The Dartmouth 10/11/2019

The Dartmouth VOL. CLXXVI NO.79

10.11.2019

SAMANTHA BURACK AND BELLA JACOBY/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

PAGE 2

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH HOMECOMING ISSUE 2019

EDITORS’ NOTE

DIVYA KOPALLE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Metamorphosis and migration are essential biological processes for many animals. For butterflies, metamorphosis is divided into distinct life cycle stages — egg, larva, pupa and adult. For humans, the process of maturation is messy, blurred and possibly indefinite.

However, Dartmouth serves as a rare exception that allows us to point to a finite period of transformation. Migration, the seasonal movement of animals from one region to another, parallels the Homecoming experience.

Like clockwork, every mid-October, as the leaves change and students make their way through the heart of the term, various members of the Dartmouth community migrate back to the Big Green. Homecoming offers a unique opportunity to reflect on our own metamorphosis at Dartmouth — whether you’re a ’23 who’s been here for five weeks or an alum returning after 50 years.

This issue seeks to explore the Dartmouth journey, both within people and at the College itself.

Best, Arielle Beak and Maggie Doyle

Table of Contents Black community groups look to help College address history

2

A look at mental health resources at Dartmouth and the Upper Valley

3

Veteran undergraduates bring unique perspectives to campus

3

Q&A with College President Phil Hanlon

4

Women in Thayer: next steps after a groundbreaking female class

5

Native American education at Dartmouth develops over time

6

Rush process for Greek life a complicated experience

6

OPINION ASKS: Homecoming Bonfire

7

HILL-WELD: These Aren’t My Woods

7

HORAN: It’s All About the Benjamins

7

VERBUM ULTIMUM: Our Inconvenient Truth

7

The evolution of Dartmouth homecoming throughout the ages

8

Hood Museum becomes source of experiential learning in classrooms 8

Black community groups look to help College address history B y Lauren Adler The Dartmouth

When Dartmouth graduated its first black student, Edward Mitchell, in 1828, the College did not keep records of students’ race. While some mixed-race students may have attended earlier and graduated, there is no official documentation of their presence on campus. This year, in honor of Dartmouth’s 250th anniversary, the Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association is working to change that.

According to a presentation given

by Garvey Clarke ’57 at BADA’s 25th anniversary reunion, the organization’s long-term goals are to provide black Dartmouth undergraduates with more guidance on career opportunities and to continue to develop the relationship between black undergraduates and alumni. Overall, BADA hopes to assist Dartmouth in better serving the needs of black students by reviewing the College’s policies and practices and to increase efforts to recruit more black students in the future. Twenty-two years later, BADA is also seeking to document the black experience at Dartmouth.

“I work with BADA, and I’m in conversations with them about helping them collect [materials and] helping them better document the African American experience on campus,” said college archivist Peter Carini. “We’re setting up a conduit for members of BADA to be able to offer materials to Rauner so we’re able to build out a better, more robust version of that.”

In 2018, Dartmouth launched its Historical Accountability Student Research Program as part of its Inclusive Excellence plan, which fully funds four term-long student research fellowships and three student research internships that allow students to learn more about Dartmouth’s history through the College’s archives and special collections. The program has six main initiatives: increase faculty

DEBORA HYEMIN HAN, Editor-in-Chief

diversity, increase staff diversity, build a more inclusive community, increase transparency, confront and learn from the past and be accountable.

The webpage for the “Confront and Learn from the Past” initiative lists two main tasks: to commission public projects on Dartmouth’s history of diversity and inclusivity and to make existing and forthcoming research on Dartmouth’s past accessible and available for research, teaching and community outreach, both of which are designated as being in progress.

However, in terms of Dartmouth’s institutional ties to slavery, the College has not formally set up a commission or a particular way of addressing its ties, according to Carini. While there are formalized, high-profile programs to investigate slavery at many peer institutions, the College is taking a more decentralized approach as it examines the legacy of pivotal school leaders such Dartmouth founder Eleazar Wheelock.

According to Carini’s research, Wheelock owned at least 19 slaves throughout his life — some of which contributed to the construction of Dartmouth’s campus — and Wheelock offered his slaves Christian knowledge in an attempt to convert them in “probably a paternalistic way.” He may have also given his younger slaves a basic primary school education.

Dartmouth students have often taken action to promote racial diversity on campus. For example, Mitchell was accepted in 1824 after a petition by students at the time to allow him to study at the College. Veterans coming to Dartmouth after World War II started a movement to eliminate discriminatory language in fraternity constitutions. Because many of those clauses were enshrined in the bylaws of national Greek organizations, some of Dartmouth’s fraternities, such as Phi Tau, went local in order to desegregate.

Coming to Dartmouth can still be

difficult for students of color today.

Demi Stratmon ’20, the secretary of Alpha Kappa Alpha — a black sorority — said that arriving on campus was “a major culture shock.”

“Coming to a predominantly white institution was extremely difficult in the beginning of my college career,” she wrote in an email. “I came to the quick realization that I had to find people who I could relate to in order to get through my college career and found those people through organizations that catered to the Black students on campus such as the Afro-American Society, Black Girls Are Magic, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.”

Stratmon and the Afro-American Society are working to enrich and protect the experience of black students at Dartmouth; this year, the society’s theme is “Sustainable Community, Leadership and Accountability for Dartmouth’s Black Population,” focusing on making Dartmouth a better place through respect for all students and taking action to put their future in their own hands.

“It is important that Black students feel like they are apart [sic] of a strong community so when issues arise from other parts of campus they know they are supported and heard,” Stratmon wrote.

Stratmon also wrote that while she initially had misgivings about being a minority student at Dartmouth, her experience — one that she notes is not shared by all black students or espoused by either Alpha Kappa Alpha or the Afro-American Society — has inspired pride in who she is.

“This experience has made me even prouder of my history, traditions, culture, and racial background,” she wrote. “I know who I am and what it means to be a strong Black woman in a predominantly white space and this is an important lesson as I step into greater American society after graduation.”

WHAT PERCENT OF STUDENTS HAVE EATEN AT ...

AIDAN SHEINBERG, Publisher

ALEX FREDMAN, Executive Editor ARIELLE BEAK, Issue Editor CAROLINE COOK, Opinion Editor PETER CHARALAMBOUS, Managing Editor

MAGGIE DOYLE, Issue Editor EOWYN PAK, Opinion Editor ANTHONY ROBLES, Managing Editor

PRODUCTION EDITORS

BUSINESS DIRECTORS

KYLEE SIBILIA, Mirror Editor

JONNY FRIED, JASMINE FU, RAIDEN MEYER,

LILI STERN & BAILY DEETER, Sports Editors LEX KANG & LAUREN SEGAL, Arts Editors DIVYA KOPALLE, Photo Editor SAMANTHA BURACK & BELLA JACOBY, Design Editors HATTIE NEWTON, Templating Editor JESS CAMPANILE, Multimedia Editor ELIZA JANE SCHAEFFER, Engagement Editor

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019

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THE DARTMOUTH HOMECOMING ISSUE 2019

A look at mental health resources at Dartmouth and the Upper Valley B y Debora Cobon The Dartmouth

At any given time of the academic year, 25 to 28 percent of the Dartmouth student body are being served by the Counseling Center at Dick’s House, according to Heather Earle, director of the Counseling Center. Students’ demand for mental health services increase with each week that passes in a term, and peaks in October and May, with the settling-in of freshmen in the fall and the departure of seniors in the spring, Earle said.

The core mental health resource at Dartmouth is the Counseling Center at Dick’s House, but there are multiple groups such as the Student Wellness Center, the Tucker Center, and shortterm workshops centered around common issues such as anxiety and stress management as well.

Reaching out to a stranger who may not understand the Dartmouth experience can exacerbate students’ feelings of not being understood or supported. That is why Amanda Chen ’21she decided to found the Dartmouth Mental Health Student Union, a group of students devoted to reducing stigma, increasing awareness in mental health services on campus and mental health issues. The Dartmouth Mental Health Student Union currently has around 30 active members and recently hosted a launch party for the peer-support program, Late Night Solace, which had a turn-out of nearly 100 people, according to Chen.

“I think the benefit when you meet with a peer is just that you don’t have to explain the Dartmouth experience to them,” Chen said. “I actually use Late Night Solace myself quite often. If I tell a peer I’m stressed out, they already have an idea of why, whether it’s because of the quarter system, the D-Plan, the second round of midterms, the pressures felt from rush and the Greek system. It’s really nice to have a time where I can focus on me and have someone else there to just listen.”

Over the past years, Dartmouth has altered its approach to mental health issues, acknowledging how different the healing process can be for students based on their background.

The first step in the Dick’s House counseling process for students seeking support is a triage appointment, which is a 30-minute meeting with a clinician from the Counseling Center. During a triage appointment, students discuss their reason for seeking help, their goals and other preferences. Some students share a preference for a counselor of a certain gender, some request a shared racial or ethnic identity, Earle said.

