Dartmouth Needs To Mitigate Risks Of Trump’s Great Reform Agenda Campaign
For Arctic Research – OpEd
October 20, 2025
By Michael Walsh
Last weekend, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. Government is going to aggressively move forward with implementing the Great Reform Agenda in Higher Education. That announcement poses a major risk to the status quo in the U.S. Arctic research community.
Over the last few years, many U.S. Arctic research institutes have aligned themselves with priority areas that were previously articulated by the Biden Administration. However, some of those priority areas are now openly opposed or tacitly depreciated by the current administration. That includes research on climate change and diversity and inclusion. That change poses a serious problem for the U.S. Arctic research institutes that are directly and/or indirectly invested in those research areas. That includes the Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth. The time has therefore come for Dartmouth President Sian Beilock to respond to that challenge. The problem is that it will not be easy. It may require permanently severing the relationship that currently exists between the Institute of Arctic Studies and the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding.
Dickey Center
The Dickey Center is an interdisciplinary center. According to the school website, it seeks “to bring the world to Dartmouth and Dartmouth to the world to engage with today’s great issues.” The current director of the Dickey Center is Victoria Holt.
Under the Obama Administration, Holt served as the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Security.
Institute for Arctic Studies
The Dickey Center hosts the Institute of Arctic Studies. The institute not only provides a “hub for research, discussion, and education” on polar issues. It conducts policy-relevant research that demonstrates a “respect of Indigenous Knowledge systems.”
The Institute of Arctic Studies is a key node in the polar research network. Among other things, it works “with national and international organizations on scientific research, policy development, conferences and workshops, and environmental network development.” Those institutions include Ilisimatusarfik, University of the Arctic, and University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The Director of the Institute of Arctic Studies is Melody Brown Burkins. Trained as a polar scientist, Burkins has focused on several topics that have been roundly criticized by President Trump and his core supporters, including inclusion, climate change, and sustainable development.
Magro Family Distinguished Visitors
The Magro Family Distinguished Visitors in International Affairs is one of the most prominent programs of the Dickey Center. It provides a platform to host academics, diplomats, and policy wonks who have made significant contributions to international affairs.
The Magro Family Distinguished Visitors poses a challenge for the Institute of Arctic Studies. That is because there appears to be a partisan bias in the program toward those who fall squarely on the opposite side of the political spectrum from President Trump and his core supporters.
During the first term of the Trump Administration, Jake Sullivan and Ambassador Johnny Carson served as Magro Family Distinguished Visitors. The former would go on to serve as the National Security Advisor for President Joe Biden. The latter would become “Biden’s Point Man on Africa.”
During the Biden Administration, Spencer Boyer and Elizabeth Shackelford served as the Magro Family Distinguished Visitors. The former had been appointed as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy by President Biden. The latter had resigned as a career diplomat in the U.S. State Department in public protest against the Trump Administration.
To compound matters, several participants have known ties with global advisory firms and public policy think tanks that are closely linked to Democratic political elites. One was Ambassador Erica Barks Ruggles.
Ambassador Ruggles has not only served as a Magro Family Distinguished Visitor. She has also quietly served as a Senior Advisor at WestExec Рa global advisory firm co-founded by Obama-insiders Antony Blinken, Mich̬le Flournoy, Sergio Aguirre, and Nitin Chadda. For whatever reason, WestExec does not appear on her Dartmouth bio though.
Other Visiting Scholars and Practitioners
The Magro Family Distinguished Visitors in International Affairs is not the only mechanism that the Dickey Center uses to bring external scholars and practitioners to Dartmouth. Nor is the only one that could draw the ire of President Trump and his core supporters.
Earlier this year, the Dickey Center hosted Derek Penslar and Yael Berda for a discussion on whether Zionism counts as settler colonialism. That was a noteworthy panel. Both of the panelists have been subjects of conservative backlash.
In the case of Penslar, a lot of the criticism can be traced back to his decision to sign an open letter that referred to the Government of Israel as a “a regime of apartheid.” Those sorts of comments appear to have motivated U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) to publicly condemn Penslar for making “despicable antisemitic views and statements.”
