The Freshman Issue (9.18.2017)

Hanover Review Inc. P.O. Box 343 Hanover NH, 03755

Volu m e 3 7 , Is su e 7

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THE FRESHMEN ISSUE

VARIOUS READERS OF THE REVIEW Are you in such good company?

Dartmouth’s Storied History Dispelling Fake News The Dartmouth Review

Staff Emeritus Dartmouth represents the ninth-oldest of America’s Colonial Colleges. Established in 1769, she was the last to receive her charter from England’s Crown.

Dartmouth’s founding has since become a matter of legend, at the center of which lies one man’s unlikely vision, for a small school among New England’s wilderness. In the ensuing decades, Eleazar Wheelock, Samson Occom, and Daniel Webster, Dartmouth’s favorite son, have all emerged as larger-than-life figures.

Learning about their journeys is as integral a part to the Dartmouth experience as DOC Trips, Winter Carnival, or the Green itself. We present their stories here, among others, in a fundamental overview of our College’s celebrated history.

Eleazar Wheelock and Samson Occom

Wheelock’s sense of divine mission, which guided him to found Dartmouth, also drove his life’s many other pursuits. Born in Windham, Connecticut in 1711, Wheelock graduated from Yale in 1733, and was subsequently ordained as a preacher. Soon thereafter, he became seized by the Great Awakening, a religious fever spreading throughout New England.

The Awakening particularly influenced Wheelock’s sermons, which regularly reduced audiences to tears.

One of Wheelock’s first pupils was Samson Occom, a young Connecticut Mohegan who was converted in heat of the Awakening.

Wheelock helped him prepare for college until Occom’s weak eyes forced him to abandon his course of study. Occom established himself as a schoolteacher in New London, later becoming a preacher and schoolmaster to the Montauk tribe of Long Island. He sustained himself

and his large family through the manufacture and sale of wooden spoons, cedar pails, churns, and leather books, as well as his missionary work.

It was his efforts in this later role that led Wheelock to conceive of a language and missionary school, for Indian as well as white students, in the heart of the Colonies.

After receiving a £500 bequest from two young Delawares, and an equivalent donation of land and buildings from Colonel Joshua More, Wheelock set up More’s (later “Moor’s”) Indian Charity School in 1754. The charity school was a pioneering enterprise, and received support from such luminaries as George Whitefield, the famed Connecticut Revivalist, who donated a bell.

A decade after the school’s inauguration, Colonel More died, leaving the institution without its primary benefactor. To make matters worse, colonial interest in educating Indians was declining as a

consequence of the French and Indian War of the late 1750s. Wheelock also proved unable to obtain a charter for the institution, either from the King of England or the Connecticut legislature.

Financial hardship, meanwhile, only increased in severity.

The Royal Charter and The Earl of Dartmouth

Wheelock sent his former pupil, Samson Occom, to England in 1764. Because he was a well-received novelty there, Wheelock was convinced the Indian minister would be successful at raising funds. Wheelock’s inklings were confirmed when, together with Reverend Nathaniel Whitaker, Occom collected approximately eleven thousand pounds. It was an impressive figure for the time, especially given the deteriorating relations between England and the Colonies.

> FEATURES PAGE 8

Nicholas P. Desatnick

Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Editor’s Note: The following article was drafted as a response to one of many misguided criticisms hurled toward our paper.

Naturally, our esteemed former editor seized the opportunity to set the entire record straight.

In one of the more memorable anecdotes from last term’s “What’s So Great About America” debate, an audience member questioned Dinesh D’Souza about The Dartmouth Review’s record on gay rights in the early 1980s. As part of his response, Mr. D’Souza corrected what he called “an urban legend history” of this pub-

lication and remarked that “the Mother Jones recapitulation [of The Review’s actions] over the last 30 years bears no resemblance to [its actual coverage of the Gay Student Alliance and the group’s misappropriation of College funds].” Although his answer successfully addressed these particular misconceptions, it seems that the Mother Jones’ version of events continues unabated, often times in direct contradiction to the facts at hand.

Witness The Daily Dartmouth’s March 28th edition of The Mirror and a story it ran on the College’s history over the last half century.

> FEATURES PAGE 11

A WARM WELCOME

DARTMOUTH’S FINEST - AND NOT-SOFINEST - PROFESSORS

EDUCATION AT DARTMOUTH

Editor-in-Chief Jack F. Mourouzis welcomes the incoming Class of 2021

The Dartmouth Review once again provides the incoming class with our thoughts on some of the College’s finest scholars and instructors, and offers a few thoughts on some to avoid.

The Dartmouth Review founder Jeff Hart helps you make the best of your Dartmouth career.

> EDITORIAL PAGE 3

> FEATURES

> FEATURES PAGE 11

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2 Monday – September 18, 2017

The Dartmouth Review

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FRESHMEN WRITE

WORK

For thirty-five years, The Dartmouth Review has been the College’s only independent newspaper and the only student opinion journal that matters. It is the oldest and most renowned campus commentary publication in the nation and spawned a national movement at the likes of Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, and countless others. Our staff members and alumni have won many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, and have been published in the Boston Globe, New York Times, National Review, American Spectator, Wall Street Journal, Weekly Standard, Village Voice, New Criterion, and many others.

The Review aims to provide a voice for any student who enjoys challenging brittle and orthodox thinking. We stand for free speech, student rights, and the liberating arts. Whatever your political leanings, we invite you to come steep yourself in campus culture and politics, Dartmouth lore, keen witticisms, and the fun that comes with writing for an audience of thousands. We’re looking for writers, photographers, cartoonists, aspiring business managers, graphic designers, web maestros, and anyone else who wants to learn from Dartmouth’s unofficial school of journalism.

PONTIFICATE

CONSERVATIVE

SAFE space

“Because every student deserves a safe space”

– Inge-Lise Ameer, Vice Provost for Student Affairs

Meetings held Mondays at 6:30 PM at our offices at 32 S. Main Street (next to Lou’s in the lower level office space)

INSIDE THE ISSUE The Storied History of Dartmouth

The Worst of Dartmouth’s Professors

The Truth about The Review

Finding an Education at Dartmouth

Traditions Not Taught at Orientation

The Review Answers Common Questions

A History of (Re)Activism

The Dartmouth Glossary

The Best of Dartmouth’s Professors

A Western Culture Primer

Take a moment to learn about the College you now attend....................................... PAGE 1

Much of the liberal buzz surrounding The Review is, indeed, meritless.................. PAGE 1

We take a look back at some historical traditions unknown to most students ........ PAGE 6

We examine some of the “protests” of recent years...................................................... PAGE 7

The Review offers its insights on the best scholars the College has to offer ........................... PAGE 8

SUBSCRIBE The Dartmouth Review is produced bi-weekly by Dartmouth College undergraduates. It is published by the Hanover Review, Inc., a tax-deductible, non-profit organization.

Please consider helping to support Dartmouth’s only independent newspaper, and perhaps the only voice of reason left here on campus. Yearly print subscriptions start at just $40, for which we will mail each issue directly to your door. Electronic subscriptions cost $25 per year, for which you receive a PDF of The Review in your inbox at press time. Contributions above $40 are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated.

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Alas, not all professors at the College live up to our undergraduate teaching prestige ............ PAGE 10

Some words of wisdom from Review founder Jeff Hart............................................ PAGE 11

Questions about life on Dartmouth’s campus? Look no further ............................. PAGE 11

Heard an unfamiliar term used around Hanover? We might be able to help ........ PAGE 12

If you’re a member of Western society - and you are - take a look at these books ...... PAGE 12

JUSTICE GORSUCH READS THE REVIEW.

The Dartmouth Review

Monday – September 18, 2017

3

MASTHEAD & EDITORIAL EST. 1980

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win great triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to takerank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

—Theodore Roosevelt

EDITORIAL BOARD

EDITORIAL

Editor-in-Chief

A Warm Welcome

Jack F. Mourouzis

Executive Editors Joseph R. Torsella Marcus J. Thompson

Managing Editors Jack S. Hutensky Devon M. Kurtz Zachary P. Port

Senior Editors

Joshua D. Kotran Samuel W. Lawhon Shawn E. Honaryar Elliott A. Lancry B. Webb Harrington Brandon E. Teixeira

BUSINESS STAFF President

Robert Y. Sayegh

Vice Presidents Jason B. Ceto & Noah J. Sofio

ADVISORY Founders

Greg Fossedal, Gordon Haff, Benjamin Hart, Keeney Jones

Legal Counsel

Mean-Spirited, Cruel, and Ugly

Board of Trustees

Martin Anderson, Patrick Buchanan, Theodore Cooperstein, Dinesh D’Souza, Michael Ellis, Robert Flanigan, John Fund, Kevin Robbins, Gordon Haff, Jeffrey Hart, Laura Ingraham, Mildred Fay Jefferson, William Lind, Steven Menashi, James Panero, Hugo Restall, Roland Reynolds, William Rusher, Weston Sager, Emily Esfahani-Smith, R. Emmett Tyrrell, Sidney Zion

NOTES Special thanks to William F. Buckley, Jr. Enjoy it while it lasts, because it sure as hell won’t last long.

The Editors of The Dartmouth Review welcome correspondence from readers concerning any subject, but prefer to publish letters that comment directly on material published previously in The Review. We reserve the right to edit all letters for clarity and length. Please submit letters to the editor by mail or email: editor@dartreview.com Or by mail at:

The Dartmouth Review P.O. Box 343 Hanover, NH 03755 (603) 643-4370

Please direct all complaints to: editor@thedartmouth.com

In his 1974 poem “The Life with a Hole in It,” one of my personal favorite poets, Britain’s other Poet Laureate Philip Larkin, wrote:

ed life. Regardless of how things may seem, it is always possible to strike a healthy balance of between life, school, social life, going to the gym, and even exploring the Upper Valley. The opportunities are endless, whether Life is an immobile, locked, you choose to write for The Review or hold Three-handed struggle between protests on the Green (though we sincereYour wants, the world’s for you, and (worse) ly hope you opt for the former). Upon maThe unbeatable slow machine triculation, I too was sold with the idea of That brings you what you’ll get. “the Dartmouth experience,” and by virtue of my own action, I was able to shape it to It is with these at-first-glance pessimis- what I wanted it to be. During my sophotic words that I choose to welcome the more year, my travels took me to Europe, Class of 2021. Aside from striking where I studied in Berlin, worked the ultimate balance between in the German parliament, enmatter-of-fact speech and lyrijoyed Thanksgiving in Paris, cism, Larkin’s words ring true spent my birthday solemnly for each and every student touring Auschwitz, attended that crosses the Green for several major opera houses, the first time on that warm and enjoyed a live theatrical September Monday. That beproduction almost every week ing said, however, it is also – all thanks to Dartmouth. quite easy to boil down LarFor these experiences, I kin’s overall sentiment into am eternally grateful – one simple message: Make and I hope you take the the most of your time at same advantage of these Dartmouth. opportunities that I did.

But this lesson, while That is not to say, howseemingly obvious – why ever, that the College is inJack F. Mourouzis wouldn’t one make the fallible, a beacon of knowlmost of their college experience? – is un- edge in an ignorant world. Indeed, it is quite doubtedly easier said than done. It is easy to the opposite. As I am sure you will soon succumb to the notion that we Dartmouth come to realize, there is a lot to be pessistudents are privileged, that we’ve worked mistic about, something that Larkin would hard for twelve years of grade school and have appreciated. For one thing, this school thus are among the finest young minds possesses what is perhaps one of the most this world has to offer, and that success woefully inept and incompetent adminisis simply what we are due. As an incom- trations that could possibly be imagined. ing student will still realize, however, this From the tyranny of Dartmouth Dining could not be further from the truth. Going Services to the universally unwanted – and, to college, especially to an Ivy League in- contrary to what the administration may stitution, it’s hard not to feel on top of the claim, utterly failing – house system, the exworld. But the journey has not come to an amples are quite clear. Perhaps it is the Class end – in fact, the true journey is only just of 2021 that might be the last to experience beginning. the Greek system in all its glory – or, at least, It is important to realize that just by vir- in a semblance of its classic form. Thus, one tue of attending a prestigious institution, can always count on The Review to fight the no one gets a free pass. The virtue of hard good fight – lest the old traditions fail. work is now more important than ever.

But alas, I digress. My message is still the One cannot simply coast through Dart- same: make the most of your time at Dartmouth – or, at the very least, it would be mouth. At the end of the day, I do believe irresponsible given the College’s quarter- that there is a way to do Dartmouth wrong of-a-million-dollar price tag. Jobs do not and to do Dartmouth right. Doing Dartsimply fall into students’ laps; they require mouth right is not simply going to class – perfect resumés, long applications, and it’s taking advantage of its unrivaled quality multiple rounds of interviews. Academic of undergraduate teaching, visiting office citations are not simply given out; you have hours, and building lasting relationships to do the readings, attend office hours, and with outstanding professors. Doing Darttruly engage with the material in class. mouth right isn’t sitting around all summer Likewise, excellence and lifelong success doing nothing – it’s embarking on fascinatare not simply stations along the line; they ing research opportunities, interning at top require effort, dedication, perseverance, financial firms, and studying on the Green and zeal. during Sophomore Summer. Doing DartThis does not mean, however, that life at mouth right is achieving success – and that the College is all business all the time. It is of is what I wish for each and every incoming the utmost importance to live a well-round- student this year.