Similarly, Chen said her organization emphasizes inclusivity and diversity.

“We recognize that mental health can affect people in so many different ways, depending on their personal background and cultural experiences,” Chen said.

With all these factors considered, counselors at Dick’s House guide students toward their next step, which can include several options.

“That might be seeing a clinician here short-term, referral to one of our groups, referral to one of our workshops, referral to the community, a single session, or we may decide our services are not needed,” Earle said.

The Counseling Center typically deals with students with short-term issues, so if a counselor decides a student needs longterm care, the student may be referred to external community providers. Many students find this process frustrating due to financial struggles, time constraints or not having access to a car, according to Earle. If a student is found to be a good candidate for short-term counseling, the most important thing is making sure the student and their counselor are a good match and have a shared connection.

Earle said that for many students, the frustration with mental health services at Dartmouth comes from unfamiliarity with the resources available.

In surveys collected anonymously by the Counseling Center, students who have actually utilized their services reported overwhelming satisfaction. However,

Earle said she understands students’ threat to his or her own safety or frustrations with the limits of mental another person’s safety. Additionally, health services. students are not charged for services in “What students would like, as well the Counseling Center and insurance as what I would like, is to be able to options are discussed thoroughly if a give all students as much counseling as student is referred to see someone in the they want,” Earle said. “Sadly, that’s community. something we are not equipped to do, as “Counseling is great, but many we see both undergraduate and graduate students think, ‘You and I haven’t really students. However, the issue with the met before, but I have to spill all my life student-to-counselor ratio is that this is problems to you,’” Earle said. “It can a problem we can’t really buy ourselves be intimidating and scary, so we wait out of.” at least a week to give students time to Chen and Earle both hypothesized decide if they want to actually continue that students are deterred from seeking with counseling after triage.” help because they feel that their problems Beyond Dartmouth, limited mental are not ‘serious enough,’ fear the stigma health resources affect the rural attached to therapy and counseling, or are communities of Upper Valley as well. unsure about the costs and confidentiality For example, Upper Valley Haven, a policies involved. nonprofit, private organization that Paola Karapataki ’22 said that many serves people from Vermont and New Dartmouth students feel uneasy about Hampshire who struggle with issues of speaking to a stranger about their poverty and homelessness. The issue of issues and would homelessness is not as obvious in a nonrather speak to someone close in “We recognize that urban setting. A lot age or someone mental health can of people struggling trustworthy, like with these issues affect people in so a friend. require redirection due to challenges “I definitely many different ways, go to my mom, with mental health depending on their close friends from said Becky Hadley, home or my priest personal background the Adult Programs first to talk about and cultural Clinical Supervisor at Upper Valley Haven . problems that are more long- experiences.”

“We provide a lot term, such as of resources, but also health problems work closely with -AMANDA CHEN ‘21 or family issues,” a lot of partnering agencies so there’s Karapataki said.

“It would have to be a really serious issue a lot of collaboration that goes on in for me to go to a counselor because I find supporting folks,” Hadley said. “In it hard to take advice from someone who the more rural areas, people aren’t on doesn’t really know me. Most students the streets panhandling but they are don’t know about many resources couch-surfing, sleeping in a car or camp. beyond the Counseling Center, and a There isn’t always an awareness that this lot of people don’t know that it’s a free is an issue in our community and the shelter resources are kind of spread out resource.”

Earle said that services offered by throughout the state. In our neighboring the Counseling Center are strictly area, the Haven is the shelter.”

Dartmouth’s setting in rural New confidential, with the exception of vague details included in release forms Hampshire further present additional and if a student presents an imminent challenges. For example, there are not

many community providers that are open to new patients or that accept insurance.

In cities, on the other hand, there are usually more providers, low-fee agencies and training programs available, Earle said.

Chen attended the 2019 Ivy League Mental Health Conference this past spring in which mental health services across campuses were compared.

“Being in a rural setting is really hard, because if you don’t want to use school services, there aren’t that many services available around you,” Chen said. “For example, people at Harvard talked about having the ability to try multiple psychiatrists within walking distance of each other, which is unbelievable for us in Hanover.”

A lot of the exciting Dartmouthspecific experiences the College prides itself on present burdens for students.

For example, the D-Plan is offers students diverse travel and professional opportunities, through FSPs, LSAs and more, but it also makes it difficult to maintain relationships, Earle said.

Although anxiety does not appear at significantly higher rates at Dartmouth than other campuses, the intensity of 10 week terms can make students feel even more anxious about not missing class and avoiding sickness, Earle noted.

Even as a junior, Chen said she always finds the first week of a term especially difficult. Chen added that because of Dartmouth’s size and fast pace, it can be easy to feel lonely and unsupported.

Some students may even feel too busy to ask for help or have a conversation with a friend.

“The feeling of always being busy affects how much time you spend with your friends, and I’ve heard from a lot of my friends that they don’t have time to relax with friends,” Chen said. “I think we kind of overlook how lonely it can feel here because we think of Dartmouth as this very tight-knit community. The first thing we hear is “welcome home,” meaning there’s already a community established, yet many people feel like they don’t belong.”

Veteran undergraduates bring unique perspectives to campus B y Joey ChOng

he was trying to figure out what he wanted to do. After working hand-inhand with engineers in the Marines, Every fall, Dartmouth welcomes a Humberstone thought he would give it a new class comprised of mostly traditional try. Humberstone began his college career college students: first-year students who at the University of Central Florida, graduated from high school just a few where he learned about the Posse Veterans months before running — well, now Program, which “identifies, trains, and walking — around the bonfire. However, supports veterans of the U.S. Armed in the new cohort of over 1,000 students, Forces interested in pursuing bachelor’s there are also the non-traditional college degrees at top colleges and universities,” students. according to their mission statement.

There is one particular group of Accepted veterans receive training non-traditional students we often do not prior to arriving on their college campuses remember even though they are a part and attend college with a close-knit team of our undergraduate community — of veterans, or “posse.” Starting in the fall veterans. Student-veterans add a new of 2016, Dartmouth began a partnership dimension to the Dartmouth narrative, with the Posse Veterans Program, and the colors of their stories deserve to meaning the College now provides shine. veterans in the program with funding to Brandyn Humberstone ’22 is cover tuition. Humberstone applied to a student-veteran the third cohort, studying engineering or Posse 3, of the “Being a veteran [is] who served in the Posse Veterans United States Marine something you’re program, even Corps from 2011 to pretty aware of. It though, in his own 2016. Humberstone words, he “didn’t worked as a safety can be a bit of an really know what equipment technician adjustment, just Dartmouth was.”

(MOS 6282) for AV“I never because some people 8B harriers, a USMC thought I’d be aircraft, focusing on see me and have in a place like ejection seats and life- questions.”

Dartmouth,” support systems. His Humber stone first deployment was said. “The next a nine-month Marine -NATALY DE FRIETAS ’20 day, I got a call that expeditionary unit on I was admitted to the U.S.S. Bataan, and Dartmouth.” his second deployment was to Bahrain That’s when the work began. As an for seven months — all before he came official member of Posse 3, Humberstone to Dartmouth. said he started his Dartmouth journey Humberstone said during his second in New York City with the other nine deployment, he reached a point where students in the cohort for “pre-collegiate

The Dartmouth Staff

training.”

“They became some of my best friends,” he said.

Anthony Lenkiewicz ’22 is a fellow member of Posse 3 with Humberstone.

Lenkiewicz served in the Coast Guard for six years as an information technology specialist. However, in a branch smaller than the New York Police Department, “you do a little bit of everything,” Lenkiewicz said. During his first patrol, Lenkiewicz said he helped two German nationals who were sailing but got caught in a storm in the Caribbean Sea. Lenkiewicz viewed his service as a “stepping stone,” but he said he would have gladly continued to serve until retirement. After six years in the Coast Guard, Lenkiewicz decided to pursue his college education.

“They tried to attempt me to stay in [the Coast Guard] by dangling Hawaii over me,” Lenkiewicz said. “That would have been nice, but I knew that I wanted to go to college because I believe in a quality education.”

Lenkiewicz started with guidance from an organization called Service to School, a program that helps veterans gain admissions to universities. His mentor in the program was a member of Posse 1, which prompted him to apply to Posse 3 at Dartmouth.

While Humberstone and Lenkiewicz are members of Posse 3, Nataly De Freitas ’20 — a senior studying in Economics and English — is a member of the pilot cohort Posse 1. De Freitas was previously in the Army reserves while also working as a retail banker. In the Army Reserves, she served as a psychological operations specialist. De Freitas said. De Freitas was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011, where

she spent a year before returning home to Colorado. After her return, De Freitas married her husband, who is currently serving active duty.

De Freitas, Humberstone, and Lenkiewicz are all undergraduate students, and they expressed the similarities and differences between their student experiences and the experiences of traditional Dartmouth students. However, all three highlighted constant awareness of their identity as a common aspect of the student experience for veterans.