Those sorts of events have not only provoked public backlash. They have left some conservative political elites with the indelible impression that the Dickey Center is not an academic institution. It is a covert partisan one.
In response, the administration could point out that the Dickey Center has hosted several prominent scholars and practitioners from the other side of the domestic political spectrum (e.g., Randall Schriver). However, those replies would be unlikely to change the minds of conservative political elites given the history.
Protecting Arctic Researchers
Of course, the Institute of Arctic Studies is not the only institution that risks being targeted on campus by the Trump Administration. There are many others.
The reality is that Dartmouth College is well-known for leaning far to the left among conservative political elites. Per Bill Hamlen, over 99% of the political donations by Dartmouth faculty are going to Democratic candidates. In his words, that “isn’t just a skew. It’s a red flag.”
Another challenge is that Dartmouth College appears primed to resist the Great Reform Agenda in Higher Education. Over “half of Dartmouth faculty members” have reportedly signed a petition against the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” And there are many students and faculty who are reportedly in solidarity with the Join, or Die Campaign.
Given the stakes of the game being played, President Beilock and the Dartmouth Board of Trustees have a responsibility to take urgent action to mitigate the risks that are posed to Arctic researchers at Dartmouth.
The question therefore turns to where to start.
One place would be the internal institutional relationship that exists between the Dickey Center and the Institute of Arctic Studies.
Wherever one stands on domestic politics, the reality is that the Dickey Center has made past decisions that have tarnished its reputation as a nonpartisan educational institution in the eyes of conservative political elites, and that reputation cannot be easily restored anytime soon.
For those reasons, President Beilock might want to consider permanently severing the internal institutional relationship that currently exists between the Dickey Center and the Institute of Arctic Studies.
October 20, 2025
By Michael Walsh
Last weekend, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. Government is going to aggressively move forward with implementing the Great Reform Agenda in Higher Education. That announcement poses a major risk to the status quo in the U.S. Arctic research community.
Over the last few years, many U.S. Arctic research institutes have aligned themselves with priority areas that were previously articulated by the Biden Administration. However, some of those priority areas are now openly opposed or tacitly depreciated by the current administration. That includes research on climate change and diversity and inclusion. That change poses a serious problem for the U.S. Arctic research institutes that are directly and/or indirectly invested in those research areas. That includes the Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth. The time has therefore come for Dartmouth President Sian Beilock to respond to that challenge. The problem is that it will not be easy. It may require permanently severing the relationship that currently exists between the Institute of Arctic Studies and the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding.
Dickey Center
The Dickey Center is an interdisciplinary center. According to the school website, it seeks “to bring the world to Dartmouth and Dartmouth to the world to engage with today’s great issues.” The current director of the Dickey Center is Victoria Holt.
Under the Obama Administration, Holt served as the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Security.
Institute for Arctic Studies
The Dickey Center hosts the Institute of Arctic Studies. The institute not only provides a “hub for research, discussion, and education” on polar issues. It conducts policy-relevant research that demonstrates a “respect of Indigenous Knowledge systems.”
The Institute of Arctic Studies is a key node in the polar research network. Among other things, it works “with national and international organizations on scientific research, policy development, conferences and workshops, and environmental network development.” Those institutions include Ilisimatusarfik, University of the Arctic, and University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The Director of the Institute of Arctic Studies is Melody Brown Burkins. Trained as a polar scientist, Burkins has focused on several topics that have been roundly criticized by President Trump and his core supporters, including inclusion, climate change, and sustainable development.
Magro Family Distinguished Visitors
The Magro Family Distinguished Visitors in International Affairs is one of the most prominent programs of the Dickey Center. It provides a platform to host academics, diplomats, and policy wonks who have made significant contributions to international affairs.
The Magro Family Distinguished Visitors poses a challenge for the Institute of Arctic Studies. That is because there appears to be a partisan bias in the program toward those who fall squarely on the opposite side of the political spectrum from President Trump and his core supporters.
