Throughout the cotentious fight for equality at the College there has been a protest, a painted Winter Carnival sculpture and four shanties on the Green.
Dartmouth integrated 40 years before the other Ivies with Edward Mitchell, member of the Class of 1828, gaining admission to the college as the first African American. While he was at Dartmouth, he studied divinity and became ordained a Baptist minister in 1831.
In 1824 Edward Mitchell was brought as then-College President Francis Brown's servant to Hanover upon his return from the South. Shortly after, Mitchell applied for admission to the Dartmouth College.
At first, Trustees denied him for fear of a negative response from the current students at the College.
Students caught wind of the decision to deny Mitchell because of his race and Charles Dexter Cleveland Class of 1827 whose complexion was dark for a Caucasian, made the argument that if color excluded men from the College, he himself could not be a member. Cleveland assembled a committee who convened and wrote a letter expressing their disappointment in the decision to turn away Mitchell because of his skin color and said that they would welcome and respect him regardless of his race.
While Mitchell was able to attend Dartmouth, his acceptance was by no means the end of the fight for equality on this campus.
In 1963, George Wallace, who served as the 45th governor of Alabama, was invited to speak at Dartmouth College. Wallace was a man who famously said in his inaugural address as governor, "Segregation today segregation tomorrow segregation forever." In response to his invitation to speak at Dartmouth, the "Students for Freedom" organization along with the Political Action Committee, the Jewish Life Council and the International Relations Club staged a silent picket.
Some of the picketers were wearing black armbands in protest of Wallace's speech. Phrases displayed on the picketing signs read: "I want to grow in a free, integrated America," "We mourn the Dead of Birmingham," "Free in '63," "No hesitation on Integration" and "Equal Rights Now." During his speech, Wallace made the statement that whites have helped the "Negro" and "brought him to the point he is today" later in his speech he made the remark "segregation is the law of nature from South Africa to New York." As Wallace was departing from Webster Hall, 1,000 Dartmouth Students swarmed the car of Wallace in response to his speech.
On Oct. 15, 1969, Dr. William Shockley, a Nobel Prize winner in physics was scheduled to deliver his paper on genetic racial differences at the fall meeting of the National Academy of Sciences at Dartmouth. According to a Oct. 16, 1969 article in The New York Times Shockley's view was that "Inheritance rather than environment may be a large factor in intelligence and that this is the cause of poor intellectual performance among some Negroes." As he attempted to begin his speech at Dartmouth he was interrupted by continuous applause from 30 black students, which prevented him from ever delivering it.
In 1979, there was a protest rally held on the Green to take a stand against the racism on campus and the unwillingness of the majority white population at Dartmouth to respect and except the minorities on campus. The incident that preceded this was the Brown University-Dartmouth hockey game on Feb. 25, during which "two students appeared on the ice between periods dressed in Indian grab."
About 200 students from the Afro-American Society and the Native American Society participated in the rally in which they marched from then-called "Cutter Hall" to the Green where speeches were given by representatives of the Afro-American Society, Native Americans at Dartmouth and the Latino Forum. Next, they climbed the Winter Carnival snow sculpture and painted it red and black to symbolize their demand to be accepted as part an equal members of the Dartmouth community.
In the aftermath of the rally, there was a moratorium on classes to discuss race relations on campus and open the dialogue with the goal generating "more universal understanding of the issues that have been confronting us recently create a base thorough mutual understanding on which we can build a joint solution to our common problems," Gail Frawley '79 said in a March 6, 1979 article in The Dartmouth.
The next campus protest concerning equality occurred due to Dartmouth's connection with apartheid in South Africa. In 1985, more than 30 percent of Dartmouth's endowment was invested in corporations and banks that did business with that nation and thus contributed to the practice of apartheid. Students picketed in front to Parkhurst urging for divestment. Then, on Nov. 15, 1985, members of the Dartmouth Community for Divestment built shantytowns on the Green in order to protest against Dartmouth's continued investments multinational corporations with ties in South Africa. Ten days later, on Nov. 25, Mpho Tutu, daughter of Desmond Tutu, spoke at a rally on the Green before the four shanties about the racial injustices in South Africa. After the rally, 75 to 80 students went to former College President David McLaughlin's house and gave him a letter, which asked him for an open forum session and then sang 1960s' protest songs such as "We Shall Overcome."
The shanties were still standing three months later, until, on Jan. 21, 12 students attacked the 4 structures with sledge hammers only hours after celebrations commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and demolished them completely. In response to the attack, about 200 students began a sit in at Parkhurst hall, which lasted from 8 a.m. until the next day. Students slept in the President's Office, in hallways and in administrative offices. Early the following day, it was announced that classes were cancelled in response to the destruction of the shanties. Instead the faculty and students would attend a day-long forum to discuss racism, violence and the lack of respect for different opinions. Does this solution sound familiar?