“Being a veteran [is] something you’re pretty aware of,” Lenkiewicz said. “It can be a bit of an adjustment, just because some people may see me and have questions.”

Lenkiewicz explained that students have different interactions and associations with the military, typically having varying understandings of what it means to be a veteran. Consequently, Lenkiewicz described the responsibility he feels to “paint the picture for them” through his reputation and demeanor.

De Freitas said that while she is a little older than most undergraduate students, age is only an issue if she makes it an issue.

Humberstone explained that age plays a much larger role in his student experience.

“I think the biggest thing is the age gap,” Humberstone said, “Maybe the life experience — military experience — plays a role in it too, but I have a different interaction with a lot of professors than most students.”

Humberstonecontinuedtoexplainthat his familiarity with dealing with figures of authority and acclimation to a professional

setting could be other explanations for his unique interactions with professors. When discussing interactions with other students, Humberstone said that his synergy with the wider Dartmouth community has been “positive.” Humberstone used his freshman summer as an on-term, which encouraged him to meet students who aren’t student-veterans.

“I stayed here over my freshman summer, and I was really glad that I did that,” Humberstone said. “I enjoyed interacting with the other students here.

There are a lot of really smart and really talented people.”

The trio all cited clubs and student organizations as one mechanism to meet other students outside of the veteran community. According to Lenkiewicz, the Posses are pretty tight and meet a good amount, but that also each studentveteran also has their “own niche” — from involvement in the Dartmouth Outing Club to Snowboarding Club to Greek life.

As the Dartmouth community learns more about student-veterans, Lenkiewicz said he hopes that the wider student population would be “constructively engaging,” while Humberstone hopes that “students here get to see what the veteran students have to offer.”

These three stories are only the beginning of the various narratives that veterans bring to Dartmouth.

“We’re all very, very different people,” Lenkiewicz said. “I’m afraid that sometimes a broad brush can be painted of what a veteran is and who they are. They are unique individuals.”

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THE DARTMOUTH HOMECOMING ISSUE 2019

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019

Q&A with College President Phil Hanlon B y ARIELLE BEAK AND MAGGIE DOYLE The Dartmouth Staff

College President Phil Hanlon has been president of Dartmouth College since 2013. Hanlon is the 18th president of the College and graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts degree as a mathematics major. The editors of The Dartmouth Homecoming Special Issue, Maggie Doyle ’22 and Arielle Beak ’22, sat down with President Hanlon to discuss his personal journey at Dartmouth, mental health on campus, the new residential access policy, and his vision for the College as a global research institution.

The theme of this Homecoming issue is Metamorphosis and Migration. We thought this encapsulated students’ experience at Dartmouth and the journey they go through in their four years here. How would you view your own journey of metamorphosis at Dartmouth over both your four years as a student and as the president now?

PH: As a student of course, it was a long time ago. I arrived here fall of ’73 and graduated spring of ’77. I come from a really small town in the Adirondack Mountains, and it was a mining town, so it was a pretty rough-and-tumble place.

No movie theater, lots of bars, but no movie theater. The point being, growing up, I developed lots of important values like community, love of the outdoors and a work ethic, but I came in with a very unsophisticated view of the world, and not having been pushed much academically in high school.

Coming to Dartmouth was quite a shock, and fall term I really struggled academically; I was just not well prepared.

I got some pretty lousy grades my first term. The story has a happy ending; I ended up Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude, so I was fine, but it was a big adjustment. In terms of my journey, one of the things I did was I found my love of the life of the mind.

I came in not having exercised my intellect much and discovered how much I loved learning, what a thrill I got from advancing the frontiers of knowledge.

I did a whole bunch of undergraduate research in math. I was a math major, so that was one important part of my metamorphosis: coming in with an underdeveloped appreciation for the life of the mind and leaving totally committed to it.

I think also I came in very much lacking in confidence. I knew right off the bat that my classmates — many of them had been to top prep schools — they knew a lot more about the world and were much better prepared for this experience than I was. I was pretty shook up right at the start, and I think by the time I left and entered a Ph.D. program at CalTech in math, my self-confidence had grown a ton.

And then, of course, like all Dartmouth alums it seems, I made my best friends in life while I was at Dartmouth, and they have been steadfast friends all the rest of the way.

How do you think student life has changed from when you were a student until now?

PH: The biggest change in coming back here, for me, was the diversity of the student body. It’s terrific, it’s vibrant, it’s robust, it’s such a different scene than when I was a student. I was in the second class of coeducation. Just so you can get your head around the numbers, at that point a quarter of the entering class in 1972 were women, and then a quarter of my class entering fall of 1973 were women. That’s one-eighth of the students were women when I started, and it was almost entirely white guys. A huge positive change in student life has been the rich diversity of

perspectives and backgrounds.

In other ways, there are things about Dartmouth which have not changed since I was a student and which probably have not changed in the whole 250 years, one of those being the tight community here.

That was present then, and I sense it’s present now. I’m sure it has something to do with the setting.

We’re not embedded in a big city where people go off campus and do something else. We’re all thrown here together in this breathtaking environment, which can also be challenging at times, like those cold, February mornings.

Also, the fact that there’s less of a divide between the faculty and students here than I’ve seen other places, particularly faculty and undergraduates — I think that tends to make this a more cohesive place.

A current issue that affects many students right now is mental health. How do you imagine Dartmouth expanding its mental health resources access in the coming years?

PH: When I get together with my presidential peers, this issue is top of mind for all of us. There’s nothing more important than safety of students, and mental health is a part of that, and mental health of everyone on campus is an important part of us being a successful institution.

Interestingly, I’m attending three conferences this fall with my peers and others, and they’re all on mental health. I attended one at the Academy of American Arts and Sciences in September. It is an issue of huge importance for all institutions of higher education right now.

I think we are, like most of our peers, approaching this in two ways. One is increased staffing. We’ve committed to growing our staffing so that students who need help can get help, and get it in a timely way. Second, we’re trying to experiment with pilot programs.

One thing that our mental health professionals are working with are some of the people in Geisel who are experts in using mobile apps to supplement humanto-human therapies and care. I think the Tilt Factor Lab has some interesting ideas.

Mary Flannagan, a professor here, has a lab called Tilt Factor, which develops games that promote social good. If you play the game, you become more environmentally conscious, or conscious of your internal biases, stuff like that. She’s got some interesting ideas and she’s talking to our professionals about whether games could be used to preemptively develop coping skills. Those are sort of longer-term interesting pilots, but I’d say the immediate thrust is to get more staffing in place.

There was a presentation by a group at the University of Michigan that has one of the largest national studies, and the prevalence we’re experiencing at Dartmouth is right on the national average. It may be more intense because we’re in a more isolated environment, I don’t know, but the prevalence here is not any different than elsewhere.

Interestingly, with the last meeting, there were a set of content experts in mental health. One of the more intriguing comments, which more than one of them said, was that they thought one of the contributors to anxiety within people of your generation is that you feel that people of my generation have abandoned you.

We’re not taking care of the environment, we’re running trillion-dollar-a-year deficits in the federal budget. We’re just going to be leaving you a mess. It’s a little hard to argue with.

In light of the recent residential access policy, how do you reconcile the desire to promote house affiliation with the desire for Dartmouth to be open and inclusive to all students?

PH: You’re right; both of those are

DIVYA KOPALLE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

The Dartmouth sat down with President Hanlon to cover a variety of campus topics.

really important objectives, and I get that sometimes they’re in tension. Good things you want to achieve often are in conflict, and you have to use judgment and hopefully come up with innovative, creative ideas to try to get as much of both of them as you want.

There was an interesting address to Harvard Law graduates by Justice David Souter, who said that in the cases the Supreme Court hears, it’s very rare it’s something good versus something bad.

It’s almost always something good versus something good.

The actual decisions about dorm access don’t come to my level. I have heard about the issues and student concerns about them. What I did do was make sure the Dean of the College and the Residential Life folks were working with the Student Assembly and other students to resolve it. My understanding is there’s some sort of group meeting and discussing, and hopefully they can come up with something that gets 90 percent of both of those.

How do you envision the Housing System and Greek Life coexisting on campus? How can these two entities work symbiotically in the same space?

PH: I don’t actually view them as being in conflict. I view them as complementing and supplementing each other. It’s probably worth discussing the origins of the housing communities system.

When I arrived in June 2013, the first summer Gail and I had a million meetings with students all day every day, getting groups together to ask them about what was going on on campus and what life was like. What we heard at virtually every one of those meetings was great dissatisfaction with housing, and that when you had an off-term, you got moved to some other place where you didn’t know anyone.

I knew the bed counts were too tight to ensure that you could return to exactly the same building after an off-term, but we realized we had enough flexibility that at least by groups of buildings you could come back.

The goal of that was to fix the problem of there being very little community within your residence life. The idea was to try to boost your residence hall, and in this case, small group of residence halls, as yet another source of community on campus.

