Letters to the Editor

Men and Women of Dartmouth

TO THE EDITOR:

As former members of the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid, we are concerned with the letter of F. William Andres regarding the male/female student ratio in the ALUMNI MAGAZINE [April issue].

We did not understand the January Trustee statement, nor President Kemeny's elaboration to the faculty and the press to imply that, according to Andres, ''...the selective process of society ... will also be the basis for determining the selective criteria for Dartmouth admission policies." Nor did we understand that sex will be a factor in determining the probability of individual admissions to the College "...to the degree that societal factors dictate it to be valid." Nor did we understand the contention that "as the norms of society on this issue change, so should our admissions policy foresee them and lead into them." We agree that society's standards and values affect the admissions process and recognize the reverse that Dartmouth's admissions process also affects society's standards and values. We suggest that Dartmouth has an important role leading society on the issue of education for all, irrespective of sex.

We hope that Trustee Andres' statement reflects his personal views and not of the Board as a whole. We suggest no other interpretation is possible given the statement of the Trustees on the issue of the composition of the student body:

"In order that the College maintain its position of leadership in higher education, it is essential to enroll the best qualified students to fulfill this purpose. The College cannot continue to meet this commitment in the future within the initial guidelines on coeducation enunciated by the Trustees in 1971. Since the admissions policy of the College must be a means of achieving the fundamental purpose of the institution, a change in the admissions policy is necessary."

In the flurry of activity preceding and following the Trustee meeting, two facts in the issue have become clouded. The following are indisputable:

1. Because of the ceiling on the number of women admitted, the College is accepting a greater number of less scholastically qualified men in the place of more qualified women.

2. Because of the likely rate of increase of female vs. male applicants to the College over the next several years, this condition is likely to worsen.

And if the reader accepts the following-discrimination in admission to the College bears no reasonable relationship to any fundamental purpose or goal of the College - then action to change the present policy is required. The Committe on Admissions and Financial Aid is charged by the faculty and Trustees to undertake a review of the admissions policy and is currently doing so. We would suggest that they consider the following statement for inclusion in their recommendations to the faculty and Trustees: "The proportion by sex of admitted students would be expected to approximate the proportion by sex of the applicants to the College." It is not necessary to label such a policy "sex blind" or "equal access" or whatever. Rather it is an educational policy, t0 recognize that the distributions of scholastic talents of male and female applicants to the College are equivalent and that we ought to admit the most highly qualified.

Hanover, N.H.

TO THE EDITOR:

On reading Chairman Andres' statement, I conclude that these new times and new policies call for new slogans. May I suggest "Voice crying out in the marketplace."

Boston, Mass.

TO THE EDITOR:

I would like to comment on the issue of the proportion of men and women at Dartmouth. My basic premise is that Dartmouth's primary function is education for leadership in our society.. This means that the bias in favor of men which has existed for the first two centuries of the College's existence had considerable justification for much of that period; to lament this fact is to criticize American society more than Dartmouth.

The time has come, however, for the College to determine whether or not it will cease to be merely a reflection of society in this particular regard by moving to a position of leadership in the effort to secure for women the opportunities which they have been unfairly denied for so long. It seems reasonable to me that the College reserve approximately half of the freshman openings for the finest candidates of each sex whom the College can attract.

As a teacher in a public senior high school both of whose graduates presently at Dartmouth are women and 14 of whose seniors have applied for admission this spring, I have seen far too many fine women who could both benefit from and contribute to the Dartmouth experience fail to secure the admittance they might well have obtained had the male bias, no longer appropriate, been abandoned as in my opinion it should have been some years ago. To do so now would be to be true, not false, to Dartmouth's finest traditions.

Walpole. Mass.

TO THE EDITOR:

Through the insulation of 3,000 miles and five years the debate over the future admissions policy of the College appears to be one-sided. The focus of the discussion seems to have been concentrated entirely on the legitimacy of ratios or quotas as criteria for admissions decisions. The assumption that a continuation of the coeducation experiment is desirable seems to have been taken for granted. I feel that there are valid reasons to challenge that assumption and consider returning to an all-male admissions policy at Dartmouth.

Such a move would not be without precedent. Several women's colleges (notably Wellesley and Smith) have abandoned similar flirtations with "sex-blind" admissions. As a result, there are now several outstanding educational institutions offering an all-female educational environment in addition to the hundreds that are coeducational. There are none, however, that offer a similar alternative to men. By tradition, location, size, and legal status Dartmouth is in an excellent position to fill that void. Certainly the moral obligation is at least as strong to those men who would seek such an environment as it is to the women who desire to attend a coed school.

