A Response to Provost Helble

This e-mail was sent to Provost Joe Helble in response to his e-mail cancelling offline classes for the Summer of 2020, while maintaining as per his previous communications that we will be charged in full for tuition.

Dear Provost Helble,

I was not entirely surprised to hear about the summer, but I for one cannot brook the possibility that we will be assessed a (not so nominal) $20,000 for the summer — even though the library is shut, the Hop is closed, and the Hood is cloistered in its corner. The campus is an integral part of the Dartmouth experience that offers resources and services for which the College is responsible and should be duty bound to provide — well, in any case, if nothing at all one may see this as the barebones of a financial transaction where charges are being assessed for services not being offered. During a usual term, I rely heavily on the library, borrow books, do research, and make good use of campus facilities, the use of which is included in tuition. Why is tuition, then, being kept at the same level when services are being drastically cut across the board?

Add to this reports from both students and members of the faculty about online learning: the poor efficacy, the lack of a classroom spirit that is integral to learning objectives, and the general decline in quality across courses — not due to a lack of effort on behalf of the faculty and the students but due to the systemic limitations built into the system.

Surely, it is students who get the short end of the stick, particularly those who pay full tuition, room, and board, and must bear the unforeseen consequences of your decision to maintain tuition at the same level while offering a distinctly lower quality of services. I did believe, once, somewhat naively that the green in Dartmouth’s shield represented the lush, green environs we study in, but seeing the way the College has managed to alienate even those few who love it so dearly and induce a cynicism in them that makes them see the green as the green in a Benjamin is remarkable.

It is at this essential time that Dartmouth could have so easily shown that it is more than a business: it is a place where young boys and girls come to grow up and become responsible young gentleman and ladies. For all the talk of responsibilities and duties, there was none forthcoming from the College — we have not heard back about arrangements on retrieval of our personal belongings, on sensible petitions that question both the moral and financial reasoning behind charging full tuition, and on associated matters that cause grave concern to students. There is a clear sentiment among multiple portions of the student body that decisions are being made on expedience, and not on the basis of principles that we are meant to uphold. Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra?

Sincerely,

Ishaan H. Jajodia ‘20