PETITION ON CHANGE.ORG
Please click on the link below and sign the petition.
http://www.change.org/petitions/administration-faculty-alumni-board-of-trustees-students-of-dartmouth-implement-student-led-courses-to-address-race-gender-class-issues
To:
The Administration, Faculty, Alumni, and Current Students of Dartmouth College and the surrounding public.
Summary: Organize a mandatory student-led curriculum targeted at first-year Dartmouth College students to address issues of race, gender, class and their impacts on one another, the college and the world more broadly. Class sessions will be a resource of support for all students to understand these issues ad gain more interpersonal skills in interacting with students from all walks of life.
We, the undersigned hereby insist that tangible action is required in response to instances of homophobic bigotry, racial intolerance, sexual harassment and hazing in the Dartmouth community and hereby propose the implementation of a mandatory student-led curriculum aimed at first-year students consisting of the three classes: Masculinity, Femininity, Gender & Sexuality; Race, Culture, & Ethnicity; and Socio-Economic Statuses.
In recent months, the Dartmouth community has been confronted with several overt instances of violence and intolerance, including, but not limited to persistent rape and sexual assault, racist and homophobic vandalism in student dorms, and verbal racial harassment across the campus. While specific acts of physical and non-physical hate have been well publicized, their impact reflects a much deeper pattern of intolerance within the community.
Support needs to be given to many students, coming from exclusive communities, to understand how to interact with those with perceived differences; because without it, some students react aggressively or disrespectfully to one another, out of fear and lack of understanding. Sporadic and optional programs about diversity in the past, allows students the option to gloss over these important ideas, allowing the problems to go on. One cannot solely support the unique individuals coming into a homogenous setting. Instead, one needs to support the setting and equip all of the individuals within it to understand the unique individuals. Without this, the problems will continue to persist because the experiences of the unique individuals are tied to everyone they come across, in the institution. As long as hatred is tolerated on campus, no student can be safe and secure enough to gain the most from their education. This is why action is needed.
Therefore, we propose a solution that stems from the heart of Dartmouth's mission as an institution of higher learning and intellectual exploration: an educative solution that will help students gain support from each other and inform one another on the best ways to resolving difficult situations and understanding one another’s differences. These courses will not be graded; however, these courses only carry weight, if they are mandatory.
We urge the faculty and administration of Dartmouth College to consider implementing these changes for the betterment of the student body. It is time to make a change and to move forward with tangible steps in diminishing the hatred that some students experience on campus. Some students should not believe that being mistreated comes along with getting an education from a prestigious institution. Through mandatory education, students will gain the knowledge, social and interpersonal skills to interact with people from all walks of life on a deeper level to prepare them for interactions within Dartmouth and when they enter the professional world.
PETITION
We propose a curriculum, comprised of three mandatory student-run courses: (1) Race and Ethnicity, (2) Class and Socioeconomic Status, and (3) Gender and Sexuality, to remedy sexual assault, intolerance and social exclusion at Dartmouth College.
As expressed our school's mission statement, "Dartmouth embraces diversity with the knowledge that it significantly enhances the quality of a Dartmouth education." Nevertheless, this mission cannot be truly realized if students from diverse backgrounds are admitted to the College only to become the victims of racial hatred, homophobic intolerance, sexual harassment and hazing once they have arrived or if the student body more broadly are not given the resources necessary to interact with classmates who may differ from them in the most constructive possible way.
The architects of this proposal and the signatories of its corresponding petition jointly realize that the proposed curriculum is only one part of many steps that must be taken to change the culture at this College; but we believe it will be a crucial step in the right direction, as it provides an avenue to social reform rooted in Dartmouth's educative mission and academic identity.
By way of this petition and proposal, the undersigned do not only seek the support of the community, but also invite suggestions from students, administrators, faculty, alumni and staff concerning how to make this projected curriculum as inclusive and productive as possible.