The financial advantages that would accrue if the experiment were abandoned should also be investigated and discussed. Capital expenditures related to the campus population squeeze could be reduced or redirected toward improving the educational facilities of the College. Operating-expense increases resulting from the unique needs of women students could be eliminated.

Perhaps most significantly, a decision to return to an all-male admissions policy would reduce the pressure for increasing the size of the College, and would therefore be a major step toward preserving the quality of the undergraduate experience at Dartmouth for future generations.

It is not too late to restore the College to the unique position she has long held in American education and, in so doing, to preserve that intangible spirit of the place that contributes so importantly to what we have come to call the Dartmouth Experience. To make a decision so important to the future of the College without considering such a logical alternative is to do a disservice not only to the thousands of alumni who hold that experience dear, but also to the thousands of future undergraduates who will never know it.

Camarillo. Calif.

TO THE EDITOR:

I am very sorry to learn from "Options & Alternatives" (February issue, page 18) that Dartmouth men's basic chauvinism has changed very little since the 19505, when we used to hold "pig parties."

Charleston. W. Va.

Belief Gone Too Far

TO THE EDITOR:

In my years in Hanover, I saw a thriving religion in the Dartmouth community: humanism. [See "God and Man at Dartmouth," April issue.] Confidence in one's self and humanity is natural and essential, but it can swell into selfish pride. There is no better place for humanism than college, especially an elitist college. A student has few cares but to study achievements of mankind, develop his own powers, and look forward to success. Adult life buds during the college years, and a person sees how good he can be. If he forgets that part of human nature is not good, he makes himself his own greatest good, his own god. Such a person is not responsible to higher moral authority. Sexual license, intellectual pride, rejection of orthodox religion, and even liberal political attitudes are common symptoms at Dartmouth of belief in self and humanity which has gone too far.

If the basic purpose of education is to lead a person out of himself, to help him grow into the person he can be, then this false religion of pride is hostile to what Dartmouth stands for. Brilliant and articulate prejudice is prejudice nevertheless. Dartmouth is a great school, by conventional standards; it will not be a good school without humility and, after humility, true religion.

Jacksonville, Fla.

(See also page 9. Ed.)

Priceless Testimonial

TO THE EDITOR:

John Carlin Allen of the Class of 1923 died August 31, 1974. His obituary was published in the ALUMNI MAGAZINE of November 1974. As the obituary showed, Johnny, as he was known affectionately throughout his life, was an active participant in College and Class affairs, giving much of himself to the College and his Class.

As a final gesture of giving, Johnny made a bequest of several thousand dollars to the College. The wording of the bequest was extraordinary and eloquently attests that while Johnny gave much to the College, he also felt that he had received much. In Johnny's own words the bequest states it is made:

"... as an expression of personal gratitude for the unique facets of Liberal Arts education conceived and administered by one Ernest Martin Hopkins. During my years as an undergraduate (and before and after), President Hopkins artfully impregnated the Dartmouth scene with his special brand of stimulant to awaken intellectual curiosity; with solid spiritual overtones on which he declared all value judgments rested; and in the minds of young men provided the stuff, the habit of thought which a purposeful way of life is made of. The experience, for me, became a life-long influence which happily broadened the scope. the meaning, the enjoyment, and the adventure of the voyage through the uncharted waters of the temporal life."

We are sure that the College is greatly pleased to receive the bequest, but with these words Johnny may have given the College something of far greater value, a priceless testimonial of the possible value of the Dartmouth experience.

South Royalton, Vt.

The Sexes

TO THE EDITOR:

I have just read the March Undergraduate Chair and I can't resist commenting on David Shribman's non-date from McGill. Dear Manuel's explanation of the incident was probably right, but young Shribman should be glad it didn't happen like my fall Houseparties date from McGill in the fall of 1938.

I had met this gal from McGill while returning from Europe and even had dinner with her family after landing, so I invited her down. Her father wept so far as to say she couldn't come to Houseparties unless her mother came with her. So she did — the mother — and it was a complete surprise to me.

We met the train in White River Junction and we had an open Ford Phaeton with the top down. and the back seat full of beer. So the only place to sit was on the back seat or rather on the folded-down top with our feet on the seat. And back we rode into Hanover with her mother holding the feather in her hat and having a great-time — but with both me and my date as embarrassed as hell.