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The Dartmouth Review

WEEK IN REVIEW BETSY DEVOS ANNOUNCES EVALUATION OF CURRENT TITLE IX PRACTICES On September 7th, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced that her department will be revaluating federal campus sexual assault guidance brought about during the Obama administration. This review access investigate the degree to which the current guidelines allow, and in some instances encourage, colleges to deny due process to students accused of committing sexual assault. Despite backlash against what some considered an attack on Title IX rights, DeVos’s decision has met with substantial bipartisan support… and rightly so.

Under the supervision of the Obama administration, the Office for Civil Rights, also known as the OCR, released guidelines that instructed colleges not to allow concern for their students’ due process rights to “restrict or unnecessarily delay the protections provided by Title IX.” Even great friends of the administration expressed misgivings about its blatant disregard for American legal ideals. Members of academia were particularly disturbed by the OCR’s action. In an open letter to the Boston Globe, Harvard Law’s Alan Dershowitz and Charles Ogletree wrote “We find the new sexual harassment policy inconsistent with many of the most basic principles we teach.”

These principles, namely due process rights and the presumption of innocence, are exactly the ideals that DeVos is endeavoring to protect.

In her announcement, DeVos did not waste time condemning acts of sexual assault, stating firmly that “One rape is one too many, one assault is one too many, one aggressive act of harassment is one too many.” She was equally swift and clear in expressing her position toward the current guidance declaring, “The notion that a school must diminish due process rights to better serve the victim only creates more victims.” This could not be truer, especially in light of the current climate towards sexual assault in American society.

It is undeniable that in recent years, colleges have turned a blind eye to sexual assault on their campuses. Recognition for survivors of sexual assault has been a hard fought battle, and certainly no thinking person would like to see its outcome reversed. For the sake of both the accuser and the accused, all possible instances of sexual assault should be taken extremely seriously. When even entirely uncorroborated allegations of sexual can haunt a young man for rest of his

life, they could not possibly be more serious. It is this seriousness that highlights the fact that the colleges, and certainly society, must not be cast in the role of judge, jury, and executioner. As citizens, the accused are afforded the right to due process under the law.

We, as fellow citizens, can only hope that this law will be carried out by those who understand the paramount importance of the presumption of innocence and the burden of proof. Women more than any other group should hope for this. They should hope for this for their brothers and their male friends, but most of all for themselves. Correct legal processing will only add to the credibility of the fight against assault, not detract from it. Credibility is second only to prevention when trying to aid those affected by sexual assault. Women should be singing DeVos’s praises from the rooftops.

the shooter. Shortly before 4 PM, another alert was sent out announcing that the shooter was in police custody, bringing the brief, but alarming episode to a close.

The iniquity of this killing contrasts starkly with the hope and expectancy of a new term and the beginning for the Class of 2021. “It is very sad to see a shooting happening near us,” an international freshman remarked. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim and the staff at DHMC who had to endure this tragedy. Dartmouth and the Upper Valley are indebted to all of the law enforcement officers and first-responders, who risked their lives to secure DHMC and keep our community safe.

YALE FACULTY MEMBERS RELEASE LETTER TO ACTIVE SHOOTER REPORTED AT DARTMOUTH HITCHCOCK INCOMING FRESHMEN CLASS MEDICAL CENTER On Tuesday, September 12th, a lone assailant shot and killed a 70-year-old woman, his mother, in the intensive care unit of Dartmouth-Hancock Medical Center (DHMC). The victim, Pamela Ferriere of Groton, N.H., was being treated for an aneurysm and scheduled for release on Friday, September 15th. The shooting sent the hospital, New Hampshire’s largest, into lockdown as SWAT teams arrived on the scene to assist local emergency units.

The Associated Press reported that the suspect, Travis Frink, a 48-year-old man from Warwick, R.I., was apprehended attempting to flee the hospital campus. Frink is charged with murder in the first degree, to which he pleaded not guilty, and is being held without bail.

Frink’s motive is not yet clear, but the brutality of this alleged matricide, which has received national media attention, is stunning. According to Frink’s stepfather, present at the time and place of the crime, the accused approached his bedridden mother and fired several shots at her, without saying a word.

Frink had checked in at DHMC about ten minutes before the gunfire was heard.

At around 2:09 PM on Tuesday, Dartmouth students and staff were startled by an email alert that there was an active shooter at DHMC in Lebanon, NH, under three miles from the heart of campus. The College remained calm, even as sirens sounded in the distance.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock staff was advised to evacuate or seek shelter while law enforcement dealt with

At the dawn of a new academic year, a group of 28 professors from Yale, Princeton, and Harvard published a letter of advice for the freshman class of 2021 promoting free exchange of ideas as a counterpoint to growing orthodoxy in higher education. In this letter, they highlight the susceptibility of students to “groupthink” on campus as well as the hostility towards ideas, which go against the liberal campus dogma. A singular left-wing intellectual climate dominates the Ivy League. Rather than embracing differences in opinion, there exists an unspoken understanding that liberal politics are the end all be all and it should be assumed that all students subscribe to these beliefs.

College is meant to be a time of intellectual exploration, a time to challenge what you think you know and either shift or strengthen your beliefs. This task becomes near impossible as both professors and students on college campuses quell dissenting opinions with harassing cries of bigotry and racism to those who hold and spread conservative ideals. There exists a one-sided debate in which attempts at open dialogue are shut down.

Recently, Ben Shapiro, a popular conservative commentator spoke at the University of California Berkeley. In order for him to safely speak, the university was forced to spend upwards of 600,000 dollars in order to secure the event, shut down multiple buildings, and establish strict ID checks upon entrance. Mr. Shapiro is no radical and espouses traditional conservative values, not violence or bigotry. The fact that a conservative speaking on a college campus is regarded as such a hostile and despicable tragedy displays the true intolerance for differing political opinions.

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Marcus J. Thompson Daniel M. Bring Rachel T. Gambee Brian A. Morrison If the message promoted by these 28 professors could be taken to heart, college campuses could and would be improved for the better. This is not asking for everyone to abandon their political beliefs without cause, but rather for students to take a step back, evaluate where they stand, and learn to engage with dissenting opinions rather than shallowly disregarding them as bigoted.

A COPY OF THE LETTER TO STUDENTS AT HARVARD, YALE, AND PRINCETON We are scholars and teachers at Princeton, Harvard, and Yale who have some thoughts to share and advice to offer students who are headed off to colleges around the country. Our advice can be distilled to three words: Think for yourself.

Now, that might sound easy. But you will find—as you may have discovered already in high school—that thinking for yourself can be a challenge. It always demands self-discipline and these days can require courage.

In today’s climate, it’s all-too-easy to allow your views and outlook to be shaped by dominant opinion on your campus or in the broader academic culture.

The danger any student—or faculty member—faces today is falling into the vice of conformism, yielding to groupthink.

At many colleges and universities what John Stuart Mill called “the tyranny of public opinion” does more than merely discourage students from dissenting from prevailing views on moral, political, and other types of questions. It leads them to suppose that dominant views are so obviously correct that only a bigot or a crank could question them.

Since no one wants to be, or be thought of as, a bigot or a crank, the easy, lazy way to proceed is simply by falling into line with campus orthodoxies.

PROFESSOR VINCENT STARZINGER PASSES AWAY AT 88 Professor of Government Vincent Evans Starzinger passed away on Wednesday, September 6 at Wheelock Terrace in Hanover at the age of 88.

Professor Starzinger retired from the College in 1994 after a career spanning over three decades and earned the nickname “The Zinger” from students and faculty alike for his relentless pedagogy. As a young man, Professor Starzinger served in the US Army press corps, an experience that taught him how to write efficiently and also compelled him to return to school and complete a PhD. In academia, Professor Starzinger was noted for his centrism. He published Middlingness in 1965, which was revised in 1991 and renamed The Politics of the Center. Independent Senator Angus King of Maine remembered Professor Starzinger’s lectures in an interview with the Dartmouth Alumni magazine, “I remember him using the movie The African Queen to explain the two different views of natural law,” King says. “Humphrey Bogart wakes up in the boat to see Katharine Hepburn dumping his gin out into the river, and he’s very upset. He says to Hepburn, ‘It’s only natu-

ral, ma’am, that a man should want to drink every now and then.’ That’s one view of natural law. Hepburn said, ‘Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we are here to rise above.’

That’s the other view of natural law. It has been 50 years and I remember every word of that lecture.”

Additionally, Professor Starzinger will be remembered as a lifelong athlete who climbed over 200 mountain peaks spanning three continents and rowed countless miles on the Connecticut River in a single shell.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Professor Starzinger’s family at this difficult time. We at The Review honor Starzinger’s memory and legacy.

CARTOON

Don’t do that. Think for yourself.

Thinking for yourself means questioning dominant ideas even when others insist on their being treated as unquestionable. It means deciding what one believes not by conforming to fashionable opinions, but by taking the trouble to learn and honestly consider the strongest arguments to be advanced on both or all sides of questions—including arguments for positions that others revile and want to stigmatize and against positions others seek to immunize from critical scrutiny.

The love of truth and the desire to attain it should motivate you to think for yourself. The central point of a college education is to seek truth and to learn the skills and acquire the virtues necessary to be a lifelong truth-seeker. Open-mindedness, critical thinking, and debate are essential to discovering the truth. Moreover, they are our best antidotes to bigotry.

Merriam-Webster’s first definition of the word “bigot” is a person “who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices.”

The only people who need fear open-minded inquiry and robust debate are the actual bigots, including those on campuses or in the broader society who seek to protect the hegemony of their opinions by claiming that to question those opinions is itself bigotry.

So don’t be tyrannized by public opinion. Don’t get trapped in an echo chamber. Whether you in the end reject or embrace a view, make sure you decide where you stand by critically assessing the arguments for the competing positions.

Think for yourself.

Good luck to you in college!

“Oh, Phil, I just HAVE to give you money now, after that wonderful display of hot air!”

CARTOON

“All the bars in town are going to be so confused. ‘I’m a 21!’ Well, why are you still wearing a shirt from high school?”

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The Dartmouth Review

FEATURES

Traditions Not Taught at Orientation Samuel W. Lawhon Senior Editor

Editor’s Note: The following are obscure aspects of Dartmouth history and tradition that have an observable impact on the College in the present day. It is in no way a comprehensive list.

Rather, the select few following episodes are designed to entice students to learn more about their institution’s extensive history.

The Lone Pine The Lone Pine is an enduring symbol of the College. The first report concerning the old tree was an improbable legend.

In 1833, undergraduate Jacob Gale recounted a story about three Native Americans singing a farewell song around an ancient pine. However, later investigations showed that three Indians never graduated at the same time in the early history of the College. Jas. F. Joy, (18)’33, later reminisced that there were stories circulating in his day about a graduating class singing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ around the tree before leaving the College. These occurrences likely evolved into the legend.

Ten years later, the Pine was

in the early eighteenth century, though, the tree was old.

Records indicate it likely dated back to 1783 in origin. In 1887, the Old Pine was struck by lightning, and in 1892, its main branch was broken in the wind. Finally, in 1895, the tree was cut down. Its stump remains there to this day. In 1967, the tradition was revived in a different form. The Class of 1927 planted the Dartmouth Pine near the entrance to the BEMA. They transferred stewardship to the Class of 1967, who later passed care of the tree to the Class of 2007.

Dartmouth Canes Canes have a long history at Dartmouth. In the eighteenth century, canes were a status symbol among students. Only sophomores and upperclassmen were allowed to carry them. But freshmen would frequently try to assert themselves by flaunting their canes. In response, older students would wrestle them and seize their canes in a tradition that came to be known as cane-rush.

Cane-rush reached its greatest proportions in 1883. That year, freshmen took off their

“Some of us would occasionally, when out for recreation, sing a hymn which tradition told us the three Indians composed and sang.” widely known and respected.

An alumnus of the class of 1840 said “Some of us would occasionally, when out for recreation, sing a hymn which tradition told us the three Indians composed and sang.” A member of the class of 1845 wrote “We, like other classes, had many meetings around the ‘Old Pine’ for gossiping, story-telling and music and some other exercises. One of these ‘other exercises’ was a tarring and feathering of a man charged with crime.” After General Winfield Scott’s nomination, the class of 1852 celebrated with a cannon salute.

They were stopped by Professor Hubbard, who complained that his house had been struck by a stone the students fired.

A few years later, the tradition developed that graduating classes would celebrate under the tree. From 1854 to 1895, with few exceptions, students would celebrate by singing, giving speeches, smoking a peace pipe, and laying mementos around the Old Pine. Even Mr. Lawhon is a junior at the College and a Senior Editor at The Dartmouth Review.

shirts and covered themselves in olive oil for a pitched battle with the sophomores. The freshmen stationed themselves on the Green in a protective formation around their prize: a hickory cane. The sophomores rushed from their base in Reed Hall, which began a two-hour battle. A student at the time wrote that freshmen who had been knocked unconscious were dragged from the fray by juniors and revived with buckets of cold water. Undeterred, many ran back in. The class of 1887 eventually lost when the sophomores dragged the prized cane back to Reed Hall.

Over time, the brutal tradition fell out of favor and cane-rush died out.

As one cane-related tradition died out, however, another began. When the class of 1887 graduated, they bought or made canes to commemorate the occasion and encouraged their friends to carve their names into them. In 1899, Charles Dudley crafted the first Indian head cane, which became the predominant senior cane until 1974, when the Indian head symbol was banned.

Secret society canes are the last vestige of Dartmouth’s long history of cane-related traditions. Every year, approximately twenty percent of graduating seniors carry canes to represent the secret societies with which they are affiliated.