Once we decided we wanted to address continuity of housing, it was an obvious step to say, “Let’s actually get some faculty involved, so that we can use this to increase contact between faculty and students.

Let’s try to have academic programming, let’s try to have social events, and let’s make sure this is governed in a way that’s gender neutral and diverse among every perspective.” That’s how the House community system was born.

We’re learning every year, and

hopefully we’re going to do it better every year. The students who I’ve met who are leaders within the House communities and the faculty involved are awesome; I think they’re some of our best. It’s the people that make anything happen, so I’m confident we’re going to pick up more and more momentum.

I don’t view it as a competitor to the Greek system. What we heard that first summer was that some number of students said they felt like they had to join a Greek house to have some sort of a stable community. Hopefully, with the house system, students who aren’t really interested in the Greek system won’t feel like they have to join.

One of the things I think is really powerful about Dartmouth is a longstanding tradition, certainly predating me, that students organize their own social scene. I think it’s a really powerful part of the Dartmouth experience. It obviously comes with responsibilities and sometimes, unfortunately, organizations don’t live up to those responsibilities, but overall I think it adds a lot to what the Dartmouth experience is.

If you were a student right now, how do you think you would balance your experience being a part of the new house system with being affiliated with a Greek house, as you were with Alpha Delta?

PH: I don’t know that that would be a conflict. It would be two sets of opportunities for social interaction, and I think the House communities would also bring more opportunities for interactions with faculty and guest artists, if that’s what interested me — and I was pretty nerdy, so it probably would have interested me.

There’s been a recent shift in focus, especially with the global summit, on Dartmouth’s global presence.

Why does it matter that Dartmouth is an international institution?

PH: Great question, because it does matter a lot to me. With the global summits in particular, we have put a stake in the ground and said that we want to raise our profile outside of the United States. We want to be more visible, better known, we want to recruit talent more effectively from across the world, and we want to be on the ground, addressing some of the urgent issues in different parts of the world.

I think that’s important in particular because we want to recruit the best talent to our campus, and as you know, talent doesn’t just reside here in the United States. Human talent is all over the world, so we want to make sure we can effectively recruit students, faculty and staff from all over the world.

Second, we want to be on the ground because you will be entering a highly global world and global economy with much more mobility. You’ll be doing work

and experiencing all parts of the globe.

It’s part of our job to help you get ready to be effective leaders once you leave here.

Having an international experience is really important for that.

It’s also the case that some of the most urgent world issues express themselves differently in different parts of the world.

Pollution is a good example. Within the U.S., we have some issues, but if you were to ask, “Where do you go for the most urgent pollution-related issues?” it’s probably places in Asia. If that’s something we want to work on, we need to be able to be there and be on the ground.

Another growth area at Dartmouth is the graduate program and research; for example, the establishment of the new Irving Institute. How do you imagine these more university-like roles interacting with Dartmouth’s identity as an undergraduate college?

PH: The first and most important thing to say is that I’m expecting the Irving Institute to be full of undergraduates. I want them to be there, I want them to be doing research work, I want them to be doing policy work. Anything we do at Dartmouth, undergraduates should be deeply involved in. The Irving Institute, the Cancer Center and the Magnuson Center, they are examples — whenever you hear the word “center” or “institute,” what it refers to is a horizontal integration on campus. Different disciplines, like math, history, English or physics — those disciplines go deep in terms of knowledge and intellect.

What the institutes do, is they pull talent from across these disciplines and support people working across disciplines.

They convene faculty and students from different majors, and that’s not easy to do. If you’re a faculty in environmental studies, you may not even know who works on batteries in the engineering school, or something like that. What the institutes do is help integrate all of our assets and aim them at a particular issue, whether its cancer or meeting the energy demands of the future in a way that sustains the planet. I don’t view any of these centers or institutes as being the domain of research and graduate students. I want undergraduates totally involved.

That wraps up all of our questions.

Do you have anything to add or anything you want the community to know going into Homecoming?

PH: Just that I have never been more excited about the future of this institution — it’s a place that completely changed my life, and to be able to get back to see it flourish and blossom as it is right now is really a thrill for me. I want to say that, and don’t touch the bonfire.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH HOMECOMING ISSUE 2019

PAGE 5

Women in Thayer: next steps after a groundbreaking female class which students can choose to complete in addition to the BA program, often during a fifth year. Of In 2016, the Thayer School of the students who chose to continue Engineering made headlines when it their engineering education past became the first American research a BA and also complete a BE in institution to graduate a majority- 2019, 48.1 percent were women. female engineering class. That year, The graduating BE class — which 52 percent of students earning a includes dual-degree students from Bachelor of Arts with a major in other liberal arts colleges — has engineering were women. Since averaged 41.1 percent female over 2016, the number of women has the last three years, increasing every dropped, with a 37.9 percent female year since 2016, according to an BA class in 2019, according to email email statement from Thayer.

Although the Thayer statements from Jenna Wheeler underg raduate and Julie Bonnet, student body the T h a y e r “It’s important for ... r e m a i n s undergraduate students to see that populated with p r o g r a m s women, faculty a d m i n i s t r a t o r there are women makeup does a n d a s s o c i a t e playing the roles not reflect this director of majority. As of communications, they might want to 2018, 14 percent r e s p e c t i v e l y. become.” of Thayer faculty However, these were female, and percentages just one of its r e m a i n w e l l -PETRA BONFERT-TAYLOR, above the national ENGINEERING PROFESSOR tenured faculty members were ave r a g e o f 2 2 female out of percent among a total of 28, bachelors degree students, according to the National according to the Dartmouth Office of Institutional Research. Currently, Center for Education Statistics.

A m a n d a B a k ’ 2 0 s a i d s h e 10 of 60 faculty members are women, often doesn’t think about her with just six of the 40 tenure or gender at Thayer, in contrast to tenure-track professors being female. students’ experiences at many other Two more tenure-track women will join the faculty in the coming engineering schools.

“I’ve heard from a lot of friends months.

These percentages contrast with who are engineers [at] other places [who say that] it’s scary, it feels the 38 percent of female tenured intimidating because their classes faculty in the arts and sciences and are fully male, and they are the one 41 percent of all arts and sciences or two women engineers,” Bak said. faculty. Nationally, 15.3 percent of “But at Thayer, we do a lot of group post-secondary engineering teachers projects and I almost always have were female in 2017, according to another female group member. It’s the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. been pretty positive.”

Thayer AB-BE student Mallory Bak noted that as an Asian female, the race aspect of her identity played Byrd ’19 TH’20 said that she has as much of a role in her experience taken only two classes taught by at the College as gender and said women during her five years at that in her experience the majority Thayer. Bak also said she has noticed that the vast majority of her Thayer of female students were white.

Engineering professor Petra professors have been older white Bonfert-Taylor noted that a diverse men.

Data collected from Thayer, student body brings a diversity of ideas, a benefit to all Thayer students, the Dartmouth College Office of and engineering professor Mark Institutional Research, the National Laser called the female presence at Center for Science and Engineering Statistics and the National Center Thayer a “breath of fresh air.”

The 52 percent female class for Education Statistics limited in 2016 refers to Dartmouth’s responses to male and female and Bachelors of Arts program, not its did not include statistics on genderBachelors in Engineering program, nonconfor ming or non-binary

B y Abigail Mihaly The Dartmouth Staff

students.

A diverse faculty allows students to have role models in the Thayer faculty, according to Bonfert-Taylor.

“It’s important for … students to see that there are women playing the roles they might want to become,” she said.

Engineering professor Jane Hill agreed, and said that female professors tend to receive a disproportionate number of requests for recommendations and mentorship.

Although Bonfert-Taylor noted that female Thayer students are at “no disadvantage whatsoever” among their peers, Byrd said than an equal number of male undergraduates does not change her experience of Thayer as a maledominated space.

“I would be hard-pressed to remember a class at Thayer where there were more women than men, or where it felt like there were even equal amounts of women to men,” Byrd said. “The people who are often most aggressive in class are the boys.”

Despite the apparent equality in numbers, Byrd maintains that Thayer feels like “a boys club.”

Thayer dean Alexis Abramson, who was appointed in April 2019, said that increasing diversity and inclusion is among her top priorities.

With regard to student population, Abramson said that she hoped to increase female and minority representation through “rigorous scientific research,” noting that the administration’s current knowledge is anecdotal.

“I’d like to see us really be a leader in diversity and inclusion and have the research to support what we’re doing,” Abramson said.

On the faculty side, she said that Thayer is in a period of faculty expansion. As Thayer hires more faculty members, Abramson said she will be working to ensure there are as many diverse candidates as possible, but noted that the pipeline of diverse applicants is limited.

In addition to growing numbers of women at Thayer, Hill said there needs to be a culture shift surrounding bias, especially among faculty. She said that a majority-male faculty is likely to increase biases in decision-making, unconscious or conscious.

Byrd said that although Thayer

is part of a liberal arts college, there and sexual harassment remain the is little “translation of knowledge.” status quo in some companies.