This petition and proposal is supported by the following signatories:
[Signatures]
Please click on the link below and sign the petition.
http://www.change.org/petitions/administration-faculty-alumni-board-of-trustees-students-of-dartmouth-implement-student-led-courses-to-address-race-gender-class-issues
To:
The Administration, Faculty, Alumni, and Current Students of Dartmouth College and the surrounding public.
Summary: Organize a mandatory student-led curriculum targeted at first-year Dartmouth College students to address issues of race, gender, class and their impacts on one another, the college and the world more broadly. Class sessions will be a resource of support for all students to understand these issues ad gain more interpersonal skills in interacting with students from all walks of life.
We, the undersigned hereby insist that tangible action is required in response to instances of homophobic bigotry, racial intolerance, sexual harassment and hazing in the Dartmouth community and hereby propose the implementation of a mandatory student-led curriculum aimed at first-year students consisting of the three classes: Masculinity, Femininity, Gender & Sexuality; Race, Culture, & Ethnicity; and Socio-Economic Statuses.
In recent months, the Dartmouth community has been confronted with several overt instances of violence and intolerance, including, but not limited to persistent rape and sexual assault, racist and homophobic vandalism in student dorms, and verbal racial harassment across the campus. While specific acts of physical and non-physical hate have been well publicized, their impact reflects a much deeper pattern of intolerance within the community.
Support needs to be given to many students, coming from exclusive communities, to understand how to interact with those with perceived differences; because without it, some students react aggressively or disrespectfully to one another, out of fear and lack of understanding. Sporadic and optional programs about diversity in the past, allows students the option to gloss over these important ideas, allowing the problems to go on. One cannot solely support the unique individuals coming into a homogenous setting. Instead, one needs to support the setting and equip all of the individuals within it to understand the unique individuals. Without this, the problems will continue to persist because the experiences of the unique individuals are tied to everyone they come across, in the institution. As long as hatred is tolerated on campus, no student can be safe and secure enough to gain the most from their education. This is why action is needed.
Therefore, we propose a solution that stems from the heart of Dartmouth's mission as an institution of higher learning and intellectual exploration: an educative solution that will help students gain support from each other and inform one another on the best ways to resolving difficult situations and understanding one another’s differences. These courses will not be graded; however, these courses only carry weight, if they are mandatory.
We urge the faculty and administration of Dartmouth College to consider implementing these changes for the betterment of the student body. It is time to make a change and to move forward with tangible steps in diminishing the hatred that some students experience on campus. Some students should not believe that being mistreated comes along with getting an education from a prestigious institution. Through mandatory education, students will gain the knowledge, social and interpersonal skills to interact with people from all walks of life on a deeper level to prepare them for interactions within Dartmouth and when they enter the professional world.
PETITION
We propose a curriculum, comprised of three mandatory student-run courses: (1) Race and Ethnicity, (2) Class and Socioeconomic Status, and (3) Gender and Sexuality, to remedy sexual assault, intolerance and social exclusion at Dartmouth College.
As expressed our school's mission statement, "Dartmouth embraces diversity with the knowledge that it significantly enhances the quality of a Dartmouth education." Nevertheless, this mission cannot be truly realized if students from diverse backgrounds are admitted to the College only to become the victims of racial hatred, homophobic intolerance, sexual harassment and hazing once they have arrived or if the student body more broadly are not given the resources necessary to interact with classmates who may differ from them in the most constructive possible way.
The architects of this proposal and the signatories of its corresponding petition jointly realize that the proposed curriculum is only one part of many steps that must be taken to change the culture at this College; but we believe it will be a crucial step in the right direction, as it provides an avenue to social reform rooted in Dartmouth's educative mission and academic identity.
By way of this petition and proposal, the undersigned do not only seek the support of the community, but also invite suggestions from students, administrators, faculty, alumni and staff concerning how to make this projected curriculum as inclusive and productive as possible.
This petition and proposal is supported by the following signatories:
[Signatures]