The Ledyard Bridge John Ledyard came to Dartmouth in 1772. Ledyard loved theater and was a good student, but he was restless; he found the pace of college life too slow. Seeking adventure, Ledyard cut down a tall tree on the banks of the Connecticut River and made it into a log canoe. With his newly made vessel, Ledyard set out to explore the world with only four items: a huge bearskin, a poem

by Ovid, the New Testament in Greek, and some bread. One hundred and fifty miles downstream in Hartford, Ledyard called on a relative, who was surprised to find his nephew not quietly studying to become a missionary. He studied theology in Hartford for a time, before his boredom overcame him again. He became a common sailor on many different voyages; he travelled to Gibraltar and London. After a few years, Ledyard entered the British naval service and sailed under Captain James Cook.

However, he always remained loyal to his native land and refused to fight against the U.S., and after many years, Ledyard returned home.

John Ledyard was never any good at staying in one place, and just a few months later he was plotting his next adventure: a trading journey to the northern Pacific. The venture failed to attract sufficient funding. But he succeeded

in attracting the attention of Robert Morris, a prominent Philadelphia merchant, who gave Ledyard money and letters of introduction. Eventually, the explorer ended up in Paris, where he met Thomas Jefferson, then ambassador to France. For his next feat, John Ledyard decided to journey around the world on foot. He arrived in St. Petersburg just seven weeks later. His journey was cut short while traveling across Siberia, on suspicion that Ledyard was an American spy. When he returned to London, Ledyard found employment on a journey to explore Africa, but died of an illness in Cairo soon after, in 1788.

The Ledyard Bridge was first built in 1859, near where the explorer cut down the tree to start his first adventure. One Dartmouth tradition related

would remove to let their cattle graze on the field. The students resented the practice, however, because the cattle made their field a far worse playing area. The College informed the townspeople the practice must stop. The next time cattle were caught grazing in the field, infuriated students drove them into the basement of Dartmouth Hall and sealed the entrance with stones and dirt. The townspeople formed a mob and advanced on the College to demand their cattle returned. The ensuing standoff was perhaps most damaging to the cows, who were trapped in confined quarters on a hot September day; one report describes them as “wet with perspiration and crowding as if they had been in a mill-pond.” Eventually, the students let the cattle go.

In order to deter future

The freshmen stationed themselves on the Green in a protective formation around their prize: a hickory cane. The sophomores rushed from their base in Reed Hall, which began a two-hour battle. to the bridge is the so-called Ledyard Challenge, where students attempt to swim across the Connecticut River naked and streak across the bridge as they return to their clothing. In some ways, the tradition is an appropriate one for John Ledyard, who consistently flouted convention through bold adventures.

The Senior Fence In the early nineteenth century, the Green was primarily used as a football field for students. In those days it was enclosed by a set of flimsy railings, which the townspeople

grazing episodes, the campus set up a sturdier fence, which bordered the Green until it was torn down in 1893. In response, the class of 1897 sponsored a Senior Fence, which runs to this day along parts of the southern and western borders. Only Seniors were allowed to sit on the fence; when younger students tested this policy, they were soaked with water from a nearby trough.

These privileges began to erode during World War II, and by 1960, they had disappeared entirely. Today, all students are free to sit on the fence, without fear of water-based reprisal.

VLADIMIR PUTIN READS THE REVIEW. SO SHOULD YOU.

The Dartmouth Review

Monday – September 18, 2017

7

FEATURES

A History of (Re)Activism

PROTESTORS incur the wrath of prospective students at Dimensions 2013.

The Dartmouth Review Staff

The history of recent protests at the College can be summarized by a quote from its most famous alumnus: “from there to here / and here to there / funny things are everywhere.” If they were not so telling of the present direction of the College, the events of recent years would seem comical.

Many of the recent events can be described as postLohse fallout. In March 2012,

hazing, substance abuse, and sexual assault, some specifics of which cannot be described by this paper.

The fallout was enormous.

More importantly, it heralded a change in tactics for many of Dartmouth’s activists.

They began targeting Dartmouth where it would really hurt: admissions. In April of 2012, activists circulated a petition reading “I am concerned about the Greek System at Dartmouth” among prospective students during the dimensions period. Fore-

“F*** you, you filthy white f***s!”

-Black Lives Matter Protestors Andrew Lohse, a former SAE member, came out with allegations about hazing practices at that fraternity. After the College suspended him for cocaine use, Lohse decided to go to the press with an axe to grind, and his accusations appeared in Rolling Stone Magazine. The next few years would see debate about the fraternity system ramping up on campus, culminating with The Dartmouth’s front-page editorial calling for its abolition. But it was the visceral description of fraternity culture – “demonstrably untrue,” according to SAE’s lawyer – that was so polarizing. Lohse described, among other things,

shadowing what would come a year later, they also interrupted a panel to deliver their message, which, according to the organizer Nina Rojas ’13, called for “structural changes by administrators that will fundamentally alter the way the culture works”. According to her, this could be as drastic as abolishing the Greek System altogether. But, even though this was a very visible event, it was the events taking place one year later that would be known as the “dimensions protest”.

RealTalk Dartmouth, a group formed in early 2013, had planned to hold a kind of info session for prospec-

BLACK LIVES MATTER protestors harass and threan students while they study for finals in the library.

tive students in April of that year. When they saw “low prospective student turnout,” the group blamed, “the suppression of dissent at Dartmouth,” rather than the obvious lack of interest. In response to this, they decided to crash the final dimensions show. “It happened last year, it’s happening this year, and will hopefully happen every Dimensions until the College changes.... And by the looks of it, I think it’s working,” said one student about the protest. Shouting claims of homophobia and racism on campus, they pushed their way into FoCo, injuring one student at the door, and stopped the show. They were finally shouted down, perhaps surprisingly, by prospective students shouting, “We love Dartmouth.” After significant uproar on campus, some disparaging comments about the protestors on the website “Bored@Baker,” and the protestors disrupting a faculty meeting on the topic, classes were cancelled for a day.

Over the next year there were a few notable protests.

In one instance, a group of students led by former professor and career instigator Russel Rickford staged a “die-in” at a speech by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, accusing him of war crimes and other atrocities. Ironically, Olmert is known for his far-left politics and his corruption. In February, activists released what they called the “Freedom Budget” with the goal of “redistributing power and resources in a way that is radically equitable.” Specific proposals included establishing a minimum required percentage of students of color for each matriculating class.

The students demanded the administration respond in one month.

Even though they had re-

ceived a response from President Hanlon, they occupied his office in early April, demanding that he lay out “first steps to enact the budget.” They stated, “Our bodies are already on the line, in danger, and under attack at Dartmouth. We are now using them to occupy the President’s office until he accords us the basic respect of serious, point-by-point, actionable response.” Needless to say, the occupation ended two days later without such a response.

Another protest that made national news came a year later, when activists found out that they could attack frats and cultural oppression at the same time. Pursuant to this, they protested a “Derby” party at KDE, accusing it of racism, and got into a shouting match with the student body president, a black man. The next year, KDE changed the theme.

This trend of agitation continued as fall moved into winter, culminating with the infamous invasion of the Baker-Berry library in November.

After a sparsely attended vigil on the green, student activists (The Review uses that

refused to listen to or join in their shouting were shouted down: “Stand the f*** up!” Although the protest was negatively received on campus, the protestors achieved at least one of their goals. Apathy on campus regarding BLM definitely went down, although at least some of this apathy was replaced by contempt. After news of the library invasion spread, the college suffered a PR nightmare. Angry at the lack of disciplinary consequences for the BLM activists, alumni began making angry phone calls to the college and withholding donations. President Hanlon even reputedly received an earful at a Manhattan fundraiser.

Most recently, the Dartmouth College Republicans put up a bulletin board at Collis drawing attention to national police week. The day it was put up, Black Lives Matter activists tore it down and put up a replacement in violation of Collis policies. No students were punished for this act, and it was again reported on in the national news media.

Such behavior would be disturbing in isolation, but when

STUDENTS responsible for the Freedom Budget occupy Parkhurst. term loosely) affiliated with Black Lives Matter felt that something had to be done to change the apathy and disinterest on the part of the rest of student body, who were engaged in studying for finals. It is perhaps telling that the BLM activists felt no need to do the same. Regardless, clamorous BLM protesters poured into the library, justifying their disruptive protest by arguing that their emotional safety trumped any right that the studying student had to peace and quiet. Chanting and shouting, the protest soon devolved (or depending on one’s perspective, showed its true colors) into intimidation.

Protestors surrounded students and harangued them, reportedly reducing at least one student to tears. Undisguised racial hostility pervaded this action, and protestors shouted things like, “F*** you, you filthy white f***s!” and, “Filthy white B****!”

Students in the library who

they become an accepted and even expected form of student activism, they threaten the Dartmouth community and its climate of free debate.

It is not difficult to see why the campus left continues to pursue these tactics: they work. The left knows that the liberals in the administration are made uncomfortable by student activism and will make concessions in order to secure short-term calm. But in doing so, the administration has allowed its policy to be dictated by the radical elements in our student body.

He who shouts the loudest is afforded the most influence, given the greatest chance at serving on college policy commissions, and accorded the most respect by administrators. It is deeply ironic that the aftermath of these events is always a call for more dialogue and discussion. Dialogue, at least as the Review understands it, always requires more than one party.

8 Monday – September 18, 2017

The Dartmouth Review

FEATURES

Dartmouth’s All-Star Faculty The Dartmouth Review Staff

G.K. Chesterton once said, “He is a very shallow critic who cannot see an eternal rebel in the heart of a conservative.”

Perhaps that is why The Review persists in our tradition of listing Dartmouth’s best and worst professors despite the objects of numerous faculty members.

We prefer to believe that this feature exists because we, as students who invest heavily in a Dartmouth education, hold our faculty to an elevated standard. We designate faculty members as “Best professors” not because they are easy, but because they are hard. We look for those who have a sincere desire to inculcate in their students a thirst for knowledge and the means to pursue it. While original and important research influences our selection, we place the most importance on teaching. Our “Worst Professors” are far more difficult to choose. We strive to take every ameliorating factor into consideration before we apply this label to a member of the faculty. Our worst professors generally fail to inspire their students, do not tolerate dissenting opinions, teach “layups,” or conduct research of a caliber not fitting for a Dartmouth professor. Our best professors are more than professors: they are legends.

Meir Kohn—Economics

Something of a legend in the Dartmouth Econ Department (a commonly traded tale—of questionable veracity—notes that an “A” in Kohn’s class translates into an instant job offer on Wall Street), Kohn is the maestro of Economics 26, a.k.a. “Money for Dummies.” He is one of the most feared professors at Dartmouth, and his classes, conducted in an intense Socratic question-and-answer format, force students to analyze economic questions at a level above simply parroting back textbook information. Ask him sometime about his experiences on an Israeli kibbutz.

Paul Christesen—Classics

And his lectures provide compelling evidence for the importance of classics; he has a firm grasp on the value of understanding Western civilization’s development. Christesen is a wise choice for beginning or continuing any liberal arts education. Listening to his lectures, one gets the impression that Christesen has tailored his lessons for challenging and interesting the specifically undergraduate mind. (We mean that in a good way.)

Russell ment

Muirhead—Govern-

A fantastic lecturer with an impressive ability to link the sociopolitical with the scientific, he teaches the ever-popular EARS 2 each winter. If you need a SCI distribution credit, Professor Osterberg is not to be missed.

Richard Wright—Geography

student, both during discussions and while editing papers. She almost always invites students to her home for a meal and to meet her family. No student interested in French should miss a class with Beasley.

Douglas Irwin—Economics

David Lagomarsino—History

Don Lagomarsino has been on The Review’s list of best professors either since he began teaching at Dartmouth or since The Review was founded in 1980. No one can remember which came first. His specialties include the history of Spain’s Golden Age, a flagrant disregard for political correctness, and a notorious wit.

Only by a miraculous shift in the winds has he avoided President Hanlon’s Inquisition. It may not be possible to graduate without having taken a course with Lagomarsino.

Barbara Will—English

Professor Will provides a savvy, critical analysis of postmodern literature without getting bogged down in the jargon of literary theory. Her teaching style is refreshingly straightforward, and she has the rare talent of making dull-seeming topics interesting.

Marlene Heck—Art History

One of the most popular in the department and a Dartmouth alumnus to boot, Professor Christesen is also the most popular advisor to Classics majors.

Jefferson, and colonial architecture are infectious. Professor Heck and her art history classes will change the way you look at the world.

Professor Heck is one of Dartmouth’s most beloved professors. Her classes in the Art History Department stand out for their ability to contextualize art, architecture, history and culture in their time, weaving each together to give a complete picture. Her class on American architecture (Building America) is a must-take, as is her Writing 5 course on the Founding Fathers. Professor Heck’s passions for America’s origins, Thomas

Professor Muirhead, a former Rhodes Scholar, is one of those rare teachers of political philosophy who can argue with equal passion for the merits of Locke, Rousseau, Mill, and Marx. He is fair-minded and highly skilled at structuring the West’s big ideas in ways that are relatable to anybody. Each of his lectures will leave you with a whole new take on broad, fundamental concepts. It’s not for nothing that, as a young up-and-comer at Harvard, Muirhead won a prize for the best teaching on campus. No matter what your major or interests are, you won’t go wrong with his classes.

A leader in one of Dartmouth’s fastest growing departments, Wright is known for his ability to facilitate challenging discussion and offer dazzling lectures.

