Yesterday we reported that in response to student activists’ antics, Dartmouth College cancelled classes and made everyone attend a speech given by a “social justice and diversity” consultant.

Dartmouth alumnus Joseph Asch fisks the speech given by that expert, Carol Folt.

How to understand these words? Perhaps we can start with a story yesterday on Yahoo News. A U.S. Department of Education press release announced that Dartmouth ranked 23rd nationally in a study entitled “25 Private Colleges with the Happiest Freshmen“: 96.5% of Dartmouth freshman said that they were happy at the College. Princeton ranked first with 99.2% of freshmen professing happiness.

Yet according to Carol Folt, Dartmouth is rife with “on-line vile [sic] and vitriol… terrible posts, the hate speech, the violence, or threats of violence… terrible new wounds… alienation… hateful language anonymously carved into the benches in library meeting rooms years ago, cyber-bullying, terrorizing, no accountability, taking sadistic delight in hurting people… sexual assault, violence, discrimination, homophobia, intolerance, social divisiveness.” She says that “these types of issues have been going on for a long time here at Dartmouth…”

… She describes the performers in the Dimensions show in this way, “Many of them said that even as they disagreed with the methods, they respected the right of their peers to dissent.”. How nice. Of course, people are allowed to dissent. That’s the basis of Dartmouth, and the whole country, for that matter. But for the Dimensions kids who cried at the interruption to their carefully prepared performance, who were shocked at the anger that the self-indulgent protesters displayed to prospies, well, Carol’s words of whitewash does not do justice to them. To test that proposition, put on a show yourself that illustrates something that you love very much, and have it invaded by uninvited screamers.

Asch concludes:

Carol Folt has used this entire situation to her own advantage, and in doing so, she willfully distorted the truth. But as a great many members of this community know, Carol Folt and the truth only have a passing relationship, particularly when twisting and inventing facts will help her advance her own ambition. She should be ashamed of herself, as are so many people today in Hanover.