A speech by English Professor Emeritus Jeffrey Hart, intended as a Freshman Week finale on how to get a good liberal arts education, lapsed into a sharp debate over political correctness at Dartmouth and what courses should be required in the College's curriculum.
For the first 75 minutes of the talk in Filene Auditorium, Hart read extensively from his pamphlet: "What is a College Education? (and How to Get One)" to an audience of about 50 students and faculty.
During a question and answer session he was challenged by three professors who accused him of stating inaccuracies and demanded specific examples to support his claims. At one point English Professor Thomas Luxon asked Hart to prove his charge that Dartmouth is "a p.c. zoo."
Hart, who retired last year, is a staunch conservative and a senior editor of The National Review, a conservative journal. He taught at the College for more than 30 years and has been a close adviser to The Dartmouth Review, the off-campus conservative weekly since it was founded in 1980.
In his speech Hart said students could not get a solid liberal arts education at Dartmouth without taking a strong initiative.
He said students must take classes that emphasize great thinkers and read certain "great books" and his pamphlet listed both classes and books that he recommended.
Hart referred extensively to one article in the pamphlet that proposed that "the distinctive character of the Western mind arose out of the interaction of Athens and Jerusalem."
Sharp criticisms of Dartmouth were sprinkled throughout his speech.
He said Dartmouth "tends to be a p.c. zoo," and that Dartmouth was changing from "a knowledge-based institution to a political based institution," in which faculty appointments are based more on politics than on merit.
He said the emphasis placed on research in prestigious universities leads to poorer teaching.
"There is a conflict of interest between the activity of being a professor and the activities of teaching undergraduates," he said. "Teaching in a classroom is negative to a person's career."
Hart also urged future American teachers to major in "real subjects" like history and English, which he called "real college courses" and should not major in education.
Several faculty members in the audience did not let Hart's jabbing criticisms land without parrying thrusts. Luxon, Walter Stephens, a professor of French and Italian and comparative literature, and German Professor Ulrike Rainer challenged many of Hart's points.
Luxon asked Hart to name specific examples of how Dartmouth was a "p.c. zoo." Hart responded, "people say in private what they are embarrassed or afraid to say in public."
Hart then specifically mentioned the decision last spring to abolish the tradition of seniors smashing clay pipes on Class Day, because the ceremony offended some Native Americas.
"That was ludicrous, the vote was railroaded through," Hart said. He went on to attack the abolition of the Indian as Dartmouth's symbol in 1972. "That began the era of p.c. ... it was an absurd thing to do," he said.
Luxon also disagreed with Hart's suggestion that faculty appointments at Dartmouth were becoming more political, and challenged Hart to name one such appointee. Hart did not.
There was also a lengthy discussion about required courses at the College. Hart said it is "an absurdity that you can get a B.A. and not read the best poet in the English language," referring to William Shakespeare.
Several students in the audience agreed with Hart, and questioned the need for a non-western requirement at the College if Shakespeare is not required for English majors.
Although the event was advertised for freshmen, several upperclassmen were in the audience including staff members of The Dartmouth Review, who supported Hart throughout.
Rainer said students had the ability to choose to take a Shakespeare class, they did not need the decision made for them. Hart said 17- and 18-year-old students may not know what is best for them.
Luxon said Shakespeare is a specific author in a specific time period of the English language, while a non-western class could cover many fields.
Hart was asked by a student what he thought of the non-western requirement, and he said that it was not in-depth enough to be effective. "It is illegitimate if all it does is walk around in a sombrero and eat a taco," he said.
After the event Stephens said Hart's speech contained "rather embarrassing errors of scholarly fact that contradicted the whole premise of the talk."
Luxon said faculty members did not make a joint decision to come to attack Hart. "I came to hear Jeffrey Hart and to call him on his lies," he said. "I talked to no one else, I blitzed no one else."
Students had mixed reactions to the speech and discussion. During the question period, some students tried to help Hart point out examples of political correctness while others criticized him.
One student thought the attacks by the teachers could not take away from the value of Hart's speech.
"I was not impressed by the response of the faculty," Phaedon Sinis '97 said. "Hart's speech was very good I agree with his idea that teachers should major in a real subject, not education."
Amelia Stephenson '97 said she was glad the faculty members were there to provide an opposing viewpoint to Hart. "They could pick out some of the holes in Professor Hart's talk," she sad. "It made it more thought provoking."
After hearing a lot about Dartmouth's conservative image, Claire Hibbs '97 said the discussion answered a lot of her questions about the political slant of the College. "I really enjoyed the dialogue between students and Professor Hart," she said.
