VOL. CLXXVIV NO. 3
FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022
Less restricted Student Assembly campaigning allowed this spring
HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Dartmouth to return Occom’s possessions to Mohegan Tribe
BY ARIZBETH ROJAS The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on April 14, 2022.
TIFFANY CHANG/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF
BY EMILY FAGELL The Dartmouth
This article was originally published on April 11, 2022. For the first time since 2019, Student Assembly candidates will be able to campaign in person before elections on April 26, according to the Election Planning and Advisory Committee’s updated 2022 election code. The elections will also operate under updated budget requirements and loosened restrictions on social media tactics. Revisions to the code regarding less oversight on social media conduct came in the wake of last year’s controversy, when SA presidential and vice-presidential candidates Attiya Khan ’22 and Sebastian MuñozMcDonald ’23 had their campaign temporarily suspended for “spreading misinformation and due to supporter conduct.” While both Khan and Muñoz-McDonald spoke out publicly
against unfair treatment during last year’s election cycle, EPAC chair Zippy Abraham Paiss ’23 said the suspension was “not a unique case” and changes to the code had been warranted prior to the controversy. “I would say I have always wanted these changes,” Abraham Paiss said. “Before the beginning of last year’s campaign period, I thought that it would make sense if EPAC was more hands off, but the rules already existed and [were] written in the code, and it wasn’t my place to change them.” Now, as a second-year chair, Abraham Paiss said she felt compelled to amend this year’s election code after being in conversation with the rest of the committee. The return to in-person campaigning involves many changes. In concordance with the College’s COVID-19 policies, candidates may now hold public forums and gatherings. Lifted restrictions also now enable campaigns to spread fliers, hang up posters and banners, use chalk according to the College’s chalking
policies, set up tables in public areas and send one bulk mailing to Hinman mailboxes. Current SA members responded positively to the return to in-person campaigning. “I do think that Dartmouth is an in-person kind of place,” School House senator Paul Hager ’22 said. “The events and booths and activities that draw the most interesting students are things that happen in person [...] Speaking as a ’22, I remember the campaigning that happened before — a lot of big chalk drawings and outreach activities. I bet those will continue to be popular in the same way.” South House senator Anthony Fosu ’24 said he believes that “candidates are going to engage more with the student body,” while many may still utilize strategies learned during virtual campaigns. “The most effective campaigns will use a mix of different types of SEE CAMPAIGNING PAGE 2
Forensic Union wins back-to-back at National Debate Tournament
PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH 62 LOW 47
BY KRISTIN CHAPMAN The Dartmouth Staff
This article was originally published on April 14, 2022.
NEWS
SUMMIT ON JUNIPER APARTMENTS PROVIDE NEARBY HOUSING PAGE 2
OPINION
VERBUM ULTIMUM: AN APPLE A DAY PAGE 3
ARTS
REVIEW: SYD’S ‘BROKEN HEARTS CLUB’ LACKING
Dartmouth Forensic Union debaters Tyler Vergho ’23 and Arvind Shankar ’23 won the 76th National Debate Tournament on March 31, ending this year’s hybrid debate season. The victory marks Vergho’s second win in a row and the first back-to-back win in Dartmouth debate history, which began in the 1940s, according to DFU coach John Turner ’03. In addition, the DFU is the third team ever to win the NDT in backto-back years, Turner said. He added that the win brings up the DFU’s national collegiate ranking to second most all-time NDT wins. “This win brought us to eight [wins and] broke a tie with Harvard [University], who’s at seven,” he said. “Northwestern [University] has the all-time lead with 14.” Turner said he felt proud of the team’s effort and dedication for the past two years, even though these debate seasons were “significantly impacted” by COVID-19 –– with last
year’s tournament season held entirely online, and this year’s tournament season held with a combined in-person and online format. “This year we got the chance to go to a few in-person tournaments but competed online at a number of tournaments as well,” Turner said. “Through both years we had teams who were working incredibly hard to be at the top competitive level of intercollegiate policy debate, [which] takes many hours of work every week.” Vergho said that the team faced setbacks due to a COVID-19 outbreak that occurred on the day before they were set to travel to James Madison University, where the tournament was held. Vergho said he had to compete virtually, while his partner, Shankar, attended the NDT in person. “[We] entered that first day of the tournament not necessarily with the competitive outlook, [or] gearing up to win, that you otherwise might expect going into a national championship like this,” he said. “...It was kind of disappointing to miss out on [the inperson component], but I think part of that ultimately got channeled into SEE DEBATE PAGE 2
PAGE 4
SPORTS
SENIOR SPRING: THOMAS LINGARD SHINES AS TRACK LEADER PAGE 5
MIRROR
THE HISTORY BENEATH US: ANTH 50.47 PAGE 6 FOLLOW US ON
@thedartmouth COPYRIGHT © 2022 THE DARTMOUTH, INC.
