The survey was simple, comprised of only five questions: Gender? Class year? Are you affiliated or unaffiliated? Would you send your son to Dartmouth? Would you send your daughter? Most respondents took less than a minute to answer. When asked to elaborate on the questions, however, I got more variety than the survey could ever provide.
“Definitely,” Matt Ginsberg ’16 said. And the child’s gender wouldn’t change his decision. Dartmouth’s open community, he said, can provide an inclusive environment for both men and women.
“I think that people, whether you’re male or female, are able to interact and, in general, feel comfortable,” he said.
Dartmouth has many offerings that set it apart from other schools, Dammy Adeoti ’16 said, citing the D-Plan and Dartmouth’s strong alumni community, a useful tool for networking. He also noted that Hanover’s outdoor activities, like pond hockey, skiing or just hanging out by the river, make Dartmouth a special opportunity for all those who matriculate.
Others, however, are not as sure. Raveena Gupta ’16, a student who transferred to Dartmouth from Duke University, said that though she has learned from her experiences at Dartmouth, she does not consider it the right fit for everyone.
“I think that Dartmouth has a leg up over other schools in certain areas, but also requires a certain type of individual to totally thrive here,” she said.
Those who enjoy Dartmouth’s location, winter sports and the social scene’s emphasis on Greek life are likely best suited to attend the College, she said. She also said that there is an indescribable feeling of belonging that only some students feel and many feel uncomfortable admitting that they lack.
“I think there is a huge stigma with saying that Dartmouth isn’t your ideal school or wasn’t your first choice if you go here,” she said. “I am, however, fine to admit that it was never and still is not my top choice, because even though I have grown to love it here, there are some schools where I feel that the social and academic atmospheres are better suited to my interests.”
Another sentiment common to those interviewed was that certain factors about their future family and issues of campus climate would play a role in the decision.
Lily Citrin ’17, for example, said that before sending her children here, she would like to see Dartmouth’s culture become one with no tolerance for sexual assault, with an expectation that it will never occur on campus.
Right now, she said, sexual assault is prevalent enough that students are not surprised when they hear it happens.
“I wouldn’t want to send my daughter into a culture where that is expected,” Citrin said.
Ginsberg also mentioned sexual harassment and assault at the College, but said he believes that the problems at Dartmouth are difficult issues faced by most colleges. Furthermore, he said that Dartmouth’s response to recent incidents reflects a commitment to combating sexual violence and fostering a safe and inclusive environment that values its members.
Citrin said she also wants her children to go to a school more diverse than Dartmouth. While she acknowledged that Dartmouth is diverse in theory, she said students’ commitment to diversity could be improved in practice.
“I think there is quote-unquote diversity, but I feel like people who are very different aren’t really in the same social circles,” she said. “By virtue of that, I think Dartmouth is less diverse than it should be, based on figures. It’s easy to not have a very diverse experience where you’re not forced to really connect with people that are really different from you.”
Though she has made an active effort to interact with people from diverse backgrounds while at the College, Citrin said it would have been easy to avoid doing so if she were not committed to it.
Valerie Zhao ’15 said she would let her children go to Dartmouth if they were passionate about it, but would like to see the College make significant changes to its support systems in the meantime.
“I think Dartmouth has a strong sense of community, but I wish it were more of a home for its students,” she said. “I’d like to see Dartmouth become more supportive of all students, possibly through changes in residential life or the D-Plan, or better access to academic and emotional support.”
Jenni Gargano ’14 also said that she would never prohibit her children, should she ever have them, from coming to Dartmouth if they were interested. She said she hopes she would raise her children with the values and morals necessary to confront the “pockets of apathy” that sometimes exist at Dartmouth when critically engaging with campus issues.
If her hypothetical children choose to attend Dartmouth, Gargano said she would like to see several aspects of campus changed beforehand. More faculty of color on the tenure track, greater resources dedicated toward closing the achievement gap between white students and students of color and a zero-tolerance policy for rape convictions would move Dartmouth in a positive direction, she said.
I interviewed people on my floor who had no qualms about sending their children to Dartmouth and those who said their decisions would vary based on a child’s gender. I interviewed people who would be content with sending their children, provided that a given aspect of the College had changed. I did not, however, speak with those who gave a strict and definitive no to sending their children here under any circumstances.
This is not to say that there are no individuals on this campus who feel that way. There are. In fact, 17 percent of students who responded to The Mirror’s survey answered that they probably or definitely would not send their daughters to Dartmouth. Fourteen percent said the same for their sons.
Yet my conversations show that so many of us care about this school and want to see it realize its full potential. This potential can mean different things to different people, which is why dialogue about it can grow tense.
As I wandered First Floor Berry, notebook in hand, I knew that there wouldn’t be a clear answer. It might be nice to live in a world where every student dreams of seeing his or her child attend this Dartmouth, but it’s equally important to understand that this doesn’t hold true for everyone and that we have so many opportunities to improve this school. This campus is made up of countless opinions, and that will probably continue to hold true — even when our children fly up to the Lodj in their Dartmouth-themed jetpacks.
