Dartmouth Student Suspended!

In the current confrontations between the Trump administration, Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, and the other Ivies, the dog that so far hasn't barked has been Dartmouth. In fact, Dartmouth aeems to have reverted to its role as model for Faber College, the domain of Dean Wormer and ROTC Cadet Commander Niedermeyer in Animal House, in the latest events. While I'm generally delighted at the outcome, I don't think anyone should attribute motives to the College administration beyond those that drove Dean Wormer back in the day.

Via the Daily Dartmouth,

Around 1:30 p.m. [May 28], approximately fifteen pro-Palestinian protesters occupied the reception area of the president’s office in Parkhurst Hall. They then left the building at 6 p.m., when it closed for the day.

In brief remarks after leaving the building, a protester wearing a keffiyeh said the protesters “successfully disrupted [administrators’] workday” with the sit-in.

The protesters held signs that read “divest” and “Palestine will be free,” according to videos reviewed by The Dartmouth. They also chanted “free, free Palestine.”

But times have changed: Dean Wormer has been succeeded by "Co-Interim Deans of the College", one male, one female:

According to a campus-wide email from co-interim Deans of the College Anne Hudak and Eric Ramsey, a Department of Safety and Security officer and a president’s office staff member were hurt during the sit-in. They added that all protesters found to have violated College policies during the sit-in will face disciplinary action.

“While Dartmouth remains committed to dialogue, we want to be absolutely clear: there cannot and will not be any tolerance for the type of escalation we saw on our campus today,” Hudak and Ramsey wrote.

In fact, on the very same day, the axe fell, and it wasn't just double secret probation:

On May 28, student activist Roan Wade ’25 [they/them] was suspended from the College. In an interview with The Dartmouth, Wade stated that the College notified them of their suspension following a pro-Palestinian sit-in in Parkhurst. Wade refused to confirm whether they were present at the sit-in.

In a letter sent to Wade, which was obtained by The Dartmouth, co-interim Dean of the College Anne Hudak wrote that Wade had been temporarily suspended “out of concern for the safety of the community and functioning of the educational environment.”

“Since October 2023, you have engaged in a series of behaviors that have violated the College’s Standards of Conduct and resulted in disciplinary sanctions,” Hudak wrote. “You have continued to engage in these behaviors despite the College’s response. Your alleged behaviors on May 28, 2025, represent a significant escalation in the threat to community safety and functioning.”

Dean Wormer's successors appear to have mounted an elaborate response, perhaps based on institutional memory of the confrontation with Delta House:

Religion professor Christopher MacEvitt — who was arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest on May 1, 2024 — was admitted inside by security, alongside other administrators and house professors.

The house professors were present to “support de-escalation and mediation,” according to [College spokesperson Jana] Barnello. Assistant dean for student life Ed McKenna and Office of Pluralism and Leadership director Rachelle Hall also entered the building around 2:15 p.m.

"House professors" was a new phenomenon to me. Apparently this is a recent innovation whereby certain junior faculty are assigned to dormitories as residential advisors on steroids, or something like that. In this case, they were brought in to "de-escalate", but they took the protestors' side:

On Thursday afternoon, all six house professors sent an email to senior administrators, saying that their characterization of student protesters at the Parkhurst sit-in was not fully accurate. The letter was obtained and reviewed by The Dartmouth.

. . . “We are disappointed in the narrative you offered to campus,” the six professors continued. “It does not match the totality of what happened yesterday afternoon, and we fear that it will further alienate the administration from the students in a moment when so much good will [has] been restored.”

The details of the house professors give an indication of the sort of education that's actually on offer at Dartmouth:

The six professors are anthropology professor Sienna Craig, religion professor Christopher MacEvitt, sociology professor Janice McCabe, geography professor Abigail Neely, history professor Naaborko Sackeyfio-Lenoch and English and creative writing professor Melanie Taylor. None responded to a request for comment.

The sooner Dartmouth can get rid of its anthropology (are they still reading Coming of Age in Samoa?), religion, sociology, geography, history (at least with professors named Naaborko Sackeyfio-Lenoch), and creative writing departments, the sooner I'll believe anything has changed there. In fact, it does appear that Roan V Wade (they/them), the student suspended May 28, had in fact been on double secret probation prior to the sit-in:

Wade was previously arrested on October 28, 2023 in relation to an pro-Palestinian encampment on the lawn in front of Parkhurst. They stated that they have faced disciplinary action from the College before, including being put on probation after their arrest in October 2023, and was recently put on probation following participating in an encampment on May 1, 2025, although they were not made aware of this until last Thursday due to an administrative error.

. . . On May 30, Wade submitted an appeal to reverse their suspension. It was rejected.

. . . “I don’t know if I am going to get financial aid for a supposed 13th term or if I’m going to have to pay, because you only get financial aid for 12 terms … If they accept me back to make up for the courses I’m not getting credit for, that would be $30,000 I just don’t have,” Wade said. “So, they’re essentially preventing any possibility of my graduation.”

According to Dartmouth’s 24-25 financial aid handbook, “Dartmouth scholarship eligibility is limited to the first 12 terms of enrollment,” although requests for exceptions are allowed.

I think this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part.