LETTERS

President As Prophet

As a Christian minister in the New England (Congregational) tradition which established the College, I was struck by the summer issue's report of President Freedman's emergence as a public teacher of morality and communal values, both in the College commonwealth of liberal learning and in the larger republic.

This is no accident: the Puritans set up Harvard and Yale (and eventually us) as part of a threefold worldly order of church, state, and academy (parallel to the divine ministries of priest, king, and prophet); thus they, and Dartmouth, are schools of the prophets, with the president as the chief prophet and teacher (the latter being one of the two offices of the Puritan ministry).

This is the root of our continuing role in the larger order of things, and the responsibility we have always borne for educating leaders of our society; and of the presidential tradition from Pastors Wheelock and Tucker, through Hopkins and Dickey.

Thus in his March "Dartmouth Review" speech to the faculty, President Freedman stated: "If the president of Dartmouth does not speak out on momentous issues affecting the College's future ... he has abdicated his moral responsibility as the leader of this institution."

Whatever the explicit contemporary intention, it is fascinating to see that the connections are all there. President Freedman as pedagogue resonates quite organically with a primal part of who we are.

Of course, I cannot pretend to understand what he was doing out in lowa. That was a different crowd.

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Insightful Drummer

I read with great satisfaction the article on the different drummers at the College. I had the pleasure of facilitating the recent Beyond War National Seminar in New Hampshire and meeting Elizabeth Sawin '88. Her maturity, insight, and sense of self speak well for her and the College.

Manchester, New Hampshire

Remembering Stacey

I have read my husband's Alumni Magazine for 46 years, and the saddest story ever printed was Stacey Coverdale's.

Perhaps now would be a time for Dartmouth's family throughout the world to give birth to a stunning tradition that will glorify the memories of the Reverend Occom, Stacey Coverdale and all of Eleazar's Indians.

Mrs. Quincy P. Beach Simsbury, Connecticut

Without Bootstraps

Let me be the first to correct the mistakes that Mr. Donovan '39 made in his summer letter: Dartmouth College does not use quotas. What the College does have is a great affirmative action program. As I have had to define this concept to (oh so) many (seemingly) intelligent white males, I would be less of a person if I continued to let people of his mindset live in ignorance.

The purpose of Dartmouth's affirmative action program is to actively seek and recruit qualified minority and women applicants. Notice the word qualified. Because the Dartmouth experience is academically, socially, and emotionally rigorous, it would be detrimental to all involved if all applicants were not highly qualified. After all, once admitted, we have to take the same exams and write the same papers as the white males on campus. And I know that my College is far too classy to admit unqualified persons simply to have them flunk out.

Why is such a program necessary, you ask. Why can't all people pull themselves up by their own bootstraps? Well, for those of us with a history in this country dating back to 1619, our slave owners were not kind enough to furnish boots; hence, the absence of "bootstraps." No, affirmative action does not benefit white males. But, as we are still suffering from our foreparents' enslavement, so must some of you suffer for your foreparents' slave ownership.

Mr. Donovan's opinion seeks to devalue my degree; that angers me. What makes me nauseous is Mr. Donovan's assessment of one of the greatest accomplishments of my life: you're a black woman and you got into Dartmouth; therefore, they must have lowered the standards. I can't believe my College admitted a racist/sexist. They must have lowered the (moral) standards!!

Arlington, Virginia

Hail Mater

I never write letters to the editor. But as a former member of the Glee Club and one of the fortunate alumni to graduate in the first class with graduating women ('73), I wanted to comment on the new alma mater.

IT'S GREAT! IT'S ABOUT TIME!

Even Paul (Zeller) would approve.

San Francisco, California

Failed Mater

A recent column headline in the Mexico City News, which read "Wimps of Dartmouth," complete with the new and bowdlerized lyrics for the Alma Mater, put the College's whole situation clearly and succinctly for me.

Contemplating the events of the last 20 years and why go into the litany again, because it raises my blood pressure I conclude that it is silly and nonproductive to support a school which has been significant to me, but no longer is the institution which has been worthy of that support.

Stillwater, Minnesota

Intellectual Leadership

I read with interest the essays by Karen Avenoso '88 and Tom Bloomer '53 in the May issue. They raise an issue that I think reflects a weakness in American higher education in general. Why is it that we seem to feel that intellectualism is or should be incompatible with activism, involvement, and leadership?