She cited gender pronouns as an Mary Tobin ’20 also noted this example, and said that she has never gender disparity in the field at large, had a Thayer professor who has not just at Thayer. stated their pronouns at the start of “There’s a long way to go, there’s a class, in contrast to classes in other improvement that can be made in the departments at the College. industry overall, but I’m very happy Abramson noted the importance to be in a place where I don’t have of small policies and culture shifts, to think about it every day,” Tobin such as not scheduling faculty said. meetings at five in the evening, in Bonfert-Taylor said that when she case some women who are primary was growing up, she never considered caretakers need to go home at the engineering as a potential field. Shea end of the day to care for their added that there is a general lack of families. She also said she hopes to knowledge about engineering as a bring in more implicit bias trainings, field. such as the upcoming workshop in “The public understanding of December titled “50 Ways to Fight engineering is still very much lacking Bias,” that will tackle some of these behind, and sees engineers as white issues. males. That is true of parents, that is Hill also said that she hopes to true of K-12 educators, that is true see new policies in Thayer to help of the public in general,” she said. encourage behavioral changes.

College provost and for mer She cited “standard practices” at Thayer dean Joseph Helble and MIT and other institutions such as Abramson both noted that one examining lab space allocation and reason many women are drawn to salary distribution to ensure equality Thayer is its flexibility and creativityacross gender and race. focused curriculum.

Byrd emphasized that despite “The liberal arts approach made the Thayer undergraduate program engineering much more appealing to having near-equal numbers of male a broader cross-section of students,” and female students, the engineering Helble said. field at large Abramson said r e m a i n s “Engineering – it’s that the T hayer largely malec u r r i c u l u m d o m i n a t e d . a creative field I is uniquely Women made think at its best, and experiential, up just 15.6 emphasizing handspercent of the women are creators by on lear ning and e n g i n e e r i n g definition.” application to workforce real-world impact. in 2017, A d d i t i o n a l l y, according to -MARK LASER, Thayer classes the National ENGINEERING PROFESSOR require teamwork, Center for but this group work is Science and collaborative rather Engineering than competitive, Statistics. This male-dominated according to Bonfert-Taylor. field may act as a deterrent for some Laser also noted that creativity is women considering an engineering a great asset in engineering. career.

“Engineering — it’s a creative Bonfert-Taylor said that women field I think at its best, and women will likely face challenges in their are creators by definition,” Laser careers due to their gender. She said. “So come on! Let’s bring ’em said that recent graduates can seek in [to the field].” out companies that are friendlier Increasing female presence in toward women, but that a positive engineering is important to the environment is “not a given.” Byrd world’s future, Laser added. noted that in her own and her friends’ “I think planet earth right now experiences during off-campus needs a tender hand. We’ve tried internships, “there are a lot of the patriarchal mode for too long,” companies that you just do not want Laser said. “We need to cultivate a to be a part of if you’re a woman,” more maternalistic strategy. And I adding that gender discrimination think that’s where we’re headed.”

PAGE 6

THE DARTMOUTH HOMECOMING ISSUE 2019

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019

Native American education at Dartmouth develops over time B y Grace Lee The Dartmouth

A large part of the history of Dartmouth College is rooted in its relationship to the Native American community. According to Colin Calloway, professor of history and Native American studies, the College was established as an institution by Eleazar Wheelock to educate Native Americans. As written in his book, the “History of an American Institution,” the College’s relationship with the Native American community throughout history is complex.

During the first 200 years of the College’s existence, a total of 19 Native American students graduated from Dartmouth. This number gradually increased over the years as the College reaffirmed its charter, which states that the purpose of the College is to educate and instruct youth of Native American tribes.

According to Michael Dorris, the founding chair of Dartmouth’s Native American Studies Program, College “finally committed itself to Native education in a meaningful way” in 1971.

Over the years, the Native American program, Native American studies and Native American students group have continued to develop at the College.

According to Calloway, NAP was first founded in 1970 by thenPresident John Kemeny to support the students it attracted. Now, NAP is approaching the 50th year of its existence. Over the years, NAP has grown in response to student demands. Before Sarah Palacios became the director of the program in August 2018, there was never a full-time position.

Hiring a full-time director of NAP has allowed greater stability in the program, according to Onaleece Colegrove ’20, co-president of NAD. Under the guidance of Palacios, NAP established a renewed focus on programs that had the highest impact. According to Palacios, the program has a solid mission to support the academic wellbeing of students at Dartmouth through four pillars: academics, wellness,

c o m mu n i t y e n g a g e m e n t a n d personal or leadership development.

“Sarah has brought more of a clear mission to the program with her four pillars,” said Elsa Armstrong ’20, co-president of the Native Americans at Dartmouth. “They weren’t laid out in the same way before ... [and] she has been more transparent about NAP’s role and working with students to see what works.”

Palacios recently submitted a proposal to see if the history of Dartmouth and Native Americans could be discussed during orientation.

“Many Native and indigenous students were hearing from classmates that many of them did not know that Dartmouth has a history as it relates to natives,” Palacios said. “It is very important to provide that context and

more understanding of the history.”

According to Calloway, apart from NAP, the Native American studies program was established in 1972.

Native American studies began with a single professor teaching two classes and has evolved since then to include seven faculty members.

Currently, Dean of the College Kathryn Lively is pushing for Native American studies to become its own department in response to student and field growth, according to Calloway. Native American studies now has more than 500 students and at least 15 majors. The field itself is developing a new focus on indigenous nationhood, sovereignty, and contemporary issues.

Last spring, Mae Hueston ’86 and John Hueston ’86 endowed the Mae

and John Hueston Distinguished Professorship in Native American Studies. The donation will be used to hire and establish a scholar who places Native American studies in a broader context to focus on how indigenous people are relating to the world.

Various events, such as the annual Dartmouth Powwow and Native American Food Sovereignty Dinner at the Class of ’53 Commons, serve to increase visibility of Native American culture to the larger Dartmouth community. For the first time this year, planning is underway for an event calling attention to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls movement, which raises awareness about the epidemic of violence Indigenous women are

facing.

According to Armstrong, there is also a new focus on making the community open to all students who identify as indigenous, such as native Hawaiians.

“There are conversations about including the word ‘indigenous’ to be more inclusive and more representative,” Armstrong said.

According to Calloway, the vision of the department is to help to make Dartmouth more outward-looking in its relation to Native Americans.

“The College can do a lot more by being actively engaged with native communities in the work of mutual concern ... as the world is changing, it is important to adapt to the way indigenous people are relating to the world,” Calloway said.

KATE HERRINGTON/THE DARTMOUTH

Community members perused merchandise at Dartmouth’s annual Powwow.

Rush process for Greek life a complicated experience at Dartmouth B y Addison Dick

The Dartmouth Staff

The first few weeks of fall term are characterized for many Dartmouth students by rush — the intensive recruitment process in which potential new members vie for bids from Greek houses. Though the timing of the formal bid night for the Interfraternity Council coincided with that of the Inter-Sorority Council, the two processes are very different. Whereas women’s rush is highly ritualized and regulated, men’s rush is far less formal.

The formal rush process for fraternities occurs over the course of two consecutive nights, during which each PNM can “shake out” at one house, which means shaking hands with each brother in the house to demonstrate interest. The brothers then deliberate and offer bids.

Aaron Trauner ’22, who rushed Alpha Chi Alpha, said he appreciated how the IFC rush process gave him time to establish relationships with the brothers.

“It’s difficult to be authentic in a five-minute conversation with someone you just met, whereas with guys’ rush, relationships can be formed over a longer period of time,” Trauner said.

The rush process was in full swing for Trauner since last winter, during which he spent time at the two houses he was interested in. He spent most of his time at each house playing pong.

Overall, he said he had a positive rush experience, but one marked by indecision.

“It was a point of privilege for me to have a decision to make, and to be relatively confident that it would work out either way,” Trauner said.

“I was choosing between two places that I really respected and liked.”

Trauner started spending time at the two houses he was interested in last winter because of the upperclassmen he knew in each house. Though he was aware of the open-to-campus, dry events for other houses, the only ones he said he attended were for the two houses he was initially interested in. While he said that the men’s recruitment process is not perfect, he said he is not able to think of ways it should be changed.

“I think it’s probably a good idea for guys to go to all of the houses, but nobody wants to do that,” Trauner said. “There would probably be a lot

of pushback if somebody proposed that.”

The recruitment process for women has undergone numerous changes since sororities arrived on campus in 1977. Various changes have been implemented to respond to rising demand, including offering a second term of rush in the winter, adding additional rounds of rush and adding a new sorority, Alpha Xi Delta. The select-and-rank computer system, referred to as “the algorithm” among potential new members, was adopted in 2008.

Unlike with IFC rush, those participating in women’s rush are required to visit each house. This year, these “rush parties” occurred from Sept. 26 to Sept. 29, giving PNMs flexibility to schedule the events around classes and extracurricular activities.