During the first term of the Trump Administration, Jake Sullivan and Ambassador Johnny Carson served as Magro Family Distinguished Visitors. The former would go on to serve as the National Security Advisor for President Joe Biden. The latter would become “Biden’s Point Man on Africa.”
During the Biden Administration, Spencer Boyer and Elizabeth Shackelford served as the Magro Family Distinguished Visitors. The former had been appointed as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy by President Biden. The latter had resigned as a career diplomat in the U.S. State Department in public protest against the Trump Administration.
To compound matters, several participants have known ties with global advisory firms and public policy think tanks that are closely linked to Democratic political elites. One was Ambassador Erica Barks Ruggles.
Ambassador Ruggles has not only served as a Magro Family Distinguished Visitor. She has also quietly served as a Senior Advisor at WestExec Рa global advisory firm co-founded by Obama-insiders Antony Blinken, Mich̬le Flournoy, Sergio Aguirre, and Nitin Chadda. For whatever reason, WestExec does not appear on her Dartmouth bio though.
Other Visiting Scholars and Practitioners
The Magro Family Distinguished Visitors in International Affairs is not the only mechanism that the Dickey Center uses to bring external scholars and practitioners to Dartmouth. Nor is the only one that could draw the ire of President Trump and his core supporters.
Earlier this year, the Dickey Center hosted Derek Penslar and Yael Berda for a discussion on whether Zionism counts as settler colonialism. That was a noteworthy panel. Both of the panelists have been subjects of conservative backlash.
In the case of Penslar, a lot of the criticism can be traced back to his decision to sign an open letter that referred to the Government of Israel as a “a regime of apartheid.” Those sorts of comments appear to have motivated U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) to publicly condemn Penslar for making “despicable antisemitic views and statements.”
Those sorts of events have not only provoked public backlash. They have left some conservative political elites with the indelible impression that the Dickey Center is not an academic institution. It is a covert partisan one.
In response, the administration could point out that the Dickey Center has hosted several prominent scholars and practitioners from the other side of the domestic political spectrum (e.g., Randall Schriver). However, those replies would be unlikely to change the minds of conservative political elites given the history.
Protecting Arctic Researchers
Of course, the Institute of Arctic Studies is not the only institution that risks being targeted on campus by the Trump Administration. There are many others.
The reality is that Dartmouth College is well-known for leaning far to the left among conservative political elites. Per Bill Hamlen, over 99% of the political donations by Dartmouth faculty are going to Democratic candidates. In his words, that “isn’t just a skew. It’s a red flag.”
Another challenge is that Dartmouth College appears primed to resist the Great Reform Agenda in Higher Education. Over “half of Dartmouth faculty members” have reportedly signed a petition against the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” And there are many students and faculty who are reportedly in solidarity with the Join, or Die Campaign.
Given the stakes of the game being played, President Beilock and the Dartmouth Board of Trustees have a responsibility to take urgent action to mitigate the risks that are posed to Arctic researchers at Dartmouth.
The question therefore turns to where to start.
One place would be the internal institutional relationship that exists between the Dickey Center and the Institute of Arctic Studies.
Wherever one stands on domestic politics, the reality is that the Dickey Center has made past decisions that have tarnished its reputation as a nonpartisan educational institution in the eyes of conservative political elites, and that reputation cannot be easily restored anytime soon.
For those reasons, President Beilock might want to consider permanently severing the internal institutional relationship that currently exists between the Dickey Center and the Institute of Arctic Studies.
Note: Michael Walsh is an Arctic researcher and a Dartmouth alumnus. The views expressed are his own.
Michael Walsh
Michael Walsh (@FPCommentary) is an academic researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is a former member of the Communications Committee of the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) and a former member of the Experts Working Group on Emerging Security Challenges co-chaired by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Partnership for Peace Consortium (PfPC).
Michael Walsh
Michael Walsh (@FPCommentary) is an academic researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is a former member of the Communications Committee of the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) and a former member of the Experts Working Group on Emerging Security Challenges co-chaired by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Partnership for Peace Consortium (PfPC).
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