The Dartmouth 04/01/2022

VOL. CLXXVIV NO. 1

FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022

HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Engineering and Computer Science Belated Class of 2020 Center opens after two-year construction commencement ceremony to be held this August The weekend of graduation festivities, from Aug. 5 to Aug. 7, will include a procession, barbecue and a keynote speaker, according to the College.

KATELYN HADLEY/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

BY EMILY FAGELL The Dartmouth Staff

In March, the College unveiled the new Engineering and Computer Science Center, a 160,000 square foot complex located at the end of Tuck Drive, to positive reactions from students and faculty. The $200 million building, which began construction in October 2019, was designed by the HGA architecture firm and funded entirely by donations.

Dedication of the building is scheduled for this spring.

The project was conceived as part of the Call to Lead campaign and combines the Department of Computer Science, the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship, the Digital Arts, Learning & Innovation Lab, the College’s electron microscope and parts of Thayer School of Engineering into one building, according to the department of computer science’s website. The Center also doubles the size and potential faculty count of the existing Thayer engineering complex, according to HGA’s website.

“Being able to have engineering, computer science and then also the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship under one roof, I think only great things are going to happen,” Thayer dean Alexis Abramson said. “We will definitely see more educational opportunities like curricular and co-curricular things start happening.”

According to DALI lab director Tim Tregubov, computer science students now have easy access to the Thayer Maker Space and other builder technologies, which were previously located what felt “like a world away,” a half-mile walk from the computer science department’s former housing in Sudikoff. Tregubov added that the ECSC’s architecture — which consists of a shared entryway, large atrium and abundant natural lighting — facilitates community and collaboration, especially compared to the “dismal” Sudikoff.

“I think those serendipitous conversations that you get when you’re walking through a lobby — a shared single point of entry — are very

important,” Tregubov said. “They spur a lot of creativity, innovation, because you see somebody and you’re like, ‘It has been on my mind to talk to you about ‘X.’’” Students and faculty responded positively to the building’s architecture and offerings.

“I’m certainly excited,” prospective computer science major Alejo Rincon ’25 said. “Having that space in itself can be very conducive to helping CS students in general, because before [it opened] I’ve had all my CS classes in the psychology building …[which] seems kind of out of place in terms of where it actually is.”

Daniel Westphal ’23, a computer science modified with human-centered design major agreed that the space “adds to the CS community,” also pointing to the building’s architecture and shared learning spaces.

“It is a beautiful building,” he said. “It has a ton of conference rooms that are really conducive towards groups studying, SEE NEW BUILDINGS PAGE 2

Dartmouth admits 1,767 to the Class of 2026

PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 49 LOW 25

The acceptance rate of 6.24% represents a slight increase from last year’s 6.17%.

BY THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

NEWS

COLLEGE TO ALLOW CAMPUS TOURS INSIDE BUILDINGS PAGE 2

OPINION

VERBUM ULTIMUM: DIG A LITTLE DEEPER

Dartmouth offered admission to 1,767 applicants — 1,207 of whom were admitted during the regular decision process — to the Class of 2026 from a pool of 28,336 applications, according to an announcement from the admissions office on Thursday evening. The acceptance rate of 6.24% is among the lowest in the College’s history.

A c c o r d i n g t o t h e C o l l e g e ’s announcement, this year’s applicant pool contained 21 fewer students than last year’s record pool, which marked a 33% increase from previous years.

63% of admitted students applied for need-based financial aid, with an average projected scholarship of $61,000. Additionally, 19% of the U.S. citizens and permanent residents admitted qualify for Pell Grants — a federal program for students whose families demonstrate exceptional need.

Both statistics represent record highs for the College.

Some 57% of admitted students live in the southern and western United States, with the most admitted applicants hailing from California.

53% of the admitted U.S. citizens and permanent residents are students of color, and 17% are first-generation college applicants.

The 1,207 students admitted on Thursday join 560 others who had already been accepted in December through the College’s early admissions process and through the Questbridge program.

15% of the class of 2026 are international students. This follows the College announcing an expansion of the need-blind admissions policy to include international students in January.

A full article will be published in the near future.

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BY ARIzbeth ROJAS The Dartmouth Staff

The belated Class of 2020 commencement ceremony will be held between Aug. 5 and Aug. 7, the College announced. These plans, which include a keynote speaker address and barbecue lunch, come after a previous commencement ceremony for the class to be held during the summer of 2021 was postponed indefinitely.

According to associate director of alumni engagement Briana Stein, summer weather, housing availability and consideration for graduates’ schedules were all factors in selecting the date for the commencement ceremony. The celebratory weekend will include “traditional elements” such as regalia, processions and music, according to the College’s website. The main ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on Aug. 6, followed by a barbecue lunch.

The 2020 commencement planning committee consists of over 40 members of the Class of 2020, according to the commencement website. Emma Alter ’20 is a member of the ceremony sub-committee, which she said consists of five members who meet once a month.

“When I talk to my friends about it, I think everyone is pretty stoked to have an excuse to go back to campus and to have everyone reunite, but I think it’s also a mixed bag too,” Alter said. “It is kind of late in the game: we graduated two years ago and some people have moved on from it.”

Esther Oluokun ’20 shared similar feelings about the Class of 2020’s reception of the event. While Oluokun said most of her friends plan to come back, she added that some of them “just don’t see the point of walking anymore.”

Both Alter and Oluokun said that for some ’20s, the commencement ceremony holds sentimental value for themselves and their families.

“For a lot of people, commencement is something you want to do with your family,” Alter said. “You want to celebrate your graduation with your parents.”

Returning students will be housed in dorms during the commencement weekend. According to Stein, the

Aug. 5 weekend was selected, in part, because it had the most campus h o u s i n g ava i l a bl e at t h e t i m e.

Even before the College made this announcement, Oluokun said that she had been hoping dorm housing would be provided.

“It would be cool if they put us all in our senior year dorms to experience our last weekend at Dartmouth again,” Oluokun said.

According to Alter, on-campus housing will only be available to students; guests will have to find hotels to stay in, which she said might already be booked. Alter also noted that the challenges with finding where to stay might deter some members of the Class of 2020 from attending the commencement weekend.

According to Stein, commencement org anizer s are looking at peer institutions which have hosted similar events for their 2020 classes in order to gauge possible attendance.

Re g i s t r a t i o n h a s ye t t o o p e n , according to Stein, and the keynote speaker has yet to be named. She added that the College has not yet chosen which dorms will serve as housing for returning members of the Class of 2020.

Stein also said that the committee h a s s ch e d u l e d d i f f e re n t eve n t s throughout the weekend to try and “emulate” the aspects that come along with a senior spring. Campus and affinity group activities are scheduled for the first two days of the event.

Oluokun said she is most excited to meet up with members of The Rockapellas and the Pi Theta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Given the two years since the Class of 2020’s intended graduation date, Oluokun said there has been much time to reflect. In particular, she added that the Class of 2020 will be able to experience a commencement ceremony without the pressures of wrapping up coursework, unlike some previous classes who she said described the event as a “blur.”.

“For two years, we’ve all been thinking about what commencement could have been,” Oluokun said.

“Because of that, I think we, the Class of 2020, will appreciate it even more now. It will be like a premature reunion that nobody’s ever gotten before.”

FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022

PAGE 2

THE DARTMOUTH NEWS

JED Foundation visits campus, mental health plan to be released

Unionization vote for student dining workers passes unanimously

NAOMI LAM/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

BY Noah Durham The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on March 31, 2022.

On Feb. 23 and 24, representatives from the JED Foundation came to campus to discuss undergraduate mental health with a variety of campus offices and student groups. Following their visit, JED representatives are now preparing a strategic plan to be shared with Dartmouth senior leadership this spring.

The representatives met with a student focus group and members of the JED undergraduate committee, as well as with the Counseling Center, Dick’s House nursing and primary care, the Student Wellness Center and Student Accessibility Services, according to JED campus advisor Erlinda Delacruz, who came to campus.

The College announced a four-year partnership with the JED Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes mental health for adolescents and young adults, in May 2021, amid ongoing concerns about campus mental health and three freshman deaths by suicide during the pandemic.

