| Full-time undergraduate program--Liberal Arts |
I think of Dartmouth as the place of possibility. There the
administration, the academic life, and the social ambience allow you to
create projects and just take them and run with it. The adminsitration
values student feedback and takes their voices into account with major
decisions. There is just a real community there. And when something
happens, like sexual harrassment for example, the community responds as
a whole, enveloping the victims in one little enclave or another and
doing something to fix the problem.
So, how is this community created? On campus housing for many students
contributes to it. All freshmen live on campus and something like 70-
70% of other students do. And if you live off campus, the town of
Hanover is so small that you are still within walking distance. So,
everyone has a vested interest in the safety and well-being of the
community as a whole. They also have a vested interest them in
celebrating diversity (something the college had to learn since it had
a rather conservative history and reputation, which does bring some
close-minded people who have to broaden their horizons once they
arrive).
The campus is VERY safe. Building doors weren't locked (except on big
weekends) until about a year ago and now there is an id entry system.
Many students still leave their room doors open though. Sometimes
things are stolen and crime does occur (a random flasher who's a local
or a case of date rape). These things are serious but not too common.
And, like I said, the administration makes it their business to do
whatever they can to keep people safe.
Another way community is created is through common dining facilities.
AFter graduating from dArtmouth, I would have dreams about some fo the
food because I missed it so badly. Several restaurant options, each
with several hot meals options plus a salad bar, were available
constantly. And most students do eat on campus 90% of the time (this
would exclude those who live off campusa nd actually cook, but they are
few in number).
Another imporatnt aspect of the Dartmouth community is the cutting-edge
technology available to all students there. There are computers
everywhere you turn and all are available for student use (as are all
libraries--something that isn't the case at other schools of the same
caliber). Dartmouth was acutally one fo the first places to implement
an intercampus email system: "Blitz". And students use blitz for most
of their community, leaving cell phones and real phones to the bigger
cities (where there is good reception). I think that most students do
have cell phones now, but blitz is the primary mode of communication,
connecting all students to eachother very easily.
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