Phil Hanlon's Challenge

The following rant was recently posted on another of my blogs: Fletcher's Castoria.

Cowed

The new president of Dartmouth College, Phil Hanlon was recently initiated into the ways of hyphenated student protests when the“Concerned Asian, Black, Latin@, Native, Undocumented, Queer, and Differently-Abled students” aka, Freedom Budget (a name as nutty as these students), recently occupied his office with a list of 72 demands … which apparently include some knee-slappers. For instance they insisted that Dartmouth must include one "queer studies" class in every department (such as “Queer Projective Geometry” and “Queer Inorganic Chemistry”). I say “apparently,” because I started doing research, trying to find their full list of 72, but then said to myself, “why should I indulge these children with my efforts? Isn’t this protest just an infantile cry for attention … which they clearly don’t deserve?” So I didn’t.

Anyhow, this was not a shining moment for Dartmouth’s pixy prexy … a Dartmouth-graduated math major like myself. He did not literally kick these militant students out of his office and have them sent to Coventry. Instead he and his Dean of the College, Charlotte Johnson, pampered these wing-nuts with negotiations and then let some of them bivouac in his office for 48 hours. How humiliating for him and for Dartmouth College … not a shining start for his new presidency. If you want to read more on this tempest in a teapot see the following from the Wall Street Journal.

I think that the real lesson to be drawn from this disruption … and other recent travesties … like the forced resignation of Mozilla’s CEO, Brendan Eich, for a single political donation (see:Information Week Story) … is that acceding to the irrational demands of those hyphenated groups only makes matters worse. Arthur Miller had it right when he compared the McCarthy era to the Salem witch trials in his play, "The Crucible." There are times when an illogical fervor grabs a society’s psyche and, if nobody pushes back, can result in very scary consequences. The unwillingness of us (I’m talking about you and me, friend … and President Hanlon) to push back against such blatant silliness only causes more silliness … and eventually, if not checked by some courageous souls, much more dire consequences.

My suggestion to Dartmouth’s Phil Hanlon is don’t be cowed … do your best to purge your campus of such “diverse” detritus and start emphasizing a new diversity … a diversity of true liberal (small “L”) thought. Encourage rational and studied debate on any subject … but do not pamper the childish confrontations and loopy demands of any hyphenated radicals. It’s pretty easy to tell the difference.

Afterthought: Some might say that all this carping on my part is easy since I do not have to deal with a self-perpetuating and incestuous Board of Trustees who might deny me my next budget request. True, but then, if those in lofty positions are not willing to stand on principle, then their imagined positions are really not that lofty after all.

Walking Tall

My mother used to chide me, "You don't make yourself any taller by claiming someone else is short." Apparently, many opponents of Joseph Asch, in the current election for Dartmouth College's Board of Trustees, don't believe this platitude. The have been circulating many half-truths, innuendos, and even slimes besmirching Joe. I won't name these opponents but I'm sure most of you have received e-mails, letters, and even whispers to these effects. What I would like to do here briefly is tell you why I voted for Joe ... and ask you to do the same. If you have been a reader of Dartblog, you know that when Joe cuts himself, he bleeds green. (If you haven't, please link to http://www.dartblog.com/.) He clearly loves our college and has offered many suggestions in the hope of helping President Kim solve Dartmouth's current financial crisis, re-enfranchising Dartmouth alums, bolstering the academic and social experiences of our students, and recapturing what was once the glory of our sports teams. All, in my humble opinion, noble endeavors.

It would seem that this is what trustees are supposed to do and this is why Joe would be a valuable addition to this august body. But one thing most clearly distinguish him from his opponent ... he has committed to trying to restore parity to Dartmouth's Board of Trustees. "Parity" means that we alums would have the potential once again of having equal say in who represents us on this group. I can't see why this is a bad thing (like some who have been disparaging Joe of late.) I have never been able to follow the logic of those who decry an equal voice for us alums ... like we so recently had. To me, a self-perpetuating Trustee Board almost guarantees that we will dig more fiscal, pedagogical, and public-image holes at our college for our children's children. We might avoid this bleak outlook by taking this small first step and voting for Joe Asch '79 for Dartmouth's Board of Trustees. I have. And, if you do, I sincerely thank you.

George W. Potts '60

A Dartmouth Trustee to Trust

I know it's been a while since I have posted here ... and much has happened in Hanover in the interim ... some good, some bad. But now there are two openings for the college's Board of Trustees that need to be filled with thinking and probing champions of the institution we all love so much. My classmate, Mort Kondracke, is running and, although I sometimes find his cable-TV knee jerks a little too left-leaning, I do believe that he would be open-minded and a contributor to many of the tough decisions that will need to be made while Dartmouth digs itself out of its current fiscal hole.

There is another candidate for Dartmouth's Board of Trustees that I am more enthusiastic about -- Joseph Asch. Joe has been a major contributor to that very popular Dartmouth blog, Dartblog. There he has mainly posted important and quality analyses about many of Dartmouth's financial problems (warming to President Kim's serious treatment of same), championed Dartmouth's many sports teams, pointed out some irksome misallocation of our school's pedagogical assets, and shared his taste for quality food and drink. He has not yet addressed the degeneration of many Dartmouth traditions that have occurred over the last 20 or so years ... but I'm working on him for that. His background well demonstrates his financial analytic talents, his love for his Alma Mater, and his liberal (small "l") worldview. To verify that he is eminently qualified for this position, please visit Joe for Dartmouth where you might also reference, download, sign, and submit a Petition for his Trustee candidacy. I hope you'll find him as attractive a candidate as I do.

George W. Potts '60