A British native, he is an expert on immigration, migration and mixed-racial geographies. Rumor has it that Wright brings gelato to one of his lectures in his Economic Geography course to structure a class discussion.

Melanie Benson-Taylor—Native American Studies

After the anti-WTO protests in Seattle, Irwin took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to defend WTO trade policies and criticize then-President Bill Clinton for “caving in to pressure from labor interests.” Irwin is an undeniable expert in free trade, having quite literally written the book that is used for trade economics courses at Dartmouth. Not only is he blessed with technical expertise, but he is also an engaging and passionate teacher.

Andrew Samwick—Economics

Pamela Crossley—History The department’s resident expert on China, the incredibly knowledgeable Professor Crossley is also an authority on methods in global history, a fluent speaker of East Asian languages (including Manchu!), and a developer of educational software. She is famously strict with her classes—students must reserve comments and questions for the end of the period rather than interrupting lectures; she guards her coveted “A” grades closely; and relentlessly quizzes students on their knowledge of the reading during discussions – but those willing to work hard find that watching Professor Crossley lecture without notes, all-the-while with flawless Chinese terms and drily humorous asides, makes the whole thing worth it.

Erich Osterberg—Earth Sciences

Professor Osterberg is a relative newcomer to Dartmouth, but many already consider him to be one of its best professors.

Professor Benson-Taylor is one of the most talented professors Dartmouth has to offer. She is open to any idea or interpretation of the books discussed in her classes and works tirelessly with students to help them understand the material and create the best papers possible. She is constantly available to her students and is a brilliant scholar in her own right. Any student of hers will feel like her top priority. Furthermore, her in-class lectures suggest unique and eye-opening interpretations of both literature and history.

Faith Beasley—French

Professor Beasley specializes in seventeenth century France, and teaches courses focusing on salons, the Enlightenment, and the intersection of literature and history. She teaches everything from introductory courses to senior seminars and is always known to devote personal attention to each

Professor Samwick’s litany of accomplishments is too long to list here, so we will recount just a few key highlights.

He was Chief Economist of President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2003 to 2004. He was named the New Hampshire Professor of the Year in 2009. He has run Rocky for over a decade. Samwick embodies the archetypal scholar-teacher, making plenty of time available for students despite his impressive research and significant administrative responsibilities.

He has a quirky sense of humor and is easy to talk to, providing advice and mentorship for all who seek it.

Victoria Somoff—Russian Despite teaching in one of the College’s smallest departments, Professor Somoff ’s classes, ranging from her phenomenal “Masterpieces of Russian Fiction” to her upper-level Russian creative writing courses, always manage to sell out. Perhaps it is her engaging lectures that effortlessly morph into seminar discussions (often times in classes of over 30 students), or her unique and intriguing assignments. Regardless, it is more than clear to any student in Somoff ’s classes that she cares deeply for her students and that her knowledge of and dedication to the field of Russian literature is unparalleled.

The Dartmouth Review

Monday – September 18, 2017

9

FEATURES

They Were the Best of Professors... > CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

Nina Pavcnik—Economics

Professor Pavcnik is an incredibly knowledgeable and accomplished economics researcher, yet she is also an extremely passionate and effective instructor.

She deeply cares for her students and is able to guide them to reach their potential in a variety of settings, both for lecture and seminar courses. Her courses are both educationally enriching and personally rewarding, as students are challenged to use economic principles in real-world applications.

She also gets bonus points for being on the committee that denied Aimee Bahng tenure.

William Fischel—Economics

Professor Fischel is an urban economist and one of the leading scholars on the economics of land use regulation (i.e. zoning). He is the prolific author of five books, including the highly influential Homevoter Hypothesis, which submits that local governments should be viewed as municipal corporations in which homeowners are the shareholders. Another one of his books, Regulatory Takings, was recently cited in Justice Kagan’s dissenting opinion in Koontz v. St. Johns. We recommend his course on zoning, Economics 38, as a hidden gem of the economics department. Furthermore, Fischel has done significant work on the history and evolution of the American public school system and advances rather peculiar arguments against charter schools.

Udi Greenberg—History

Professor Greenberg is one of the history department’s rising

stars and a perennial favorite of majors and non-majors alike.

Although his area of specialty is late nineteenth and early twentieth century German history, his courses on the Second World War, Nazism, and the European intellectual tradition are not to be missed. A demanding teacher who is wont to assign long blocks of reading for each class, he holds his students to a high standard, but with good reason: it is impossible come away from a term with Professor Greenberg without an intimate understanding of the material presented. For this reason, more than one Reviewer has referred to his courses as “life changing.”

Julie Kalish—Writing As a lecturer in the Writing and Rhetoric Institute, Professor Kalish consistently ranks among undergraduates’ favorite teachers.

A member of the Class of 1991 and an expert on constitutional law and the first amendment, she brings an unparalleled level of expertise to each lecture and inspires some of the best debates on campus with her question and answer-style. Her class on the Supreme Court in American Society is considered by many to be the best Writing 5 course available, but prospective students beware: it fills up quickly. If you can’t get off the waiting list, consider taking her class on writing and speaking in public policy come spring.

Robert Ditchfield—Chemistry

An expert in theoretical chemistry who did his post-doc with Nobel laureate J.A. Pople, Ditchfield is one of the chemistry department’s most senior and respected scholars. He knows every student’s name by the first day of class, holds frequent and helpful office hours, and explains challenging concepts in quantum chemistry with great thoroughness and clarity. Anyone interested in Chemistry 6 or 76 should choose to take it with this jovial British professor. Feel free to ask him about British tea.

Alan Li—Chinese Professor Li is widely praised for the vast amount of knowledge he brings to his classes. He evinces an incredible grasp of the logistics of English and its interactions with Mandarin in his classes, which range from beginner to advanced Chinese. While the Chinese track is notorious for hitting students with a torrent

of information to memorize, Li finds ways of making it manageable.

Michael Herron—Government Professor Herron teaches Government 10, a popular introductory statistics class. Tall and lanky, Michael quickly won over the classroom on the first day with his warm, if slightly gawky, demeanor. He keeps students engaged with a Socratic-style teaching method that uses in-class Q and A to drive lectures. Herron’s passion for his work—as it pertains to both the educational and statistical realms—makes attending his lectures an eagerly awaited treat rather than a chore.

of James Bond in the Classics Department. Every morning when he strides into class, Bradley sets his pocket watch down on the desk and then proceeds to lecture for an electrifying hour—or sometimes, if the students are lucky, two. Besides, as a true patriot, he makes sure that veterans do well in his class and helps them transition to life at an elite college.

Susannah Heschel—Jewish Studies

Edward Miller—History

Her father, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, has been called the greatest Jewish thinker of the twentieth century for his theological innovation and work on the Civil Rights Movement. Professor Heschel will tell you about growing up in a home where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a regular guest, but she will not readily tell you about her own work on topics ranging from Jewish feminism to Jewish-Muslim relations, which other scholars often cite as inceptive and authoritative. No one invests as much energy and care into making Dartmouth an intellectual hub. Like her father, she will be known as a contradiction in terms: an orthodox innovator and an intellectual activist.

Gordon Gribble—Chemistry

Gordon Gribble is the most senior faculty member in the entire College, and his experience shows. Having authored close to 400 papers and taught organic chemistry for nearly 50 years, he is incredibly entertaining and trollish in class, expertly covering not only the curriculum but also “special topics” such as chemical warfare and insect chemical defenses. He once had secret-level security clearance and consulted for the Pentagon on chemical weapons. Gribble is a modern Renaissance man, and one faculty member described him as “a walking encyclopedia.” Indeed, he knows everything there is to know about chess, winemaking, World War II, and the Civil War in addition to organic chemistry. He has also reportedly claimed that he will only stop teaching when he drops dead, so we hope that he will be here for some time to come. Try not to be intimidated by the fact that his Chemistry 52 class has two syllabi, both over a hundred pages.

Edward Bradley—Classics

Emeritus Professor of Classics Edward M. Bradley is called into Dartmouth every now and then to teach Latin. He’s the equivalent

Professor Miller is the leader of the Dartmouth Vietnam Project and also teaches a course on the Vietnam War. Unlike most courses, which usually focus on the American War in Vietnam, Professor Miller’s course focuses on the First, Second, and Third Indochina Wars to give students a better understanding of the Vietnamese perspective across the 20th century. Professor Miller is a demanding teacher who uses a reverse-lecture format; he asks students to watch his lectures online before class, so that students can have plenty of time for discussion during class. Reading assignments can be dense, but in-class discussions give students the opportunity to learn in depth and enrich their academic experience.

Paul Musselwhite—History

Professor Paul Musselwhite is the History Department’s resident expert in early modern America. Hailing from Wales and educated at the University of Oxford and the College of William & Mary, Professor Musselwhite’s courses in empires and the American Revolution interrogate the material from all perspectives. He brings tremendous passion to his lectures: it is not uncommon for him to be out of breath by the time class expires. Despite his unfortunate support for the Liberal Democrats in his native United Kingdom, he is one of the Review’s favorite professors for his seemingly endless archive of knowledge, his obvious talents in the classroom, and his accessibility outside of it.

Michael Lurie—Classics Michael Lurie is an excellent up-and-coming professor in the Classics department. An expert in Greek theatre and intellectual history, Professor Lurie’s lectures are theatre themselves: they are highly entertaining and his enthusiasm is infectious.

Professor Lurie is an original thinker who encourages his students to critically analyze existing classical scholarship. He does not hesitate to lavish praise on or ruthlessly criticize the opinions of venerated classicists.

His lectures will change your perspective while deepening your capacity to think critically.

The Review highly recommends his courses, which represent the best the liberal arts have to offer.

Cecilia Gaposchkin—History The wife of another excellent Dartmouth professor, Professor Gaposchkin has a love for medieval history that rubs off on her pupils. Her lectures are captivating and informative. More importantly, her classes provide students with the skills needed to be successful outside of academia. She makes every attempt possible to meet individually with her students, in whom she takes both an academic and a personal interest. She does not just demand excellence, but she provides each individual with the feedback necessary to develop and improve analytical abilities. She embodies the ideals of a liberal arts education, and her classes are a must for any student wanting to get the most out of his or her Dartmouth experience.

10 Monday – September 18, 2017

The Dartmouth Review

FEATURES

...They Were the Worst of Professors Aimee Bahng—English

Professor Bahng is beloved by a certain type of student, but students often go astray in understanding what is best for themselves. Professor Bahng is nothing more than an ideological hack, passing off the usual identity politics drivel as serious scholarship.

She does not tolerate dissenting opinions in her classes and preaches to the choir with courses such as Black Lives Matter. Furthermore, she invited to campus and refused to denounce notorious anti-Semite Jasbir Puar, a “scholar” most infamous for making unsubstantiated claims that Israelis are harvesting Palestinian organs.

to get through the class period. A frequent feature of said lectures was students pointing to simple mathematical errors, which would lead to minutes of silence as Professor Wallace puzzled through how to resolve the mistake.

Thanks to her confusing and often impossible assignments riddled with typos, dozens of students would spend the wee hours in Novack, hurriedly rushing between tables, attempting to see if anyone knew how to solve the problems. It got so bad that the befuddled TA had to begin walking through students through each problem during office hours, essentially giving them the answers. Her classes are a truly unfortunate experience for any student interested in pursuing mathematics.

Joseph Bafumi—Government

Dorothy Wallace—Mathematics

Professor Wallace may be the worst mathematics teacher that our contributors have ever encountered. This particular department is famous for picking professors far more interested in research than in lecturing, but Professor Wallace is beyond even that excuse. In Math 23: Differential Equations, the department combined two sections together so that she would only have to lecture once. But of the seventy students, few ever knew what was going on.

Often, she would wander into class late with a frazzled look on her face and then struggle

Professor Bafumi is not a bad teacher. He’s just incredibly easy. He covers material at a very shallow level, particularly in his elections class, which tends to focus more on reading RealClearPolitics than on any particular academic literature. Of course, few of the athletes or Greek members who crowd his classes actually do the reading. During one particular section, Professor Bafumi had to threaten and finally institute reading quizzes simply because he grew tired of the dull and uncomprehending faces that stared back at him during each lecture. If you are looking for a fairly easy course, then Professor Bafumi’s unassuming and happy-go-lucky style may be perfect for you. Given Dartmouth’s ever-increas-

ing price tag, however, this appears to be a foolish decision.

Phillip J. Hanlon—Mathematics

course consisting of not much more than “a bunch of blog posts by partisans and ideologues.” This course, rather than even mention radical Islamic terrorism, focuses on attacking Republicans, the National Rifle Association, law enforcement, Donald Trump, “phallagocentrism,” and “Islamaphobia.” Steer clear.

Reiko Ohnuma—Religion

ing his basic economics in college from Janet Yellen herself, and after countless years of delivering perhaps the most boring and difficult-to-follow lectures in the entire school, Professor Scott could really use a government bailout.

Few, if any, students report having learned anything about basic economics in his class. If one is looking to pursue serious study of economics at the College, avoiding Scott’s Econ 1 is the first step to success.

Annabel Martin—Spanish

Though we certainly appreciate the effort President Hanlon puts in to spend time teaching students, those who have had the misfortune of actually sitting through his Math 11 class can testify to his ceaseless lethargy, which makes Jeb Bush and Ben Carson look like high energy individuals. As a testament to this, his lectures are often affectionately referred to as “Moving Dartmouth Boreward.” One source recalls visiting his office hours only to be drowned out by a squad of protesting scoundrels who threatened President Hanlon with “physical action” if he didn’t meet their demands. Rumors of the hard alcohol ban being violated in his classroom remain unsubstantiated.

