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Amanda Lamothe-Cadet ’15

Amanda Lamothe-Cadet, Class of 2015, was struck with the sense of community at Dartmouth when she first visited campus in the spring of her junior year. As she walked from one end of campus to the next with her host, they stopped multiple times along the way, her host greeting other students and members of the community. Unlike the other schools she had visited, Amanda felt that people were intentional about getting to know one another at Dartmouth.

Amanda grew up in a small, affluent community in Long Island, New York. She was accustomed to being in the minority in her community. Compared to her high school, Dartmouth was far more diverse. Freshman year, Amanda was enamored by the College. She believes that her transition was fairly easy, primarily because she felt academically and socially prepared for life in Hanover. Though she still thinks fondly of her time Dartmouth, she no longer holds the same opinion she originally did. Dartmouth is no longer the picture-perfect college her freshman self believed it to be.

When asked to reflect on the ways in which her socioeconomic status impacted her Dartmouth experience, Amanda describes how she believes her background allowed her to easily find a home at Dartmouth. Since she had grown up in a community that shared many qualities with the Dartmouth community, she did not experience the same culture shock that other students were feeling.

I think I would describe my socioeconomic background as being upper-middle class. For me, as an African American female, being from that socioeconomic background made it a lot easier to transition into Dartmouth and not feel so isolated. I graduated in a class of 87 people. I was one of four Black women in my grade and there were only the four of us. There were no Black men. For me, coming to Dartmouth, going to school where ten percent of the class was Black was a drastic change. I loved the fact that it was so diverse.

I guess from another perspective, if I were Black and from a lower socioeconomic background, I’d probably come to Dartmouth and think it wasn’t diverse at all and feel really isolated because of that. I think socially, it was a lot easier for me to transition. And it made it easier to be able to navigate being a part of the Black community, but also being a part of Greek life and doing things outside of the Black community, but not ever isolating or having to choose between the two.

When asked to describe the social atmosphere at Dartmouth, Amanda discusses the role that Greek life plays in campus culture. Amanda was a member of Tri Delta. Her sorority was a major support system for her, especially in regards to navigating issues that women deal with on campus everyday. Though Amanda recognizes the benefits of the Greek system, having experienced them firsthand, she also cannot overlook its downfalls.

I think socially, I would describe it as very privileged. Obviously the Greek scene is very big. I think it can be exclusive for people who maybe didn’t come from money, or minorities. If you’re a minority or a marginalized person in any way, I think it can be a very difficult place to go because so much of it is about conforming to the identity of a frat boy or a sorority sister that plays lacrosse and drinks a lot of beer.

But I think, like I said before, these were all things that I was use to being around and used to having that be the social scene that dominated. For me, it wasn’t necessarily an issue until probably the end of sophomore year when I started to see the detriments, the issues, and the struggles that my friends who maybe didn’t see these identities before, or didn’t grow up in these places where they were around a lot of people who were privileged…seeing how they struggled with those things. Freshman year, I loved the Greek scene. I had a lot of fun, but I think it also made me extremely complacent. I think I stopped questioning things that maybe I thought were problematic that I wouldn’t have in high school. I don’t know. I think the Greek scene has its values and I think the social scene definitely has its values and can be a fun thing for college. But like I said, I think I see a lot of issues and problems in terms of exclusivity, in terms of perpetuating different types of hegemony related to racism, sexism, and classism. I really don’t know what the solution is, but I guess I see the pros and cons of both.

Amanda is now in her first year at Harvard Law School. She plans to work at a law firm after she graduates in 2018 and is particularly interested in the intersection between criminal law and immigration law.