There may yet be some light at the end of this tunnel. In its first issue this year, the Review, under new management, expressed its "regret" about the affirmative action piece and similar articles. Perhaps the sudden tragedy with the destruction of the sukkah will finally shock the Review into realizing the consequences of its actions. The Review can remain "the most exciting undergraduate newspaper in the country" (its own appraisal) without deicing into inappropriate satire angering fellow students, or dividing the community. A fuller apology would have been preferable, but having apologized, the Review should be given a second chance to prove itself a responsible member of the Dartmouth community. As a conservative. I believe that the legitimate message of the Review, but not its past offensive messages, to be vital both to Dartmouth and even other colleges as well. Even The New Republic agreed that "There is a need for special-interest newspapers on college campuses," conservative as well as liberal, libertarian, or what-have-you. That article continued to commend the Review, even while deploring its past actions, for having "succeeded where countless tenured professors have failed--in instigating animated discussions in the Dartmouth community about freedom of the press, affirmative action, women's rights, and journalistic ethics." It concluded, "Although most sensitive people are bound to be disgusted with the paper's tactics, they should accept the paper's challenge and turn the controversy into an experience everyone can learn from."
The Dartmouth Review will probably emerge from these controversies at least slightly singed. But it cannot be totally burnt; its position on campus by now is too secure, barring other mishaps. Let us hope that the Review's editors learn from their mistakes and learn to accept the rights and feelings of other members of their community, so that in the future, it may be said of them, in the words of the old Dartmouth song, that
The still North remembers them.
The hillwinds know their name.
And the granite of New Hampshire
Keeps the records of their fame.
John Gardner, a junior in Dunster House, is a member of the Harvard Conservative Club and a writer for The Salient. He is concentrating in American history and enjoys reading on the subject of the history of higher education.