Eng-Beng Lim—Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Professor Ohnuma, a specialist in South Asian Buddhism, makes the list for one reason: some ridiculously thoughtless posts she put on her public Facebook profile in 2008. In a status update, she recounted how she was using Wikipedia to hastily put together a lecture. “Where is Wikipedia when you really need it? The Wikipedia article on modernity SUCKS. [emphasis Professor Ohnuma’s]” Then, “Yeah, I saw that page already. Thank f****** God for the Internet.” Strong language for a Religion professor. To a friend she then said, “I’m now going to shamelessly plagiarize your language.”

The very next day she publicly bragged, “Reiko faked it with aplomb.” Remarkably, this supposed scholar is still teaching at the College.

John Scott—Economics

In the wake of the recent terrorist attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Professor Lim designed a course entitled the “#Orlando Syllabus.” Upon seeing this syllabus, another faculty member expressed incredulity that Professor Lim would design a

Despite his claim of learn-

In addition to being an Associate Professor of Spanish, Professor Martin is director of the Gender Research Institute at Dartmouth (GRID).

Through her role at GRID, she, along with Aimee Bahng, was responsible for inviting notorious anti-Semite Jasbir Puar to campus. Hosting Puar was disconcerting enough, but it was Professor Martin’s actions during the event that earned her a place on this list. After a student attempted to record the lecture, Professor Martin threatened him with force. In corroborating the student’s story, Professor of Anthropology Sergei Kan described her as “very hostile.” In addition, writing about the Freedom Budget occupation of 2014, she stated, “The students are asking for a sign of solidarity in their struggle and work towards making Dartmouth safer, more inclusive, and ultimately, freer.” We question whether Professor Martin knows the definition of the word free. Needless to say, we do not recommend taking classes with professors who would threaten students and who have trouble understanding basic English.

The Dartmouth Review

Monday – September 18, 2017 11

FEATURES

Finding an Education at Dartmouth

Jeffrey P. Hart Founder

Editor’s Note: The following article originally appeared in The Review’s Dartmouth Guide, a collection of advice for incoming Dartmouth students. We hope you find it just as illuminating today.

Who are you?

If you are part of Western civilization, your cultural ancestors are a tiny monotheistic desert tribe of Israelites and a small city-state in what

contained in his collection Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy.

The tradition designated “Athens” is associated with philosophy and with critical exercise of the mind. The tradition associated with “Jerusalem” is associated with monotheism. The two traditions interact, sometimes fuse, and there exists a dynamic tension between them. Many have argued that it is just this tension that has rendered Western civilization so dynamic down through the centuries. On the side of “Athens” you will want to learn something about Homer, who in many ways laid the basis of Greek philosophy, and you will need to meet Plato, Aristotle, the Greek dramatists, historians, architects and sculptors.

Over in “Jerusalem” you will find the epic account of the career of monotheism as it worked its way out in history.

The scriptures, like Homer’s works, have their epic heroes, and, like the Greek tradition in some ways they refine and

Cervantes, and Montaigne, Moliere, Voltaire, Goethe and on to modernity. “The best that has been thought and said,” as Matthew Arnold called it. The mind of Europe as T.S. Eliot put it, “from Ho-

and had never taken Humanities 1-2. Even worse, the semester had already begun, and my section of Humanities I had begun without me (such was the disorganization of the English Department). I had

mer to the present.”

I had never heard of the Athens-Jerusalem paradigm in 1956 when I got out of the Navy and returned to Columbia for my PhD. I had graduated from Columbia College in 1952. I was wandering around in Hamilton Hall getting my course cards signed when Lionel Trilling emerged from his office and asked if I would like to teach freshman English. I said yes, and soon had three sections of freshman composition and a section of Hu-

never read the first book assigned, Homer’s Iliad. Thinking fast, I met the class, said hello, outlined Aristotle’s description of tragedy as set forth in his Poetics, and survived by discussing the nature and goals of tragedy and comedy, not acknowledging that this class right now was a perfect example of both.

Teaching the two-semester Humanities 1-2 from 1956 to 1963, when I accepted a position at Dartmouth, led to the publication of my Smil-

If you are part of Western civilization, your cultural ancestors are a tiny monotheistic desert tribe of Israelites and a small city-state in what we now call Greece. Even if you are unaware of this dual heritage, it influences your life every day.

and he turned out to be a very good one in fact. Everyone wanted to talk about Western civilization, which was under attack, and I did on CNN’s “Book Notes,” from its TV studio in Washington, D.C. The title Smiling Through the Cultural Catastrophe means that we have all the necessary books, but also that they are not read. As Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn has said, “A people that no longer remembers has lost its soul.”

The ORC, Dartmouth’s course book, has the necessary ingredients to avert such a crisis.

In Smiling Through Cultural Catastrophe, I added “Faust in Great Neck,” or, The Great Gatsby, to the core books of the Western canon. James Gatz pushes towards American possibility, re-invents himself as Jay Gatsby, and tries to defeat the ultimate reality: time.

The main job in getting a college education is to make sure the large essential parts are firmly in place, after which you can build upon them. The courses you need are right there

The main job in getting a college education is to make sure the large essential parts are firmly in place, after which you can build upon them. we now call Greece. Even if you are unaware of this dual heritage, it influences your life every day. The political philosopher Leo Strauss discussed Western civilization’s foundations in his important essay “Jerusalem and Athens”

internalize the epic virtues.

“Athens” and “Jerusalem” interact and much flows from the interaction.

You will follow all of this down through the centuries, through Virgil and Augustine, and Dante, in Shakespeare,

manities 1-2, required of all freshmen, and consistently voted by Columbia alumni as the most valuable course they had taken at the College.

But that fall, in 1956, I faced an emergency. I had transferred to Columbia in 1950

ing Through the Cultural Catastrophe, a trip through the Columbia Humanities 1-2 syllabus, with analysis and commentary. This book about Western Civilization came soon after 9/11, so Osama bin Laden became my promoter,

in the ORC and are often surrounded by nonessentials and even outright garbage. Dartmouth will not tell you what the right courses are to get a college education, but then that doesn’t matter—because I have just done so.

The Review Answers Common Questions Breaker Morant Staff Writer Editor’s Note: This feature is a response to The Dartmouth Radical’s “Disorientation Guide,” which features a number of hypothetical question-and-answer type articles that instruct the reader on appropriate responses to questions and statements.

Why do you support a symbol of genocide and oppression like the Dartmouth Indian?

A: I fully acknowledge that Native Americans have been the target of countless massacres, atrocities, and crimes. However, genocide is the deliberate mass murder of a group of people, and disease (not intentional murder) was the primary reason for the loss of many Native communities. Regarding the symbol of the Dartmouth Indian, I believe that it repMr. Morant is an alumnus of the College and, in his free time, enjoys defending the old traditions.

resents Dartmouth’s renewed commitment to educate Native students. While the promise to educate and proselytize Natives in Dartmouth’s charter was largely a funding ploy and did not achieve the desired results, the College re-affirmed this mandate around forty years ago. I think a respectful depiction of a Native American is a suitable way to honor both our history and our future.

Why do you hate [insert racial, gender, religious, or sexual identity]?

A: Just because we disagree on [a given issue] does not mean that I hate [the given identity].

Why do you insist on singing Men of Dartmouth and not the Alma Mater?

A: Lest the old traditions fail.

You’re going on Birthright?

But don’t you know that Israel is an apartheid state?

A: Kind of like Abbas’s Palestine, which would be completely judenrein? Or more

like al-Husseini’s, which would have been an ally of Nazi Germany?

sacrifice? No thank you!

ISM, plain and simple.

Educate yourself!

Can you call me ‘they’ from now on?

A: I am. I am taking Economics, History, and Classics courses this term. How is your Women’s, Gender, and Sexualities class going? Have you memorized all the buzzwords for your critical theory test? I know tests do not count toward your “grade,” but it can be difficult to memorize the professor’s exact opinion.

But racism equals power plus prejudice!

A: While I will not go out of my way to insult you by calling you something you do not wish to be called, I believe in using correct grammar and will therefore refrain from using the plural form ‘they’ when a singular ‘he’ or ‘she’ should be used.

Can you call me ‘zhe’ from now on?

Do you give affirmative consent for us to engage in sexual intercourse?

A: That is not a word, so no.

However, if you Chinese, your last name is Zhe, and you prefer to be called by your last name, I will acquiesce.

A: No, I am saving myself for marriage. Also, it is your turn to serve.

Check your privilege!

A: Of course it does not! The whole concept of reverse racism, reverse sexism, and other reverse bigotry is stupid. When someone is being racist, sexist, or bigoted toward another person, regardless of whether the target is white, male, heterosexual, or cisgendered, that is RAC-

A: Is that like check-in at the beginning of the term? Will I be fined fifty dollars?!

Decolonize your mind!

A: And have it return to human

Reverse Racism doesn’t exist.

A: You cannot just make up definitions for words and impose them on other people.

You are racist because America is founded on racism, the genocide of native peoples, and black slavery.

A: Enjoy your BMW, Fanta, aspirin, VW van, IBM computer, Random House book, and Hugo Boss jacket.

How can you support the militarization of our campus through the continued presence of ROTC? A: I hear the University of Mosul is now accepting transfer students. You will be happy to learn that they are completely untouched by the U.S. military’s imperialism.

F**k your white tears.

A: No means no.

12 Monday– September 18, 2017

The Dartmouth Review

FEATURES

The Dartmouth Glossary Sterling C. Beard, Sandor Farkas, Jack F. Mourouzis

Senior Editors ACTIVISM: Express mild disparagement to make yourself feel less earnest as you participate. The point is good feeling, not efficacy.

APATHY: Thunder against.

AUTHENTICITY: What you say in public is an act. What you say in private is authentic.

AWKWARD: Like “random,” except twisted and violent to your sense of self. May be accompanied by a symbolic turtle.

BLACK LIVES MATTER: The most important organization currently on Dartmouth’s campus. Fighting for truth, justice, and the American way.

In no way inflammatory or controversial.

BLUE LIVES MATTER: Hate speech.

BODIES: Don’t say a frat is dangerous; instead, declare “This space is not safe for black/female bodies.”

BUDGET CUTS: Lament that they are necessary. Admit you don’t understand statistics and don’t have data. Then thunder against anyway.

CALL-OUTS: Instead of arguing a point, call out individuals for possessing objectionable views. Observe verbally that you are calling them out.

CHUBBERS: The listserv of the Cabin and Trail sub-club of the Dartmouth Outing Club. Neither negative emotions nor rides to hitch exist there.

CLOSE-MINDEDNESS: The condition of being wrong. “Why must everyone be so close-minded?”

CO-EDUCATIONAL FRATERNITIES: like fraternities or sororities but with less administrative scrutiny.

Now know as Gender Inclusive Greek Houses, because, The Patriarchy.

CULTURAL APPROPRIATION: A crime of the highest order. Remember: if it’s not YOUR culture, you are not allowed to even think about it.

DAILY DARTMOUTH, THE: The world’s oldest college newspaper, purportedly founded in the late Neolithic era. Widely known for its journalistic integrity and quality articles that capture both the collective will of the student body and articulate important issues for the masses. It enjoys unparalleled access to the Greek System. A bastion of original thought, grammatical errors, and self-important executives.

DARTMOUTH: Conservative by naMr. Beard and Mr. Farkas are members of the Classes of 2013 and 2017, respectively, and Editors-in-Chief Emeriti of The Dartmouth Review. Mr. Mourouzis is a senior at the College and Editor-in-Chief of The Dartmouth Review.

ture. An intellectual wasteland before 1972.

DARTMOUTH ACTION COLLECTIVE: One of the many names for the committee (of course) behind the Dis-Orientation Guide and other acts of activism. Occasionally holds “Resistance Workshops,” where they rail against racism, imperialism, and “colonism,” whatever that is.

DARTMOUTH DINING SERVICES: An institution that lies somewhere between a Communist control economy and a Capitalist monopoly.

They provide the best food at Dartmouth for the best prices, because theirs is the only food and theirs the power of price control. (See King Arthur Flour) DARTMOUTH EXPERIENCE: A précis of no more than a paragraph printable in college brochures or alumni newsletters. Must focus on a quirky interest, such as the semiotics of yodeling.

DARTMOUTH FREE PRESS: Progressive, school sponsored alternative publication. Famous primarily for its profane, anonymous back-page rants. Articles appear to have been printed with a minimum of copyediting to achieve a “guerilla” feel. Now defunct.

DARTMOUTH OUTING CLUB, THE: like a fraternity, but with flannel shirts and Carhartts instead of Vineyard Vines and salmon shorts.

Everyone wishes they had been more involved during their time at Dartmouth.

FOREIGN STUDY: Useful for finding yourself, not so much for learning. Afterwards, post pictures on Facebook of yourself posing with the fascinating foreign people you encountered.

FRATERNITIES: Large, brick devices used to oppress people. No members of minority groups have ever been admitted to them, sadly. Frequent these and make yourself feel better by joining progressive Facebook groups.

FREE SPEECH: Of course you’re for it.

“Duh.” But where do we draw the line?

FREEDOM BUDGET, THE: Unrelated to freedom; also contains no dollar figures and is therefore not a budget.

GREAT BOOKS: “Who says? By whose standards?”

THE GREEK SYSTEM: Used to separate people by sex and class. Purveyor of alcoholic beverages and oppression.

HARD ALCOHOL BAN, THE: A system cleverly designed by the administration to improve Dartmouth’s image and neutralize those students who will likely create negative PR problems.

