Welcome to Winter Term
Dear Students,
Whether you're receiving this from somewhere on campus, across town, across the river, across the country, or across the globe, welcome to winter term.
Although I realize that it goes without saying, this is not a typical term. Most of you will be learning remotely for the entire term. A much smaller number will be starting your classes at home, before joining us back on campus in a few short weeks.
Regardless of where you will be learning, I want to acknowledge that after the events of the last year, month, week, and day, some of you might be wondering: What's the point of all this?
Around the world, nations find themselves in the midst of wave after wave of illness and death as we continue to muddle our way through a historic, global pandemic.
And governments continue to rise and fall and reconfigure themselves around the globe.
Just yesterday, the world watched as insurgents breached and looted the U.S. Capitol on a day which, historically, has signified the peaceful transition of power upon which the ideal of U.S. democracy was founded.
We saw images that - when compared to the images of the #BlackLivesMatter protestors all summer long - revealed in no uncertain terms, the depths of systemic racism and the disparate treatment of individuals based solely on the color of their skin.
So you may be asking: What's the point? How can they expect me to focus on classes when it seems like the world is falling apart?
And the answer is, we have to focus on classes - now more than ever.
Dartmouth's mission is to create life-long learners and responsible leaders. And we do that by leveraging the best of the liberal arts to be applied in whatever field or arena you desire.
The liberal arts degree isn't just about declaring a major in Art or History or Government or Biology, it's about the interplay of ideas. It's about holding multiple perspectives simultaneously. It's about tolerance. It's about inclusion. It's about learning from others, instead trying to silence or bully them. It's about disagreeing with someone without attacking them. It's about creating new ideas for seemingly intransigent problems.
And as I mentioned in my message in the fall, the liberal arts also open your mind to the wonder of paradoxes, and free you from the all too present dangers of over- simplifications, falsehoods, and stereotypes.
If yesterday showed us nothing else, it has shown us that the world needs leadership - no matter where or what you're doing. It needs the healthy exchange of ideas, it needs the ability to respectfully protest and to make logical, arguments for and against different perspectives, based on fact and truth.
The world needs people who understand history and psychology and systems of government, and social movements. We need biologists, immunologists, neuroscientists, and engineers. And we need artists and writers and dancers and playwrights to sooth us, to inspire us, to motivate us, and to remind us.
Despite everything that is happening in the world, no matter what tragedies or disappointments you may have faced, the academic term starts now.
And as members of the Dartmouth community, we must remain committed to our values and our common humanity. The college's mission, and your role in it, has never been more important.
All my best,
Dean Lively