According to Jessica Chiriboga ’24, who serves on the JED undergraduate committee, the first day was spent with the focus group, which had around 20 participants. “[JED representatives] wanted to meet with students… and get a sense of their own personal experiences with mental health resources … life skills and social connectedness on campus,” Chiriboga said. “Those conversations were really powerful and students did not hold back in, sort of, their criticisms of the College.”

According to Pulkit Nagpal ’23, who participated in the focus group, the discussions were centered on a “sense of belonging” on campus. He said that

despite professions of inclusivity, many members of the Dartmouth community regularly encounter exclusivity and toxic social environments.

“Dartmouth is a really special case in the sense that it can feel really stratified, whether that’s socioeconomically, people being in the Greek system and some people not and also maybe race,” Nagpal said. “The discussion surrounding Greek life was particularly salient.”

According to Chiriboga, on the second day of the JED visit, representatives met with members of the undergraduate committee. She said these meetings involved brainstorming what students need to “feel supported” and which policies need to change.

Chiriboga added that the group discussed life skills, social connection, identifying at-risk students, issues of substance abuse and other related topics.

She said that the committee also discussed the results of the “Healthy Minds Survey,” a copy of which was obtained by The Dartmouth.

The survey reported that in the 2020-2021 academic year, between 23% and 28% of the student body received treatment for mental health issues through Dick’s House counseling services and that there were a total of 320 mental health crisis appointments. Additionally, the report noted that there were 24 psychiatric hospitalizations among students during the same period.

JED representatives prepared a slide deck depicting the data from Dartmouth compared to national averages, which Chiriboga described as “startling.”

“In some areas we’re doing better than the national average, but in other areas we’re not,” she said, noting that one big area where Dartmouth is lower than the national average is “a sense of belonging on campus.”

According to Delacruz, such loneliness

can “increase depressive symptoms and thoughts of suicide.”

Delacruz also noted Dartmouth’s “campus culture of perfectionism … seems to be a bit more pervasive than some other schools,” while noting the importance of “redefining what a ‘successful Dartmouth student’ looks like.”

Before the plan is operationalized, Delacruz said that the goal moving forward is to allow JED Foundation representatives time to draft the strategic plan, in consultation with College Health Service director Mark Reed and Spanish professor and former Dean of the College Rebecca Biron. She added that she anticipated that the plan would be drafted by the end of May or early summer.

Nagpal said that he hopes to see closer faculty involvement in campus mental health awareness and the “building [of] trust” between students and staff who have received mental health training.

“Training faculty all across the board on mental health is a priority,” he said.

“We have this program called Dartmouth Cares, and I think right now it’s not required for faculty to participate,” he said.

Chiriboga also said there should be a focus on improving mental health resources.

“My goals would be creating a more welcoming campus for lower-income, POC and queer and trans students on campus, increasing awareness of mental health resources and then centralizing or doing an overhaul of our mental health resources to make sure are our current ones working,” she said.

Chiriboga added that this plan is only “one part of the puzzle.”

“It’s definitely going to take all of us to work together,” she said. “This probably represents one of our best opportunities to make lasting change.”

New Engineering and Computer Science Center Excites Community FROM NEW BUILDINGS PAGE 1

and it’s very exciting overall … to have a new place on campus to explore that we have not seen yet, especially considering how old Sudikoff was.”

T hayer associate dean of undergraduate education Douglas Van Citters also praised the building’s open spaces and the frosted windows that surround internal work spaces, noting that they allow occupants to sense others’ activity without violating privacy.

He added that the architecture has encouraged students to visit the space.

“We’re bringing all of Dartmouth’s campus into this building,” Van Citters said. “It doesn’t feel like it’s the engineering building. As a Dartmouth alum, I love the ‘One Dartmouth’ feeling that comes along with it.”

The new construction also offers a 340-vehicle parking garage, the website said, as well as bike storage, locker rooms, shower and nursing rooms, DALI lab faculty director and computer science research professor Lorie Loeb said. Among the building’s classrooms and conference rooms are three technology-enabled active learning

(TEAL) classrooms, characterized by large screens and pod seating, Tregubov added. Loeb said that “the whole [architectural] team” has been “super responsive in terms of the [audiovisual] needs and trying to make sure that [the building] works for everybody.”

Abramson said that the Back of the Napkin Cafe, named to capture the Center’s spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, will hopefully open in the next couple of months.

In addition to the new cafe, the building will continue to change as it adapts to the community’s needs, including fixing minor design flaws — such as a power box obstructing a projector, lights refusing to dim, doors knocking into lights and faulty paper towel dispensers, according to Van Citters and Loeb. Van Citters explained that these problems are merely “growing pains” associated with a new building and will not pose a long-term problem.

“I’d rather have [these minor design flaws] than something that doesn’t work because it’s too old and broken,” Van Citters said.

According to Abramson, some faculty and research labs have yet to move into

the new building. As of now, the entire computer science department has relocated and all of the biological and chemical engineering faculty will move shortly, she said.

While the ECSC opened for classes in the spring, the building does not contain auditoriums for extremely large courses.

Westphal said that some peers are still taking classes elsewhere, due to large course rosters. Van Citters explained that students can instead utilize lecture halls in nearby buildings, like Cummings Hall, which can seat 120 to 130 students.

“I think the space that we have is extremely high value,” Van Citters said. “[Small classrooms speak] more to the hands-on education that both computer science and engineering provide.”

Despite minor technical problems, Van Citters expressed his gratitude for the building’s completion.

“In the end, somebody had a vision and that vision is shared between the leaders who allowed this to happen and the folks who donated the money to make it happen,” Van Citters said. “I really want that gratitude to come forward from everybody here, because it’s awesome. It makes my job so much more rewarding.”

NAINA BHALLA/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

BY The Dartmouth Senior Staff This article was originally published on March 30, 2022.

The Student Worker Collective at Dartmouth will become a recognized union following a unanim2wous vote among student workers today, almost three months after they formally announced their intention to unionize.

The SWCD was only required to meet a 50 percent support threshold from student worker voters to be successful.

This vote will make SWCD the fifth recognized undergraduate union in the country, according to their Twitter account.

52 student workers voted in the election — approximately 30 percent of the total number eligible. In order to be eligible to vote, student-workers must have worked at least four and a half hours between Oct. 13, 2021 and Feb. 5, 2022.

The SWCD, formed in January by student workers at Dartmouth Dining, was motivated by rising dissatisfaction among workers from factors including increased exposure to COVID-19, intense work shifts due to the on-campus

labor shortage and pay stagnation.

On Jan. 28, College President Phil Hanlon rejected the SWCD’s request for voluntary recognition of the union, instead referring the election process to the National Labor Relations Board, an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that oversees elections for labor union representation.

In the same letter, Hanlon wrote that if the SWCD achieved majority support in an election, the College would collaborate with and support unionized employees on campus.

In a statement on the unionization of SWCD, the College wrote that their neutrality on the vote reflected “Dartmouth’s position that the decision rested with the students.”

“Dartmouth believes this election was fair and took place under a framework that allowed for participation by students from as many terms as possible,” vice president of campus services and institutional projects Joshua Keniston said in a statement from the College.

“We respect the students’ choice and look forward to developing a strong relationship with the collective, as we have with the members of SEIU Local 560.”

College to allow campus tours inside buildings

BY Farah Lindsey-almadani The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on March 31, 2022.

Campus tours through the admissions office will be allowed to enter campus buildings again starting April 1, according to an emailed statement from senior associate director of admissions Anna Dechert.

The decision was made in accordance with the College’s visitor guidance policy, which is informed by the College’s COVID-19 policies, according to Dechert. The Admissions Office hosted on-campus tours again starting in summer 2021, but visitors were not allowed to enter buildings, Dechert wrote. Virtual programming such as informational sessions remained in place. She added in an interview that as of mid-March, the College’s visitor guidance no longer requires proof of vaccination from visitors.

According to Dechert, the admissions office plans to retain some of the virtual tours of campus that were put in place during the pandemic. She added that the Office will continue to offer virtual live tours given by students holding a device and recording the tour for students who may not be able to visit campus, such as international students.

“We’ve had a really great response to [the virtual tours],” she said. “While we are really excited to have folks touring on campus, there are some students who just don’t have that as an option.”

