FREEDMAN EMBRACES TRADITION
Dartmouth, says the president, will be even more "Dartmouth."
In February, President James O. Freedman reaffirmed Dartmouth's commitment to its past in a satellite-delivered address before some 2,000 alumni across the country. For the College to remain a premier liberal-arts institution, he said, it must build upon its traditions. CNN correspondent Bill Hartley '58 moderated the telecast, which was received by satellite dishes and seen on large-screen television sets by alumni clubs from coast to coast.
Alumni officials set up the program to allow Freedman to describe the "state of the college." But he spent much of his time addressing the past and the future. The College is strong, he said, "because of the great tradition which we have all inherited." But he warned that, "if Dartmouth stands still, the world will pass it by."
Among Dartmouth's strengths, the president listed such traditional extracurricular activities as freshman trips, campus publications, athletics and community service. And he named international education as another College asset. "It becomes essential," he said, "that we build upon our strong base of foreign-language and foreignstudy programs." Hebrew, Arabic and Japanese have recently been added to Dartmouth's curriculum. Freedman noted that only five percent of American college students study abroad; the Dartmouth figure is 65 percent.
While Freedman's address centered on the College's gradual evolution, some of the questions from the national audience revealed the fear of many alumni that the pace of change may.be too fast.
When asked if his proposed changes would make the College unrecognizable to alumni, Freedman replied, "I think Dartmouth will become more 'Dartmouth' than it ever has been." In the coming years, he said, the College will insist on its historical standards of excellence, recruit the best faculty, and continue to take advantage of local resources. He defended his use of the term "university" in the Dartmouth context by giving it a historical perspective: Presidents Dickey and Kemeney, he noted, both described Dartmouth as a university.
In rapid succession, Freedman dealt with several other questions around the "university" theme.
Graduate studies: "Dartmouthhas made no decision to expand its graduate programs," the president said. "I want to be very clear that Dartmouth's primary strength is in undergraduate, liberal-arts education, and everything we do ought to be focused and premised on preserving that strength and making certain we do not lose one iota of its quality."
Admissions: Freedman said Dartmouth ought to be looking for the kind of young men and women it already attracts.
Fraternities: "I see the Greek system maintaining its present role in the future of Dartmouth," he said. He explained that the Trustees want to reduce the percentage of affiliated students to 40 percent—the level it was for many decades.
Alumni expecting the president to speak out about the Dartmouth Review were disappointed. Freedman reiterated his stance that the paper has the right to publish but declined to comment farther because he is named in two lawsuits pressed by the paper.
The word from most clubs afterward was positive, although some viewers criticized the president's quick response to some difficult questions. "The answers were too short and clipped," said John Gunderson '56 of the Louisville, Kentucky, chapter. "He didn't get into any depth whatsoever." Even the critics, however, said the program covered a considerable amount of ground in a short time. Alumni officials say if the budget permits, the president will take to the airwaves next year.
Barely a Bear
First the Dartmouth Night bonfire didn't burn, and then the lack of snow almost led the Winter Carnival Council to turn the Green into a skating rink for carnival. "I think our class is jinxed," said an incredulous '92. Luckily a small, last-minute storm dropped enough snow to build a little sculpture. It was supposed to be a bear. However, the reporter from the Dartmouth Review who described the sculpture as looking "like a rabid field mouse" was probably closer to the mark.
Going After Honors
Shortly after his arrival in Hanover, President Freedman challenged Dartmouth to "find ways to motivate more of our students to seek outstanding national honors upon graduation." To meet that challenge, the College has named Susan Wright, an assistant dean who has been at Dartmouth since 1978, to the newly created post of academic honors coordinator. She will groom students to go after the Rhodes and other graduate scholarships. Dartmouth has produced only two Rhodes scholars in the past five years, while ten students from Yale, 11 from Princeton and 25 from Harvard have won the honor.
Hospital Bought
The deal is now complete. For $25 million, the College picked up 13 acres and 20 buildings from Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital. But don't expect an expanded north campus anytime soon. The hospital will lease the buildings from the College at least until 1991, when the new $2l8 million medical center should be completed in Lebanon.
What will the College do with the complex? No decisions have been made. Dartmouth has hired the Philadelphia architectural firm of Venturi Rouch and Scott Brown to draw up a master plan for the 45 acres of land north of Baker Library.
Meanwhile, at the new medical complex, contractors report that winter construction proceeded on schedule, despite an unusually deep frost.
Petition Push
Almost half the student body signed a petition during winter term that was critical of the Dartmouth Review. "We ... recognize the Review's right to publish, but condemn the Review's reckless malice and hereby disassociate ourselves in every way from the Review," the petition read. Its organizers said they launched the drive to counter what they saw as a national perception that the Dartmouth Review represented general student opinion. Review Editor Harmeet Dhillon '89 reacted by saying the more than 1,700 students who signed the petition were from "fringe groups."
Food Fight
Students organized a oneday boycott of the dining services in January to protest a new meal plan. Students currently charge their meals and pay their tab eight times per year. Under the new system, sophomores, juniors and seniors will pay $250 a term in advance for meals.
Dining officials say only 120 students spend less than $250 per term. The students say that isn't the point. They don't want to pay in advance, and they want the choice to eat where they want.
How effective was the boycott? Although pickets outside the dining halls were about as scarce as the snow, business was off 60 percent in Thayer, 48 percent in the Courtyard Cafe and 40 percent at Collis.
In Brief
• New student organizations formed this year include a science society, a press club, a literary magazine called Doug (named after a founder's two hamsters), and the "Wishing Well," a group launched by Zeta Psi and Kappa Kappa Kappa to meet the desires of seriously or terminally ill children.
• The College has donated $1,000 to the Discovery Bay Marine Lab in Jamaica to help it rebuild after the devastation of Hurricane Gilbert. The lab is used each winter term by as many as 15 undergraduates in Dartmouth's tropical biology program.
• Dartmouth and Cornell have loaned theTrustfor Public Land $125,000 to preserve a tract of land near Nash Brook in northern New Hampshire. Two years ago the College worked with the group to preserve a tract near the Hubbard Brook Experimental station located in Woodstock, New Hampshire. The site is one of the nation's oldest continuous ecology study areas and has been used for many years by Dartmouth faculty.
• Karen etterhahn, the chemistry professor featured on the cover of our February issue, has been nominated by the College for a prestigious Third Century Professorship. Wetterhahn plans to develop a new educational venture in structural biology and biological chemistry.
• The American Chemical Society has given Professor William Stockmeyer its Polymer Chemistry Division Award.
James O. Freedman took to the airwaves to broadcast his vision of Dartmouth.
