Dartmouth’s swimmers and divers sent a survey to fellow students as part of their ongoing push to get their program reinstated by the school.
The email – titled “Vox Clamantis in Deserto” or “A Cry for Change” – frames the cuts of five varsity athletic programs as a symptom of what they call Dartmouth’s “obstinance and unwillingness to engage students in the decisions that directly affect us.”
“We hope to bring to bear pressure for positive change, not just to reinstate our program but also to raise and resolve the ongoing problems Dartmouth is having in listening to and learning from its students,” the email says. The Dartmouth athletes distributed a survey they say will help bring student voices to the administrators making decisions for the school.
Last month, Dartmouth cut five athletic teams: men’s and women’s swimming & diving, men’s and women’s golf, and men’s lightweight rowing. The school projected the cuts to save more than $2 million.
The email from the Dartmouth swimmers also raised diversity concerns, arguing that the five cut programs “represent nearly 50% of Asian athletes” at Dartmouth. Asian-American athletes comprise just 2% of NCAA student-athletes, the email says, arguing that cutting these five programs “contradicts the stated goal of improving diversity.”
Dartmouth swimmers and divers have organized a campaign in an effort to get the programs reinstated – that includes a website, a petition, a campaign to contact decision-makers and a way to pledge donations. The website lists almost $1.3 million raised so far.
Reading some of the comments and it’s clear that it’s no knowledge of facts, about what has happened and how and for what reason it was done. You took time to comment, that means you care. May I suggest to go on
SaveDartmouthSwimDive.org and read about it and understand more on the topic.
Pathetic that a school with the endowment the size of Dartmouth cant pony up the extra $2 million to get through COVID-19. And BTW, the swimmers and other athletes who just had the joy cut out of their college experiences pay for college—no scholarships. We know at least one of Dartmouth’s top swimmers transferred Northwestern. If 32 athletes transfer, at 60k a year in tuition, Dartmouth just lost money. Brilliant.
Come on Berkoff, you went to Harvard, we know you’re smarter than that. You think those 32 spots aren’t going to be filled immediately by the next class? The only difference is that the 32 who fill those slots in the next class won’t demand an additional $2 million out of the endowment every year to fund their hobby.
Also, 32 * 60,000 = $1.9 million. That’s less than $2 million.
Also, tuition at Dartmouth is only $55,000. Which is even more less than $2 million.
Also, the average student at Dartmouth pays only about $24,000. That’s about 40% of full tuition. That’s more than the average scholarship in Division I athletics.
This post was a great ad for sending… Read more »
Confused.
The only financial burden in Ivy League sports is the coaches, trainers, uniform, venue, and travel.
I assume the $2m is for all those sports combined.
There’s no scholarships for sports in the Ivies.
I️ did read the school is facing a $150m budget short fall for This year. $2m doesn’t really help close the gap.
And while the shortfall is “temporary” dropping those teams is “permanent.”
As much as I hate Dartmouth’s decision and believe it is wrong, if you’ve got a $150 million deficit in any endeavor, you’ve got to do something and saving $2 million doesn’t close the gap, but demonstrates you’re taking your responsibility seriously to reduce the deficit. What are alternatives? Cutting non-tenured staff, reducing financial aid, cut other operating expenses?
I think there would be some administrative overhead allocation as well. Compliance, AD, academic advisors, etc.
The average Dartmouth student pays $24K???
Crying, sobbing and throwing a tantrum for change will probably not get it done. Good luck.
LADYVOLDISSER, no one is “sobbing and throwing a tantrum”.
Please read Mission Statement and Proposals by Save Dartmouth Swim and Dive on their website. It’s a visionary, constractive and real proposals how to make significant improvement in diversity at Dartmouth, in helping underprivileged. By cutting Swimming and Diving and 4 other teams, Dartmouth administration made only an illusion of moving in right direction and in fact achieving nothing but getting rid of sports that Dartmouth’s AD has no interest in.
Diversity concerns?? Really??
DO share what’s wrong with this argument? Please.
Interesting approach. Brown Track & Field supporters got the program reinstated after they argued that the team had a great amount of diversity, supporting overall university objectives in supporting diversity on campus.
The track team at brown is probably more diverse than the Dartmouth rowing,golf, and swim teams combined. Dartmouth could just admit 6 more Asian kids and call it even.
I absolutely attest to that . I’ve seen it first hand and know what diversity looks like and at that institution it sure don’t look like that. Hard to find 6 Asian kids that want to go there, so its back on looking for diversity again to fill the 6 spaces
Michael, what does that even mean? 1. How does admitting 6 more Asian applicants make it even? 2. What makes the Brown Track & Field team more diverse than these Dartmouth teams? Sure, Brown’s Track & Field team might have more African Americans, but what portion of NCAA Track & Field athletes are African Americans. Compare that to the portion of Asian Americans who participate in swimming in the NCAA. I’d bet you Dartmouth swim & dive has a way higher percentage of Asian Americans than the NCAA average. To put it in a little bit of perspective, 21% of the NCAA athletes are African American, while only 2% are Asian/Hawaiian/Pacific Islander. 27% of NCAA Track & Field male participants… Read more »
You really think by cutting these teams that Dartmouth is promoting the stereotype that Asians aren’t good athletes? That’s a bit of a reach if you ask me.
I think the question you should ask is, “what percent of NCAA swimmers are Asian?” I’d guess not a particularly large number but certainly more Asians than in other sports. Then ask, “what percent of Dartmouth is Asian?” I’m assuming a large percentage, especially when compared to the population. So in reality, swimming probably isn’t contributing a significant amount to the number of Asians attending Dartmouth. You’ll probably say that you’re concerned about Asian athlete representation, but I doubt the school cares about that argument. I’m not saying your argument isn’t… Read more »
…looking forward to your response.