Frats, Kegs, and Protest: The New Dartmouth Tradition?

From the mouths of activists on both ends of the political spectrum, the most common word used to describe the average Dartmouth student is "apathetic."

And at Winter Carnival last weekend, it was easy to see why.

Despite the presence of four unsightly shanties in the shadow of a huge ice sculpture on Dartmouth Green, there were few visible signs of political discontent. Instead, students seemed bent on festivities like barrel-jumping, skiing, and, of course, beer drinking.

"Dartmouth is not a politically-minded place. People study hard and party hard on the weekends," says Robert W. Flanagan, vice president of the controversial right-wing Dartmouth Review.

"A lot of politics from the outside world doesn't reach here," Flanagan says, although he and his staff have tried to change that. The Review proudly points to a recent survey which said that 90 percent of Dartmouth students read the weekly journal, and most are "very positive" about it.

Like Flanagan, student activist Rajiv Menon tries to politicize the Dartmouth student body, though Menon has tried to swing the Big Green to the left. He knows that his task is a difficult one.

"Dartmouth tries to admit people whom they feel will be politically apathetic," Menon says. He charges that the college, and especially its deep-seated fraternity system, perpetuates sexist, homophobic, and racist ideas with a "massive indoctrination program."

Activists like Menon believe that their cause has succeeded in forcing Dartmouth students to ponder political issues, but leftists still believe that the issues are unimportant to most students. "The majority of students have been apathetic, and the majority of students still are," says Michael R. Williams, a member of the Dartmouth Community for Divestment and former president of the Gay Student's Association.

Despite recent turmoil, including a campus-wide forum on intolerance and a series of protests and demonstration, Williams believes that activism is still not accepted in Hanover. "I don't think that Dartmouth knows what radicalism is, and I don't think they're ready to understand," he says.

While both leftists and rightists denounce the apathy of most Dartmouth students, some observers believe that the campus is not as apolitical as it seems. "When there are issues like these," says Jeffrey A. Blatt, publisher of The Dartmouth, "the the potential is there for people to be politically active." He seems to be right.