Dartblog

For alumni who endured hot and humid summers in Hanover, one positive addition to the College over the years has been air conditioned dormitories. First the East Wheelock cluster came on stream in the 1980’s, and more recently, as a response to a decades-long housing shortage, the new Maynard Street dorms and Fahey were built with technology invented by Cornell’s Willis Haviland Carrier. Finally, Hitchcock and New Hamphire were graced with central air during their top-to-bottom renovations.

Regrettably, even if predictably, it seems that the benefit of all this investment will not accrue to this year’s sophomore class. As a cost-saving measure, Dartmouth’s air conditioned dorms have been closed to students this summer, or in the case of Hitchcock and New Hamp, the air con simply has not been turned on. That said, in response to the extreme heat, one cannot say that the College hasn’t been caring:

Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:20 EDT
From: “April Thompson”
To: Undergraduates in Residence:;
Subject: Heat Relief and Cooling Location

Due to the prolonged heat and humidity, the college has identified the air conditioned Novak Cafe as a student “heat relief” and “cooling station.”

The cafe has been equipped with 50 cots for sleeping (20 have been set up in Novak room 60). Additional cots can be set up in the main area of Novak as needed. Novak is open and available to students 24 hours a day and will be staffed from 11PM to 8AM each night this weekend by Safety and Security personnel. Students who are in need of a cool place to sleep or who are looking for a comfortable space to study or just cool off should use this space during this heat wave.

No word has been received to date as to whether the College will be providing heat to dormitories and classrooms this winter.

Actually, this comment is only slightly facetious. The administration has made a choice here: cutting costs such as air conditioning for students is a way to save money in order to support the administration’s bloated staffing levels (up 40% since 1999), and the most generous employee wage and benefits package since pre-bankruptcy General Motors. That may be President Kim’s idea of social justice, but it ain’t mine. If the College were to pay market wages to its staff, and content itself with a benefits package that wasn’t the richest in the Ivy League, we’d have money left over to make students’ experience over the summer a comfortable one, and the College could even pay for lifeguards on the Connecticut River. Instead, sophomores are telling prospies that summer in Hanover definitely has a serious downside.

Note: If you are at the College for the Classical Association of New England’s Summer Institute 2010 or one of the Rassias Center’s ALPS language sessions, you will benefit from air conditioning in a Dartmouth dormitory. Once again, the administration’s choices illustrate its real priorities.