wong said. The restaurant is also between the management at Thai considering serving samosas. It will Orchid and at Tuk Tuk. stop serving the less popular items It would be difficult for two Thai on Kata Thai’s menu, such as soup restaurants operating at similar price points, such as Thai Orchid and Tuk noodles. Leanna Wong noted that Pho Q Tuk, to coexist in a town the size of will be the only Vietnamese restaurant Hanover, Griffin said. in Hanover, giving it a competitive The closure of Thai Orchid marks another unexpected Hanover edge. “I think Vietnamese food is restaurant shutdown. This past May, healthier — less oil,” she said. “People pizza restaurant Everything But Anchovies closed without warning like healthy now.” Originally, the plan was to switch after the opening of a Domino’s the restaurant’s cuisine to serve Pizza franchise in West Lebanon, Vietnamese food exclusively, Leanna which offered later pizza deliveries Wong said, as both she and Janet than EBAs. A Facebook page called Wong are Vietnamese. However, at “Ebas Hanover” later posted a status the advice of Kata Thai’s previous announcing plans to bring in a new owner, they chose to continue serving management team and reopen the its most popular Thai foods in order to restaurant; however, the status appears keep the restaurant’s usual customers to have since been deleted. Griffin said she believes Dominos’ happy. The switch from Kata Thai to aggressive attempts to promote its Pho Q is scheduled for mid-August, late-night delivery was a major factor she said. The restaurant is currently in EBAs’ closure. The Dartmouth preparing to make the switch to a previously reported that EBAs new cuisine and is purchasing new saw a 20 percent decline in late night deliveries following Dominos’ equipment. While Kata Thai is merely opening.
By ZACHARY BENJAMIN
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THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
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THE DARTMOUTH ORIENTATION ISSUE 2017
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
SPORTS The Dartmouth Sports Awards Moment of the Year
The 2016-2017 school year featured several exciting moments for Dartmouth sports. This past year’s top moments include historical wins for the Big Green, NCAA tournament berths and top finishes in major competitions. After a week of voting, Men’s hockey’s win over then-No.11 University of Michigan came out on top in The Dartmouth’s campus poll.
By EVAN MORGAN and CHRIS SHIM The Dartmouth Senior Staff
ANNIE DUNCAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
KATE HERRINGTON/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
ANNIE DUNCAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
GAYNE KALUSTIAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
TIFFANY ZHAI/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF
With a win in its final regularseason Ivy League matchup against Princeton University on April 23, the women’s tennis team clinched a share of the Ivy League title and secured an NCAA tournament bid, its second in program history. The Big Green entered April with a strong 12-2 record but suddenly lost its groove, losing to Ancient Eight rivals Harvard University on April 2 and Brown University on April 9. With a difficult conference slate ahead and slimmer chances of winning the Ivy League, the Big Green returned to the courts with renewed focus, taking victories against Cornell University, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. In its final regular season matchup, the Big Green faced a Princeton team that had finished as Ivy League champions for the past three years. After winning the doubles point, quick singles wins from Allison McCann ’20, co-captain Jacqueline Crawford ’17 and Kristina Mathis ’18 secured the victory for the Big Green. “[Crawford] won her match very quickly, and when I saw that, I started crying in my match,” co-captain Taylor Ng ’17 said. “I was really happy for her and for our team. Then at the end of my match, I burst into tears. It was a long time coming, and it’s been so worth it.”
Heavyweight rowing entered the season with high expectations after a successful fall season and strong performances at the C.R.A.S.H.-B. sprints World Indoor Rowing Championships in the winter. There, senior captain Spencer Furey ’17 and Nevin Cunningham ’17 placed first and second, while Scott Ortlip ’17 finished sixth. The Big Green certainly had quite the spring. Defeating No. 14 Columbia University, No. 6 Boston University, No. 9 Brown University and No. 7 Syracuse University, the Big Green suffered its only loss of the spring regular season to No. 3 Yale University. The Big Green began the season ranked No. 8 in the country and headed into the Eastern Sprints Regatta ranked No. 6. At Eastern Sprints, the Big Green had two boats qualify for the grand finals in its respective races. The highlight of the regatta was the first varsity boat placing fifth in the grand finals, the first time that Dartmouth had qualified its 1V boat to the grand finals at Eastern Sprints since 2010. Overall, Dartmouth placed eighth out of 18 of the best crews in the eastern United States — the Big Green’s highest finish since 2010. The team concluded its season at the IRA Regatta June 2 to 4 at Lake Natoma in Gold River, California, finishing ninth, improving on last year’s 14th, and winning the Clayton Chapman trophy for most improved team.
