Letters

QUOTE/UNQUOTE "We all took advantage of the possibilities offered by the College in our own small ways. We each said goodbye to our four years with the courage to challenge our own choices." —MARY MCVEIGH '03

Sporting Life

RESTLESSNESS AMONG COLLEGE constituencies?

The March/April issue of DAM appears to be crafted as a "tranquilizer" for alums—the equivalent of the Sports Illustrated "swimsuit edition" for one issue.

If that was the objective, not bad!

Elverson, Pennsylvania

Randall Redux

IT IS IRONIC THAT ONE ISSUE OF DAM whose theme is sports would bring together so many of the essential conflicts, challenges and opportunities that our current culture struggles to reconcile. Like many, I found the issue featuring Bryan Randall '88 ["Coming Undone," Jan/Feb] disturbing. But, unlike Leslie Dahl'85, David May'80 and David Hendren '81 ["Letters," Mar/Apr], I believe DAM is exactly where it belongs: more than a bulletin board for chronic over- achievers.

At Moosilauke in 1955 John Dickey welcomed me to the Dartmouth family. Had Bryan been there he would have been welcomed also, so Bryan was a member of my family. Where the hell were we?

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, who will be for me?

Is the purpose of a Dartmouth education to merely build a career and earn a living? To be about getting "stuff" and marrying the Winter Carnival queen? Or do we hold ourselves to a purpose of fellowship and caring that distinguishes us from the others? We sure like to sing about brother standing by brother. Before my time some crazy undergraduate rushed on the field and lined up to help the football team in a goal-line stand against Princeton—in a blinding snowstorm—or so the legend goes. The persistence of such legends says something about our values and how we see ourselves.

What is disturbing about Bryan's story is that we took him in and showed him the golden fleece. Evidently we forgot to tell him about the furies along the way.

Irony of ironies, in the same issue as the Randall letters there is a spread on the Furstenberg/football letter ["Framing the Letter"]. What is the role and purpose of athletics at a liberal arts college in 2005? Now there's a subject for "Great Issues," not one that should be defined by a coach who has "more juice than Tropicana," even if he is one of us. Yet no one is talking about it in public that I can see. Could this confusion have contributed to Bryan's outcome? We admired and defined him by his athleticism. It appears we didn't help him get a philosophy worth living for. Perhaps his outcome did not depend on what we did or didn't do, but the price of not getting it right was paid by his children, his wife and Bryan.

The suggestion of Kathryn Fraser '79 ["Letters"] is spot-on for all of us: Somebody who knew him start a fund, and let's show his children and ourselves what a legacy is really about.

Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts

SUICIDE, MENTAL ILLNESS AND DE- pression are real. It was all around me at Dartmouth, and was a very real part of my Dartmouth experience. Sol was deeply affected by the story on Bryan Randall, as were many alumni whose letters were published in the last issue. Bryan's story is deeply tragic, and yet his story is now told. How many of our classmates' stories have not been told—of the demons they battled or continue to battle as a part of their daily condition—of their fight against suicide, or worse, inflicting harm on others?

As a student at Dartmouth I was engaged in dialogue with three of my classmates who battled depression and moodiness, low self-esteem, anxiety and thoughts of suicide. One of those classmates never mentioned killing himself, but he did not make it to graduation. The two who did speak to me of their suicidal thoughts did graduate, but they do not live with us today

Did I fail them? Did the College fail them? Did they fail themselves? Help was there for all three of my classmates. And in the end, even when they asked for help and searched for answers, they found only one final answer.

Bryan Randall's story reminds us that we can and should do more to support our Dartmouth community on awareness and treatment of mental illness. I learned the hard way—by losing close friends who were successful yet troubled—how to cope with their struggles and their end. Should the College engage in dialogue on this topic with the hopes of never having another Bryan Randall story to report, I would offer to present my Dartmouth student experiences at such a forum.

Issaquah, Washington

OUR DARTMOUTH FAMILY IS DEEPLY disheartened by the article regarding Bryan Randall.

Our disappointment is two-fold. First of all, Mr. Randall's life story has absolutely nothing to do with his Dartmouth years. If anything, they were a high point in his life. It is unrealistic to even remotely suggest that Dartmouth had anything to do with his hardships and tragedies. Secondly, this is clearly an inappropriate topic for DAM. We believe that the objective of the magazine should be to solidify and maintain a strong connection between Dartmouth alumni and the College by sharing positive and productive stories about Dartmouth alumni. DAM should be used for significiant events such as births, weddings, promotions and significant accomplishments. This article was the antithesis: not about a birth, rather a killing; not about a wedding, rather an unhappy marriage; not about a promotion, rather career strife; not about an accomplishment, rather a tragedy.

