June 29, 2020

Dear Dartmouth College:

I understand that the College dealing with difficult circumstances, but with sincere respect, I feel that it is imperative for me to speak on behalf of myself and my fellow 23’s.

I was an early decision applicant for Dartmouth’s class of 2023.  Receiving my Dartmouth acceptance was one of the most exciting moments of my life.  It is with profound sadness that I express my deep disappointment with the way Dartmouth has managed the COVID-19 pandemic.

We know there are complex issues presented by the pandemic.  There are measures that must be put in place for the safety of Dartmouth’s students and community.  The critical point, however, is that there are better solutions than the one the College has put forth.

I understand that certain safety measures have to be put in place for us to return to campus next year.  However, Dartmouth’s 2/4 plan is not a result of the COVID-19 pandemic: it is the result of a housing problem that has been festering for decades.  I am confused, therefore, why Dartmouth has not employed greater efforts into creating more housing.  Many colleges are adopting the idea of renting out hotels for students.  Dartmouth has neither exhaustively explored this idea, nor provided any explanation as to why not.  We have two hotels on campus.  As a result of the pandemic’s impact on visitors, they are hosting nearly no guests.  Dartmouth students would provide exponentially more business for these hotels.  Colleges with much smaller endowments and much lower per-student-spending are implementing hybrid hotel residency plans.  It is inexcusable that Dartmouth is not trying.

The value of academic learning is substantially diminished in a remote format.  Beyond the obvious discrepancies between residentiary and remote terms, including access to clubs, events, and other activities for which there are no remote substitutes, the College has not maintained its academic standards.  I experienced a considerable reduction in education quality during my remote term at Dartmouth.  My Psychology 1 class consisted of video lectures and an online workbook, with a few short writing assignments.  The only work involved for the College in rerunning this course online would be grading these short quizzes.  This was done entirely by a TA.  Therefore, there is no reason why students should have to pay the same tuition if enrolled in this course, as the professors would be essentially uninvolved with future sections.  In my Jewish Studies class, I wrote four, short, five-page papers.  I received a single line of feedback on these twenty pages of work.  It is natural that professors have had to adjust their styles because of the transition to remote learning.  However, tuition should be reduced as a result, because as evidenced by my experience and those of my peers, the remote format has been an undeniably different and lower “commitment to excellent instruction.”

I cannot describe the heartache I felt when reading the College’s plan for next year.  As a 23, I am sincerely confused why the 24’s are being given priority for fall and spring.  If the College wishes to treat the 24’s as a cohort to foster “class cohesion,” it is illogical that they would be given the fall and spring terms.  These terms are four months apart.  24’s would have to move in, move out, and then move back into their dorms, a clear discontinuity in their learning.  My fellow 23’s and I feel blindsided and neglected by the College.  What about our class’s ‘cohesion’?  Most of us are likely to be given winter residency, which is the worst term to live on campus.  We will be off for two terms, on for one, and then off for another term.  We are not getting priority for the summer, as sophomore summer has always been a required term for sophomores.

One point I cannot stress enough: we already have four terms.  This is a key difference.  Dartmouth is not “adding” a summer term, like other quarter system and semester colleges have done in face of the pandemic.  We have had a summer term since the 1970s.  24’s and 23’s each ‘getting’ 2/4 terms of residency is inherently unfair.  21’s and 23’s each ‘getting’ 2/4 terms of residency is inherently unfair.  If the Dartmouth calendar was running as normal, the 24’s and 21’s would have 3 terms on campus, whereas 23’s would have 4.  The only fair solution is to give the 23’s three terms of residency, including summer, because that way each class is losing one term.

As a result of the D-plan and of the pandemic, 23’s who take their off-term junior year will be off campus for 4 terms, or 1.33 of a school year.  This is without studying abroad.  Students at most other colleges in America are only missing 0.25 years on campus due to this pandemic.  Dartmouth 23’s, and 22’s who took an off-term their sophomore year, are missing an entire year on campus.  Even compared to schools like Stanford, who are adopting a similar “2/4” plan, current 23’s are only missing 1 versus 1.33 years of residency. 

Dartmouth 23’s are getting less time on campus than every other class of 2023 in the country.  Dartmouth has fallen behind every single one of our peer institutions.  We feel abandoned by the College’s silence on our behalf.

I am frustrated that the College is not acknowledging the D-plan and its manifestation into inequities among grade levels.  24’s are losing 1 term, 23’s and 22’s are losing 3, and 21’s are losing 2 terms on campus.  I cannot find a valid explanation for why the College would not give the 23’s priority for the spring term.  Sophomore summer is supposed to be an added, unique benefit for us at Dartmouth, but now it is being counted against us to reduce our time on campus. 

In the aftermath of today’s announcement, I was further discouraged that Dartmouth would not provide an answer on what terms I get to live on campus for at least another 3 weeks.  How am I supposed to make my plans for next year?

As an institution for higher learning that prides itself on being defined as a “College” because of its commitment to undergraduates, Dartmouth’s approach to my class is heartbreaking.

I sincerely hope that Dartmouth reevaluates its priorities and rededicates itself to providing the best possible education for ALL of its undergraduates.  These are complicated problems, but we need a better solution.

Sincerely,

A Dartmouth '23