HAZING: Starts with DOC Trips, ends at Commencement.

HOSTAGE SITUATION: When you barricade yourself in someone else’s office and lack chargers for your Macbooks.

HUFFINGTON POST, THE: A publication that exists solely to report on Dartmouth’s drinking habits. See ROLLING STONE.

of everything that is right. Or a wizened alumnus who spends his time exposing the dirty secrets of the administration from his castle in France.

KING ARTHUR FLOUR: a band of plucky socialist partisans fighting the fascist DDS. A favorite of basic white girls and anyone else willing to publically admit that they love those damn cupcakes. They also make good crème brûlée.

LIBERTARIAN: Less annoying than conservatives. Won’t get thrown out of an Upper West Side cocktail party for their politics.

THE LINE: Speculate about where to draw it when you panic and can’t think of anything else to say.

LUNCHBOXES: Apparently only good for carrying vomelettes. Now banned.

MALE-DOMINATED: popular.

Anything

OFFENSE: A subjective phenomenon that does not need explanation or rationalization.

OLD THINGS: Treat as kitsch.

OPAL: Dartmouth’s Office of Pluralism and Leadership. Function unknown, but likely a black hole for tuition dollars.

OPPRESSION, OPPRESSIVE: When you barricade yourself in someone else’s office and the pizza delivery is too slow. Obviously, Ramunto’s must be a racist, sexist, xenophobic institution of hatred and patriarchy.

IRONY: Self-contradiction. Hints at towering smarts within. For good measure, occasionally thunder against.

PANEL: Where intellect and discourse, and especially intellectual discourse, go to die.

DELINEATE: Use improperly. “We must delineate between progressive and hurtful laughter.”

ISRAEL: If only Dartmouth would divest from it, all violence in the Middle East would cease instantaneously.

PATRIARCHAL: Most things in life.

Institutions are everywhere.

DICTATORS: Compare your rhetorical opponents to mustachioed masterminds of twentieth-century genocides. Do this as often as possible.

IVY LEAGUE: Acceptance to a member school validates the way your parents raised you no matter how much you loathe them as a result.

DIVERSITY: Ethnic diversity. An end in and of itself. It is our strength.

JIM YONG KIM: Like many students, came to Dartmouth an idealist, left a banker.

YOURSELF:

The

FEELINGS: Must be protected at all costs. For what does it benefit a campus community to gain the whole world but hurt its feelings?

JOKES: Should serve a cause, like subverting the patriarchy. Dangerous when used to hold people to normative standards.

JOSEPH ASCH: The cloaked defender

RIGOR: To be avoided.

ROLLING STONE: A publication that exists solely to report on Dartmouth’s latest hazing scandals.

SOCIAL SPACES: Notwithstanding AMARNA, Panarchy, Alpha Theta, Phi Tau, Tabard, every sorority, Aquinas House, Edgerton House, the Green, Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, Sarner Underground, Top of the Hop, etc., they do not exist outside of frats.

SPECIESISM: The newest trend in social justice. Deals with alleged prejudice against animals.

THE INDIAN: The apex of racial ignorance; insult and/or assault passersby who wear it.

EXPRESSING point of life.

THE RIGHT TO YOUR OPINION: “You have the right to your opinion, but…”

OCCUPY DARTMOUTH: Defunct.

DARTMOUTH REVIEW, THE: Make highly original quips about using it as a doormat. Never admit to reading it regardless of how much you agree with it. Has produced a Pulitzer Prize winner. We hear he now has a doorman.

ELITISM: Thunder against, however ironically.

RELIGION: Always “organized.” Spirituality is better, particularly if it doesn’t place any restrictions on enjoying nightlife.

SPEAKING OUT: Always necessary.

Feels good, but typically ineffective.

DARTMOUTH RADICAL, THE: The successor to the DFP. Publishes, on average, once every year or so.

Occasionally entirely handwritten.

JUAN CARLOS: A humble brother of the late Alpha Delta Fraternity for Men who went on to lead one of the world’s foremost educational institutions.

Known for his undying sense of loyalty and visionary leadership.

REALTALK: Defunct.

NEOCONSERVATIVE: A useful epithet for undesirable things.

IDENTITY: The most important part of a human being in modern society.

Violating someone’s identity, whatever that means, is essentially murder.

DOC TRIPS: Usually the best part of your Dartmouth Experience. Certainly the most innocent.

Nod gravely and smile grimly. Never forget to remind people to “check” said privilege.

THE OTHER: Use this term instead of “others “or “other people.”

PATRIOTISM: Creepy. “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”

THE PAST: Was populated by various racists, misogynists, bullies, twits, and prudes. All else is superfluous.

PEOPLE’S COALITION: Defunct.

PHALLIC SYMBOLS: Profound. If you haven’t done the reading, flip to a random page and point one out in class discussion. Must be taller than it is wide, e.g. toothbrush, skyscraper. Smirk and/ or giggle while presenting your point to underscore the political mischief of it all.

POLITICALLY CORRECT: The best kind of correct, even when it isn’t.

PRIVILEGE: Denigrate your own privileged status to everyone around you. “We ALL benefit from privilege.”

THE SELF: Tack onto paper titles when you are desperate, e.g. “Late Capitalism and the Self.”

SELF-CENSORSHIP: Your staunch refusal to say what’s on my mind.

SELLING OUT: As a joke, refer to your taking a financial job as “selling out.” Placate yourself by reading mediocre poetry.

SEX: An opportunity to demonstrate your broadmindedness. Fraught with political meaning. Make sure to obtain written consent in triplicate beforehand, though.

SOLIDARITY: Standing with the oppressed peoples of the world. Has nothing to do with Lech Wałęsa.

STEREOTYPES: Point them out in class discussion if you can’t think of anything to say. All are false and deeply hurtful.

STUDENTS STAND WITH STAFF: Defunct.

TENURE: Status given to exceptional professors. At Dartmouth, given exclusively to white males and intentionally withheld from everyone else.

TRADITION: Sing about it wistfully, do your best to end it.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: What The Dartmouth Review would have in its masthead if The Liberals got their way.

Avoid all classes whose professors give them.

UPTIGHTNESS: Ponder aloud why everyone is so uptight..

WHITE TEARS: Fornicate with th em.

The Dartmouth Review

Monday – September 18, 2017 13

FEATURES

A Western Culture Primer

THE DARTMOUTH REVIEW’S recommended reading for all students

Chien Wen Kung

Contributor

Notwithstanding Philip Larkin’s remark in “A Study of Reading Habits” that “books are a load of crap,” reading can in fact be something “worth ruining my eyes” for, to quote the same poem again. (Okay, maybe not—that argument is for another time.)

But while not all books are a load of crap—Larkin’s protagonist directs his ire at cheap bestsellers— some books are certainly better than others. You’d expect to read such books here at Dartmouth, and indeed you probably will.

Yet a great number of very good books, non-fiction in particular, do not find their way into college syllabi. They simply do not square with the reigning ideologies of the day, and indeed may be downright hostile to them (as many of the books listed here in fact are). For that reason alone they are worth reading. These books are more than just a critique of contemporary pieties, and it is this other side of them we address.

The focus of this article will be on the affirmative value of three books—The Closing of the American Mind, The Western Canon, and From Dawn to Decadence— to liberal education.

The late Allan Bloom subtitled his 1987 bestseller, The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Learning Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students. Like his mentor Leo Strauss, Bloom believed that liberal democracy, far from being self-perpetuating, was in fact a precious and fragile thing, subject to dangers within and without.

Accordingly, the purpose of liberal education in Bloom’s view was to make the individual aware of the dangers to democracy, mostly internal, but—as we are finding out lately—also external.

Chief among the former was, according to Bloom, quoting Alexis de Tocqueville, enslavement to public opinion. The claim of democracy, writes Bloom, “is that every man decides for himself ” Mr. Kung is a member of the Class of 2004 and studied history and English at the College.

and that all men are somehow equal. But this “makes it difficult to resist the collectivity of equal men. If all opinions are equal, then the majority of opinions, on the psychological analogy of politics, should hold sway.” This, as Socrates is wont to point out in Book VIII of The Republic, is nothing less than a prescription for tyranny. Accordingly, the aim of liberal education is to “free oneself from public guidance and find resources for guidance from within,” such that “the student’s whole life be radically changed by it, that what he learns may affect his action, his tastes, his choices, that no previous attachment be immune to examination and hence re-evaluation.” So much for the view that Bloom was a reactionary. (“Radical conservative” is perhaps a more appropriate, paradoxical epithet.)

Bloom did not mean that we should trust our instincts and celebrate the self, for that would be an invitation to narcissism.

What he meant was that liberal education should seek, in the Platonic sense, to turn the soul, intrinsically good, from that which is “mingled with darkness, that which is coming into being and passing away,” to “that on which truth and being are shining.” In practice, this involves coming to terms with matters of permanent concern. Socrates’s discourses on justice, free will, human nature, truth, and the good, in other words, must be pursued—passionately—above and beyond the academic disciplines, even as they are pursued within them.

Otherwise the “democracy of the disciplines” (as Bloom calls the bewildering array of courses available to college students today), lacking metaphysical glue, becomes anarchical.

So, philosophy matters; what else does? We must descend from metaphysics for the time being.

Bloom mentions in passing that “the only serious solution is the one that is almost universally rejected: the good old Great Books approach, in which a liberal education means reading certain generally recognized classic texts.”

Yet for some reason, Bloom endorses this approach with a great deal of equivocation. On the one hand, he acknowledges that the

Great Books excite and satisfy students like nothing else by raising the sort of big questions liberal education demands of us. On the other hand, he warns that the Great Books are easily fetishized and turned into a cult that “encourages an autodidact’s self-assurance without competence.” We don’t want to end up

get enjoyment out of everything,” enlightened hedonism cannot be the be-all and end-all of liberal education. This is not to disparage reading for enjoyment’s sake—who can deny the pleasures of curling up in bed with a volume of Proust?—merely to note, pragmatically, the difficulties that would arise if we made Harold Bloom’s idea of reading central to liberal education. Objective standards do not exist for us to estimate the value of Shakespeare— Bloom’s favorite author—to one’s “inner self.” And is Bloom right in asserting that only the aesthetic value of literature matters? What would he make then of a book like Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, or for that matter, Plato’s Republic? Sure, you can read Gibbon and Plato only for their beautiful prose, but then you’d miss out on their historical and philosophical concerns.

Because he spends all his time attacking postmodern theorists for their “flight from the aesthet-

Challenging conventional wisdom, as their books do, is valuable. But perhaps there is even greater value in becoming one who can challenge conventional wisdom, as these books teach. like Elizabeth Bennet’s younger sister Mary after all.

No such restraint informs the pages of Harold Bloom’s Western Canon, perhaps the foremost apologia for the Western literary tradition today. Going from one Bloom to another (the two are not related, as Harold is wont to point out) might initially seem a natural progression, given that both excoriate in their books those who shun the Great Books in favor of obtuse postmodern theories. However, besides sharing a contempt for Deconstruction, academic feminism, Cultural Studies, New Historicism, et al., the two Blooms are actually quite dissimilar. Allan Bloom, as we’ve noted, saw the Great Books as possessing a culturally-useful function, which is the ability to educate students in the ways of democracy. Harold Bloom would accuse his namesake of “Platonic moralism.” Reading deeply in the Canon, he believes, “will not make one a better or a worse person, a more useful or more harmful citizen.” Shakespeare, Dante, Chaucer, Milton, Tolstoy, Austen, and Joyce (a few of the authors he discusses) are ends in themselves, aesthetic objects to be marveled at for their “mastery of figurative language, originality, cognitive power, knowledge, exuberance of diction.” We read them solely to “augment one’s own growing inner self.” Self, not soul, is the byword here, the latter having to do with Platonic metaphysics, the former referring to what makes us individuals.

Contrary to Oblonsky’s quip in Anna Karenina that “The aim of civilization is to enable us to

ic,” Harold Bloom in the end does not really say why he regards Allan Bloom’s approach to the Great Books as flawed. He can’t. The latter Bloom isn’t hostile towards the aesthetic just because he mentions Shakespeare in relation to the demands of liberal democracy. We might even see them as sharing similar metaphysics.

Both after all posit that values— philosophical or literary—exist beyond time and space, as Plato would have it. Here is where their weakness lies. Absent from each book is an awareness of history.

When I say this, I don’t mean that Plato’s or Shakespeare’s concerns aren’t our concerns because they lived in the past, nor that individual genius is merely the product of social forces. I mean that studying the past strengthens rather than weakens literature and philosophy by reminding us that ideas have causes and conditions—as well as consequences.

Early on in his life, the historian Jacques Barzun came to a similar realization as the one above.

History, he realized, could be conceived of as cultural: everything from music to religion to sport might be used to depict the past.

Nowhere is this idea more vividly illustrated than in Barzun’s latest book, From Dawn to Decadence, an 800-page survey of “art and thought, manners, morals, and religion” from the Reformation to the present day. Within it you will encounter Charles V of Spain but also Christina of Sweden; Goethe and Shakespeare, but also Dorothy Sayers and George Bernard Shaw; Montaigne and Bacon, but also Walter Bagehot and Robert Burton. Find out why Luther and

not Leonardo was more of a “Renaissance Man”; why Rousseau neither invented nor idealized the noble savage; why the term “Man” is not just politically incorrect but historically accurate; how the Romantics invented Shakespeare; and just what is meant by that loaded word, “decadence.” Walt Whitman said of himself, “I am large. I contain multitudes.” The same might be said of this book.

