Extreme views vs. Dartmouth

Bill Hamlen points out that more than 99% of political donations from Dartmouth College employees (excluding dining hall staff) went to Democrats versus Republicans in 2024 (“All but a few political donations from Dartmouth go to Democrats”; April 23). His only concern seems to be that Dartmouth’s ideological homogeneity threatens academic freedom. Nowhere does he question why his own views — and those of the Trump Republican Party — are so extremely different than those of Dartmouth employees, who are highly educated and informed and generously contribute to society, both locally and around the world. Relative to Dartmouth employees, Hamlen’s views are as extreme as those belonging to the 1% of Americans who believe that Hitler “was a completely good person” and more than 10 times as extreme as those belonging to the 10% of Americans who believe that the Earth is flat.

Trump narrowly won the election by repeating outrageous lies, which were amplified by a massive right-wing disinformation machine and his billionaire friends. Since his inauguration, he has pardoned 1,500 Jan. 6 insurrectionists to intimidate potential opponents, fired 17 inspectors general, assembled a corrupt and incompetent cabinet and dismantled much of our democracy, government and economy. He has sided with Russia against Ukraine. He has attacked the free press and deported immigrants without due process, most of whom have no criminal records and defied the courts. Harvard became the first university to publicly refuse to comply with Trump’s unlawful restrictions on academic freedoms. Soon thereafter, the American Association of Colleges and Universities released a statement condemning his attacks on higher education, which has been co-signed by more than 200 college presidents.

We should be far less concerned about the academic freedoms of the mean-spirited, misinformed minority than its extremely tyrannical power. How has it effectively silenced the overwhelming majority of Dartmouth employees who see what Trump is doing? Dartmouth employees should recognize their solidarity and demand that President Siah Beilock co-sign the AACU statement. They should also loudly protest Trump’s threat to our country and strongly encourage the students to join them in protest before it is too late.

Bill Black

Hanover

The writer is an emeritus faculty member of Dartmouth College and the Geisel School of Medicine.

A vote against ICE

A petition signed by 140 people has put on the Hanover Town Meeting warrant an article calling on the town not to enter into an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

ICE is the agency whose hooded and masked terrorists grab people who have committed no crime off the street — or, in case of our neighbor Mohsen Mahdawi, at his citizenship interview — without due process. While deliberately torching the economy, the Trump regime is using immigrants as the scapegoat du jour, and trying to use the police in our towns and cities to do its dirty work. The regime is terrorizing green card- and visa-holding students, faculty and community members by calling “antisemitic” their First Amendment right to protest genocide. Yet Trump and Musk, the grand wizards of white supremacists and antisemites, have no interest in protecting Jewish people.

History has a name for what is happening. It is called fascism. One way we can show resistance to the regime and stand for the safety and well being of all is to attend the meeting at 7 p.m. on May 13, 7 pm in the Hanover High School Gym and vote “yes” to article No. 23.

Sharon Racusin

Hanover