ISC president Kenya Jacob ’20 said the ISC rush process seeks to

maximize honesty and authenticity in interactions between chapter members and PNMs. “We don’t censor what girls are allowed to talk about,” Jacob said. “You can talk about if you’re really vibing with a house … but we emphasize that both PNMs and sisters can be frank.”

Dhwani Kharel ’22, who went through sorority recruitment last week, said that at the rush parties PNMs were paired with a sister when they arrived. The sister then wrote her name on an index card and asked questions. Common conversation topics included classes, majors and activities on campus. However, she did note having more meaningful conversations at some houses.

“I did have some great conversations about problems with the Greek system, being a woman at Dartmouth … and then there were also some fun questions, like ‘What would you be if

Rush processes differ for men and women at Dartmouth.

you were a kitchen appliance?’”

After round one of rush concluded, PNMs were called back to a maximum of five houses. During the second round, they spent 45 minutes at each house. Following these visits, PNMs received a maximum of two houses that they were to visit during preference night. After pref night, PNMs received bids from their recruitment counselors on Oct. 5.

Kharel received a bid from Chi Delta last weekend, but said that the rules governing women’s rush made it more stressful.

“I don’t think [the ISC] should be forcing anyone into a house or making it more stressful than the process already is,” Kharel said.

Unlike Trauner, Kharel said she does think the rush process needs reform. She emphasized the need for transparency and recounted feeling like she was going into the process blindly and hoping for the best. She

noted that some houses held pre-rush events that were open to campus in the spring, but she felt these events didn’t offer any real insight.

“I didn’t know much about the houses at all,” Kharel said. “I had heard the stereotypes associated with some of the houses, but that was the extent of my knowledge.”

Kharel said she envies the IFC rush process because it seems less arbitrary. She said that the more casual interactions seem to allow PNMs and brothers to get to know each other better. Despite this, Kharel said, the process was bearable, but she is relieved it is over. She added that the stress manifested itself for a lot of people with competitiveness.

“My conclusion at the end was, ‘This was kind of stupid,’” Kharel said. “It almost brought out a lot of the same competitive attitudes as the college admissions process — and in the end, it wasn’t that big of a deal.”

DIVYA KOPALLE/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019

PAGE 7

THE DARTMOUTH HOMECOMING ISSUE 2019

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION STAFF

STAFF COLUMNIST TEDDY HILL-WELD ‘20

Opinion Asks: Homecoming Bonfire

These Aren’t My Woods

What do we make of traditions like running around the bonfire?

Traditions hold value because they act as the cultural glue that holds groups of students together, establishing a sense of community.

That being said, although walking around the bonfire last year was certainly anticlimactic, the While longevity is important for a tradition importance of traditions has to do less with the actual enactment and more with the sentiment to hold value over time, longevity is by no means the sole arbiter of value. and feeling that surrounds the act.

“At the end of the day, Who cares if freshmen ran laps since 1888?

Thus, the bonfire still change is what keeps bonfire Some traditions just deserve holds value as a bonfire, traditions alive and to die. whether or not we walk I can think of a handful around it or run. Believing relevant.” of practices that have ended, that traditions are no for which some students longer valid if they change fought to resuscitate and is an unrealistic and -GABRIELLE LEVY ’22 resurrect, whose death has unprogressive mindset. At made Dartmouth all the the end of the day, change is better. The repugnant Dartmouth Indian mascot what keeps traditions alive and relevant.

- Gabrielle Levy ’22 quickly comes to mind. And that’s to say nothing of Dartmouth’s unimaginative and rather Running around a large bonfire at night is, chintzy traditions, such as the Dartmouth Seven, on its surface, a very unwise idea. Doing stupid which is more myth than they are practice.

This is not to say I agree with the town of things for the sake of it isn’t unique or very Hanover or the College interesting — it’s just stupid. on the bonfire’s supposed The whole point of traditions “It’s time we leave safety issues.

Bonfire is to create community through shared experiences bonfire running in the running was good, fun, amusing and memories. We will still past. Let’s find a new lighthearted in its simplicity, yet daring have a ceremonial induction flame.” in its purpose — to have even just walking around the made us “true freshmen,” fire — I’m sure I’ll remember even though we had been walking around a fire with all in classes for some weeks the members of my class, even -TYLER MALBREAUX ’20 by then. But its loss is easily if nobody runs 23 laps around forgettable, overshadowed the bonfire or touches it.

- Maxwell Teszler ’23 by Homecoming weekend’s chocked schedule of more engaging and spectacular sights: the A tradition in flux is a tradition no longer. football game, tower tours, reunions. To stand The moment that one dares to reform or amend around the warmth of the immense bonfire is such a previously heralded practice, it ceases to memorable enough for a Friday night. It’s time be exactly that, becoming a rote and meaningless we leave bonfire running in the past. Let’s find action. For the historic salience of tradition a new flame.

- Tyler Malbreaux ’20 stems directly from its continuity. The more that

When I arrived on campus in the fall I found myself openly enjoying things that I of 2016, I became the first student — to my had forgotten I loved enjoying around others. knowledge — from Nevada Union High School I was singing along to songs that were out of to ever attend Dartmouth College. Even if I my range, I was showing people new things wasn’t the first, I may as well have been. The that I was interested in that they would never comfort and security I knew from growing up have encountered otherwise — and I was in a small town where the kids I graduated high realizing that I had suppressed those interests school with had known me for a majority of my and passions. I hadn’t stopped enjoying them; years vanished the instance I accepted my offer I had just hidden them away for fear of others of admission. The ’20s I had been fortunate not understanding what the big deal was. enough to know prior to our arrival — namely, At no point along the way had it occurred to two boys I had become friends with at debate me that the reason I still felt closer to my friends camp in high school — provided me with the at home was because they knew me; they knew perfect opportunity to latch onto the safety of my history and my fears and my shyness and familiarity. What I did not realize, however, my nerdiness and my competitiveness and they was that there was a categorical difference knew that there were things about me that between the familiarity I was developing with would stay the same no matter where I went new people at Dartmouth and that which I had or who I became. But I had forgotten those treasured at home. things. I forgot that I loved caring about my When I started branching out, albeit own unique nonsense because I was so afraid of extremely minimally, I had no idea what I was others not sharing my interests that I stopped doing. What I did know, however, was that expressing them to the point where I had I could try to overcome completely hidden them my inherent insecurity myself. I hid my brain “I forgot that I loved from by playing along with the — both my nervousness caring about my own and my passion — with conversations I knew how to have with people I did a twisted cocktail of unique nonsense not know very well. I knew endless intoxicants and how to talk about sports, because I was so afraid mechanized social habits music, drugs, drinking and of others not sharing that were never a part of how tedious my homework me to begin with. Worst of my interests.” was. I latched on to those all, losing this confidence in interactions because I felt my quirks was causing me that they provided the littlest room for failure, to lose myself, and by the time they were gone I but I failed to realize that I was really generating didn’t know who was left to save. the exact opposite experience of what I had Fortunately for me, the two people who loved back home. knew me best were there to step in. My parents, I spent the better part of a year and a half who have given me more than I could ever not recognizing that all I was doing was going hope to return, saw that the boy coming back through the motions. These days, I like to refer to them during interims was not the one they to this as my period of simulating friendships. had watched walk across the stage at his high We did the “Lou’s Challenge” and skipped school graduation, and definitely was not the our classes like it was an Olympic sport, so I one who left home so excited to take on a never ran out of man-I’m-so-tireds or god-my- new challenge. Since taking my sophomore homework-sucks-I’m-not-even-going-to-do-its winter off to take care of myself and listen to to throw out when a conversation started to my brain, each term here has been better than peter out. But for anyone who knew me before the last. But it wasn’t better because of rush, Dartmouth, this pattern was baffling. I went nor solely due to my best friends, 90 percent of from being a straight-A student my entire life to whom I share no organizations with. It wasn’t a potential dropout in a few short months, and about making more friends, finding courses and it didn’t seem like I was going to diverge from classes I enjoyed or clubs oriented around issues that path anytime soon.

I’m interested in.

But then one day, feeling stagnant and My past year was so much better than the unfulfilled by my acquaintances and home base, first two because I recognized the ways that I decided to try deliberately spending time with Dartmouth caused me to believe that effacing a new set of people. The group was secured by my differences was the key to surviving here. In the familiarity of a freshman floormate I knew fact, it has only been remembering what I left to be as introverted as I was, but something behind that has enabled me to truly enjoy being clicked this time that hadn’t been there before. myself here.

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST HELEN HORAN ‘22

THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD

It’s All About the Benjamins

Verbum Ultimum: Our Inconvenient Truth

Homecoming weekend is upon us, and it is the second year in which Dartmouth freshmen are walking around the bonfire instead of running. Though some upperclassmen still miss the thundering laps of old, two years from now, every Dartmouth student will have only ever walked around the fire. The Dartmouth Opinion section responded.