For some student tour guides, the relaxation of visitor policies will allow them to lead tours inside buildings for the first time. Carter Welch ’23 said that while he began training as a tour guide during summer 2020, he only had experience leading virtual panels on Zoom until summer 2021, when he led in-person tours — without entering buildings. He added that the virtual panels felt “odd sometimes.”

“It almost didn’t feel real, it almost felt like it was a rehearsal, [but there] were people listening in which was a weird feeling,” Welch said. “When I began giving tours in person, it was very different to have that personal feedback [from visitors] to the tour.”

Welch added that he enjoyed giving tours his sophomore summer because he

was able to “reconnect with campus.”

He added that the biggest challenge giving tours during the pandemic was talking about life at the College after being off-campus during the pandemic, as it sometimes felt “like talking about a place that didn’t exist anymore.”

“By sophomore winter, I was almost a year detached from the last time I was at Dartmouth,” he said.

Other student tour guides expressed excitement with the return to leading tours inside buildings. Angie Janumala ’22, who began leading tours her freshman winter, said the transition to the virtual format in spring 2020 was stressful, especially since one of the admissions office’s main supervisors left during the transition to the online format.

“A lot of [the training of new guides] relied mostly on ’22s [and] ’21s [during the pandemic], who had been accustomed to the rhythm of the old tours,” she said. “And obviously as the years go by, a lot of people don’t remember what the old tours’ system was.”

Given the new guidelines, Janumala said she is looking forward to bringing students inside academic buildings. She added that during her freshman year, she would lead guests into the Orozco Mural Room, having written an assignment about it for WRIT 5.

“I felt like I was kind of inviting tour guests into this kind of academic experience by showing them through a study space that is also a national historic landmark,” she said.

Brandon Zhou ’22, who also helped to train new tour guides, said that he is excited about bringing back indoor tours to visitors.

“I think that it is a really important part of the College visit experience to have visitors and prospective students visit buildings and see what it is like to be a student,” Zhou said.

Dechert expressed excitement for visitors being able to enter buildings on campus.

“We’re just really excited that we can have [admitted] students continuing to tour campus and start to show them some more spaces on campus,” she said.

“We are definitely committed to doing that in a safe way, and we’ve gotten really good at being flexible as rules change, as we will continue to do that.”

FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022

PAGE 3

THE DARTMOUTH OPINION

THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD

SENIOR COLUMNIST KYLE MULLINS ’22

Verbum Ultimum: Dig a Little Deeper

Mullins: The Right Play

The College must acknowledge that improving students’ mental health requires addressing shortcomings across campus — not just at Dick’s House.

The JED Foundation is set to announce its strategic plan for improving Dartmouth’s mental health infrastructure by the end of the term.

Representatives from JED — a nonprofit that, according to its website, “protect[s] emotional health and prevent[s] suicide for... teenagers and young adults” — visited campus in late February to meet with administrative offices and various student groups. The strategic plan will be informed by this feedback, along with findings from the Healthy Minds Survey — which was sent out to campus during the fall term — and recommendations from committees of students, faculty and leadership across Dartmouth’s undergraduate and graduate schools.

Although the foundation’s strategic plan has yet to be announced, we urge JED to dig deeper — to consider how deficiencies in all facets of student life impact mental health. Any solution to the current crisis must acknowledge all the ways in which mental health is tethered to the efficacy of administrative policies across campus.

The College prides itself on the wide variety of wellness resources it offers students, which complement the Counseling Center. From the residential housing communities to the undergraduate deans office, Dartmouth likes to advertise these resources as major contributors to the support systems available to students.

However, few students feel that these resources adequately address mental health on campus as they face repeated signs of how little the College really cares about them — from unsympathetic professors to unhelpful undergraduate deans to insufficient housing.

Currently, professors have full control over how much leniency they grant students regardless of the circumstances. While some may argue that this policy is vital to guaranteeing professors’ freedom in their classrooms, such practices can lead to students feeling helpless when experiencing a personal crisis or emergency. Compassionate professors also face challenges as the registrar’s NRO policy, which could assist students in crisis, is not flexible and typically cannot be elected after week two — something many professors attempt to offer their students just to find out it is not possible. Moreover, although one would expect professors to be compassionate and flexible when a student loses a loved one — or has some other ongoing mental struggle — this is not always the case.

Additionally, when students who are struggling reach out to their undergraduate deans for support — something they are constantly urged to do by their deans, professors and administrators — they are often met with unhelpful, one-sizefits-all solutions that don’t address the student’s needs. From being told to medically withdraw following the loss of a close friend to advising a student to stay in a course with a professor who responded to a mental health crisis without any human sympathy, the experiences many people on this Editorial Board have had with their dean has taught them that their offer for support is superficial.

Furthermore, since undergraduate deans don’t provide students with adequate solutions, students are then left with the task of determining

how to proceed during times of crisis. And even in cases in which deans are supportive, they are not given enough power to influence professors’ actions. In short, unless the undergraduate deans office adjusts its policies such that they listen to students’ concerns and offer relevant and helpful support, students will continue to feel unsupported.

Meanwhile, the ongoing housing crisis has continually left students wondering not only where they will live the following term, but also if they will be offered housing at all. While this issue may seem unrelated to mental health, housing insecurity can increase the pressure students are under by adding yet another problem they must resolve. For students who are already struggling with their mental health or experiencing personal hardship, this added pressure only makes their mental health worse and can push them past their breaking point. And even when students are offered on-campus housing, in many cases, they are placed in cramped, overcrowded rooms — or even converted common spaces — that can affect daily routines, sleep schedules and sometimes even physical health.

Additionally, in cases where students are not offered housing, it is up to the student to figure out where they will live the subsequent term — a task that is further complicated by the limited and expensive housing available in the Upper Valley. Yet again, the College places the burden on students to find housing to make up for their own inability to build the necessary infrastructure to house the student body. In this sense, the housing crisis demonstrates that the College is in fact not the loving, caring home it makes itself out to be. After all, students cannot feel like the College is a supportive home when they can’t even guarantee students will have a roof over their heads.

All of these issues demonstrate that despite the College’s insistence that Dartmouth is our home, for many of us, this sentiment is blatantly not true. By failing to provide students with the support they need in almost every area of campus life, Dartmouth leaves students out to dry, feeling betrayed by the College that was supposed to provide us with the shelter and support.

While the issues we outline above address some of the campus issues affecting mental health, this list is by no means exhaustive. We acknowledge that it is not reasonable to expect JED to address every campus issue that can negatively impact students’ mental health. Nonetheless, it is vital that JED make some recommendations in their strategic master plan that address the campus institutions that students are told they can rely on.

Although we are hopeful that JED’s plan will significantly improve the state of mental health at Dartmouth, this will only be possible if the foundation seeks a holistic approach. After all, mental health isn’t only affected by what happens in a clinical setting, but rather by every part of a person’s life.

The editorial board consists of opinion staff columnists, the opinion editors, the executive editors and the editor-in-chief.

STAFF COLUMNIST SPENCER ALLEN ’23

Allen: To Health With You

Dartmouth should scale back athletic recruitment.

This column was originally published on March 29, 2022.

When College President Phil Hanlon announced the elimination of five varsity sports teams in July of 2020, one reason he cited for the decision was the College’s desire to reduce the number of recruited athletes in each incoming class by 10%. Athletic recruitment, he wrote, “has begun to impact our ability to achieve the right balance between applicants who are accomplished in athletics and applicants who excel in other pursuits.”

Dartmouth, of course, proceeded to fumble the execution of the cuts: In addition to blindsiding the teams involved, the College apparently left itself open to Title IX litigation, forcing the administration into an embarrassing reversal and reinstatement. But the admissions-related reasoning for scaling back athletic recruitment, which acknowledges that athletics can be an unfair force in admissions, remains sound.

Dartmouth should think bigger: If it wants a fairer admissions process, the College should create a plan to eliminate athletic recruitment for many of its teams.

