Dartmouth Dean Urges Students to Seek Lawmakers’ and Governor’s Defense of Gender Ideology

Using official channels to oppose legislation raises serious institutional questions

Faculty at Dartmouth are using official institutional channels to rally student opposition to legislation that would classify individuals according to biological sex.

According to an email obtained by Do No Harm, faculty at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine are seeking to bolster student opposition to several bills advanced by the New Hampshire state legislature. “Recent legislative changes have raised concerns about the rights and well-being of our transgender community members,” wrote Tara Cunningham, associate dean for student life at Geisel, in an email from her official Dartmouth account to a student Listserv. “By standing in solidarity and promoting inclusive practices, we can foster a healthcare environment that supports the health and happiness of all our community members.”

Cunningham went on to urge students to contact New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and voice their opposition to the legislation. The bill, New Hampshire HB 619, would ban gender transition surgeries for children. Other legislation targeted in Cunningham’s email would require people at sports facilities, schools, and prisons to use the bathroom corresponding with their biological sex, ban biological males from competing in female sports teams in grades 5–12, and keep parents apprised of LGBTQ-related materials in schools. Such legislation would reinforce protections for students and children from being victimized in school or receiving irremediable sex reassignment surgeries while underage.

The completely justified premise of this legislation makes Dartmouth’s opposition even more concerning. The email to the student body also contained the signatures of Lisa McBride, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at the Geisel school, and medical student Nicholas An. It’s not entirely clear whether the email constitutes official guidance from the school, besides being sent from an associate dean’s school email to a official Dartmouth Listserv. No word on gender ideology has been forthcoming from Dartmouth president Sian Leah Beilock, herself the subject of recent controversy over having police remove a pro-Palestine encampment on Dartmouth’s campus.

If this opposition to defending biological sex is not representative of Dartmouth’s institutional position, the University ought to clarify this. Disagreement among faculty at a private university is a completely normal fixture of academic life and practice, but the use of official institutional channels to urge med students to advance gender ideology is a concerning development that Dartmouth ought to take seriously and explain.

The full text of the email from Cunningham, McBride, and An is below:

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