Yes, the Romantics invented Shakespeare. Harold Bloom may see him as a kind of secular god, “a spirit that permeates everywhere, that cannot be confined,” but as Barzun points out, not everyone at every point in time held the Bard in such esteem. There are, Barzun notes, two Shakespeares. One is the 16th-century playwright whom Ben Jonson admired and criticized in equal measure. The other is the Shakespeare apotheosized two centuries after his death by German and English Romantics, and who remains exalted today by the likes of Harold Bloom (whose specialty happens to be Romanticism). A man acutely aware of “the whirligig of taste”—to modify a phrase from Twelfth Night—cannot allow Bardolatry to pass without mentioning that men like Pepys, Dryden, Dr. Johnson, Tolstoy, T. S. Eliot, and Yeats all considered Shakespeare far less than superhuman.

The point of this example is not to diminish Shakespeare’s greatness—Barzun is very much an admirer of Shakespeare—but to point out how our notions of the way things are may not be as secure as they seem. Allan Bloom advocated philosophy as the means towards freeing the self from public guidance and enabling it to find guidance from within. Such freedom cannot come from philosophy alone.

How do we explain the fatuousness of the slogan “Bush = Hitler” without knowing about the past? History in this manner supplies material against which we compare present situations and judge them relatively. To do so is not to succumb to postmodern nihilism. A wise and learned man once said, “The complexity of things, the plurality of minds and wills, and the uncertainty of outcomes form the grounds for keeping one’s outcomes ever subject to revision.” (The words are those of Montaigne.)

We needn’t agree with Allan Bloom’s Platonism or Harold Bloom’s Bardolatry to appreciate the influence Plato and Shakespeare have on Western thought.

We needn’t trust Jacques Barzun’s unorthodox pronouncements on Rousseau and Luther to enlarge our understanding of how ideas and individuals interact. Challenging conventional wisdom, as their books do, is valuable.

But perhaps there is even greater value in becoming one who can challenge conventional wisdom, as these books teach.

14 Monday – September 18, 2017

The Dartmouth Review

FEATURES

A Brief History of the College > CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

A number of prominent Englishmen contributed to Occom’s cause. Among them was William Legge, Second Earl of Dartmouth, and Secretary of State for the Colonies. He was an admirer of George Whitefield, and, by extension, of Wheelock and Occom. As president of the London Board for Moor’s School, he eventually secured a £200 gift from the King.

John Wentworth, an American residing in England was also a key player in Dartmouth’s founding.

As a recent appointment as Royal Governor of New Hampshire, he was eager to have the school relocate from Connecticut. His uncle, former Governor Benning Wentworth, had offered Wheelock 500 acres of land, to which John added the grant of an entire township. Wheelock accepted, and a new charter was finalized in December 1769. Wheelock chose Hanover as the school’s domicile shortly thereafter.

Wheelock and Occom parted ways in 1768, allegedly over the expenditures of Occom’s family.

It is also likely that Occom anticipated the character of Wheelock’s new college, as one primarily for whites, given the failure of Moor’s Charity School. Occom’s affiliation with a cause he had served so well had come to an end.

Wheelock originally intended to name the college Wentworth, but the Governor persuaded him to designate it Dartmouth, to gain England’s favor. Ironically, the Earl of Dartmouth, William Legge, lost interest shortly thereafter. He considered Wheelock’s new plan a perversion of the original.

The first building was a temporary log hut “without stone, brick, glass, or nails,” which served as a classroom and dormitory. In 1770, Wheelock constituted the college’s sole faculty member.

John W. Ripley, Bezaleel Woodward, and John Smith joined him as tutors the following year.

In 1771, Levi Frisbie, Samuel Gray, Sylvanus Ripley, and John Wheelock all became graduates of the College. Dartmouth has produced a class every year since, the only American college to do so, as the Revolution, the War of 1812, and other conflicts periodically disrupted studies at other institutions.

Daniel Webster and The Supreme Court Wheelock appointed his son, John Wheelock, to succeed him upon his death in 1779. John was only twenty-five, and seemed insufficiently qualified for the presidential office. Hesitant to approve his posting, the trustees eventually relented, due in part to Wheelock’s willingness to serve without salary.

Eager to cultivate respect and support, the younger Wheelock

proved too fervent in his efforts to govern the school, alienating students and the trustees. By 1809, opposition to Wheelock’s presidency took hold of the board, and slowly converted a majority of the professors to their point of view. After impeaching Wheelock in 1815, the trustees elected Reverend Francis Brown as his successor.

Wheelock, having no desire to yield, however, convinced New Hampshire’s Democrats to join him in his struggle against the trustees, whom he accused of various offenses against the College. New Hampshire Democrats, led by then-Governor William Plumer, at first condemned the Dartmouth charter as one “emanating from royalty,” and one thus unsuitable for a republic like the United States. In 1816, these Democrats, by means of the state legislature, changed the name of Dartmouth College to “Dartmouth University” (calling the College a “University” has been a grave offense ever since), increased the number of trustees from twelve to twenty-one, and created a board of overseers with veto power over trustee decisions. Dartmouth was effectively transformed from a private college to a state university.

The resulting controversy would outlive Wheelock himself, who died in 1817. Daniel Webster, a young Dartmouth graduate (Class of 1801) of growing repute, had been courted by both sides of the dispute, to serve as legal counsel. Some of the college community’s older members recalled Webster’s Dartmouth arrival in 1797. Webster was then dressed in homespun clothing, dyed by his mother, whose colors had bled upon contact with rain.

Such was the humble beginning of a future Senator and Secretary of State.

Webster lodged his support behind the College’s original trustees. He suggested they file suit against William H. Woodward, former treasurer of Dartmouth, demanding return of the charter, seal, records, and account books seized by him. The original trustees were defeated in the Superior Court of New Hampshire, but had their grievances elevated to the federal judiciary. They then appealed to the Supreme Court, though their prospects in that body were uncertain. Webster, for a fee of $1,000, agreed to represent them against the state. He would argue that New Hampshire’s actions, in impairing the “obligation of contracts,” were unconstitutional.

Webster testified on March 10, 1818, in the case of Dartmouth v.

Woodward, before Chief Justice John Marshall. Webster’s fourhour oration stands one of the most memorable in U.S history.

At the end of his argument, he famously concluded: This, sir, is my case. It is the case

not merely of that humble institution; it is the case of every college in our land. … It is more. It is, in some sense, the case of every man who has property of which he may be stripped – for the question is simply this: shall our state legislature be allowed to take that which is not their own, to turn it from its original use, and apply it to such ends or purposes as they, in their discretion, shall see fit? … Sir, you may destroy this little institution.

It is weak. It is in your hands! I know it is one of the lesser lights in the literary horizon of the country.

You may put it out. But if you do so, you must carry through your work. You must extinguish, one after another, all those great lights of science which, for more than a century, have thrown their radiance over our land. It is, Sir, as I have said, a small college, and yet, there are those who love it.

Webster’s lip quivered and his voice choked as he delivered the final words. Justice Marshall’s eyes were reportedly moist with tears. A decision was postponed for a year as some of the justices pondered the case. During the interim, Webster, aware of public sentiment’s influence on court decisions, circulated widely the printed copies of his argument.

In February of 1819, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Trustees and the College. Only one dissenting vote was cast. In his magisterial opinion, Marshall remarked, “Perhaps no judicial proceedings in this country ever involved more important consequences.” Indeed, the case had extended national power at the expense of the state’s, confirmed the charter right of all private colleges of the land, protected business and non-profit organizations, and further encouraged their very establishment.

Wheelock’s Early Successors Webster’s fiery orations brought renewed calm to Hanover. The College, its very character once endangered, entered into a period of normalcy. A pair of short, inconsequential presidencies was followed by Nathan Lord’s ascension. Serving for thirty-five consecutive years, Lord expanded enrollment and constructed Thornton and Wentworth Halls, the buildings flanking Dartmouth Hall. His open endorsement of slavery, however, provoked an eventual backlash against his leadership. In 1863, faced with the prospect of removal, Lord opted to resign his office.

Rev. Asa Dodge Smith was appointed as his replacement. The College’s previous annexation of the Chandler Scientific School (America’s first specialized scientific institution) was complemented, under Smith’s mantel, by the creation of the Thayer School of Engineering. This period also saw the establishment of an agricultural college in Hanover. After

struggling financially for twenty years just south of East Wheelock Street, the institution subsequently relocated to Durham and later became the University of New Hampshire.

Asa Dodge Smith’s successor, Samuel Bartlett, established a pattern frequently imitated by administrators to follow. Alienating legions of faculty, students, and alumni, Bartlett found his position in serious jeopardy.

Unlike future leaders, however, Bartlett also possessed a magical touch, almost seamlessly repairing the rifts he had sown. Serving until 1893, Bartlett would oversee Rollins Chapel’s construction and pushed the endowment past the million-dollar mark.

Safeguarding Dartmouth’s continued survival in the face of an unforgiving wilderness and physical isolation was the great triumph of early college leaders.

Yet, succeeding leaders would facilitate even loftier achievements.

Under their guidance, Dartmouth would not merely endure, but rise to the very pinnacle of education in the New World.

The Twentieth Century It was throughout the early twentieth century, when stakes were highest, that the greatest of Dartmouth presidents came to power. The College, at that juncture, constituted little more than a finishing school. Its student body numbered 300, with serious scholarship in short supply among the highly antiquated facilities. While other American colleges fared little better, Dartmouth’s leaders understood the direction the future necessitated.

Assuming the office of the presidency in 1893, William Jewett Tucker was the first seeking to bring Dartmouth into “the modern era.” His storied accomplishments included an overhaul of the physical campus. Construction of over twenty buildings was undertaken, and the steam plant was erected. Wood stoves on campus thus became relics of the past. The curriculum was also targeted for change, as it was “broadened” and somewhat secularized. The student body’s size expanded to 1,100. Tucker, like his contemporary Charles Eliot at Harvard, was a persistent advocate for progress in American education. He wished for America’s academic institutions, particularly Dartmouth, to befit the country’s greatness.

In 1909, Ernest Fox Nichols entered the presidency in Tucker’s stead. The first since John Wheelock to not belong to the clergy, Nichols affected further secularization at Dartmouth. His tenure was also notable for the founding of the Dartmouth Outing Club and Winter Carnival. In particular, The Carnival became the stuff of lore and was later termed the “Mardi Gras of the North.” The setting of a 1939 motion picture

and the scene of countless depravities, it also served host to a drunken F. Scott Fitzgerald.

1916 saw Ernest Martin Hopkins appointed as president. In addition to developing Dartmouth’s facilities, Hopkins introduced selective admissions in the early 1920s. After almost thirty years at the helm, he was succeeded by John Sloan Dickey. Though previously an attorney and high ranking State Department official, Dickey was a man of breadth and his skills were apparent not only in Parkhurst, but also in full exertion among New Hampshire’s wilderness. He sought to hone his own mind, body, and spirit, and made the same far-reaching demands of every Dartmouth student. Under his watch, the ideal of the Dartmouth Man as a well formed, balanced, and vigorous being, reached its fruition.

Dickey further aimed to make his students cognizant of the world at large. In this vein, he strived to develop a curriculum that was international in scope and established numerous foreign study programs. As Dickey told a Dartmouth audience while the horrors of the Second World War were still fresh, “The world’s problems are your problems … and there is nothing wrong with the world that better human beings cannot fix.”

When Dickey departed from Dartmouth in 1970, his was a towering shadow. He left Dartmouth the strongest it ever was.

Dickey instilled great love among Dartmouth alumni for their alma mater. Almost seventy percent gave funds to the College in any given year of his tenure, a percentage since unequaled.

Replacing Dickey as Dartmouth president was John Kemeny. Co-creator of the BASIC computer language, Kemeny brought technology to the forefront of the College and worked to give students ready access to it. He would also preside over co-education’s controversial beginning in 1972. To meet the needs of an expanded student body, Kemeny instituted the D-Plan, a year round schedule of operations that exists to this day.

It was, in the words of some, a means by which to fit 4000 students into 3000 beds. Yet, even into the 1980s, men continued to fill as many as eighty percent of the residence halls.

The Modern Era David T. McLaughlin succeeded Kemeny, and was himself followed by James O. Freedman.

These members of the Wheelock Succession were rooted at opposite poles of the spectrum. McLaughlin, a businessman by occupation, proved unable to adapt to the world of the academy, and eventually tendered his resignation. Freedman, meanwhile, was an academic, fixated only on the life of the mind, and wished oth-

The Dartmouth Review

Monday – September 18, 2017 15

FEATURES ers at Dartmouth to follow his example. His inaugural address demanded greater representation of the “creative loner” at Dartmouth, and of “students who march to a different drummer…. for whom a library is dukedom large enough.”

With these words, Freedman set out to cultivate a student body that was a far cry from Dickey’s ideal, substituting balance for academic lopsidedness. The expansion of SAT scores’ importance in admissions was one consequence of Freedman’s quest. The East Wheelock Cluster, that glorious den of failed social engineering, stands as another monument to his efforts. In the end, Freedman’s legacy was one of the superficially academic, as best exemplified a few years ago by a valedictorian who invoked the “Greek” poet Catallus in his commencement address. (See TDR 5/14/07).

