Carol Folt takes action on campus turmoil

One burning question surrounding the future leadership of Chancellor-elect Carol Folt is whether the interim president of Dartmouth College can manage the sort of controversy associated with a large public university.

But Folt didn’t have to wait until July 1 to practice her crisis communication.

After a protest at an event for admitted students April 19, Folt and other administrators canceled classes Wednesday to address social justice issues. Folt could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Dartmouth sophomore Alex Procton said the protesters forced their way into an auditorium where freshmen were putting on a skit about Dartmouth campus life for prospective students.

Procton said the protesters held signs about racism, homophobia and sexism at the college and chanted, “Dartmouth has a problem.” He said the students protested because they felt the skit was an inaccurate depiction of Dartmouth life.

Procton said offensive comments were posted online, including threats toward the protesters.

Justin Anderson, a Dartmouth spokesman, said the leaders of the college agreed it was worthwhile to cancel classes for the day in response to both the protest and the issues from which it precipitated.

“Ultimately, it was (Folt) working with the dean of faculty who decided … to pause and have a day of reflection where students, faculty and staff could take a critical look at the campus culture and try to figure out ways to improve the campus environment and create space for a respectful discourse and disagreement,” Anderson said.

Jessica Pettitt, a social justice and diversity consultant, said her visit to Dartmouth Wednesday had been planned for about a year, but that she was asked to become the keynote speaker in light of the protest.

“I personally think that the correct decision was made — to stop courses, not to stop learning,” Pettitt said.

Anderson said Pettitt spoke in an auditorium with a 200-person capacity, and there were five overflow rooms where her speech was aired.

Pettitt, Dartmouth administrators, three students and one 2012 graduate, spoke to 1,500 students on the school’s quad later in the day. About 2,500 students and faculty then attended a community lunch, Anderson said.

Procton said he thought the day of activism was well-received by the student body.

“There were a lot of people who posted on Facebook saying, ‘I know it can be tempting to take the day off and just drink a lot tonight, but we need to address these issues,’” Procton said.

UNC sophomore Katie Coletta said Folt’s actions at Dartmouth make her hopeful for future awareness promotion on this campus.

“I feel like there’s just a lot of things going on on campus that really need to be changed,” Coletta said. “It’s not just campus culture — it’s the culture we have in the U.S., and I don’t think that can be changed so easily but I would love to see efforts changed by people in authority.”

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