This article is featured in the 2022 Commencement & Reunions special issue.
2018-19
In October, the College responded to the town of Hanover’s safety concerns about the Homecoming bonfire by constructing a shorter fire with multiple fences around it. No member of the Class of 2022 made an attempt to touch the bonfire. According to then-interim director of Safety and Security Keysi Montás, Good Samaritan calls decreased in comparison to previous years.
Just days after the Homecoming bonfire, students gathered on the Green once again for a candlelight vigil organized by Dartmouth Hillel and Chabad in remembrance of the victims of the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue shooting. During the interfaith service, rabbi Meir Goldstein spoke about solidarity, unity and healing.
In November, a drive-by shooting on 1 School Street injured one man and triggered a full campus lockdown, causing Dartmouth students to question their sense of safety on campus.
Also in November, seven women filed a lawsuit against Dartmouth alleging that the College had ignored claims of sexual misconduct by three professors in the psychology and brain sciences department.
In 2019, Dartmouth celebrated the 250th anniversary of its founding. With the help of its far-reaching alumni network, Dartmouth lit up Niagara Falls, One World Trade Center and the Empire State Building, among other national landmarks, with green lights.
The government shutdown that lasted from Dec. 22, 2018 to Jan. 25, 2019 marked the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. In Hanover, the shutdown put federally funded programs, such as the Women, Infants and Children service, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Section 8 housing vouchers in danger of running out of money, according to Hanover town manager Julia Griffin.
In May, Democratic nominees visited Dartmouth’s campus, since New Hampshire would be the first state to vote in the primaries in the 2020 election. Amy Klobuchar spoke at the Tuck School of Business, Andrew Yang spoke at Beta Alpha Omega fraternity and Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren spoke at BEMA, respectively.
Also in May, the College hosted its annual Green Key music festival, featuring performances from Waka Flocka Flame, Two Friends and MAX.
In July, Dartmouth students, faculty members and Upper Valley residents joined together in a rally against the inhumane conditions within immigration detention camps along the southern U.S. border. 700 cities nationwide, including Hanover, hosted a “Lights for Liberty” protest in response to news of overcrowding and inadequate food access for children in these immigration camps.
In August, the College announced that Dartmouth’s house communities would be clustered by location, with specific dorm groupings to become the turf of each house. The administration’s stated goal was to enhance community-building among incoming first-year students.
2019-20
In October, construction began on the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society’s new building, located on the west end of campus. Touted for its sustainability, the building features a design intended to enhance its energy efficiency. The institute was funded largely by an $80 million gift from the Irving Oil Company.
In November, the College celebrated the 100th anniversary of hiring its first female professor, Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood. Former College President Ernest Hopkins hired Hapgood to spearhead the creation of the Russian department.
In December, Still North Books & Bar opened in the location formerly occupied by The Dartmouth bookstore. The store is owned by Allie Levy ’11.
In February, students voted in New Hampshire’s presidential primaries. Bernie Sanders narrowly won New Hampshire with 25.6% of the vote compared to runner-up Pete Buttigieg’s 24.3%. Buttigieg narrowly won Hanover itself with 25.9%to Sanders’s 19.9%. Incumbent Donald Trump easily won the Republican primary.
Also in February, following a controversial email with the subject line “They’re bringing drugs…,” the College Republicans canceled a campus event featuring U.S. Senate candidate Bryant “Corky” Messner due to alleged security concerns. Chairman and co-vice chairman, Daniel Bring ’21 and Alexander Rauda ’21 resigned soon after. In response to the event that was in support of building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, the senior society Casque & Gauntlet hosted a discussion on “Diaspora Stories for Compassion and Healing.”
In March, a Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center employee contracted the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in New Hampshire. Shortly after, a second DHMC employee contracted COVID-19 from a Tuck mixer that the first DHMC employee broke isolation to attend.
As the world went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March, the College made the decision to hold fully remote classes and send students home for the entirety of the spring term. All Ivy League athletic events were canceled to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Following the onset of the pandemic, over two-thirds of students enrolled in four courses during the credit/no credit grading system of spring term, and many others took gap years or terms.
In April, the New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed students’ right to vote in New Hampshire, allowing them to vote in the 2020 presidential election. According to a survey conducted by The Dartmouth, students overwhelmingly supported current President Joe Biden’s candidacy.
On July 14, the lawsuit regarding sexual misconduct in the psychology and brain sciences department reached a final $14 million settlement. On the same day,the College released proposed amendments to its Title IX policy. In line with federal requirements, the proposed amendments limited what the College is required to investigate and mandated cross-examinations in disciplinary hearings.
The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis policemen in May sparked a rally on the Green against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The rally, titled “End the Killing Now: Distanced Sidewalk Vigil, Dartmouth Green,” gathered over 300 Upper Valley residents, Dartmouth students and faculty. Speakers at the protest called for a decrease in police funding, an increase in financial relief for jobs lost due to the pandemic and better health care for Black, Indigenous and other minority communities.
Also in May, King Arthur Flour’s Baker-Berry Library location, which opened in 2011, closed for reasons unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic. Students and alumni expressed sadness about the cafe’s closure — the spot was a favorite for coffee and pastries on campus.
2020-21
In late August, the College announced that it would reopen in September, welcoming roughly half its student population back to campus. The decision went against the wishes of hundreds of Dartmouth faculty who had signed a letter urging the College to hold a remote, non-residential fall term.
