The “Promise” of Diversity
The one term utilized ad nauseam more than any other throughout freshman orientation at Dartmouth is “diversity.” The College preaches “diversity” almost to a point of overcompensation while trying its darndest to use this diluted word as a grand sales pitch for prospective students. Lectures throughout orientation and beyond carry almost identical themes of growth and maturity through an acceptance and appreciation of differences. While the sheer quantity of activities centered on “diversity” may, in the long run, cheapen the term, it is difficult not to respect this attempt at encouraging a fully-tolerant student body. Yet as my third Yom Kippur in Hanover approaches, Dartmouth’s heavily loaded emphasis on “diversity” seems nothing more than empty rhetoric. More »
