Is Dartmouth on the Decline?
By Sakina Abu Boakye and Min Kyung Jeon | March 27, 2014Recent controversies surrounding Greek life, sexual assault, administration upheavals and most recently, declines in application numbers have spurred some to speculate that Dartmouth is, to put it lightly, at a crossroads — perhaps even a slump. Upon hearing about the 14 percent drop in regular decision applicants this January, many students voiced concerns that the value of their degree will drop. However, the College has been no stranger to controversy in past decades, many of which touched upon issues still relevant today. This raises the question: is Dartmouth’s current predicament indeed unprecedented? And if not, how has the College recovered from similar controversies?