The words to Dartmouth’s alma mater were changed in 1988 to reflect the advent of coeducation. The original title, “Men of Dartmouth,” became “Alma Mater.” The lyrics, originally a poem by Richard Hovey (a member of the Class of 1885), were edited to include women. Today, more than 30 years later, many students continue to sing the original lyrics. This practice is detrimental to the College and those who do so disrespect the women who call Dartmouth home, especially given its bitter history.
When taken in a vacuum, this idea might strike some as ridiculous. If men want to sing the version of the song that best reflects them and their experience, why should it offend anyone else? A group of men, after all, includes neither daughters nor sisters.
But the alma mater is a historical artifact and must be considered in light of its historical baggage. Dartmouth became coeducational in 1972, but real movement to change the lyrics to reflect the change in the student body did not begin until the ’80s. At Commencement in 1980, all-female senior society Cobra proposed a third, gender-inclusive verse to be sung along with the originals. For the next few years, a mélange of committees and alumni groups wrestled with the undeniably gendered issue. Commentators framed the debate as a contest between men and women. In the pages of The Dartmouth, Jay Baxter ’81 urged “the women’s movement” to “be graceful in both victory and defeat” rather than continue what he saw as the College “tearing itself apart.” At a time when women struggled to be a part of Dartmouth, a time when undergrads were singing demeaning compositions like “Our Cohogs,” our official song did not include them.
The change in lyrics effectively required a presidential fiat. In 1988, fairly unpopular then-College President James Freedman organized a group of male and female students to compose the lyrics we now have. “Sisters” now stood by “brothers” and not only the men but all of “Dear old Dartmouth” was exhorted to give a rouse.
Why, among a group of men, should any of this matter? Because the alma mater stands for Dartmouth as a whole, not just the people singing it at any given moment or in any given space. And the original lyrics exclude members of our community. The intention behind the original lyrics is irrevelent. The school from which the words draw their power has changed, so the words must change too.
For the first 16 years of coeducation “Men of Dartmouth” stood as a reminder that women were new to the College, that many campus institutions had needed to serve men and only men for more than 200 years. Clearly, it made some women feel unwelcome, and singing it now can have the same effect. It voices the opinion that any departure from tradition is to be resisted in the same way. Singing this outdated song suggests that Dartmouth is for men and men only — why should we need to accommodate anyone else?
While I am sure only a handful of students would still actually oppose coeducation, the fight for gender equality at Dartmouth rages on. Women continue to face greater disadvantages than men. Some departments, especially some STEM programs, can feel overwhelmingly masculine. The networks that so many Dartmouth students use to help find career opportunities (such as corporate recruiting) feature men much more heavily than women. And as we’re all familiar with, much ink has been spilled on gender inequities in Dartmouth’s social scene.
The discussion is not over, and it probably never will be. We can and must always try harder to do right by all the members of our community. Those who sing the original lyrics to “Men of Dartmouth” ignore how their words suggest that women have less of a right to being a true child of Dartmouth.
In so many ways, Dartmouth is still adjusting to coeducation, 42 years after the fact. Singing “Men of Dartmouth” strikes many — myself included — as hostile to the presence of women on campus. Don’t do it.