Athletic recruitment, taken as a whole, gives an enormous admissions advantage to high school student-athletes, including those at elite universities. We know this because a lawsuit against Harvard University by an anti-affirmative action group has resulted in a flood of never-before-seen admissions data becoming public — and while no elite school conducts admissions exactly the same way, it is unlikely that Dartmouth’s policies differ so enormously from Harvard’s that the issues in Cambridge, Mass. are not also present in Hanover, N.H. The Harvard data showed that athletes with high academic ratings according to Harvard’s internal admissions scoring system have an eye-popping acceptance rate of 83%, compared to just 16% for non-athletes. Beyond the obvious unfairness of such a system, this admissions advantage has major implications for racial diversity: A University of Chicago analysis of the data found that removing athletic preference entirely from Harvard’s admissions process would result in more Hispanic and Asian-American and fewer white admitted students (the number of Black admitted students would remain about the same). Coupled with other admissions practices like legacy admissions — which should be done away with entirely — athletic recruiting ensures that students from higher-income backgrounds, who are disproportionately white, are on the inside track for admissions.

Scaling back athletic recruitment for Dartmouth sports not offered at the vast majority of high schools would make the admissions process fairer.

The National Federation of State High School Associations conducts a yearly survey of high school athletics and claims to include in its data 19,500 high schools across the country (the vast majority of high schools, which probably number upwards of 25,000).

According to the organization’s 2018-2019 survey — the most recent available — 16 of Dartmouth’s 35 sports teams represent sports available at less than 20% of high schools nationwide: men’s and women’s lacrosse, women’s field hockey, men’s and women’s ice hockey, men’s and women’s skiing, women’s equestrian, men’s heavyweight and lightweight and women’s rowing, coed and women’s sailing, women’s rugby and men’s and women’s squash. Eight of these teams — rowing, sailing, rugby and squash — are offered by less than 1% of high schools nationwide.

Recruiting for these sports is extraordinarily unfair to the overwhelming number of high schoolers who lack access to them. Dartmouth should end it.

For one thing, recruiting from such a narrow band of schools means that Dartmouth is forced to look to students who got their experience outside of high school — and outside of school-organized athletics, there is often a larger price tag attached.

For example, parents whose kids play lacrosse and hockey spend an average of over $7,000 annually on their kids’ involvement. Basketball and soccer, on the other hand, average less than $1,500. If a prospective recruit’s parents can’t afford to spend thousands of dollars every year on equipment, league fees, camps, travel and more, the student will not even have the chance to play these sports, let alone be recruited.

Additionally, these sports are disproportionately white, according to 2021 NCAA statistics not available through their demographics portal that I obtained through a records request. Just as one example, across the Ivy League, men’s and women’s skiing, offered by roughly 5% of high schools nationwide respectively, are over 90% white. In contrast, men’s and women’s basketball, offered by 95% and 93% of high schools nationwide, are 35% and 49% white, respectively. This disparity indicates a serious racial equity issue, given that less than half of students who attend public high schools — 90% of all high school students — are white.

Some argue that the recruiting process helps attract disadvantaged students, and this may be true in some individual cases. But data from the Harvard Crimson’s annual surveys of the freshman class supports the existence of the aforementioned inequities: 83% of recruited athletes in Harvard’s class of 2025 were white, far more than the 53% of the class as a whole, and 46% of recruited athletes in the class of 2022 had family incomes of $250,000 or higher, exceeding the 33% of the class overall.

To be clear, Dartmouth should implement a plan over several years in order to give teams time to adjust and to ensure it does not run afoul of Title IX rules.

I also acknowledge the impacts that this change would have on Dartmouth’s athletic programs; it is likely that these teams, forced to accept only walk-on athletes, may not be as competitive with the other Ivies. That is a risk Dartmouth should be willing to take if it means a better admissions process. Additionally, such a change may push the other Ivies to make similar changes, nullifying any negative effects on competitiveness.

Admission to an elite school like Dartmouth is an incredible privilege, one that should be granted as fairly and equitably as possible. I am not suggesting that any student-athletes currently at the College do not deserve to be here — Dartmouth, and every Ivy, rejects thousands of qualified and deserving applicants every year, meaning that no matter what criteria are used to decide who’s in and who’s out, plenty of students who would do well at Dartmouth are denied the opportunity to do so. Student-athletes at Dartmouth worked hard for spots in their classes — but so did students who sank countless hours into paid work to support their families, not to mention theater, debate, band or — dare I say — high school newspapers. Eliminating recruitment for sports that the vast majority of high school students never even have the chance to play would make Dartmouth’s admissions fairer for all.

Kyle Mullins is the former editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth. He is now a member of the Opinion staff and his views do not necessarily represent those of The Dartmouth.

MARLEIGH PETERS ’24: BAD WITH FACES

Dartmouth must provide affordable, comprehensive health insurance to all students.

This column was originally published on March 31, 2022.

The sleepy cul-de-sac behind my childhood home in Alaska sat at the bottom of a long hill. One summer, with my scooter in tow, I would climb to the top of the hill and race down, reaching 10, 15 or even 20 miles per hour before I made it to the bottom. I felt like the King of the Cul-de-Sac. One Sunday afternoon, with the breeze of the hill wisping through my helmet, I took my hand off one of the handle bars to adjust my sleeve. Instead of stoically keeping my balance like the regal nine-yearold I was, I fell. Hard. My lips and knees were scraped raw, and a tooth was ground down by the asphalt. My parents rushed me to the emergency room, where my wounds were washed and I received a CT scan and several X-rays. Later that week, I went to my local pediatrician for a follow-up — and another X-ray — and my dentist, who gave me a filling for my chipped tooth. Thanks to Medicaid, we paid about 20 dollars out of pocket for these services — and that was just for gas.

Had this happened while I was on Dartmouth’s health insurance, I would have likely paid hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for these services — leaving me hung out to dry.

The College requires all students to have health insurance that meets a “certain level” — namely comprehensive coverage in the Hanover area — according to the Dartmouth College Health Service website. The Dartmouth Student Group Health Plan offered by the College meets those minimum standards.

This academic year, the premium for the plan is $4,163, half of which is waived for students receiving need-based financial aid. After receiving insurance, preventative services at Dick’s House are free to students, while students are responsible for a $250 deductible for in-network services and $500 for out-of-network services. After that, DSGHP will cover up to 90% of non-emergency services.

This system disadvantages many of the students it seeks to benefit. Low-income students who are fortunate enough to have only simple medical needs — nothing more than a cold here or there — may have to pay close to $2,100 for the premium and maybe a couple deductibles for their prescriptions. That, in itself, is cost-prohibitive.

For students with more complex medical situations, the amount they pay — and struggle to cough up — grows.

Many of these students may have been on Medicaid, but

public health insurance rarely transfers across state lines.

Additionally, New Hampshire’s eligibility rules prohibit students who are only in New Hampshire for school from receiving Medicaid, leaving most low-income students at Dartmouth ineligible.

DSGHP has enough issues in covered services, and much more when considering its glaring lack of dental insurance. Students have access to the Basix Dental Savings Program, which can lower the costs of dental services — but only marginally. The two Hanover dentists that signed up for the Basix program only offer discounts of 10% and 20%, forcing students to pay the remaining 80% or 90% out of pocket. The benefits of the program are better if students go to West Lebanon or Lebanon, but the cost savings are still negligible when students don’t have reliable transportation or cannot pay upwards of $100 for preventative or emergency dental care. No other portion of the DSGHP covers dental insurance, compelling students to forgo regular dental care and preventative screenings.

To alleviate the health burdens the College’s current health insurance apparatus places on students, more comprehensive versions of the DSGHP must be made available, and full coverage should be easily accessible to eligible students. In particular, students with needbased financial aid — especially those with full-ride scholarships — should not be held responsible for any portion of their health insurance packages, including the premium, deductible and copays. Moreover, all necessary medical expenses should be covered under that plan, including dental coverage. This may seem like a big ask — especially when so many private health insurance plans do not cover dental insurance — but if the State of Alaska can do it, so can Dartmouth.

If I had Dartmouth’s insurance the summer of my scooter accident, I would never have gone to the hospital because of the prohibitive cost, putting me at risk of an undetected concussion, untreated infection or worse. At a school among the richest universities in the country, no student should have to choose between their health and their wallets. For example, students should be able to get a dental cleaning at noon and dinner at 5. A student’s health comes well before their personal and academic success. If Dartmouth is serious about maintaining both, it must commit to providing affordable, comprehensive healthcare for all its students.

