Dartblog

In addition to the union signs that Joe mentioned here, a large number of posters have been put up around campus by a student group (thankfully unrecognized by the College) that calls itself Dartmouth Students Stand with Staff.

Eric Schildge ‘10 heads the group, along with David Imamura ‘10, President of the New Hampshire College Democrats. They have set up a Gmail account (DartmouthStudentsForStaff@gmail.com) and yesterday they held an information session on “how to get involved” in L01 Carson Hall. Unfortunately, I was not able to be there, but from the general campus climate, I would not be surprised to find out that the session was well attended. This group is also planning a candlelight vigil for 5pm on Thursday (ironically enough, sunset is at 5:04pm, but nautical twilight — when it actually gets dark — isn’t until 6:09pm).

There are many things that Dartmouth students could be doing with their time that would be more productive, but it seems that a significant (or at least vocal) portion of students have joined the cause to fight for their favorite workers. Numerous blitzes have been sent across campus, and most union workers have been wearing their SEIU stickers and hats.

Creative, perhaps, but one wonders, how effective? This student group is also behind the 11”x17” poster pictured here. There are a good number of similar posters around campus. Each one features a student and a different Dartmouth Dining Services (DDS) employee (apparently the union thinks that the only thing that students care about is food — partially a correct notion). They all read as follows:

“This is [name] and [pronoun] is part of my Dartmouth Experience. Social Justice starts at home, Dartmouth IS home for ALL of us.” - [student pictured]

I selected this specific poster due to the story behind it. John Shi ‘12 is the pictured student, and interestingly, he does not support the campaign for union workers. So, how did he become a poster child?

As John relates the story, the above-mentioned David Imamura approached him at the Courtyard Café and asked that he pose for a picture with the young woman, Kelsey, also pictured. John told me, “Dave is a friend and brother of mine at SAE, so of course, I agreed to help him out. However, he didn’t really explain to me what I was supporting, and, honestly, I have to say that I don’t know the DDS worker I’m posing with at all. I’m a little confused that my name and picture were used to further a cause I don’t actually have a position on.”

So, the question becomes, who is actually supporting the union? Is it as many students as David and Eric would have us believe, or is the whole student effort just the usual resume padding? Won’t it feel great to walk into an interview and recount what you did to support downtrodden union workers in their fight against the big bad College.

President Kim and the administration need to be wary of the false politicization of this issue. They should hang tough and make the hard decisions that are right for the College — whether they include layoffs or not.