If traditions can change every four years or otherwise, what value do they hold? Why is the Dartmouth community so fond of them? Are they?

Dartmouth opts to adulterate our admittedly cultish procession about the fire, the longer it will take for some semblance of “tradition” to set in.

- Nicholas Bartlett ’21

Losing myself and finding me again.

Dartmouth seems to care about addressing and maintaining the traditions that make us appear to be a unified campus from an outsider perspective. Traditions like the Homecoming bonfire and Trips are all part of the outward projection of a campus with traditions that unite the student body. One would hope that each new generation of Dartmouth students would create new traditions of their own and rebel against the more problematic practices of the past, but more often, it seems that the exclusive and hierarchal groups we cultivate do nothing more than recycle the problems of the past.

- Theodore Hill-Weld ’20

College athletes should be paid for endorsements.

When you turn on a televised football game, it is hard to distinguish between a college game and a professional one. The so-called “amateur” football games in this country — just like their professional counterparts — feature enormous stadiums with six-figure capacity, corporate sponsorships, reels of commercials and even military flyovers all contributing to an unmistakable atmosphere of allAmerican insanity.

We are all aware that college sports is a multibillion-dollar business where the labor is essentially free. In total, college athletic departments cashed in over $18 billion in revenue in 2017. Yet despite these incredible sums, not a penny has gone toward those individuals most responsible for them: the athletes. Think about this: In 39 states, the highest paid public employee is a college football or basketball coach. College sports is an economy that benefits everyone — the schools, conferences, coaches and governing associations — except those who actually play the games. The time has come to change this misaligned economic dynamic and allow student athletes to profit from their talents on and off the field.

For many years, the NCAA has forbidden players from earning compensation, with a strict ban against profit made off one’s own name or image, resulting in a system of exploitation.

If a college athlete wants to seek endorsement opportunities, they should be allowed to do so.

The debate over whether to pay college athletes has been around for a while. But alas, it has reached the legislature of the most populous state.

For the first time, a concrete step has been taken, and finally in the right direction. Last Monday, California governor Gavin Newsom signed the “Fair Pay to Play Act,” allowing players to profit off their sports via endorsements deals and with the help of agents. Professional basketball stars LeBron James and Draymond Green have been vocal supporters of the move toward economic justice.

Many are hopeful that other states will follow suit; others fear a doomsday for college athletics as we know it. But is this new law just a lofty, California dream, or will it trigger a long overdue movement across other states?

Newsom acknowledged that the law certainly is no “checkmate” for the NCAA — it won’t even be implemented until 2023 — but it has definitely created a headache for the NCAA, which called California’s measure “unconstitutional.” The NCAA argues it could lead to a “new form of professionalism.” Too late. We are already there.

California’s law will not immediately result in a rebuilding of the system, and it will take many years to understand and assess the consequences. But it is a powerful message finally written into law: Give athletes the right to make money off their name. Notably, this is a right which every other undergraduate on a campus

can exercise. They can earn profits by promoting themselves as YouTube influencers, acapella groups or campus reps for brands. It is time to level the economic playing field and allow athletes to benefit from their talents.

I am no expert in college sports. Frankly, I only follow them closely once a year when March Madness rolls around. But even to a casual follower, it seems that California’s new law is a step in the right direction. Anytime you have a chance to decrease the exploitation of college athletes going on inside the NCAA right now, it is a no brainer — you have to do it.

It would be remiss to neglect the counter points in opposition to the Fair Pay to Play Act. So here they are in short: First, allowing athletes to proft from endorsements will further professionalize amateur sports. Second, only the best players will benefit. Third, California has a recruiting advantage as athletes will flock to a state where they can freely earn money they deserve. Fourth, college sports need to be scaled back all together.

To these I respond: First, college sports are already professionalized as schools routinely fill over 100,000 seats and bring in millions upon millions of dollars in revenue. The argument that allowing players to sign deals will taint the “amateur” facade of college sports is farcical. Second, but don’t the best deserve the most? The most talented players — you may have heard of Zion Williamson — suffer all the drawbacks of being in the public eye without any of the compensation. Third, as it stands, California has an unfair advantage, and this is more reason that other states should follow. Since Newsom signed the act, 11 states have proposed similar legislation. Fourth, while some believe college sports is completely out of control in this country, I urge cynics to attend an ESPN Game Day if possible. Not only do college sports create campus cohesion, but many top athletes come from disadvantaged backgrounds and the opportunity is life-changing.

Certainly, the process toward fair compensation will be complicated. As other states explore implementing similar laws, it will likely lead to a patchwork of different laws across the country.

But it is definitely simpler than if schools were to directly pay their athletes incomes. The transition toward justice and fairness may be a bumpy road.

The autocratic NCAA holds the reins tight, women probably won’t see much advancement and only the best of the best will profit greatly. But think about the alternative — continued exploitation.

At Dartmouth, student athletes are respected for their strenuous training and hard work while maintaining a rigorous academic load. Even though our athletes may not have the national notoriety or economic endorsement potential of a Zion Williamson, each should have the right to monetize their blood, sweat and tears.

A call to remember those left behind during rush.

Fall term brings many perennial favorites have been rejected by it? It’s difficult enough to the College: a new freshman class, football, to be rejected, but how about by a system that Homecoming and fall foliage. It also features explicitly promises and promotes inclusivity? rush — a period of several weeks in which many The roughly one in five unaffiliated sophomores seek admittance to Dartmouth’s Dartmouth upperclassmen do not comprise a fraternities and sororities. The Editorial Board homogenous group. Some came to Dartmouth commented last week on the rush process, but never intending to rush and are perfectly happy what happens when that process ends? being unaffiliated. Some came to Dartmouth For many students, rush can be an exhilarating with an earnest desire to join a house. And, and exhausting experience. Although rushing importantly, there are many students who can be an arduous journey — cultivating probably wouldn’t have rushed had they attended relationships, attending dozens of social activities another school, but did so at Dartmouth because and often sacrificing school work in the process they felt they had to.

— the reward at the end is a significant one.

For those students who never intended to rush, But what about the other side of rush? this is not a matter of concern. Additionally, there What about those students who don’t get bids to are others still who rushed and are also perfectly fraternities or sororities? happy to be unaffiliated during their four years.

There are many such students. But campus However, for students who would not have joined seldom talks about that. Students who receive a Greek organization at another school, but felt bids are so relieved at the completion of the it necessary to do so at Dartmouth, being denied journey that they don’t want to necessarily think the status associated with Greek life can be much about the unlucky ones. And more than just an adverse those left out — well, who experience. The same could would want to advertise that “As things stand, there certainly be said about those fact to others? is a deafening silence who always intended to rush For students who seek a in college. So who will be at on this issue, forcing their sides if they are given bid, failure to receive one is not just a simple rejection — the cold shoulder? those students left it means that efforts made There is no simple behind by the rush to impress a group of peers solution to this matter. process to deal with it Fraternities and sororities were not enough. It means that the door to Dartmouth’s are exclusive organizations in private.” predominant social scene by nature. Rejection is a part has been slammed shut. of life. Creating a scenario As things stand, there is a deafening silence in which everyone who rushes gets a bid would on this issue, forcing those students left behind by be both impractical and a poor reflection of how the rush process to deal with it in private. That things work in the real world. rush ends in failure for some is an inconvenient Yet there is one thing that can be done — truth that many Dartmouth students would something that involves not a change in policy rather not think about. As a community, we can but a change in attitude. do better.

The rush process is, in a self-evident way, Fraternities and sororities form the nexus of a selfish one. It’s every person for themselves. student social life at Dartmouth. Roughly three Everyone is concerned about what will happen out of five of students join Greek organizations, to me; what house will I join; how will I fit into the which actually amounts to about four of social scene, and so on. five eligible students given that freshmen are The best remedy for selfishness is compassion. ineligible to rush. Joining a Greek house not only Many of us probably know at least one person gives you membership to a “Dartmouth family,” who was denied a bid. Most likely, that person but it also puts your foot in the door to spaces does not talk about it with you. Offer them that that are deemed valuable. opportunity — give them the chance to open A common refrain heard on Dartmouth their hearts and let loose their emotions. Perhaps admissions tours is that although fraternities that individual has talked to few people about and sororities play a major role in social life, the their experience, and the chance to express their Greek system here is more inclusive compared thoughts could prove a cathartic exercise. to other colleges, even for unaffiliated students.

A simple show of compassion could make all This is both true and problematic. Greek life at the difference. And it’s compassion that the rush Dartmouth is more open to the general student process at Dartmouth so sorely lacks. body than at other schools. But if that aspect is its main selling point — that all can participate The editorial board consists of the opinion editors, the who want to — what do we say to those who executive editor and the editor-in-chief.

PAGE 8

THE DARTMOUTH HOMECOMING ISSUE 2019

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019

The evolution of Dartmouth’s Homecoming through the ages

By HAYDEN WELTY The Dartmouth

Given the ubiquity of Homecoming in contemporary American society, it can appear as though the tradition has always existed; even at Dartmouth, however, this celebration did not begin with the institution’s founding in 1769.