EMILY LU, Editor-in-Chief MIA RUSSO, Production Executive Editor LAUREN ADLER & ANDREW SASSER, News Executive Editors

AMY PARK, Publisher

THOMAS BROWN, CASSIE MONTEMAYOR THOMAS, JACOB STRIER Managing Editors

PRODUCTION EDITORS KAMI ARABIAN & NATALIE DOKKEN, Opinion Editors ARIELLE FEUERSTEIN & CARIS WHITE, Mirror Editors WILL ENNIS & JASON NORRIS, NORRIS Sports Editors DANIELLE MULLER & ELEANOR SCHIFINO, SCHIFINO, Arts Editors CAROLINE KRAMER & ANGELINA SCARLOTTA, Photo Editors PHILIP SURENDRAN, Data Visualization Editor LUCY HANDY & ZOORIEL TAN, TAN Design Editors GRANT PINKSTON, PINKSTON Templating Editor ELEANOR RYAN, Multimedia Editors FARAH LINDSEY-ALMADANI & EMMA NGUYEN, Engagement Editors NINA SLOAN Crossword Editor

BUSINESS DIRECTORS AMY HALDER Director of Operations DIVYA CHUNDURU & SAMUEL WINCHESTER Strategy Directors MEHAK BATRA & ISABELLE KITCHEL Development Directors BENJAMIN HINSHAW & SAMRIT MATHUR Digital Media & Analytics Directors EMILY GAO & BRIAN WANG Finance & Sales Directors EMMA JOHNSON Director of Software

SUBMISSIONS: We welcome letters and guest columns. All submissions must include the author’s name and affiliation with Dartmouth

College, and should not exceed 250 words for letters or 700 words for columns. The Dartmouth reserves the right to edit all material before publication. All material submitted becomes property of The Dartmouth. Please email submissions to editor@thedartmouth.com.

For any content that an author or artist submits and that The Dartmouth agrees to publish, the author or artist grants The Dartmouth a royaltyfree, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide and exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish and create derivative works from such content.

CORRECTION APPENDED (Roughly 29% of the total student body has tested positive for COVID-19 this calendar year, March 4, 2022): A previous version of this article, as well as its headline, contained incorrect statistics about the numbers of students who have tested positive for COVID-19 this term. The incorrect numbers were provided by the College Health Service to College spokesperson Diana Lawrence, who in turn provided them to The Dartmouth. After this article’s publication, Lawrence was sent correct statistics and then provided them to The Dartmouth.

1,812 students have contracted COVID-19 since Jan. 1, 2022, not 2,505. This represents roughly 29% of the student body enrolled in classes this term, not 39.6% — a six-point increase from Jan. 25, not a 17-point increase. The article and headline have been corrected online.

PAGE 4

FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022

THE DARTMOUTH ARTS

The 2022 Oscars fashion blurs the lines of masculinity and femininity

BY JESSICA LI

The Dartmouth Staff

This article was originally published on March 31, 2022.

Hundreds of celebrities walked the red carpet at the 94th annual Academy Awards on Sunday for the first relatively normal version of the award ceremony since the outbreak of COVID-19. Now more than ever, it seemed like the artists felt freer to express themselves: They were unapologetic in dressing in unique and interesting ways, even blurring the lines of masculinity and femininity.

The Oscars highlighted the ambiguity and freedom of fashion under the watchful eye of the public, reflecting a modern acceptance of clothing’s gender fluidity. From fresh takes on the classic “awards ceremony” dress to the experimental and risky, this year’s best dressed at the Oscars were truly some to remember.

Though only 15 years old, Demi Singleton has already made her mark in the entertainment world as both a phenomenal actress, playing Serena Williams in “King Richard,” and as a fashion icon. Singleton donned a strapless lilac dress from Miu Miu. This relatively simple silhouette was elevated by the intricate beading around the bust and upper torso. It’s beautiful on its own, but it’s especially perfect on Singleton as the playful purple color and floral embellishments juxtapose the structured silhouette of the dress. The innocent feeling of the dress emphasizes the youthful femininity of its wearer, presenting her not as an item to be sexualized, but an actress to be revered.

Megan Thee Stallion also brought something new to the typical gown.

Designed by Gaurav Gupta, the muted blue strapless dress was beautifully textured with sequins striped up and down. The skirt splayed out in equally textured waves before flowing like water into the rest of the train.

The cutout on the torso of the dress was placed at exactly the right spot, complementing her body perfectly, and the leg slit was at a tasteful height.

Upon donning the dress, she became the epitome of femininity by seizing her sensuality on the typically conservative red carpet. Known for her anthems of passion, desire and lust, Megan Thee Stallion brought her renowned sex appeal to the Oscars in a chic and stylish way.

The silhouette of “Dune” makeup artist Eva von Bahr’s ball gown was nothing shocking, but the gown itself certainly was. The painting “Madonna del Prato’’ by Raphael, a Renaissance artist, covered the entirety of the conservative dress, from the shortsleeved bodice to the huge skirt. The true star of the show, though, was the handbag that von Bahr paired with her outfit: a bag that resembled a bust of Michaelangelo’s statue of David. The marble statue represented the strength and fortitude of Florence, chronicling a tale of David’s wit overcoming Goliath’s strength. The bag’s addition to von Bahr’s flamboyant look added a nuanced touch of masculinity as she carried Michelangelo’s depiction of the perfect man in hard chiseled marble, contrasted with Raphael’s painting of tender motherhood between the Virgin Mary and Christ.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Kristen Stewart opted to completely challenge the idea of what a woman’s Oscars outfit should be. Forgoing the traditional dress in favor of shorts, Stewart wore custom Chanel: a white chiffon button-down shirt under a black suit jacket and alongside a pair of ultra-short shorts.

Chanel also loaned Stewart a milliondollar necklace, which she wore peeking out through her completely unbuttoned shirt. Although the length of her shorts could be considered scandalous, fashion is not necessarily about what’s considered appropriate; it’s about expression, identity and

JANE HUANG/THE DARTMOUTH

innovation. Stewart looked elegant without fulfilling the expectations of how a woman should dress, but most importantly, she looked truly like herself.

Zendaya similarly took on the risk of mixing the masculine and the feminine, wearing a cropped button-down top with a long silver sequined skirt, both from Valentino. The harsher structure of the more masculine satin top was balanced perfectly by the softness of the skirt’s flowing train. What really tied the look all together, though, was her jewelry. Silver Bvlgari Serpenti Viper coil bracelets trailed up both of her arms and they were paired with the matching necklace. In the end, the uniqueness of the stark contrasts within her look made Zendaya look effortlessly cool.

Zendaya’s “Dune” costar Timothée Chalamet was equally expressive on the red carpet with his fashion choices.

He was bare-chested, only dressed in a black sequined suit jacket and highwaisted black trousers from the Louis Vuitton womenswear collection. A silver Cartier necklace sat against his sternum and he wore black boots for a clean line from his pants to his shoes.

In an event that typically features a lot of the same when it comes to men’s fashion — usually a frankly unexciting black tuxedo — it was intriguing to see Chalamet experiment with his clothing, unafraid to blur gender boundaries in clothing in a public forum.

In the same vein of challenging the standard for menswear on the red carpet, “Power of the Dog” actor Kodi Smit-McPhee showed up in a pastel blue tuxedo from Bottega Veneta with a matching blue dress shirt. His shoes, also from Bottega Veneta, balanced out the rest of the outfit. The bright white woven texture stood out against the rest of the blue satin, and it prevented the

look from appearing overwhelming.

A unique take on the typically boring menswear seen at the Oscars, the pastel shade of the tuxedo added a feminine touch to the look despite its traditional fit.

At the end of the day, being the best dressed at the Oscars is not just about looking the most elegant or the most put together; it’s about giving the “wow” factor. It’s about giving the audience something new, something they’ve never seen before, but it’s also about showing personality and identity.

People are the most fashionable when they are dressed unapologetically and unabashedly true to themselves as they reject the previous constraints of gender. The fashion at this year’s Oscars is hopefully an indication of a continued path towards an emphasis on individuality and the freedom of expression, both on the red carpet and in daily life.

