The students of Dartmouth College demand the institution adopt policies aimed at making Dartmouth a more equitable and sustainable institution. As young people, every aspect of our futures will be shaped by climate change. The education we are pursuing at this institution is aimed at preparing us for our lives beyond the classroom, however, Dartmouth College is contributing to the emissions fueling the climate crisis which poses the greatest obstacle to our futures. Our college should not be actively destroying the same future it is preparing us for. As a wealthy college with the resources to adopt policies that could aid in mitigating climate change to the greatest extent possible, Dartmouth has the moral imperative to take immediate action to combat climate change. ​

Sustainability Goals

Our vision for the future of Dartmouth’s sustainability policies is outlined in the following demands
  1. Reduce energy consumption to the greatest extent possible.
  2. Convert to 100% renewable, low carbon, or carbon-free electricity by 2025.
  3. Emphasize justice and equity during the transition process. 
  4. Improve building energy efficiency through deep building energy retrofits, prioritizing efficiency before other measures, and institutionalizing efficiency construction standards. 
  5. Achieve carbon neutrality by 2037 by generating carbon offsets in the upper valley region.
  6. Commit to not accepting any money for grants and academic research with ties to the fossil fuel industry.​​
Mirroring the Green New Deal, we aim to combine the push for more ambitious climate policies with policies that address economic inequality and financial barriers limiting the opportunities provided to students. Increasing financial accessibility at Dartmouth is a crucial component of emphasizing justice and equity during the transition process. People from lower socioeconomic backgrounds will be impacted most by our failure to mitigate climate change, therefore it is crucial that policies addressing class inequality are passed in conjunction with sustainability and emission reduction policies.

Economic justice Goals

The following demands outline our plan to make Dartmouth more financially accessible
  1. Tutition-free college for all regardless of financial background. Education shouldn’t be behind a paywall.
  2. Reduce housing and food insecurity during interim periods and designate a space on campus for the donation and free exchange of items, especially necessities that may otherwise be prohibitively expensive for many students.
  3. Increase the minimum wage for student workers to $21 an hour.
  4. Offer financial aid for leave terms.
  5. Allow students to take more two-course terms to enable working students to maintain a work-life balance.
  6. Provide financial aid for more than twelve terms. 
  7. Create a more inclusive financial aid policy that supports students from non-traditional backgrounds, specifically by reducing barriers preventing students from achieving independent financial status.
  8. Rewrite withdrawal policies to support students stepping away from college rather than ostracizing them and cutting them off from on campus support systems.
Climate change exacerbates all existing inequalities, one facet of this is that climate change disproportionately impacts communities of color. Due to this, Dartmouth’s policies toward climate change mitigation should be accompanied by an acknowledgement of this reality and concrete steps to work towards racial justice. It is imperative that Dartmouth address its racist, colonialist, and discriminatory history and work to provide better support marginalized communities while developing a climate change mitigation strategy.

Racial Justice Demands

The following outlines our demands to incorporate racial justice into Dartmouth's sustainability plan
  1. Require students to take a course in the Native American studies department in order to graduate.
  2. Provide reparations for Native American students and local native communities as part of a continued process of addressing the atrocities committed by Dartmouth against native people.
  3. Invest in research centered around shedding light on racist and discriminatory past and present of the Ivy League so that we can begin to address wrongdoings.
  4. When writing Dartmouth’s sustainability goals and climate change mitigation strategies local native people, people of color, and students and alumni from countries most affected by climate change should have a voice in the discussion and throughout the planning process. ​
Please note that the Dartmouth New Deal is a work in progress, it will be updated as it continues to evolve.