Tightening Tenure
The uproar over the denial of tenure to English professor Aimee Bahng might be seen as a return to rigor in the process of promotion and tenure at Dartmouth — a process that has been in decline, spectacularly in the humanities, for the last five decades. When I joined the faculty in 1967 there were annual reviews of faculty members by department chairs and the associate dean. Publication and teaching evaluations were the primary criteria for evaluation. A renewal of the three-year initial appointment was not nearly as automatic as it is today.
Objectivity in promotion and tenure decisions is difficult in the tight knit community that is Dartmouth where collegiality is highly prized. As the number of positions in the humanities declined over this period the focus of new faculty efforts became not the quality but quantity of publication. New faculty sought student approbation by lowering grading standards because they knew their students might have input into the promotion and tenure decisions. Fortunately, there is still a degree of confidentiality in the process.
When the Committee Advisory to the President makes a recommendation concerning promotion and tenure they are privy to information that none of those protesting the denial of tenure to professor Bahng have seen: confidential letters from distinguished peers, honest student appraisals and the requirement to actually read some of the published work. I wonder how many of those protesting this decision have in fact read this material?
Tenure is thus granted through the experienced judgment of a diverse group of women and men who themselves have made significant contributions to their fields and to the College. Former College President John Kemeny recognized and sought to reverse the “old boy” hiring practices of the earlier Dartmouth faculty by limiting tenure to “two per ten per decade,” meaning that in every decade only two of every ten faculty in a given department should be granted tenure.
Since that time, and especially since the reign of James Wright as dean, provost and then president, these standards were relaxed. The perusal of the publication records of current senior faculty reveals a majority who have done very little since they were granted tenure. These are professors for whom the sinecure of tenure was more important than work in their disciplines.
- Jon Appleton, Arthur R. Virgin Professor of Music Emeritus
A Hard Conversation
Senators Kirsten Gillibrand ’88 and Kelly Ayotte wrote an April 25 guest opinion-editorial, “Students Deserve Better,” discussing the need for colleges and universities “to go public and be transparent about their ability to prevent and respond to sexual assault on their campuses.” Their proposed bill, the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, calls for institutional changes that increase resources for survivors, require more staff training and data transparency, implement a uniform disciplinary procedure, and impose clear and stiffer penalties for Title IX violations.
I applaud the senators’ bipartisan effort to bring about serious reform in sexual violence on college campuses. Yet calls to increase campus transparency and data collection are not enough. Students themselves must also take on the task of changing campus culture surrounding sexual assault.
Students are wary of talking about sexual assault because it makes them uncomfortable. The truth is, talking about sexual assault is uncomfortable. It is difficult. In theory, students recognize right from wrong. In hypothetical scenarios, we are able to discern between appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. However, the difficult part is applying theory to practice. The difficult part is holding our teammates, classmates, fraternity brothers, sorority sisters and friends accountable for their actions, day and night. We must be supported by effective and trustworthy institutional resources, but at the end of the day, it’s up to us to do something about sexual assault on our campus.
Difficult conversations have never stopped Dartmouth students before. There’s no reason for them to stop us now.
- Julia Decerega ’18
A Day to Honor
Memorial Day is among the lonelier dates on the Dartmouth academic calendar. Events celebrating the service of living alumni who have answered their country’s call now draw large crowds on Veterans Day. But Memorial Day’s mournful reflections on those who gave their lives in the service of greater ideals and graver dangers are more sparsely attended.
As the large numbers of Dartmouth alumni who find their calling in the Peace Corps, Teach for America, and, yes, the military can attest, service is woven into the fabric of Dartmouth. But so is sacrifice. At least 528 Dartmouth alumni have given their lives in wartime. In the Class of 1863 alone, 56 percent served — and of that 11 percent died — to emancipate their countrymen and preserve the Union in the American Civil War. In the Class of 1945, 4 percent fell in World War II to emancipate fascist conquests, end genocide and preserve free government.
Death’s brown seal may quiet the lips of these alumni, but it should not for us. Instead of going about a usual Monday, passing Richard Hall’s cenotaph on the way to Baker Library, the Civil War dead on the doors of Rauner Library or the Class of 1945 Weather Post in the Hanover Inn, I invite every member of the Dartmouth Community to join the Dartmouth Uniformed Service Alumni in honoring the memory of our fallen classmates this Memorial Day, Monday, May 30, at 11 a.m. by the flag pole on the Green.
- Nathan Bruschi ’10 , Dartmouth Uniformed Service Alumni president
