Voices Crying In The Wilderness

A gallery of Dartmouth's latter-day prophets.

THEY ARE SOCIETY'S MORAL LENSES, altering our view of the world. They flout history and established thought. They foretell discoveries, or set them in motion. By speaking private truths and leading visionary lives, they mime Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet who told Jews to get ready for the Messiah: "A voice cries: 'ln the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord.'"

Dartmouth's original prophet, the evangelist Eleazar Wheelock, spent his most fruitful years in the wilderness, an advance man for the kingdom of God on earth. He went to the New Testament for his school's motto, choosing Matthew's quotation (and slight mistranslation) of Isaiah: Vox clamantis in deserto, the voice of one crying in the wilderness.

It would be difficult to claim that the Latin forms some alchemic spell, recasting students into moral beings. Dartmouth has not cornered the market on prophetic people. But we maintain that the College where every undergraduate can quote Matthew has produced its share.

The man best known for living up to the motto is C. Everett Koop '37, who as Surgeon General of the United States fought the tobacco companies and even his fellow conservatives to pronounce the truth about cigarettes and AIDS. Perhaps he comes to mind as a modern Old Testament prophet because he looks like one, with his archaic beard and fierce countenance. But the moral fortitude is real: the good doctor's stands brought him harsh criticism.

Seven other, less-known Voices are in the pages that follow. This is no final list of Dartmouth prophets. Only one is a woman, and that one not a graduate it takes time for others to see one's vision, and the College has not been educating women for long. You may find that you disagree with some of the Voices, and that a few even make you uncomfortable.

So be it. These are prophets, not saints.

To cover parts of theglobe that most FirstWorld reporters miss,Peter Martin launchedhis own wire service.