In November, students voted in the national election. Democrat Joe Biden won the state of New Hampshire with 53.8% of the vote, compared to 44.9% for Republican incumbent Donald Trump. New Hampshire’s Senate and both House seats also went to Democrats, but the state legislature was taken by Republicans, and Republican Gov. Chris Sununu was reelected. All four of Hanover’s state house seats went to Democrats, including one won by government professor Russell Muirhead.
In December, an unidentified group of perpetrators used a BB gun to vandalize a menorah display on the Green. The College condemned the event as an act of anti-Semitic violence.
During an unprecedented incident of violence on Jan. 6, a mob demanded the overturning of the presidential victory of President Joe Biden and stormed the Capitol, resulting in five deaths.
February saw the national rollout of COVID-19 vaccine distribution. At-risk health workers, older adults in residential care settings and first responders received the vaccine first.
Also in February, the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, the Tucker Center for Spiritual and Ethical Life and the Office of Pluralism and Leadership organized the “Brothers and Sisters” vigil. The vigil, attended by 125 Dartmouth community members, honored Ahmaud Arbery on the one year anniversary of his murder, along with other victims of race-based violence, including Michael Brown, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin and Breonna Taylor.
In March, the College saw a large COVID-19 outbreak with 143 active cases, putting 130 students in quarantine and 162 in isolation.
That year, the student body came together to mourn and grieve the four students that had died that academic year. The first was Beau DuBray ’24, who died in November of 2020. Jonathan Cartwright ’24, a friend and classmate of DuBray, recalls that Beau had held “a philosophy of caring for everything around him.”
Connor Tiffany ’24 died in March and was described as compassionate, warm, and motivated by those close to him. In May, Elizabeth Reimer ’24 died and is remembered by Kiara Ortiz ’24 as a kind and sweet person.
Three of the four student deaths were by suicide. Lamees Kareem ’22 died due to a medical condition and is remembered as a compassionate friend to those who knew her. Kareem was involved in The Dartmouth, Kappa Delta Epsilon sorority, admissions office blogging and was a research intern at the Political Violence Lab.
In an outpouring of grief, the members of the student body assembled on the Green in May in a spontaneous vigil. In another organized vigil in May called “Dartmouth Remembers,” over 1,000 Dartmouth community members gathered to commemorate the lives of the four students. There were multiple instances of graffiti on administration buildings and across campus in protest of these tragedies.
2021-22
In 2021, the fall term marked a pivot towards in-person learning with 634 in-person classes, compared to the 19 in-person classes of the summer term. In the fall, the Ivy League announced the return of competitions for varsity sports.
In a victory over Harvard University rugby, the Big Green women’s rugby team brought home the team’s first National Intercollegiate Rugby Association championship. The Dartmouth football team shared an Ivy League championship title with Princeton University.
2022 marked another series of anniversaries for the College, which included the 50th anniversary of coeducation, the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Native American Studies program and the 50th anniversary of the Black Alumni Association.
In January, Dartmouth experienced its largest outbreak of COVID-19 cases on campus to date, peaking at 783 active reported cases.
In February, the state of New Hampshire enacted a new law that restricts access to reproductive care. The law makes it illegal to terminate a pregnancy after 24 weeks and requires anyone receiving an abortion to have an ultrasound.
Also in February, Russia began an invasion of Ukraine, sparking international outrage and condemnation. On Feb. 26, the Ukrainian Student Association organized a protest in reaction to Russian aggression. An estimated 150 students, faculty and community members attended the protest despite the winter storm conditions.
In March, Gage Young and Hector Correa reached plea deals for their roles in the drive-by shooting on 1 School street in Nov. 2018.
Also in March, the College unveiled the new Engineering and Computer Science Center and Irving Institute for Energy and Society located on the west end of campus. Construction for these buildings began in 2019.
On March 30, the Student Worker Collective at Dartmouth, formed in January, became the fifth recognized undergraduate union in the country following a unanimous vote. The SWCD was not voluntarily recognized by the College, whose recognition would have made the voting unnecessary.
In May, prosecutors dropped a criminal charge against former Dartmouth student Carlos Wilcox ’23 for allegedly shooting a public menorah display with a BB gun during Hanukkah in December 2020. Wilcox alleges that Zachary Wang ’20, another former Dartmouth student, fired the gun while Wilcox purchased the gun and was present at the time the menorah was shot. Wilcox is required to pay a restitution fee to the College and complete community service.
On May 7, the College hosted its 50th annual Powwow on the Green, organized by the Native American Program. The event featured dances, food and music to honor Indigenous communities. On May 8, the Pan-Pasifika student organization Hōkūpaʻa hosted its annual Lūʻau on Gold Coast lawn to celebrate Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander culture at Dartmouth.
On May 10, the town of Hanover approved a new zoning district on West Wheelock Street by a vote of 775 to 565. The ordinance was proposed by student body president-electDavid Millman ’23 and Nicolas Macri ’24 to help with the shortage of on-campus housing.
On May 17, a leaked Supreme Court draft, which plans to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, sparked action from student groups such as Spare Rib, the Dartmouth Student Union and Planned Parenthood Generation Action. These groups helped to organize a reproductive rights rally on the Green, which was attended by approximately 100 people.
From May 18 to 22, Dartmouth hosted its annual Green Key music festival for the first time since 2019. The headlining Programming Board concert on May 20 featured performances from Saint Motel and KYLE, with opener Doechii.