The last time it happened, Gerald Ford was president, “Play That Funky Music” was at the top of the charts and football head coach Buddy Teevens ’79 was a backup sophomore quarterback for the Big Green. In the 2016 season opener, the Dartmouth football team topped then-No. 22 University of New Hampshire 23-22, its first victory over the Wildcats since a 24-13 triumph in 1976. In the intervening editions of the Granite Bowl, Dartmouth was 0-18-2. Dartmouth began the season as a team with a big question hanging over it: Could the Big Green return to its 2015 form after losing a crop of talented seniors? The triumph over UNH, punctuated by a gamewinning fourth-quarter rally, seemed an emphatic answer. Jack Heneghan ’18 had a mixed performance in his first career start, tossing a pair of interceptions in addition to three touchdowns, but he and the rest of the offense showed up when the game was on the line. With Dartmouth trailing 21-16 late in the fourth quarter, the big Californian directed a six-play, 79-yard drive to the UNH one-yard line. On the next play, Heneghan rolled left and found Charles Mack ’18 running leftto-right in the end zone. Dartmouth went up by one and sealed the victory when Brendan Cascarano ’18 sacked Wildcats quarterback Trevor Knight on fourth down with 27 seconds remaining.
It took more than 104 minutes, but continuous Dartmouth pressure finally cracked a stingy St. Francis College defense in the first round of the NCAA College Cup. Midfielder Matt Danilack ’18 punched in an Alexander Marsh ’17 cross in the second overtime period to send Dartmouth to the tournament’s second round for the third consecutive year. The goal was the first allowed by the Terriers’ defense in nine games and 982 minutes. Dartmouth dominated the first half, posting six shots and holding the Terriers without a shot. But St. Francis showed life with five shots in the second half, and the Terriers and nearly won the game in the 89th minute. Dartmouth was unable to clear the ball, and St. Francis midfielder Salvatore Barone, all alone, shot a laser which sailed just wide of the net. Regulation ended in a 0-0 tie, as did the first overtime period. Then, in the 105th minute, Marsh sent in a cross which squirted through St. Francis’ back line and went right to Danilack. The Dartmouth midfielder beat St. Francis goalkeeper Seth Erdman with a hard shot to the lower right corner, then leapt into the stands to enjoy the adulation of a boisterous Big Green student section. Dartmouth’s season ended three days later with a 3-0 loss to No. 8 Syracuse University.
The men’s hockey began the season with a bang: a 3-2 win over then-No. 11 University of Michigan. As he did often in the 2016-2017 season, Troy Crema ’17 made the difference that night. His goal with 49 seconds remaining was the winning tally of an electrifying 3-2 victory in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Thompson Arena. It was Michigan who opened the scoring 17 minutes into a back-andforth first period. The Big Green responded two minutes into the second stanza with a Kevin Neiley ’18 goal, then took the lead nine minutes later when Cam Strong ’20 went top shelf on Michigan goalie Jack LaFontaine. Early in the third period, Michigan’s Alex Kile snuck one past Devin Buffalo ’18 on the power play, knotting the score at 2-2. Strong looked to have given Dartmouth the lead when he finished off a rebound just past the 15-minute mark. After a seemingly interminable video replay, the goal was waved off due to goalie interference. But the long delay didn’t faze the Big Green. With the final seconds ticking away, Crema fired a quick wrist shot inside the far post. The puck got a favorable bounce off the skate of linemate Corey Kalk ’18 and beat LaFontaine low to give Dartmouth the victory. The win was Dartmouth’s first over the Wolverines since 1971.
Women’s tennis Men’s heavyweight Football beats the Men’s soccer advances Men’s hockey edges clinches Ivy League rowing has highest University of New in NCAA tournament then-No.11 University title and earns NCAA Eastern Sprints finish Hampshire for the first on thrilling double- of Michigan in season tournament berth since 2010 time since 1976 overtime goal opener
Winner: Men’s hockey edges then-No.11 University of Michigan in season opener