This article is featured in the 2024 Homecoming Special Issue.
The Class of 2028 arrived on campus following a year rife with debate and discourse. From more than 90 arrests at pro-Palestinian protests to new College freedom of expression initiatives, the past year has witnessed much discussion about protest, speech and expression on Dartmouth’s campus.
Dartmouth’s newest students — though absent for much of the past year’s controversy — are no strangers to the discourse. Freshmen quickly joined the conversation regarding last spring’s protests — some even following along before arriving on campus. Alexis Park ’28, for example, said she watched protests at institutions across the country unfold on the news last spring.
“I think it was a very nationwide thing,” Park said. “I definitely did look [it] up and see that Dartmouth was also participating in the process as well.”
While freshmen were not on campus last year, the College has already worked to engage the Class of 2028 in dialogue “in various contexts,” senior vice president for community and campus life Jennifer Rosales wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth. New Student Orientation programming for the Class of 2028, for example, focused on “fostering even more opportunities for respectful dialogue and debate,” she wrote.
“Dean Elizabeth Smith and Dialogue Project executive director Kristi Clemens presented a required session to all ’28s with an overview of the Dialogue Project and ways to become involved,” Rosales wrote. “This session also set expectations that [freshmen] engage in dialogue in various contexts as a member of the Dartmouth community and gave them an opportunity to practice dialogue skills and debrief the experience.”
According to Rosales, further opportunities to practice dialogue skills will be made available as Dartmouth continues to “progress on this work.” Those methods will include “faculty-led working groups” and a currently developing Freedom of Expression Advisory Program, she explained. The College also debuted a Freedom of Expression at Dartmouth website this fall and expanded its open expression facilitator program to include graduate schools, according to Rosales and past reporting by The Dartmouth.
Rosales added that the College is “focused on protecting freedom of expression and dissent on campus” and has already implemented training for members of the Dartmouth community.
“In late July, 40 Dartmouth student affairs staff members participated in a four-hour, in-person training called Foundations in Facilitating Dialogue presented by the Constructive Dialogue Institute,” Rosales wrote. “A second session of this workshop will be held later this year for 50 faculty leaders, such as department chairs and deans.”
Despite the focus on dialogue during orientation, Park said hearing about the events that unfolded last spring gave her a “feeling of apprehension.” Park, who is from Chicago, said living in a “liberal city” has made her open to engaging in dialogue with people who do not share her beliefs. At the same time, she said people should “have the right to express” those beliefs, calling the events of last spring “most likely … a breach of trust.”
“No student wants to hear that such an excessive force did happen, no matter what, even if there was a warning,” Park said. “I don’t think that knowing this type of history, and being aware of it, I can just look past it and ignore it.”
Ian Park ’28 said he was “shocked” to hear about the arrests in May, despite anticipating that they “[were] coming” following arrests at other institutions, such as Columbia University. He said he believes the arrests seemed “very against all of Dartmouth’s ideas of having an open dialogue.”
Ian Park added that his experience living in Korea, where students were historically a “crucial part of the democratic movement,” contributed to his surprise.
“I [know] how symbolic it is for students to protest [on] student [campuses],” Park said. “So I knew that [the protest at Dartmouth] was very important in that sense.”
Ultimately, however, Lee said he believes the events of May 1 — when 89 individuals were arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest on the Green — will not significantly affect the Class of 2028.
“It might have just been because none of us were on campus or around when any of this happened,” Lee said. “We might learn from this and move on with more information about their Dialogue Project because they already ramped up the programming on that, at least during orientation.”
