The Youth Can Rise Too
Take Action
Seizing the chance to give advice to current Black students, Noel offered a strategy for how we should cope with our grief. He said that the most efficient way of being Black at the Ivy League is not, as I had alluded to doing before, repeatedly highlighting our obstacles. Mr. Noel listed the names of his classmates who were racial changemakers on campus, Woody Lee '68 and Wally Ford '70, arguing that they did not merely name their burdens, but actively worked to fight them. We must, he asserted, find empowerment in our pain. If Black youths are to move as far as our predecessors, we cannot simply acknowledge our hurdles, but take steps to plow past them. He emphasized how our generation needs to learn that results require consistent and persistent actions. Mr. Noel believes in the potential of our youth, but we must learn the correct ways to incur change, which is through movement, not the stagnation that he currently sees.
"So there's a common trait between Woody [Lee] and Wally Ford and some of the other people that you come in contact with – these histories. I'm sure you'll see the common thread is they know what the hurdles were, but they didn't whine about the hurdles. They just did. That's what I would pass on to those of you who have the privilege to be Dartmouth community members."
- Edmond Noel
Take Advantage
Mr. Noel made sure throughout the interview, but especially near its end, to reinforce how great of a privilege it is to be a Dartmouth student. He emphasized that many Black people work just as hard as us and do not reap the same rewards. Attending a school of Dartmouth's caliber is a rare opportunity, and Black students should use it to progress even farther. Even beyond succeeding in academics, Dartmouth is a place to make connections that will build us up socially. Attending the college is a chance to secure capital – economic, social, intellectual – that the race has been unjustly denied for so long. Mr. Noel says that perseverance in the face of adversity is built into our DNA, it is inextricable from us.
Take Consideration
Evident in Mr. Noel’s advice to Black youth was his intense dedication to ensuring that this generation of Black people will move farther than the last could go. He made clear, through sharing his own tales of being steered in the right direction by elders, that investment in the youth of our race is of utmost importance. Mr. Noel believes in prioritizing upward mobility due to his own experience of rising above what his forefathers could attain. He highlighted that Black people’s forward movement does not stop with him or those of his generation, but it is an indefinite struggle and a challenge to which the youth must rise. Progress cannot rest on the shoulders of one individual, but it is our collective responsibility as Black people to use our ambition. When comparing his own quieter role in the fight for racial justice to those of his classmates, who became public figures, he illustrated how you don’t have to be the face of change, just a part of it.
- Edmond Noel"That strength of character, that resilience, that sense of perseverance, it's part of our DNA. And, therefore, Dartmouth's an opportunity. Shit, it's like free bread. Go get it."