Dartmouth College: A Legacy of Learning, Innovation, and Tradition
Nestled in the Upper Valley of New England, in Hanover, New Hampshire, Dartmouth College stands as a private Ivy League research university with a history spanning over 250 years. Ranking among the top universities globally and in the United States, Dartmouth follows a liberal arts curriculum, offering over 60 majors across 40 academic departments. From its founding to its present-day prominence, Dartmouth's journey is marked by a commitment to excellence, innovation, and service.
Founding and Early Years: A Vision for Education
Dartmouth College traces its origins to Eleazar Wheelock, a Yale graduate and Congregational minister, who sought to establish a school to train Native Americans as Christian missionaries. Inspired by his relationship with Mohegan Indian Samson Occom, Wheelock founded Moor’s Indian Charity School in 1755. While the school proved successful, it faced funding challenges and an unsuitable location.
In 1769, after fundraising and securing land from the Royal Governor of New Hampshire, John Wentworth, Dartmouth College was officially established in the name of King George III. The charter created a college "for the education and instruction of youth of the Indian tribes in this land in reading, writing, and all parts of learning which shall appear necessary and expedient for civilizing and christianizing children of pagans as well as in all liberal arts and sciences and also of English youth and any others". Although Wheelock's original mission included providing education to Native American youth, difficulties in recruiting students to the charity school led him to intend the new college primarily for white students.
The Dartmouth College Case: A Landmark Legal Battle
The early 19th century brought a contentious legal battle that would shape the future of the college. The New Hampshire Democrats, viewing Dartmouth’s charter as “emanating from royalty,” sought to bring the college under state control. In 1816, the state legislature renamed the college "Dartmouth University" and created a board to oversee its decisions.
This move sparked controversy, leading to a lawsuit demanding the return of the original charter. In 1819, the Supreme Court, with Daniel Webster, an alumnus of the class of 1801, presenting the college's case, ruled in favor of Dartmouth. The court found the amendment of Dartmouth's charter to be an illegal impairment of a contract by the state. This landmark decision, Dartmouth College v. Woodward, affirmed the sanctity of contracts and established the principle that private corporations, including colleges, are entitled to the same protections as individuals under the Constitution. The case is one of the most important and formative documents in United States constitutional history, paving the way for American private institutions to conduct their affairs in accordance with their charters without interference from the state.
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Transformation and Growth: Dartmouth Emerges on the National Stage
Towards the end of the 19th century, Dartmouth underwent major transformations under the leadership of President William Jewett Tucker (1893-1909). The college experienced a revitalization of facilities, faculty, and the student body. Twenty new structures replaced antiquated buildings, while the student body and faculty both expanded threefold.
Dartmouth played a role in preparing students for war. Although initially passive and supportive in the Great War, many Dartmouth alumni served as volunteer non-combatants such as driving ambulances, in the later years Dartmouth began training students for front-line action. During World War II, Dartmouth once again took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program, offering students a path to navy commission.
Following World War II, Dartmouth faced criticism for its selective admissions policy, which, from the 1920s, discriminated against Jewish students. In 1970, longtime professor of mathematics and computer science John George Kemeny became president of Dartmouth and oversaw several major changes at the college.
Academic Excellence and Innovation: A Commitment to Learning
Dartmouth, a liberal arts institution, offers a four-year Bachelor of Arts and an ABET-accredited Bachelor of Engineering degree to undergraduate students. The college has 39 academic departments offering 56 major programs, while students are free to design special majors or engage in dual majors. For the graduating class of 2017, the most popular majors were economics, government, computer science, engineering sciences, and history.
Dartmouth has been at the forefront of educational invention, continually identifying new methods of enhancing the impact of higher education such as the Rassias Method® for foreign language instruction. Faculty members have been at the forefront of such major academic developments as the Dartmouth Workshop, the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System, Dartmouth BASIC, and Dartmouth ALGOL 30. In 1956, the Dartmouth workshop was held which is considered to be the founding event of the field of artificial intelligence.
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The Economics Department holds the distinction as the top-ranked bachelor's-only economics program in the world. The Government Department includes numerous eminent faculty members and is among Dartmouth's most popular majors. These two departments are known for enforcing a median grade of B+ in most of their courses in order to curb the burgeoning trend of grade inflation at American universities.
Through the Graduate Studies program, Dartmouth grants doctorate and master's degrees in 19 Arts & Sciences graduate programs. Furthermore, Dartmouth is home to three professional schools: the Geisel School of Medicine (established 1797), Thayer School of Engineering (1867)-which also serves as the undergraduate department of engineering sciences-and Tuck School of Business (1900). The College has been at the forefront of educational invention, continually identifying new methods of enhancing the impact of higher education such as the Rassias Method® for foreign language instruction. Dartmouth's groundbreaker DNA is also borne out in its professional schools: the Geisel School of Medicine, the nation's fourth-oldest medical school; Thayer School of Engineering, one of the nation's first professional schools of engineering; and the Tuck School of Business, the world's first graduate school of management.
Campus Life and Traditions: Fostering a Sense of Community
Dartmouth is known for its undergraduate focus, Greek culture, and campus traditions. The college functions on a quarter system, operating year-round on four ten-week academic terms. The Dartmouth Plan (or simply "D-Plan") is an academic scheduling system that permits the customization of each student's academic year.
Dartmouth's traditions contribute to a strong sense of community. Dartmouth is a frequent stop on the campaign trail, giving students the chance to experience New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation presidential primary. During Dartmouth Night and Homecoming, alumni return to join students in an iconic celebration of the glories of autumn. The annual Winter Carnival began more than 100 years ago as a way to showcase Dartmouth's celebrated winter athletes. Dartmouth's outdoor orientation program for incoming students is led and organized by returning students. For more than four decades, the Native community at Dartmouth has hosted the annual Dartmouth Powwow.
Campus and Facilities: A Picturesque Setting
Dartmouth College is situated in the rural town of Hanover, New Hampshire, located in the Upper Valley along the Connecticut River in New England. New Hampshire Governor John Wentworth provided the land on the banks of the Connecticut River that would become Dartmouth's picturesque 269-acre campus. The setting gives Dartmouth a profound sense of place that has become one of its hallmarks.
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The college's creative and performing arts facility is the Hopkins Center for the Arts ("the Hop"). The Geisel School of Medicine is located in a complex on the north side of campus and includes laboratories, classrooms, offices, and a biomedical library. The Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, located several miles to the south in Lebanon, New Hampshire, contains a 396-bed teaching hospital for the Medical School. The Thayer School of Engineering and the Tuck School of Business are both located at the end of Tuck Mall, west of the center of campus and near the Connecticut River. In December 2018, Dartmouth began a major expansion of the west end of campus by breaking ground on the $200 million Center for Engineering and Computer Science.
Dartmouth's libraries are all part of the collective Dartmouth College Library, which comprises 2.48 million volumes and 6 million total resources, including videos, maps, sound recordings, and photographs. Campus meals are served by Dartmouth Dining Services, which operates 11 dining establishments around campus. The Class of 1953 Commons, commonly referred to as "Foco", is the all-you-can-eat dining hall, located at the center of campus. Robinson Hall houses many of the college's student-run organizations, including the Dartmouth Outing Club. Dartmouth also has a number of secret societies, which are student- and alumni-led organizations often focused on preserving the history of the college and initiating service projects.
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