Ivy League institutions are typically viewed as elitist, demographically monolithic and tight-knit communities. While those labels may not be all that accurate in the contemporary Ivy environments, minorities and marginalized peoples are often overlooked or pushed aside by both the institutions and the student bodies. Let us examine my institution, Dartmouth College, and the way it has constructed (or not) a comfortable environment for Muslim students.
Dartmouth College arguably has the strongest stigma of exhibiting a very specific culture that may sometimes seem unwelcoming to some people. I, a student of the college and president of the Muslim Students’ Association, attest to the fact that Muslims often feel out of place in Hanover, New Hampshire. While there is much that can’t be blamed on the institution itself, such as the lack of mosques in the area and the small Upper Valley Muslim community, these setbacks should motivate Dartmouth College to listen to the needs of the Muslim students.
I write this piece out of exhaustion. This article is the verbalized mental fatigue of myself and my fellow Dartmouth Muslim students. We constantly walk through campus admiring the many embellished churches, wishing the all too familiar dome of a mosque would suddenly appear before us. We are aware of the strongly rooted presence of our Jewish brothers and sisters that make up about 10% of the campus population. For years, the MSA at Dartmouth has not had a Muslim chaplain. For years, the Muslim students have pursued the issue, practically pleading with administration to allow them a replacement chaplain.
I have heard several excuses over the past few months. At one point, we were told, “We can only offer a part time position due to the lack of funds.” I scoffed upon hearing this. It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that nobody will move to the Upper Valley area for a part time position. All the while we thought the administration was actually searching for a chaplain. It came to my attention towards the end of the fall term of 2016 that a position was not even available.
Some “reorganizing” of administration in the Student Affairs sector of the college took place, although I prefer to use the term “disorganizing.” The issues that arose in their administration, obviously riddled with politics and paperwork, have taken a toll on the Muslim students among some other organizations. Basically, the position for a chaplain had been terminated upon the departure of the last chaplain a couple years ago. Since then, the MSA along with our beloved dean and multi-faith advisor Rabbi Litwin, have been trying to push paperwork through their grueling process.
In short, there is a halt in administrative progress and nobody is paying much attention to the needs of the students. We don’t care about the political drama occurring behind the scenes. We are students in need. We need guidance in such an isolated environment. We demand a chaplain, and we demand Dartmouth College cut the nonsense and properly handle the obstacles at hand.