Courtesy of John Cameron Turner
O n A p r i l 2 7 , a re p at r i at i o n ceremony will take place at the Mohegan Cultural and Preservation Cen ter in Co n n ec tic u t for th e C o l l e g e t o re t u r n t h e S a m s o n Occom papers, which include diaries and autobiographical statements belonging to Occom — a co-founder of Dartmouth — to his native Mohegan Tribe. Part of the significance of the documents lies in their linguistic information and history. According to College archivist Peter Carini, among the 117 documents and two books in the collection, there is a primer that contains what is believed to be the oldest example of the Mohegan Tribe’s written language. According to Mohegan Tribal Council vice chairwoman Sarah Harris ’00, the last fluent speaker of the Mohegan language passed away in 1908, at a time when many Mohegans had stopped teaching the language out of fear of “retribution” from local teachers. Harris wrote in an emailed statement that the Mohegan Language Project plans to use the primer substantively as a teaching tool towards the Mohegan language revitalization efforts. The Occom papers are currently housed in an underground storage facility between the back of Rauner Library and the east wing of Baker L i b r a r y. A c c o r d i n g t o H a r r i s, the return of the Occom papers i s p a r t i c u l a rl y m e a n i n g f u l f o r the Mohegan Tribe because the Mogehan people believe that objects and writing hold their maker’s spirit within them. “With the return of his papers, Occom is coming back to our homelands and our people,” Harris wrote. Taught by Eleazar Wheelock, Occom was considered a remarkable student by any standard, according to Native American studies professor Colin Calloway. Calloway said it was this experience that prompted Wheelock to found Dartmouth College with the initial intention of educating Native American youth. According to Carini, by assisting t h e M o h e g a n Tr i b e w i t h l e g a l documents and fighting for their land rights, Occom hoped to use his education to support his homeland. However, according to Calloway, in Dec. 1765, Occom traveled to England to raise money for what he believed would become a school for Native Americans which instead b ec a m e D ar tm o u th Co l l eg e — “another school basically for white students,” Calloway said. Before returning in 1767, Occom had raised roughly 2 million pounds in today’s money, Carini said. Then, in 1777, Occom wrote a “scathing” letter to Wheelock
regarding Wheelock’s broken promise to care for Occom’s family while Occom was away and repurposing of the collected funds to create a college that served sons of New Englanders, Carini said. According to Calloway, in the letter, Occom said that Dartmouth should not be considered an alma mater, but instead an “alba mater” — a white mother. Carini said that Occom never saw Wheelock ever again and never set foot on Dartmouth College. “I’m encouraged by [the repatriation] because it is a step in the right direction,” Calloway said. “It is an important first step towards restoring a relationship that was severely damaged a very long time ago.” Carini said that staff from the College’s libraries and the Hood Museum of Art attended workshops with the Mohegan Tribal Librarian and Tantaquidgeon Museum to better understand how to collaborate with Indigenous communities, as well as Occom’s role in the founding of Dartmouth. According to Carini, members from administrative offices such as the admissions office were also invited to these workshops. “We think [they] could benefit from better understanding of the story and the background and how to work with indigenous people a little bit more,” he said. According to Carini, the College is also “in conversation” with members of the Abenaki Tribe — the land of whom the College was built on — in Odanak, Quebec concerning tribal materials still held by the College. The process for any items to be repatriated has yet to be determined. One factor in determining what items should be repatriated is the question of how the item was originally sourced and if it was bought or stolen, Carini said. According to Carini, “a lot” of materials held by the Hood museum were originally sold by members of the Abenaki. “The Mohegan [repatriation] came up very quickly and we reacted to it but we want to prepare ourselves before we field any additional requests because there need to be some internal protocols in place for us to judge when it is most appropriate to return items,” Carini said. In regards to repatriating the Occom papers to the Mohegan Tribe, Carini said that he is “really excited.” “It’s very rare in my job that we get to have an opportunity to return [such documents] in such a direct way and in a way that starts taking some steps toward correcting harms from the past and creating reconciliation,” he said. Harris shared Carini’s optimism. “This repatriation marks the beginning of a new chapter in the shared history of the Mohegan People and the Dartmouth community, one in which Occom’s dream of an education for Native students moves closer to fulfillment,” she wrote.