Making a "Statement"

The Dartmouth Review has garnered a great deal of attention recently. Two whole columns in the Daily Dartmouth were devoted to our latest issue. For some reason, though, The D declined to actually print the words “Dartmouth Review.” The columns referred obliquely to “the conservative voice here at the College” and “some recent responses to…Psi U’s ‘Wah-Hoo-Wah!’ cheers,” even though all the quotations cited came directly from The Review.

The latest Free Press, Dartmouth’s new liberal pamphlet, also concerned itself centrally with The Review, especially our recent comments on campus segregation, free speech, and the Indian mascot. But aside from a photo caption, they didn’t acknowledge it, either.

It was all a little strange, though The D did complement us for “perfect word choices.” Not only that, but an entire installment of the “comic” strip Badly Drawn Girl examined our journalistic methodology.

Evidently, there’s also a copy of The Review torn up and tacked to someone’s door in Topliff Hall.

But the most bizarre “critique” we’ve encountered—by far—are these posters (pictured above) which appeared plastered throughout campus dormitories and the Collis Student Center. There’s a picture of Boy George, or some similar character, who is then identified as Review Editor-in-Chief Steven Menashi ’01. That’s it. No explanation.

We can’t be certain what the posters are trying to say, but we do know that public attacks on individual students run afoul of Dartmouth’s much-ballyhooed “Principle of Community.” We don’t expect a judiciary hearing any time soon, however. We just want to know what the poster means.

So we’re putting it to you. The Dartmouth Review is offering a cash prize of $100 for the best essay explaining the meaning of the poster. What does it mean? You decide.

Let us know by spring term.