Early Recruitment Efforts and a Dartmouth Alumnus' Experience
A Dartmouth Alumnus' Experience
In an assessment of Ivy League institutions, Stefan Bradley's Upending Ivory Tower: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Ivy League describes Dartmouth as having a reputation as “one of the most conservative institutions in the nation when it comes to race.” This description accords with Mr. Love’s experience at Dartmouth. Although there were a few professors of color, the lack of diversity in the administration office became an issue that Black students tried to resolve through protests.
This tension was prevalent during Mr. Love’s college experience. He refers to the administration as being “hostile” towards students of color, with some professors and deans believing that Black students did not deserve to attend Dartmouth.
The student community was divided, and Black students relied on each other for help with understanding how to succeed in Dartmouth’s rigorous classes. Mr. Love did not know more than ten of his white classmates and, although he refers to this as being his “Dartmouth failure,” the sense of division worked both ways as those students were not the most welcoming to Black students. Mr. Love believes that the hostile environment motivated students of color to create a close-knit community and strive to prove wrong those hostile individuals. Students also participated in protests calling for a more diverse administration, believing that would help students of color to accomplish their rigorous endeavors.
“I have one Dartmouth failure, and my Dartmouth failure is that I didn't know any of my white classmates. I mean one, two, maybe three. I didn't do that; I didn't do Dartmouth the right way. I didn't understand it until I left but I was comfortable in my environment.”
- Gary Love
Early Recruitment Efforts
During his undergraduate years, Mr. Love contributed to setting the foundation for the diverse community we see at the institution today. After his first year, he spent his extracurricular time working in the admissions office. His role entailed recruiting more students of color. Mr. Love refers to this as “taking Dartmouth home." He would return to his old high school, Kenwood Academy, to assist the college in matriculating more students of color. Lance Jones ‘77 and Cheryl Bascomb ‘77, childhood friends of Mr. Love, were the first two people he recruited from his former high school.
Mr. Love belives that it is not fair to recruit the best and brightest from the Black community if they do not enjoy their tenure at the institution. At a young age, he was very wise and realized that students of color needed mentors during their Dartmouth experience. This set the foundation for Mr. Love's efforts to ensure that Dartmouth has an infrastructure to support a diverse group of students.
“What made Dartmouth so wonderful for me were the brothers and sisters who had your back. Mostly, brothers because there were not many sisters on campus. There were no upperclassmen sisters on campus it was just brothers and most of them were looking to be helpful.”
- Gary Love