Review: ‘Turning Red’ Turns Coming-of-Age on Its Head

BY Chloe Jung The Dartmouth

This article was originally published on March 29, 2022.

Released to Disney+ on March 11, “Turning Red” took the world by storm.

Directed by Domee Shi, the movie follows 13-year-old Meilin “Mei” Lee (Rosalie Chiang) after she wakes and discovers that when she experiences strong emotions, she transforms into a giant red panda, a respected guardian animal in her family’s history. This generational curse and blessing is passed down to every daughter when they come of age; however, it can be permanently trapped in a talisman with a ritual performed during a Red Moon.

As Mei struggles to control her new and changing body, she is forced to confront her relationship with herself, her friends and most importantly, her mother.

“Turning Red” is a relatable, heartwarming and all-around enjoyable film that pushes the boundaries of mainstream coming-of-age stories by engaging its viewers in the otherwise difficult conversations of cultural and familial bonds, female adolescence, generational trauma and self-acceptance.

Simultaneously hilarious and heartfelt, this tale navigates the complex and messy reality of growing up and becoming one’s true self. “Turning Red” tackles important and underrepresented themes in a way that is fresh and fun, while defying expectations about what many believe an animated movie should be.

Set in the early 2000s, “Turning Red” is filled with familiar references like Tamagotchi digital pet toys, teen celebrity magazines and heart-throbbing boy bands. Mei, like any 13-year-old, is busy fangirling over celebrity crushes, jamming out with her best friends and secretly rebelling against her overprotective mother. For Mei and her friends, attending a 4*TOWN concert is life or death, and apparently, the first step into “womanhood.” The adorable exchanges between Mei and her friends remind me all too well of those between myself and my friends. The undying urge to “grow up” is universally felt and is wonderfully depicted in the film, but with keen attention to how Chinese cultural values play into Mei’s experiences.

The movie reflects the ethnic and racial diversity of its setting, Toronto, and does its environment justice by

filling scenes with nods to the vibrant culture and local community of Toronto’s Chinatown, home to one of the largest Cantonese-speaking immigrant enclaves in Canada. From the local temple brimming with incense to close-up shots of Mei’s dad’s mouth-watering cooking, I felt a warm connection to my culture and heritage — for which good representation is often scarce.

What makes Mei such a lovable and memorable protagonist is her fantastically written character arc. “Turning Red” opens with photographs featuring Mei and her mother, Ming (Sandra Oh). They do everything together, demonstrating their unbreakable mother-daughter bond. Mei narrates the opening scene with a phrase that cuts deep: “The number one rule in my family? Honor.

Your. Parents… Of course, some people are like, be careful. Honoring your parents sounds great, but if you take it too far, well, you might forget to honor yourself.”

When we first meet Mei, she presents herself as a confident, boisterous and strong-willed girl. Mei is the pictureperfect overachieving Asian daughter and her mother’s pride and joy, but we quickly learn that Mei is not as independent as she convinces herself she is. From turning down opportunities to hang out with her friends to hiding her discontent when her mother humiliates her, Mei caters to Ming’s happiness and expectations rather than her own.

As Mei learns to control her panda transformation — an overt metaphor for puberty — she finds that her growing desire to live her life more truthfully is often at odds with her mother’s wishes.

Torn between living out loud with her friends and maintaining her dutiful relationship with her mother, Mei reveals a deeper side to her character. Mei goes from initially rejecting her red panda form to embracing it as her source of freedom, adventure and self-expression, much to her mother’s disapproval. On the night of the Red Moon, Ming stresses that Mei cannot fail the ritual if she wishes to live a normal life. Although she initially agrees, Mei changes her mind and decides to keep her panda form, openly disobeying her mother.

Having broken her own talisman, an enraged Ming transforms into her gigantic red panda form. Mei must fight her mother as Mei’s two identities fall

into conflict: her dutiful loyalty to her family and her love for her friends. Mei knocks her mother into an unconscious state, giving her time to seal away Ming’s enormous panda. During her mother’s Red Moon ritual, Mei enters the astral plane, where she finds a teenage Ming sobbing uncontrollably. Ming tearfully reveals that she had hurt her own mother after lashing out in anger, damaging their relationship for years. Crying, Ming proclaims, “I’m just so sick of being perfect. I’m never gonna be good enough for her, or anyone.”

This painful scene not only facilitates a much-needed moment of healing and understanding between Mei and Ming, but offers an honest and raw depiction about the reality of generational trauma that is especially prominent within families of color. The red panda curse/ blessing also symbolizes how family

wounds and generational pains, despite their best efforts to stay sealed away, are often hereditary as well. By choosing to keep her panda, Mei becomes the first to break this traumatic cycle of crippling perfection amongst the women in her family.

“Turning Red” is revolutionary in small ways. It is the first Pixar film solely directed by a woman and the second to feature an Asian lead character. The women in “Turning Red” are lovely and refreshing examples of well-written female characters that push against stereotypical and one-dimensional representations. Cutesy and filled to the brim with bright colors, the film’s art style does not detract from its legitimacy.

Rather, it proves that “girliness” is neither childish nor degrading. “Girly” is a valid and powerful style of storytelling.

Furthermore, the film’s commitment

to incorporating Mei’s Chinese identity into her story not only makes faces like mine more visible to mainstream America, but validates our right to exist, to take up space and to tell our stories.

“Turning Red” is not your average coming-of-age story, and it shouldn’t be. It doesn’t shy away from honest depictions of puberty and trauma; instead, it pushes forward uplifting representations of teenage girls and our often flawed but amazing mothers. I laud Domee Shi and the incredible women of color that gave this story life, for they open doors and show us the kind of art that can be produced when women of color are put behind the camera and the script. To Asian-American girls, “Turning Red” is not afraid to be big and bold, and neither should you. Red, after all, is a lucky color.

Rating:

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FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022

PAGE 5

THE DARTMOUTH SPORTS

SPORTS

Baseball Rallies to Split Eight Games at RussMatt Invitational B Y Lanie Everett The Dartmouth Staff

Over spring break, the baseball team traveled to Aurendale, Florida to play eight games in eight days at the RussMatt Invitational at Lake Myrtle Park. Things got off to a rocky start with losses in the first four games, but the Big Green rallied to close out the trip on a four-game winning streak.

The spring trip was a valuable time for the team to gain on-field experience together, since many players had not been on a collegiate field in two years, or ever, according to senior pitcher and first baseman Justin Murray ’22.

“It just gave a good opportunity to some of the young guys, who haven’t played much or at all, to play and compete, which can only help us in terms of getting experience,” Murray said. “We’re spending eight days down there together to bond as a team and

get closer to each other.”

The Big Green opened play on March 16 with a 7-3 loss against Fa i r f i e l d U n i ve r s i t y. T h e n ex t day, Dartmouth took on Central Connecticut State University, losing 8-2. On day three, the team suffered their most lopsided loss of the trip, a 20-6 explosion by Bradley University.

The losing streak continued through game four, a 9-2 loss to Central Connecticut in which the Big Green gave up six unanswered runs through the final four innings.

Reflecting on the first four games, Murray said that the Big Green played “some good teams” and “learned a lot” from those games.

Even amid the losses, players expressed happiness to be on the field after losing two seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Just getting back out there and being able to play Ivy League games

is something I’ve wanted to do since I was recruited my junior year of high school,” outfielder Kolton Freeman ’23 said.

After playing in the first four games of the invitational, outfielder Tyler Robinson ’24 said many of the players reflected on their confidence in their capabilities and ultimately brought whatever they had out on the field to finish out the invitational strong.

“After the first four games there was definitely a sense of urgency to pick things up,” Robinson said. “The team realized, collectively, that we’re better than this.”

Finally, in game five, Dartmouth came back to stick it to Bradley University, winning 5-4. The Big Green came out strong, scoring three runs in the first inning and its final two runs in the second. Pitchers Trystan Sarcone ’22 and Jack Metzger ’23 held Bradley off so they did not score for

Courtesy of Connor Bertsch via Dartmouth Sports

After dropping its first four games of the invitational, the Big Green won its final four to enter Ivy League play on a winning streak.

the second through fourth innings, nor the seventh through ninth. In the first, Tyler Cox ’24, Bryce Daniel ’22, and Freeman scored. Daniel and Freeman got on base with singles while Cox reached first base on a throwing error. In the second inning, Robinson got on base after being hit by a pitch, advancing to second on Daniel’s walk, advancing to third on a wild pitch and finally scoring when Cox sent the ball flying into right field. Daniel scored not long after, driven in by a single off the bat of Connor Bertsch ’23.

