I'm all for living in the now. What's done is done. You can't change the past. And all those other cliches about seizing the day. But if we're continuing on the cliche route, there is another one that says you can't know where you're going until you know where you're coming from. For the record, I don't usually like history. It was one of my least favorite classes in high school, and I don't really get why people choose to major in it. Courses aside, though, history is pretty important. And in the context of Dartmouth, it's actually really interesting. For one thing, we have 243 years of it, and a lot can happen in 243 years. For another, Dartmouth's history represents a unique dichotomy of both rigidity and evolution. In the realms of technology and communication, for example, Dartmouth has always stayed ahead of the curve. In contrast, however, regarding things like Greek life and gender, this school has been more than a little resistant to change. There is a lot that we can learn by looking at our past, but of course, this issue isn't your average boring history book. This is Dartmouth's story according The Mirror, from 1769 to the present. Expect the unexpected.
Letter from the Editor
