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Saturday, November 25, 2006

Is this any way to treat a guest?

The Dartmouth features two web updates in the online Opinion section, including one letter from alumnus Robert Marchant '57:
Despite the recent incidents involving the Dartmouth community and the Native
American students, the College did invite the University of North Dakota hockey
team to a tournament in Hanover. UND hockey is one of the premier hockey
programs in the nation with a proud tradition. For Director of Athletics Josie
Harper to apologize to the Dartmouth community for inviting a team with the
mascot of Fighting Sioux is, to this alum, quite offensive ("Apology for hockey
tournament mascot," Nov. 21). The UND tradition is theirs and not Dartmouth's.
The UND hockey team is the guest of Dartmouth at the holiday tourney and should
be accorded every respect that a visiting team deserves.
I find this to be a strong argument against Dartmouth AD Josie Harper's recent letter to the editor. In her approach, the Dartmouth administration and community as a whole is not communicating with the UND AD or President, and we are not having a dialogue with the students of UND. These are tried and true strategies that we see around campus to confront problems of intolerance and misunderstanding, and they are being completely ignored by a high-ranking member of our administration.

Instead, we are being warned about the upcoming pain and suffering that will surely follow the UND hockey players. Unfortunately, the truth is that those hockey players have a very small hand in perpetuating the mascot--surely, if there is blame it falls squarely on the UND administration and Ralph Engelstad, who donated $100 million for the construction of the new arena on the condition the "Fighting Sioux" name remained.
Yet it is clear from the tone of Harper's letter that the focus of the controversy is on the arrival of the hockey team, who are the ambassadors of UND whether they like it or not. As a result, they will be greeted with letters of apology from Dartmouth administrators and perhaps a one or two page spread in The Dartmouth when I presume all they want to do is continue being a world-class college hockey team and play in the Ledyard Invitational. against other world-class college hockey teams.

As the above opinion piece makes clear, these are our invited guests, and as ambassadors of Dartmouth, I would hope that AD Josie Harper, the hockey team, and the entire Dartmouth community treat them with the respect and tolerance that we hold dear as a campus, and that they deserve.

Posted by Kevin C. Hudak at 2:44 AM

Comments

As a student at UND, I was dismayed at the statement by the AD at Dartmouth. First because it's factually incorrect: we don't have a mascot. We have a logo and a nickname but unlike FSU who has a white man dress up like a native american, we don't have a mascot.
I believe that shows just how disconnected the AD is on this subject.

The other point to this is the AD going to pre-apologize for all the pain and suffering that current students, alumni and Dartmouth supporters are going to undergo as a result of her pre-emptive apology? Doesn't the pre-apology really just contribute to any ill will that might be generated and create "instant-offendees" who will feel bad because the apology says they should?

My only response as a student and native of this state is: are you kidding me?

Posted by Anonymous Jeremy — November 25, 2006 5:36 PM  

if we are to take josie harper seriously (that's a stretch), we might ask why she tolerates athletic contests with the penn "quakers" (shouldn't this be the "society of friends"?) or, especially, the holy cross crusaders. any muslim student at dartmouth must be truly offended by the latter.

Posted by Anonymous indian65 — November 26, 2006 12:15 AM  

Perhaps instead of apologizing to the Dartmouth community and to the faculty and staff who comprise the Native American "council" here, we should apologize to the Native Americans students here for not offering the breadth and depth of educational programs specific to advancing Native Americans, in comparison to what is provided by the University of North Dakota. Looks like a lot more than a token annual pow-wow and a few courses.

http://www.und.edu/president/html/statements/NCAAletter.html

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous — November 27, 2006 5:51 PM  

Very interesting article, I'm from North Dakota and attend many sporting events on the beautiful campus of the University of North Dakota. I was just wondering if the AD of Dartmouth, Josie Harper, has ever attended a sporting event at our University of North Dakota? I would have to say , no , she hasn't, because if she had, she would have seen and heard of NO instances of being offensive or abusive towards the American Indians. We have NO mascot, just a beatiful painting of an Indian head, done my a Native American. We have no war chants, no tomahawk chops, nothing to be offensive to anyone. Come to our great University and see for yourself. GO SIOUX!!!

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous — November 28, 2006 11:03 PM  

Sounds like Josie Harper is trying to move all talk of the negative racial episodes that have happened on Darmouth's campus to the mascot issue UND is dealing with. People need not forget the racial episodes that happened at Dartmouth and leave UND out of it. UND is fighting a battle with the NCAA because their use of the "Fighting Sioux" nickname and logo. Apparently it's okay for ND government officials and state signs to portray an indian head logo, but not for a university that has the most Native American programs in the nation. Good try Josie Harper for trying to pass off Dartmouth's racial problems, I think it back fired and is making Dartmouth look like the institution with the real racial problems.

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous — December 01, 2006 11:55 PM  

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