Keeping up the victory mindset, in game six Dartmouth defeated Williams College in a 15-6 blowout.

In Dartmouth’s highest scoring game of the invitational, the Big Green won 19-4 against Bowdoin College in the seventh game in Florida. Highlights included Zackarie Casebonne ’25, Murray, Elliot Krewson ’25 and Jackson Hower ’25 making three hits in the game, as well as Kade Kretzschmar ’22 driving four runs. Additionally, Dartmouth’s high score is attributed to their sixth inning, in which the Big Green brought in 10 runs.

In the final game of the invitational, Dartmouth came back in the eighth inning, scoring five runs to take the lead. Entering the eighth inning, Hope College had scored three runs in the first and three runs in the seventh to make the score 6-3. By the end of the eighth, Cox, Freeman, and Krewson had hit singles and Bertsch delivered a double. Dartmouth totaled five hits and five runs in the inning. Freeman also hit a home run in the fourth to bring in two runs total. The Big Green ultimately won the game 11-6.

“Baseball is a momentum sport and I think it really helps getting back on track,” Freeman said.

“You string a few wins together and then you are back on a roll,” Robinson added.

The team plans to carry this

momentum into Ivy League play — already displaying its focused mindset in a series win against Brown University last weekend at home, which featured a triumphant 14-1 final game.

“At this point it’s just win every series, win every game,” Robinson said. “We’ve put the work in and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

The Big Green hopes to keep up its winning ways when it faces the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia this weekend.

Big Green softball kicks off its regular season during spring break BY caroline york The Dartmouth Staff

Over spring break, Dartmouth’s softball team headed south for its season opener with a doubleheader at Georgia State University on March 17. After losing 9-0 and then 6-0 in the two games, the Big Green competed in the University of Georgia Classic on March 19 and 20. On the first day, Dartmouth fell to No. 16 Georgia 11-2 and to Mercer University 10-2. The following day, Dartmouth suffered another loss to the University of Illinois 9-1 but got revenge on Mercer, winning the second game of the weekend against the team 5-0.

The season opener at Georgia State marked the beginning of the first full season in three years for the Big Green, as the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the past two seasons. In the first of the two games against Georgia State, utility player Kelly Beaupre ’24, outfielder Maddie Katona ’23, first baseman Kira La Scola ’22 and infielder Billie McFadyen ’22 each got a hit. In the second game, pitchers Megan Hagge ’25 and Rachel McCarroll ’25 both pitched for three innings, earning a combined three strikeouts for Dartmouth.

“The team is competing with three classes who have not yet had a full Ivy League softball season,” infielder Kate Farren ’23 said. “We can’t go into the season expecting to be perfect. However, we expect our return to playing after the two year hiatus to be big.”

On the morning of March 19, the team started the UGA Classic with a loss against No. 16 UGA in Athens, Georgia.

Outfielder Izzy Kam ’24 and McFadyen scored the two runs for the Big Green in the first and fourth inning, respectively.

In the fourth inning of the afternoon loss to Mercer, McFadyen hit a single up the middle that helped outfielder Alaana Panu ’25 score a run. In the seventh inning, the Big Green added to the scoreboard with infielder Leila Hennessy ’25 hitting a double that sent outfielder Jenna Brown ’25 home.

In the March 20 loss to Illinois, Kam had two hits and scored a run, with Farren capitalizing off a fielding error in the first inning. The Big Green held a 1-0 lead until Illinois tied up the game in the second inning. In the fifth and final inning, Illinois dominated, scoring a total of six runs.

Later that day the team won its first game of the season against Mercer, with

the Big Green recording five runs, five hits and five RBIs against the Bears.

Pitcher Brooke Plonka ’22 had her third career shutout, striking out 13 and walking three. In the bottom of the first inning, Panu scored the first run with a single by Farren. Dartmouth scored four runs in the fifth inning, starting with outfielder Emily Lipsett ’22 pinchhitting for Brown, earning a walk. After La Scola was hit by a pinch loading the bases, Kam hit a two-run double. After two outs, McFadyen hit a triple, sending the two runners on base to home plate.

On March 21, the Big Green traveled farther south to Alabama to take on Jacksonville State University. After losing 11-1, the team traveled back to Georgia on March 22 to face Georgia Tech in another doubleheader, losing the first game 1-0 and the second 9-1. Over the five-day stretch of competition, the team went 1-8 in its nine-game trip.

In the game against Jacksonville State, Katona scored the Big Green’s lone run in the top of the fourth inning, despite McFadyen and Brown each managing to get a hit off. During the team’s loss to Georgia Tech, McCarroll pitched a strong game, allowing no hits in the first six innings. However, Georgia Tech’s Chandler Dennis managed to shut out the Big Green the entire game. Despite the loss, Panu said she thought the first game against Georgia Tech was the team’s best performance of the season opener.

“For the first time, we had all the pieces of the team working, including defense, offense and pitching,” Panu said. “We all came together and realized what we were capable of. The team’s off-field chemistry has been great and in this game we figured out our on-field chemistry.”

The team later lost the second game against Georgia Tech. Head coach Jen Williams echoed Panu’s thoughts on the Georgia Tech games, noting that regardless of the outcome, there were still a lot of good pieces from the game.

Coming off of a long absence from competition during the pandemic, the team took on tough opponents in its first few games. With three of the class years on the team having yet to play a full college softball season, Farren said that she is excited about the group’s experience so far, particularly for the ’25s on the team.

“The freshman class in general is good at having short-term memory and

The team had just one win during the trip as they competed against multiple out-of-conference schools.

forgetting failures and moving on from bad plays,” Farren said. “I think we all learned a lot from them this week.”

Looking forward to the rest of the season, the team feels confident with the season opener under its belt.

“The team is really excited and optimistic about future Ivy League games,” McCarroll said. “We decided who we wanted to be as a team, and determined we are not going to back down even against the toughest opponents.”

After returning from the trip, the team played three home games against Yale University on March 26 and 27, starting Ivy League play with two losses of 8-7 and 6-2 before finishing with a 10-3 win.

The Big Green then went against Holy Cross College on March 30, winning the first game 4-1 and losing the second game 5-0. The team will next compete at Princeton University on April 2 and 3.

“We scheduled a tough seasonopening trip, because if you want to improve, you must play the best teams,” Williams said. “I think our best complete team performance was against Georgia Tech. The team has been working all preseason… We’re excited about the season ahead. This starting week in Georgia [and Alabama] taught us what we need to do to be successful this season. We’re going to get better every single time we play.”

Courtesy of Dartmouth Sports

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PAGE 6

MIRROR THE DARTMOUTH MIRROR

FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2022

Not-So-Picture-Perfect Spring Breaks STORY

By Gretchen Bauman

This article was originally published on March 30, 2022.

When I opened social media over spring break, I was instantly greeted by hundreds of pictures of Dartmouth students swimming in crystal clear water, girls in matching bikinis and location tags broadcasting the names of Caribbean islands I’d honestly never heard of before. After spending hours scrolling through picture after picture, I deleted most of my social media apps, unable to look at people’s seemingly perfect vacations for any longer. I was experiencing a classic case of FOMO (fear of missing out).

Yet, I had no reason to feel as though I was missing out on the spring break experience. At the exact moment I was endlessly scrolling through social media, I was sitting in a beach house in Georgia. I had escaped the punishing cold of winter in New Hampshire, I was developing a sunburn from long walks on the beach and I was surrounded by my parents and my little brother, who I hadn’t seen since December.

Furthermore, I knew that I desperately needed time to recover over spring break, as I had ended winter term in a state of disarray.

The massive sleep deficit I had accumulated over the term was quickly catching up to me, and I had a seemingly miles-long to-do list as academic responsibilities piled up.