James Wright, Freedman’s successor, and presdient from 1998 Aziz G. Sayigh, Boris V. Babson, A.S. Erickson, Charles S. Dameron, Adam I.W. Schwartzman, and Nicholas P. Desatnick all contributed to this article.

until his retirement in 2009, was most notable for his efforts to abolish single-sex Greek houses and effectively do away with the college’s Greek system. This proposal, announced in 1999 as the Student Life Initiative, met fierce resistance from students and alumni alike and was ultimately defeated before it could be implemented. Wright also generated controversy with his mismanagement of the College’s finances, his expansion of the administrative bureaucracy, and his inability to address class overcrowding issues in certain departments.

Such were the grievances aired by four different petition candidates vying for spots on the Board of Trustees. TJ Rodgers, Peter Robinson, Todd Zywicki, and Stephen Smith by name, these petitioners critcized Dartmouth’s abandonment of the ideals of breadth, well roundedness, and balance. Each of these petitioners was subsequently elected—Rodgers in 2004, Robinson and Zywicki in 2005, and Smith in 2007—by alumni to the board. Their significant margin of victory served as a repudiation of Wright’s tenure.

Wright took notice, throwing the College’s whole weight behind the anti-petition candidates, and went so far as to set up websites designed solely to discredit this unendorsed challengers.

After an uninterrupted string of petition candidate victories, Wright and Trustee president Ed Haldeman announced a board-packing scheme that would minimize the voice of alumni-elected trustees. The College’s own Association of Alumni thereafter waged a high-profile legal battle against the school and alleged that the College had breached a governance contract that stemmed from an 1891 agreement between the Board of Trustees and the body of alumni.

Though the lawsuit did not result in a restoration of the old order, it permanently tarnished Wright’s administration. Wright resigned shortly thereafter, leaving his successor, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, with a $200 million structural budget deficit.

Kim’s appointment in 2009 overshadowed the Board of Trustees controversy and ushered in a more conciliatory

era in Dartmouth politics. His first two years saw the balancing of the College’s budget and the reduction of bureaucratic bloat through administrative restructuring. President Kim also brought national attention to the College with the establishment of the Center for Health Care Delivery Science and other related medical initiatives. He no doubt drew the most eyes to Hanover when he was selected by President Obama to head the World Bank in March 2012.

Unfortunately, this meant the rest of Kim’s third year was spent outside of Hanover as he tried to drum-up support for his candidacy. His absence was felt as major campus events—including a nationally-reported hazing scandal—rocked the administration. This distance from the College’s affairs led many students, faculty-members, and alumni to criticize his leadership style and question his commitment to the insitution he presided over.

On July 1, 2012, Kim formally left the College in the hands of Provost Carol Folt, a serial administrator who began her tenure

at the College as a biology professor in 1983 and held a number of positions in the Wright administration. After a year blighted by scandals, protests, and campus controversy, Interim President Folt departed for the chancellorship of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. President Phillip Hanlon, a graduate of the Class of 1977 and the eighteenth member of the Wheelock Succession, has since succeeded her and promises to pursue new policies that will end “high-risk and harmful behavior” and promote experiential learning on campus.

The fate of Dartmouth, then, is not simply defined by its past.

Rather, it is actively being shaped by all who attend or associate with her. It is traditional that, at graduation, the president bids the departing senior class, “so long,” rather than “good-bye,” the former signifying the graduates’ undying ties to the College. Those who enter Dartmouth, in a sense, never leave. These are words that the incoming class would do well to keep close as they begin to write the latest chapter in Dartmouth’s storied history .

Fact & Fiction: The Truth About The Review > CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

In a section that chronicles campus social developments throughout the 1980s, its authors devote nine full paragraphs to describing the “slander, destruction, and lawsuits stemming in large part from The Dartmouth Review” and its “[disillusionment] with the direction the College was taking.” Unfortunately, in order to support this simplistic interpretation of events, the article’s authors rely on a selective presentation of the period’s history and render a highly exaggerated account of The Review’s actions. There are six explicit and implied distortions that need to be addressed:

Distortion #1: “In 1983, The Review ran a story describing [former Professor of Music William Cole]… as looking ‘like a used Brillo pad.’”

Fact: In 1983, this paper ran a series of articles that criticized three classes for their “deficient academic standards” and failure to comply with departmental requirements.

One of those was Cole’s Music 2 course, whose syllabus was three lines long and whose lectures often had little to do with the American musical tradition. In her initial report, editor Laura Ingraham cited anecdotes from Cole’s racial musings on the first day of class and interviewed a number of students about their perceptions of his teaching style. One individual described Cole as “[looking] like a used Brillo Pad,” an anecdote that was subsequently quoted in one of Mr. Desatnick is an alumnus of the College and an Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of The Dartmouth Review.

Ingraham’s editorials. The Review neither originated nor condoned this description; it simply reported it as part of its journalistic due diligence. To suggest that we described him as such is therefore disingenuous and inaccurate.

Distortion #2: “Cole subsequently sued The Review for slander and though the case was ultimately settled outside of court, the tension between Cole and The Review did not subside.”

Fact: Professor Cole lodged a $2.4 million libel suit against this publication and three of its student editors. He charged that their report on his classroom behavior caused him severe “mental, emotional, physical, and financial distress,” yet he failed to specify a single inaccuracy in the entire story. After two years of legal proceedings, Cole was forced to drop his claims against all four defendants because his legal representation was unable to substantively dispute any of the details in Ingraham’s article.

Distortion #3: “In February 1988, several staff members of The Review entered Cole’s classroom with cameras and tape recorders. A scuffle ensued, which resulted in Cole breaking one of the cameras.”

Fact: Three years after the lawsuit had ended, The Review published a follow-up issue on classes whose academic requirements were persistently substandard and included an article about Music 2. Entitled “Bill Cole in His Own Words,” the piece consisted almost exclusively of direct quotes from one of Cole’s lectures. Prior to publishing the issue, The Review acted on the advice of its legal counsel and sought

comment from Cole, first over the phone and then in person. Upon seeing the staffers enter his classroom, Cole exploded, calling them “g*ddamn-f*ck*n-*ss-white-boyracists,” tearing the flashbulb off of photographer John Quilhot’s camera, and telling John Sutter to “come and take” an apology from him. The implications furthered by The D’s use of “scuffle” suggest that Cole’s physicality was somehow reciprocated, which as the reports of eyewitnesses confirm, was not the case. The Reviewers departed the classroom immediately following Cole’s outburst.

Distortion #4: “Cole ultimately left the College in 1990, claiming that his clashes with The Review ‘totally blackballed him.’”

Fact: Cole left the College a full two years after his last run-in with this publication. His mixed reputation on campus was the direct result of his disregard for the College’s academic standards, his proselytizing in the classroom, and his predilection for racial epithets like “honky.” The Review simply exposed these facts for what they were and in no way set out to deliberately “blackball him.”

Distortion #5: “At the beginning of the 1990s, over 2,000 people joined in a Dartmouth United Against Hate rally in an attempt to kindle campus unity and condemn The Review.”

Fact: In 1990, much of the campus did indeed participate in a “Rally Against Hate” directed against this publication; however, The Dartmouth’s account of events makes no mention of either the Rally’s impetus or its repercussions. That

fall, an unknown saboteur slipped an excerpt from Mein Kampf into this paper’s credo, sparking a campus-wide uproar. When The Review discovered the subterfuge, it immediately retracted and destroyed all outstanding issues and Editor Kevin Pritchett issued a public apology. Rather than comply with Prichett’s request for help in conducting an internal investigation, however, the Freedman Administration publically censured the paper and organized the “Rally Against Hate” to protest its anti-Semitism. After subsequent studies from the New Hampshire Human Rights Commission and the Anti-Defamation League of B’Nai B’irth found The Review’s staff (which was at the time over a quarter Jewish) to be free from “any hint of bigotry or prejudice,” many alumni and national media outlets were critical of President Freedman for not conducting a fact-finding mission before assuming that the Hitler quote was a deliberate ploy. The Wall Street Journal even went so far as to call the incident “Dartmouth’s Tawana Bradley case,” and quoted Dinesh D’Souza as saying it made “Mr. Freedman the Al Sharpton of Academia.” Such a momentous controversy was undoubtedly one of the more eventful episodes in the recent history of the College and deserves more than the accusatory and one-sided synopsis that The Mirror provided.

Distortion #6: “In Summer’s opinion, this action by Freedman [sic] allowed campus to focus on progressive academic changes.

Among these turn-of-the-decade changes were the creation of the minor, the culminating experience as a distributive requirement,

the Presidential Scholars program, and the expansion of the Collis Center.”

Fact: The problem with this statement lies not within its specific content (or its grammatical errors), but in its efforts to put a neat and tidy end to the apparent turmoil of the 1980s. While The Review was considerably weakened by the Hitler debacle, the controversy was by no means the end of its involvement on Dartmouth’s campus. Since then, the paper has played an instrumental role in a number of important debates, including President Wright’s Student Life Initiative and the role of alumni in College governance.

The fact that one of The Review’s earliest correspondents, Peter Robinson ’79, could later be elected to Dartmouth’s Board of Trustees testifies to the paper’s ability to affect public opinion and have a lasting impact on trends at the College. That influence continues to this day.

Although The Review has undoubtedly changed since the 1980s, its mission remains the same: to serve as Dartmouth’s only independent journal of critical thought and positively impact campus discussion. We like to think that the controversies of yesteryear helped us mature in our orientation to the issues before us and that we can fulfill an important role in the debates of today. It is with that end in mind that we want to encourage anyone with an interest in the paper’s history to view our past issues at their discretion. Our archives, much like the publication as a whole, are always open and ready to serve the campus. All you have to do is give them a read.

16 Monday – September 18, 2017

The Dartmouth Review

THE LAST WORD GORDON HAFF’S

COMPILED BY MARCUS J. THOMPSON

“You have to be a man before you can be a gentleman.” – –John Wayne “A man is one whose body has been trained to be the ready servant of his mind; whose passions are trained to be the servants of his will; who enjoys the beautiful, loves truth, hates wrong, loves to do good, and respects others as himself.”

-John Ruskin “It’s war that makes generals”

–Seth Godin

“Virtually every tribe in the march towards civilization developed its tailored made initiation practices. In America, sports are part of the test for a young man’s initiation into manhood.”

-Kilroy J. Oldster “I was Born a Heathen and Brought up In Heathenism, till I was between 16 & 17 years of age, at a Place Calld Mohegan, in New London, Connecticut, in New England.”

-Samson Occom “It is, Sir, as I have said, a small College, And yet, there are those who love it.”

-Samson Occom “At Dartmouth, we make you into a man by allowing you to remain a boy.”

-John Dickey “Here in New England, the character is strong and unshakable.”

-Norman Rockwell

“Some Ministers began to visit us and Preach the Word of God; and the Common People all Came frequently and exhorted us to the things of God, which it pleased the Lord, as I humbly hope, to Bless and accompany with Divine Influence to the Conviction and Saving Conversion of a Number of us; amongst whom I was one that was Imprest with the things we had heard.”

-Samson Occom “New England has a harsh climate, a barren soil, a rough and stormy coast, and yet we love it, even with a love passing that of dwellers in more favored regions.”

-Henry Cabot Lodge “Because there is very little honor left in American life, there is a certain built-in tendency to destroy masculinity in American men.”

-Norman Mailer “We do not admire the man of timid peace. We admire the man who embodies victorious effort; the man who never wrongs his neighbor, who is prompt to help a friend, but who has those virile qualities necessary to win in the stern strife of actual life.”

-Theodore Roosevelt “Without an adversary, virtus shrivels. We see how great and how viable virtus is when, by endurance, it shows what it is capable of.”

-Seneca “If unwilling to rise in the morning, say to thyself, ‘I awake to do the work of a man.’”

-Marcus Aurelius

BARRETT’S MIXOLOGY

“Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing.”

-Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. “Being an adult means accepting those situations where no action is possible.”

-John D. MacDonald “Yet there be certain times in a young man’s life, when, through great sorrow or sin, all the boy in him is burnt and seared away so that he passes at one step to the more sorrowful state of manhood” -Rudyard Kipling “You can’t just be. You have to become.”

-Dominic Riccitello “Here is the manliness of manhood, that a man has a good reason for what he does, and has a will in doing it.”

-Alexander MacLaren “A man’s got to have a code, a creed to live by, no matter his job.”

-John Wayne “The monsters were never under our bed, but in the forest our future.”

-Crystal Woods “For me, The Dartmouth Review embodied the Dartmouth spirit: A hard-working and highly intellectually stimulating atmosphere that nonetheless always found time for barbecues, cocktails, and croquet..”

–Thomas “Harry” Camp

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The Worst Mixo Ever Ingredients

• 1 part Green absinthe • 2 parts Keystone, Dartmouth’s finest beverage • 3 Hanlon’s of vodka • 4 parts B&BEMA • 50 Yard Lines to rim the glasses • Top off with Hops • Stack Bowl on beer-stained textbooks

They had stumbled down the steps of Dartmouth Hall. They had given it all they got on the Green. They hammered one out at the Hop, banged at BEMA, smacked in the stacks, and touched down on the 50 yard line.

Tonight was the night. With liquid-courage flowing through their veins and muggy air clouding their brains, they rambled down Webster with a singular purpose in mind.

“What about S&S?” “S&M? Well, if you brought the ‘cuffs.”

“It’s 17X. There’s no cuffing here.”

“Yes, we’re doing it!”

“Hurry, they’re coming!”

“Yes! Yes! Yes! I am!”

Two voices cried out in the wilderness. The sirens sounded. The lights flickered on, and in the glow you could see Phil’s mustache curl up while he whispered,“Lest the old traditions fail.”

— Scotch Cara