The ninth president of the College, William Jewett Tucker, helped launch the earliest remnants of what students now know as Homecoming Weekend. In an event called “Rhetoricals,” the entire student body met on a weekly basis in the Old Chapel of Dartmouth Hall to promote community.

Tucker called this exercise “a rare opportunity of indoctrinating undergraduates into the permanent duties and responsibilities of the College fellowship.”

In September 1895, when the College population outgrew the capacity of the Old Chapel, “Dartmouth Night” replaced “Rhetoricals.” The event, described by an 1896 issue of the Congressional Record and New Hampshire Journal as “an evening [devoted] to the traditions and glory of Dartmouth, and to stimulate pride in her achievements, and strengthen the purpose that the present and the future of the College shall be worthy of its past,” was intended as another way to gather and celebrate the history and significance of the College.

College archivist Peter Carini said that Tucker intended to use Dartmouth Night as a way to connect with alumni and bring them together, as well as a means of fundraising.

In 1904, Dartmouth Night programming included a procession, a historical address, prayers and hymns, musical performances and banquet, with copious cheering and singing, as well as praise for Dartmouth’s most successful alumni. The accompanying football game that is a central component of the modern tradition did not arise as part of “Dartmouth Night” until 1923 when construction on Memorial Field finished.

Another pillar of the Homecoming celebration in its modern iteration is the bonfire, which — separate from Homecoming itself — has its own tradition that is undergoing several changes. As previously reported by The Dartmouth, beginning in 1888, the bonfire was a means of celebrating baseball victories until 1895.

“Students would do [bonfires] sort of spontaneously, usually as a celebration after a football or baseball game or something,” Carini said. “The early ones look like they basically went around town and if it wasn’t tied down they took it, so things like wagon wheels and signs and all kinds of things just piled up in the middle of the Green and then they would burn those.”

OnSept.17,1895,Tucker’sDartmouth Night had its inaugural kickoff, containing an official bonfire as a part of the event.

However, much regarding the bonfire has changed since then.

In the early 1900s, a visit from William Heneage Legge, the Sixth Earl of Dartmouth, caused college students to parade around the fire in an effort to impress the Earl, which contributed to the beginning of the tradition of running around the fire. In 1923, the event began to become associated with the football team and their Homecoming weekend game.

The bonfire has also had its fair share of controversy. In 1950, rogue students lit the fire 24 hours early, causing a group of other undergraduates to rally and successfully reconstruct the framework overnight. This student-led effort prompted the College to allow students to help build the structure next year, starting a tradition that continues today with the freshman class bonfire chairs.

In subsequent years, students would build an oversized fire that became too large and prompted College regulation on the construction of the fire. Additionally, livestreams of the event, “the freshmen sweep,”andimprovedbuildingtechnology and strategy have all been implemented in recent years. Last year, a change — in response to safety concerns from the town of Hanover — prevented students from running around or attempting to touch the fire.

Kaulana Kanno ’23 said that irregardless of the changes, she’s excited for the football game and the accompanying bonfire at Homecoming this year.

“They still do the same things on [First-Year Trips] as 20, 30, 50 years ago, and that’s pretty awesome,” Kanno said. “At the Dartmouth Hawaii Club party, they talked about coming back to Homecoming even after graduating so long ago, and I think that’s really cool, that people still want to be here.”

SOPHIE BAILEY/THE DARTMOUTH

James Kallman ’86 returned to campus for Homecoming for the first time last year because of his daughter, Emma Kallman ’22, and will be back on campus this fall as well.

Kallman said that he knows many alumni want Dartmouth traditions to never change but acknowledges that this sentiment is not realistic. He added that many of the changes revolved around ancillary festivities the College promotes for attendees, occurring before and after the lighting of the bonfire. He added

that the construction of the bonfire, now being overseen by the College and engineered by the Thayer School of Engineering, is much more controlled than when he celebrated the tradition as an undergraduate.

“There is no way that the students building it in my day were following any sort of safety protocol,” he said. “Looking back from another viewpoint, that was pretty dangerous.”

However, he acknowledged other alumni think differently.

“For some alumni, having a barrier at the bonfire is probably disappointing,” Kallman said. “It interferes with the purity of it, but I certainly get the safety concerns.”

For Kallman, returning to Dartmouth as both a parent and alum is a revitalizing time to reconnect with the College.

“It is a very interesting experience to rediscover as a parent,” he said. “There’s been a lot of change, but it is generally positive. It is interesting to see what has stayed the same and what has changed.”

Hood Museum becomes source of experiential learning in classrooms

By ANDREW SASSER The Dartmouth

When the Hood Museum of Art officially reopened its doors on Jan. 26, hundreds of visitors crammed into its doors to see the culmination of three years worth of renovation.

Intended to bolster its collections and grow its influence on campus, these upgrades have supported the Hood as a campus hub for the visual arts. The Hood has also assumed a more significant role as a source of learning within and beyond the classroom.

According to Hood Museum director John Stomberg, the new museum has had 30 percent more visitors over the last six months than it previously had in an entire year.

One of the primary objectives of the Hood recently has been the promotion of classroom visits and educational opportunities.

“T here is this sense of us foregrounding the education mission of this college,” said Hood curator of academic programming Katherine Hart. “That’s a very important part of what we do.”

Thanks to outreach efforts from the museum, some 168 classes, ranging in subjects from engineering to writing, have been able to partake in activities created by the museum.

Hart said that the museum looks for a wide variety of classes in different subject areas so that all students can have these types of experiences, especially in the sciences.

Typically, professors will reach out to the museum to organize these experiences. According to Hart, the museum works closely with professors to tailor the visit to their curricula, and then subsequently produces a set of curated objects to evoke key themes and raise questions.

According to anthropolog y professor Maron Greenleaf, she took her GEOG 68, “Environmental Justice” class to the Hood to take inclass concepts about inequality and the environment and apply them in different settings. Through a series of “disorienting landscapes,” her students identified where they were making assumptions about locations, challenging them to think from a different perspective about how environmental injustice can shape

NAINA BHALLA/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

The Hood Museum of Art has had 30 percent more visitors than it previously had in an entire year.

communities.

Geog raphy professor Justin Mankin had similar goals when he took his students in GEOG 37, “A Climate for Human Security,” to the Hood.

“The idea there was to take a look at how these images can confound or confirm our expectations about what global warming looks like,” Mankin said. “What I wanted to do was to pull out a couple of different themes that linked directly to class material about how climate change is this global abstract phenomena, but also how its impacts on the people can be visualized.”

These academic experiences have been largely successful in promoting new ways of thinking. According to Mankin, his students unanimously found the experience to be worth their time.

“People really enjoyed that opportunity to ref lect on this intersection between science and art and the challenges and opportunities therein,” he said.

Students have also spoken highly about their experiences with the Hood both inside and outside of the

classroom. According to Anupam Sharma ’22, his trip to the Hood through his Writing 5 class was “fantastic” in that it changed his perception of art and museums. His class studied how and why certain objects are displayed the way they are.

“When I was writing my papers, I had a concrete experience I could draw on to supplement my argument,” Sharma said.

Beyond the classroom, the Hood is also engaging with the College through co-curricular opportunities.

One of these examples is through the development of the paid Senior Internship program with the museum, where seniors are offered the ability to work hands on with museum curators and staff to develop new exhibits and promote them throughout the college. Recent student-developed shows include “The Politics of Pink,” about the problems of gender norms and “Creating Knowledge and Control,” about the power of big data.

Another significant noncurricular effort of the Museum is the “Museum Collecting 101”

cour se, of fered in the winter event is the “Hood After 5” party and spring terms. According to hosted by the museum once a term.

Isadora Italia, the Hood’s campus According to Italia, this event mixes engagement coordinator, students food, music and art activities. in this course meet weekly to learn “It’s really a way to open up the about the collections and acquisition Museum and make it a social space process. At the end of the course, for all the students on campus,” she the students vote said. on a work of art According for the museum “There is this sense of t o H a r t , t h e to a c q u i r e , us foregrounding the museum is looking which then to expand upon becomes a part education mission of its permanent of the museum’s this college. That’s a collections and per manent introduce more very important part collections. special collections.

T h e H o o d of what we do.”

Hart noted that is also making the museum efforts to engage is currently t h e D a r t m o u t h -KATHERINE HART, HOOD d e v e l o p i n g c o m m u n i t y CURATOR OF ACADEMIC projects about the t h ro u g h s o c i a l intersection of art PROGRAMMING e v e n t s r u n by and poetry and the student-led another on Native Museum Club. According to Italia, American contemporary ceramics. members of all student classes When it comes to outreach, can participate in this club to help Italia notes that the museum is organize guest lectures and events always looking for student needs at the Museum, allowing students to and feedback and more avenues of participate with the Hood as soon as collaboration with student groups they step foot on campus. One such on campus.