We expect to read DAM and be inspired by uplifting and relevant stories. Given our alumni body, there are so many possible topics from which to choose— stories of successful careers, examples of stellar community service and incredible accounts of Dartmouth alums making a positive difference in their worlds.

Why don't you take a look at the numerous alums who are being considered for trustee candidates and alumni awards? We are confident that you will find enough material for cover stories to last a lifetime. Additionally you will also find numerous positive stories about African- American alums.

DAM has the unique and precious privilege to reach a wide audience of engaged readers. The Randall story is an abuse of this privilege. Focusing on such a negative topic is just a disgrace.

Annapolis, Maryland

Alpharetta, Georgia

Hanover

Letter Legacy

THE LETTER WRITTEN BY DEAN OF Admissions Karl Furstenberg ["Framing the Letter," Mar/Apr] is indeed disturbing—but not for the reasons suggested by Brad Parks '96.

As a chemistry professor, I only wish that Dean Furstenberg had shown the courage of his convictions to refuse to apologize for his remarks. He is absolutely correct on all counts.

The adage of the liberal arts education is mens sana in corpore sano—a sound mind in a sound body. Yes, there is a place for physical fitness in higher education, but the corpore sano has the subordinate role in this paradigm. It only takes a moment to recognize that athletics—and football in particular— have assumed a priority out of all proportion at just about every college campus in North America, and indeed in society at large.

If it is true, as Parks asserts, that "one quarter of the student body par- ticipates in intercollegiate athletics," it is surely more significant that three quarters of students do not. If Dart- mouth requires an "academic index" comparable to that at Harvard, Yale and Princeton, why is this something to bemoan? Four hundred-odd alumni signed a petition protesting Dean Furstenberg's letter, but did anyone ask how many alumni supported him? How many blog pages could be filled by those who agree that the athletic tail has wagged the academic dog for too long?

I welcome the news that the capital campaign is putting money into intramural sports. Intramurals build the corpore sano in truth. They are open to everyone and they are not dominated by whether a losing record will put "millions of dollars of alumni support at stake." Intramurals are about fun, health and sportsmanship for the broadest cross-section of the College.

As the rest of the "Sports Issue" shows, individual participants in varsity sports find various spiritual and cerebral benefits from their participation, and I am very happy for them.

On the other hand, if Parks is correct in his assessment, in the broader context varsity sports are apparently about oneupmanship with other colleges and raising donations from alumni. How on earth does this build the mens sana in corporesano? How does a winning season build a lasting legacy for the College, when all the players have returned to dust along with all who attended their games?

Winnipeg, Canada

THE FURSTENBERG LETTER GOT ME thinking of all that has been lost in the talk of creating a better Dartmouth.

As a member of the women's soccer team I participated in a variety of activities and appreciated about the College that stepping outside of personal comfort zones was a daily affair. Lately it seems that the "powers that be" have lost sight of what makes Dartmouth beautiful. Dartmouth, by definition, is not Harvard. It is not Princeton or Yale. Until recently, it never tried to be.

There is no "ideal" Dartmouth student or Dartmouth class. President Wright, with his Student Life Initiative, and more recently Dean Furstenberg, with his views of the athletic culture, seem to have forgotten this simple truth. We are Dartmouth students and alumni. We bleed green from the day we set foot on campus until the day we are too old to remember where we went to college. Rather than judge those who bleed green on Memorial Field or in a Greek house or on the stage or at Mt. Moosilauke or in the depths of Sudikoff, I want to remind them that we all took advantage of the possibilities offered by the College in our own ways. In the end, we all wore the same cap and gown. We each said goodbye to our four years with the courage to challenge our own choices by recognizing the world of possibility that lay ahead. For that, we thank Dartmouth. For loving her, we can only hope that Dartmouth thanks us in return.

Northampton, Massachusetts

I HAD A CLASSMATE WHO ONCE Remarked that if the College did away with the football team it would not make much difference, but if it did away with the Outing Club it would be an entirely different Dartmouth. That comment came to mind while reading the letter by James A. Melville '50 ["Letters," Jan/Feb] mentioning the "disgraceful performance of the football and basketball teams in recent years" as being "beyond belief." Such comments must be depressing to students who have worked their tails off.

