In the wake of the “Freedom Budget” protests and “Phiesta” fiasco, faculty and students alike have engaged in the creation of what can be called a semi-combative environment on our campus. With each issue that arises, we experience a greater polarization in our community, often pushing our campus toward two idological poles, both seemingly convinced that their lone view and motivation is paramount.
However, both of these ideologies share a single constant: love for Dartmouth.
On one pole, we see an absolute love for Dartmouth as it stands. Those who possess this ideology share the belief that Dartmouth students have an opportunity that is nearly unimaginable to a majority of the world. We have the resources and support necessary to change not only our own lives, but also the lives of people around the world. This faction of Dartmouth places great value in both the College’s history and the school’s enormous progress.
On the other, we see a love and passion for what Dartmouth can become. To many people on campus, these acts of passion, such as the sit-in in College President Phil Hanlon’s office or last year’s Dimensions protests, can seem more extreme than necessary. However, each of these actions showed an understanding of Dartmouth’s nearly infinite potential. Those under this ideology understand that with a combination of some of our nation’s brightest young minds and world-renowned faculty, there are few things that cannot be accomplished at Dartmouth.
For many of us, neither of these ideologies completely encompasses our attitude toward this school. Recently, however, it has felt as though the middle ground is no longer acceptable. Yet there will never be a unanimously held belief on this campus. Our heterogeneous attitudes toward our school have made and continue to make our school amazing. The Dartmouth community is perpetually at a crossroads of what we have been and what we can become.
Looking at Dartmouth’s history, the institution’s progress is undeniable. The culture of tolerance that Dartmouth currently promotes and that I have personally experienced was just an afterthought 30 or so years ago. The idea of two African-American students leading the entire student body is still a foreign thought at other universities. However, we must also acknowledge that we live in a time and place where tolerance alone is no longer good enough. As we watch the diversity at this school gradually expand, we must continue to actively promote and celebrate it.
At the core of every student-led action on campus is a set of people motivated to do what they believe is best for the school. And for that, we should be grateful. To improve this school, every single person in this community must work constructively with one another as opposed to the destructive and reactionary process we currently have in place. As a member of the Dartmouth community, I am calling for a new principle — a principle of hospitality. It is our personal responsibility to proactively seek out and incorporate the opinions and experiences of those who are the least like us, whether we are running a charity event or leading a protest. We each stand to gain the most knowledge not from those who agree with everything we say, but rather from the people with whom we share the least. Every student contributes to our school’s diversity in their own ways.
The Dartmouth community is far greater than it has recently received credit for. Every person to ever attend this college, from Theodor Seuss Geisel ’25 to Edward Mitchell, Class of 1828, has contributed to our current community. We cannot be defined solely by the actions of individuals on either end of the spectrum. This community is one whose vast diversity creates a beautiful sum that is far greater than each one of its parts. Each of us is not confined by the walls built by Eleazar Wheelock, but, as Andrew Murphy once said, “only by the walls you build yourself.” It is not up to our school, but each of us individually to dictate how much we embrace this diversity. I simply ask that as individual members of a greater community, we do better. In the end, we all share one love. It is time that we acted like it.
Ryan Strain '16 is a guest columnist.