The girl was a real scout and had a room in the Inn — and spent the whole time in library doing some research — but the tragedy of the story was that Tom Braden, then a junior. lived in the same house with me off-campus. He thought it was funny and wrote a piece in Dartmouth on Saturday which really wasn't funny for me and my date. I spent the whole weekend trying to keep her from seeing The D. but she finally did and was quite upset.

I never saw her again, but that wasn't the mother's fault. I guess the best thing is not to invite a girl from McGill. Besides, they are too serious. My date was studying to be an engineer and thought that all Dartmouth students were frivolous.

Sunapee. N.H.

Save the Language

TO THE EDITOR:

Having finally found the time to treat myself to a reading of Gregory Schwarz's entertainingly informative article on the College Museum (" 'Save the zebra! Save the zebra!' ") in the February issue, I was distressed to find that otherwise impeccable gem of written English marred by yet another outbreak of The Fits.

This disease, rivaling any possible epidemic of swine flu, has infected even The New YorkTimes; but I had dared to hope it would not escape your editor's watchful eye.

Its sole and more than sufficient symptom occurs in the 17th line from the bottom of column one on page 25, where what is clearly intended as a past participle is quite pathologically rendered fit.

Yours for mass innoculation.

Ann Arbor.Mich.

The Pipeline

TO THE EDITOR:

I was interested in your article by Kent Johnson on the trans-Alaska pipeline [March issue], but disappointed that it continued to convey impressions which have been turned into cliches by the popular media. There is far more to the construction of this pipeline than the paychecks of union laborers, the boredom of camp life, the impact on one's personal life, and the necessary adaptations to the rigors of the arctic environment.

By any set of criteria, this is one of the largest construction projects in the country having perhaps the largest potential impact on human and natural environments. The logistic and engineering accomplishments on the line are impressive statistics, but are even more impressive on the ground. The lengths to which Alyeska went to protect the environment and to mitigate anticipated impacts were unparalleled in pipeline construction, and have been largely successful (albeit with some unforeseen problems).

Our project has involved several alumni of the College in various capacities, under the direction of John P. Cook '59, since 1970. I am sure that management, engineering contractors and consultants, and federal and state monitors all have Men of Dartmouth working professionally on the line.

I hope that any future articles relating to the pipeline will focus on some of these contributions and activities which may also be of interest to the Dartmouth community.

Fairbanks, Alaska

Touch of Class

TO THE EDITOR:

I was delighted to read the piece on baseball coach Tony Lupien [April issue]. As the student manager of Tony's first Dartmouth team 20 years ago, I was there when the big guy brought some class to the place.

My baseball background amounted to growing up in the same town with the old Washington Senators (first in war, first in peace, last in the American League). That qualified me for an appreciation of good baseball when I saw it, which wasn't often until I saw Tony teach the pickoffs, the relays, and all the other intricacies that can make baseball a beautiful and exciting game.

We don't even have the Senators to kick around any more down here, but it's good to know that the best of the big leagues is hanging in there with the Big Green.

Bethesda. Md.

The Symbol (cont.)

TO THE EDITOR:

This morning I had the privilege of meeting Dennis Banks, national director of the American Indian Movement. AIM has become an inter-tribal movement of cultural and spiritual rebirth.

I discussed with him the controversy at Dartmouth over the use of the Indian symbol. He said that California friends had raised a similar question in regard to the use of the Indian symbol at Stanford. He had no objection to Stanford and Dartmouth using the symbol where the traditions were meaningful and showed no disrespect of the Indian culture. It seems to me that when we give a Wah-Hoo-Wah for a team or an individual, it is queer thinking to say that at the same time we pay honor to our own we dishonor the Indian race. In my days at Dartmouth we were proud of our historical ties, and our attitude was one of respect.

Could it be that the current generation of Dartmouth men who wish to abolish the symbol abased it with caricature and are redressing their guilt by depriving all of us of a proud tradition?

Or is it simply another sign of our national malaise of negativism?

Lake Oswego, Ore.

(Donella Meadows is assistant professor of environmentalstudies; J. Laurie Snell is professorof mathematics; and Richard Winters is assistantprofessor of government. Ed.)

(Albert Dekin is supervisory archeologist,Alyeska Archeology Project. Ed.)