So what to do? Go back to being an all-male school? Stop building science buildings and dormitories so there will be more money for athletics? Recruit students on the basis of their ability to throw a forward pass? Professional teams have it easy: All they have to worry about is money, not diversity of interests.

Peterborough, New Hampshire

Bulking Up

I WAS SURPRISED, DELIGHTED and shocked when I noticed the article by my classmate Lance Roberts '66 ["Out of Control," Mar/Apr], Delighted to have a lead as to his whereabouts. Shocked by the involvement of steroids in Lances Dartmouth athletic career.

Lance and I met each other early in our first year. I had seen him play basketball for Palos Park, Illinois, during a holiday tournament in Chicago. He was then and always will be, in my mind, a truly gifted athlete and basketball player. At Dartmouth we became friends.

Starting mid-way through sophomore year, he moved into a room ad joining the one I shared with John Boies '66. By that time basketball for Lance was over. We knew about the injury to his leg and saw firsthand its evidence. Lance shared with us his dis appointment and frustration over not playing the sport he loved, and that he was torn between returning to the Midwest and staying at Dartmouth. He never told us about the emotional outbursts or the use of steroids in his treatment.

Lance was always the most gentle of giants. He and I would occasionally go to the gym and play a little one-on-one basketball. I would have to foul him unmercifully just to keep him interested in the game. Never a cross word. What Lance has described to us is so out of character, it had to have been the drugs.

To President Wright: Loosen up! Send Lance a letter sweater and certificate. He deserves it. The same thing could have happened to any of us.

I was one of several football players who obtained a prescription for Dianabol to build muscle mass and strength after hearing about it from Coach Bob Blackman. Sometime during our double-session practice period an article appeared in The New York Times saying that steroids such as Dianabol were known to have serious side effects—including shrinking of the testicles in males. In those days the football team lived in Topliff; the noise of toilets flushing must have been heard all the way over in Parkhurst.

Jamestown, Rhode Island

Sagging Spirit

THE REPORT IN THE "CAMPUS" section of your Jan/Feb issue that only 797 students attended Septembers first home football game and that only 204 attended the second game (following a first-game defeat) reflects yet another nail in the College traditions. While one can only speculate as to whether the paucity of student attendees adds joy to the current dean of admissions, it surely informs interested alumni of the deplorable state of Dartmouth spirit on campus.

Redwood City, California

Seeing Things

MY AUNT, LUCIA DICKERSON (wife of former Dean of Freshmen Al Dickerson '30), who lived in Hanover at the time of the Theta Delt tragedy, described the incident in Joe Citro's story ["Ghosts? Not Here!" Nov/Dec] in her autobiography:

"I was this year at home, and partook of the horror that swept over the town the morning of the 'Theta Delt Tragedy.' All of the students who had remained behind in the Theta Delt fraternity house—nine, I think—were asphyxiated during the night. The dreadful details trickled out via telephone and conversation all day. One of the brothers had stoked the furnace without leaving a 'red spot' to burn up the gas, which accumulated and blew the door open and the chimney off. A student had gone down and closed the door but failed to notice the chimney. The brothers had gone to bed. During the night a dog had thrown up and wakened its master, who staggered to the window but apparently blacked out be- fore he could open it. How these details were obtained I do not know—proba- bly by Holmesian deduction, since everyone was dead when found in the morning. Hysteria swept through the community. The importance of raking away coals to expose red spots which would burn up the gas was explained; furnace doors were checked and windows thrown wide at night."

San Mateo, California

McLaughlin Memory

MICHAEL KELLER'S RECOUNTING one of the many visits my father made to Dicks House to talk with President Dickey ["Letters," Jan/Feb] beautifully captured the bonding and friendship that made my father so special and that makes Dartmouth so special. On behalf of the McLaughlin family thank you all for your memories, your support and, above all, your continued friendship. At Dad's memorial service I shared how one of his grandchildren remembered him: She said, "You know how some people light up the room when they walk in? Well, Mac made me feel like I light up the room."

Our world and each of our lives will benefit if we practice making others feel special and if we invest in the friendships cultivated on the plains of Hanover.Thank you, Michael, for sharing your powerful memory.

Minneapolis, Minnesota