Dartblog

When Mary Rassias passed away last week, dozens of students came back to Hanover to pay their respects, support John, and share memories. Over the years John and Mary have built myriad warm friendships with undergraduates, relationships so deep that former students came from far afield to be with the family in a difficult time.

While such closeness is not unique to Dartmouth among colleges, there is a good case to be made that in the ranks of leading national institutions we are virtually alone in this regard — and we have been for a long time. Former Trustee TJ Rodgers ‘70 recently recounted the following anecdote in Occom Magazine:

After Dartmouth, I went to Stanford for my Ph.D. Now, Stanford is among the top five schools in the world, but I quickly realized that its approach to teaching was different. One afternoon, early in the fall term, I went to see one of my professors. At Dartmouth, I’d visit profs in their offices two or three times a week. That day at Stanford, I practically had to put my shoulder down to get past the secretary. The professor made it clear that I was bothering him — if I had questions I should go see the grad student who ran the lab. I was shocked.

More up to date, Joe Malchow ‘08, Dartblog’s founder, mentioned to me the other day that among his friends at Stanford Law, few felt that if they returned to their alma mater — almost all of his classmates were from Top 20 schools — they would be able to seek out former professors. Almost none had established bonds with faculty members that had outlived graduation.

Why is it different at Dartmouth? Certainly the administration has nothing to do with it, dearie. For a good while now, annual faculty reviews have placed scant emphasis on teaching — certainly nothing in comparison to scholarly publications. But within departments, in tenure reviews and in hiring their colleagues, Dartmouth’s professors show an affection for undergrads and a desire to teach them that is deeply ingrained. As Steve Jobs put it about the spirit of innovation among Apple employees, an attitude that survived his hiatus from management there, teaching is in a Dartmouth prof’s DNA.

As I had lunch or dinner with about a dozen professors over the last month here in Hanover, I was continually struck by how many professors feel a real joy in teaching and interacting with their students. Most of these professors were top-ranked scholars with a lengthy number of influential publications to their credit, yet they not only had time for students, they wanted to be with them. The most reliable pleasure is a selfish pleasure, and these professors need no urging to devote themselves to undergraduates.

All this is not to say that our faculty is perfect, but it is fair to request that we have a President who appreciates their efforts and is worthy of our professors.