Interesting times at Dartmouth

interesteddad
Mon, 28 May 2007 10:59:22 +0000

Something is just not right at Dartmouth.



I’m not sure that’s a fair assessment. I believe that colleges are what the board and management wants them to be. What’s “right” for one college would be “wrong” for another.

There’s nothing wrong with that. Knowledgeable consumers can assess the very real differences in institutional priorities and choose accordingly. For example, there is no excuse for a potential Dartmouth student to not understand that the fraternities (and all that goes along with them) are a major institutional priority.

Actually, looking at the composition of the board, at any school, is a good place to look for clues about a college.

The problem comes when the administration and the board are at odds over the institutional priorities. However, that’s a self-correcting, short-term problem.