4. Men and Women

Q: Why is the administration concerned about gender issues now?

A: Other institutions besides Dartmouth are grappling with gender. Why? I'm not sure.

When I get together with administrators from other schools, the gender issue and the alcohol issue are talked about more often than any other. Sometimes these are discussed as two separate issues and sometimes as two issues that have a relationship—because the social abuse of alcohol has negative affects on the level of understanding between men and women.

At Dartmouth, the issue has emerged because there are students who, based on their own experiences, believe there is room for continuing improvement in mutual understanding between men and women. There have been times in the past when there have been tensions between groups of men and groups of women, and it is my hope that by increasing dialogue it will be less likely that a misunderstanding will lead to campus tensions.

Q: You have also spoken of sexual harassment and sexual assault as administrative problems.

A: Again, this is not just a Dartmouth issue but a national issue. At Dartmouth there have been statements made that there are far more individual instances of harassment or assaults than have been reported. I think it is important for us to know what is happening in our community, and one of the things we will be taking a look at in the weeks ahead are ways of learning what has been the experience of members of the community concerning these two issues. Once we have that information, we will devise programs and policies that will address them.

Q: You told the College officers that Dartmouth students are "surprisingly ignorant" about sex-related topics.

A: Some of this is developmental. You don't expect high school students to talk about the more personal aspects of their lives, but you do expect that when men and women become adults, they will be able to talk about their intimate relationships. That kind of candor and frankness is something that is slow in coming in higher education today.

A decade ago, we were talking about these issues at an institutional level. More recently we stopped because we assumed students were sophisticated about them. What we have discovered is that a generation of students has come into American higher education, and lo and behold, they are not sophisticated about the things we thought they were sophisticated about. This is not just a judgement of a college dean, or someone who is an educator, this is the experience of students in this and other schools who look toward the institution to take a role in answering their questions.

Q: What is being done?

A: Let me begin by saying I don't think the institution has the responsibility for doing everything for a student. There are instances when the institution must turn to the student body and say, "If you need more information or you need greater awareness, you should seek it on your own." At Dartmouth we aim to provide opportunities for students to educate themselves.