Dartblog

Perhaps the most disheartening side of Dartmouth’s recent controversies is the continuous, transparent lying by administrators and various leaders at the College:

● Maria Laskaris telling us that the Dimensions show was being moved from Leede Arena due to “acoustics and other technical and logistical issues” — even though the sound issue was mentioned by no one in The D’s original, hard-hitting report on the story.

● Carol Folt telling the faculty that Dartmouth’s press coverage has been “mostly positive” over the recently ended annus horribilis.

● Charlotte Johnson asserting that her new alcohol policies, including unannounced inspections, are supported by the “silent majority” and are similar to those in place at our sister schools.

● The Alumni Council justifying repeated single-candidate Trustee elections because they believe that there will be a petition candidate.

● Jim Kim rationalizing the closing of the swim docks due to the danger of submerged obstacles, or justifying the new DDS dining plans on the grounds that this policy was healthier for students.

I could go on and on. Jim Wright and the Trustees have behaved no better. In fact, revealing the administration’s lies is often the essence of Dartblog’s reporting.

Not only are these people lying, everybody knows they are lying. But do they know that we know? Do they care? Frankly, Dartmouth, they don’t give a damn. Their only goal is to get through the day, to get beyond the issue at hand — no matter what moral stink their behavior leaves behind.

Is this a message that our educators want to send to students: all you have to do is cover yourself with a fog of ugly words, and eventually your opponents will give up.

The new administration’s first goal should be to restore integrity to Hanover. If the lies continue, then we’ll know that the College’s slide will continue.

Addendum: The legendary Brian Holekamp ‘12 (though I have never quite been able to figure out why he is legendary) has published his own, more extensive list of administration lies on Facebook. Good job.