As a Ph.D. candidate in political science (not at Dartmouth) who is aiming for a career in public service, I run into this attitude constantly. To paraphrase the words of more than a few professor and deans: "If all you want to do is work for the government, why are you bothering yourself with this doctoral degree? Get yourself a nice master's and you'll be all set." (Aptitude, presumably, is not a problem. My grades and recommendations thus far have been very good.)

The answer, to me, seems so simple I can't believe it's not obvious. want the best and the strongest background in this field that I can possibly get—and that includes formal education as well as "on-the-job" experience. Even more important, as an American citizen, I would like to think that at least some of our policymakers have the quality of training that our eminent political scholars and researchers do.

Don't get me wrong. I would be the last to suggest that there is not a role for "ivory tower" academia in our society. A vital sector of nonpartisan, objective, and detached inquiry in the sciences, humanities, and social sciences is critical. I would just like to see a more welcoming place in universities for those of us and I believe there are a lot—who would like to apply our "academic" knowledge to the practical world.

New York, New York

Civil Liberties

Some time ago, I was among the myriad recipients of a form letter from one Christopher Baldwin, who identified himself as one of the students suspended in last February's Dartmouth Review ruckus. The letter urged me to contribute "$1,000, $500 or $100 ..." to help pay his legal expenses. It also quoted Morton Halperin of the American Civil Liberties Union as warmly endorsing his actions.

Puzzled at ACLU's apparent involvement in this affair, I wrote Mr. Halperin to ask what in the world had motivated his intervention. I've just received his reply. While not exactly edifying, it does suggest that ACLU's support is not quite as solid as Mr. Baldwin claims. In the thought that there may still be some alumni out there' who haven't become thoroughly tired of the notoriety focused on this shabby affair, here is Mr. Halperin's response:

"Mr. Baldwin's quote from me is accurate. However, I did not give him permission to use it in a fund raising letter and have asked that it not be used in the future. I made that statement at a time when I anticipated that the New Hampshire affiliate would be agreeing to represent the students. Since then the affiliate has declined to represent them.

"The affiliate, in cooperation with the national office, is now preparing a report on the episode and its context which should be released in the fall. That report will state the ACLU's view of the civil liberties implications of the episode.

"Thus, the ACLU has not intervened in this affair."

Bethesda, Maryland

House Warning

If I could speak to every alum I would say this:

The Trustees intend to annihilate our fraternities and continue to do so until they are so insignificant as to be impotent! They do not have a hit list yet, so assume your house is on it! Write to the College now, and join us in asking for a voice in this crucial policy-making. The house you save might be your own!

It's hard to get the Trustees and administrators to recognize that we're out here and that we care enough about our institutions to want a voice in the decision-making. They apparently are unwilling to seek our input to moderate their opinions to accommodate new circumstances, or even to think that we'll smile and applaud while they tear our system apart. It's time to rally, and it's time to be heard.

Jeffrey S. Newman '82 President, Gamma Delta Chi Fraternity Corporation Lebanon, New Hampshire

Environmental Concern

As a student in the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program, my awareness of environmental concerns was heightened by a course in environmental journalism, ably taught by Donella Meadows. From that experience grew a concern that the Dartmouth student body was not very interested in or even aware of the physical state of the world. Equally distressing was the feeling that many of the faculty members are not much concerned either. There is no mention of the environment in the rhetoric of Dartmouth's president, and the Alumni Council makes no reference to it in the issues discussed in its 155 th meeting which had the theme, "The Challenge of the Nineties."

The Environmental Studies Department offers a small ray of hope in its increasing enrollment. There are some liberal arts courses that include environmental material, such as the writings of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Aldo Leopold or Wallace Berry. Philosophy, economics and business ethics touch on conservation ethics.

As the evidence of serious and perhaps irreparable damage to the environment continues to mount, such as depletion of the ozone layer and the effects of acid rain, it becomes imperative for Dartmouth to examine its role in preparing leaders of the future. Is the College concerned with instilling a conservation ethic, an inner attitude which compels an individualto make the best possible use of his resources, in those students who pass through its realm of influence? Are they being taught to consider the environment, the land and its creatures, in decision making? Who among them will take care of the Earth?

If the president is a Puritan prophet, what was he in Iowa?