With my introverted personality, I knew I would only feel more stressed out — and accomplish none of what I needed to do — if I spent every minute of break surrounded

by Dartmouth friends. If I didn’t take time for myself, I feared that I would return for

spring term already burnt out — a recipe for academic disaster.

While the rational part of my brain recognizes that I made the right decision about my spring break plans, part of me still desperately longed to fit into the image of spring break that is so prevalent on social media. Logically, I know that social media is just a heavily edited compilation of the best moments of everyone’s spring breaks: No one posts pictures of themselves at the airport before an early flight, fighting with their friends or waking up feeling deathly ill after a long night out. However, it becomes much harder to keep this in perspective when in every single picture people seem to be glowing, surrounded by their best friends in front of jaw-droppingly beautiful scenery. In the moment, stuck scrolling, irrationality wins out and I fall for the trap of the highlight reel, endlessly comparing myself to these pictures and always coming up short.

Social media seems to have inextricably linked the idea of having fun with documenting it. I fear that if I come out of spring break without hundreds of perfectly edited photos to capture it, then my break is empirically less fun than others who have the photo evidence to prove it. Additionally, part of me worries that if I return to school without pictures to show my friends or fascinating anecdotes with which I can regale them, I will automatically be seen as less interesting. And though I know that my worth as a friend and a Dartmouth student does not depend on the extravagance of my vacation locale, when looking at social media, it becomes increasingly difficult to continue believing that this statement is true.

ZOORIEL TAN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Above all, the main reason I feel as though I’m missing out by not going on a tropical vacation is the ubiquitous belief that college is the best four years of anyone’s life.

Most of the graduation cards I received last May were covered in messages about how college was going to be filled with the most fun I’d ever experience, and that I should try to enjoy it while I could. This has been coupled with unsolicited advice from many of my family members explaining how if I don’t have all the fun that I possibly can now, I’m wasting my youth and will regret it later.

Once again, when I think rationally, I am certain that I will experience happy memories after leaving college; the ages 18-22 are just the beginning of my life,

and they should not be the pinnacle of it.

Yet, it’s easy to fixate on the prevalence of highlight reel pictures on social media and the endless advice pressuring me to have as much fun as I can in these four years.

Combined, the two seem to trap me in an never-ending cycle of worry over the state of my spring break plans.

Going to Georgia with my family and then spending a week in my childhood bedroom in Indiana — though relaxing — do not match the stereotype that movies, influencers and even other Dartmouth students portray on social media about the ‘perfect’ spring break, filled with nothing but parties. I did not attend any parties over the break, and irrationally, I worry that this means I’ve already failed to maximize my

fun-having potential while in college. This is an especially terrifying thought since apparently — according to all the advice I’ve been given — I only have these four short years to have fun before entering the joyless world of “real” adults.

Despite these fears, I’m trying my best to let the rational voice in my head win out. As Dartmouth admissions officers and alumni are fond of reminding us all, there’s no one ideal “Dartmouth experience.” If this holds true, as I believe it does, it also means that there cannot possibly be an ideal “Dartmouth spring break” experience. As spring term begins, I’m trying to keep this in mind. When my friends start asking what I did over break, I’ll share my unadventurous vacation with pride.

Stuck in the Woods? Trials and Tribulations of a Rural Commute STORY

By Hannah Shariff

This article was originally published on March 30, 2022.

Part of the beauty of Dartmouth lies in its remote location. But at two and a half hours away from the nearest major city, living in the woods also effectively separates students from many of the modern conveniences of the outside world, like easy access to transportation — especially for students without a personal car. At the beginning and end of each term, the question of how to get to and from campus always seems to emerge, and it’s not always an easy problem to solve.

Many Dartmouth students live far enough away from campus that air travel is their preferred mode of transit.

Obviously, no planes land directly on campus, so students who fly need to have reliable transportation once they land — a niche filled by the Dartmouth Coach, which drops students off on campus from Boston Logan International Airport and Boston South Station, among other locations.

While there are other airports closer to Dartmouth’s campus, Boston Logan — with its direct connection to campus via the Coach — is the most popular choice for students heading to Hanover from all across the world.

Despite the Coach’s convenience, sometimes students like Jared Pugh ’25 find the window between a flight’s arrival and the Coach’s departure can be a little too small.

“If you are just late by an iota of a second they pull out,” Pugh said.

This quarter, Pugh was unable to make the Coach after waiting an unusually long time for baggage claim at Logan.

“I was trying to get my baggage when I see that the Coach has already arrived in the front outside. So, I go outside and let the driver know that I’m waiting on my bags and that I just needed a few minutes. The man then said ‘no’ and that I’ll have to wait for the next Coach. He then proceeded to take off. I was appalled,” Pugh said.

Jane Huang ’25 also experienced the downsides of the Coach’s punctuality when she accidentally overslept and missed her 3 a.m. bus.

“I brought all my stuff out there super early because I expected to wait in the Hop, but I didn’t realize it would be closed,” Huang said. “So I went back to my dorm and I remember looking at my phone — it was 1:50 a.m. The next time I looked at it, it was 3:15 am.”

Huang added that she decided to

rebook her flight because “there was no way” she could have arrived at the airport in time for her original reservation.

“I spent the entire day calling Delta and ended up not sleeping at all,” Huang said.

I am also not immune to Hanover travel woes. In addition to the Boston Coach, there is a Coach that runs between New York City and Dartmouth, but unlike the Boston Coach, this only runs once per day.

Tickets are much more difficult to obtain than for the Boston Coach, and passengers must reserve a seat ahead of time. Unfortunately, I only learned this as I tried to purchase a ticket to New York, but failed to secure one for the proper date. The ticket I was able to get left a few days too late.

Funnily enough, it seems that some students look to Dartmouth’s anonymous communication apps to solve their travel conundrums.

I personally found my solution on Airfeed, an app that acts as an alternative to the recently departed Librex. Soon after I purchased my too-late Coach ticket, I saw a post which asked whether anyone had a ticket to New York and promised to pay double for the seat. I sold my ticket, and with the extra money, I was able to take the Coach to Boston and then a Greyhound to New York.

Although I surprisingly ended up with leftover money from the exchange (do not take this as a sign to become a Dartmouth Coach ticket reseller), the arduous process of this experience has constantly reminded me to book my tickets in advance.

The Coach is not the only source of student travel struggles; even taking the train, which stops a mere ten minutes from campus, can leave students stranded at the station in White River Junction. Ubers and Lyfts are virtually nonexistent in such a remote area, which leaves students with few options: either finding a friend with a car, or calling a taxi.

Anish Sikhinam ’25, who lives in Connecticut, regularly takes the train to Vermont. To get to campus, he once tried to call Big Yellow Taxi — one of the few local taxi services — only to find that it was booked.

“One time on the train it was 2 p.m. and it was scheduled to arrive around 6 p.m. So at 2 p.m. I called the Big Yellow Taxi, trying to get a taxi for when I arrived, [but] they said that they weren’t available until 7 p.m.,” Sikhinam said. “I tried to call

my friends to possibly pick me up but there was a snowstorm that weekend.”

When Sikhinam arrived in White River Junction, he had no ride and no idea what to do. He eventually attempted to call Safety and Security but was told they were not allowed to leave the town of Hanover to help him.

“I don’t think SNS should be a taxi service, but I do think they should be able to help out in extreme circumstances,” he said.

Luckily, Sikhinam was able to get to campus thanks to the help of some

good samaritans.

“I was about to stay in a hotel, and the station master was nice enough to walk me there,” he said. “As we were walking out we saw this group of moms that were leaving a restaurant, and the station-master asked them if they were heading up north and if they were willing to take me up to Hanover.

They luckily said yes.”

After his experience, Sikhinam does not know if he can take the train anymore, which means he will have to take a longer ride by means of the Coach.

“It definitely was not a fun experience,” he said.

No matter how students get to campus, it seems that the panic of trying to secure a spot on the limited transportation options is almost universal among students. The next time you find yourself missing a Coach or stranded in the middle of nowhere, remember that you aren’t alone — and soon, you’ll be able to commiserate with a not-insignificant portion of the Dartmouth population.

Jane Huang is a member of T he Dartmouth design staff.

NINA SLOAN ’24: SPRING SPRANG SPRUNG