Dear Ms. Harper,

 

 I have waited until now to compose this message in the hopes that a week will

 give me some time to sort through my emotions, and also in the hopes that

 waiting will improve my chances that this will actually be read. I'm sure you

 are being swamped by messages - some articulate, thoughtful, and respectful;

 and unfortunately, some probably not as nice. So I will make this as short and

 to-the-point as possible.

 

 I will not go into a long personal narrative about the sacrifices I made for my

 sport or the things that I've learned from swimming that I would not have

 discovered elsewhere. Nor will I describe the feelings of betrayal and

 devastation that this decision has brought upon me. I will not go into detail

 about how I have lost 5 pounds in the last week, nor how I toss and turn in my

 bed at night, unable to sleep more than a few hours a night. That is the

 reality of the situation, and I know that you are acutely aware of it, so I

 will not waste your time.

 

 What concerns me is that I see all of us (students, administrators, alumni --

 everyone connected with DARTMOUTH) are being hurt by what is going on.

 The reputation of the school is at risk, and instead of working together

 toward a common solution, we are spending our time fighting against each other,

 trying to discover the "bad guy" whose fault it was that we have to go through

 this. The sad truth is that the scapegoat doesn't exist. Those of you getting

 the heat for making the decision are not bad people. God knows it would make

 my life so much easier if I could point to you as that Satan that ruined my

 life. But the truth is that you made what seemed to be the best decision at the

 time, and are now finding out that many students and alumni don't see it that way.

 

 Yet the announcement has been publicly made. We're stuck in this awkward

 situation, where the decision is against the wishes of many of the students and

 alumni, and will probably have a huge economic consequence in terms of future

 giving, yet to change it now would undermine the authority of the entire

 administration. In my opinion, we need to be focusing on creating a dialogue

 about how we can devise a compromise that is a win-win situation for everyone.

 It's possible. Perhaps we could allow the teams to continue for 2 more years

 operating on private donations (I am sure my father would write a large check

 right now if it keeps the team in the pool for a little longer). During that

 time we could work on setting up an endowment to fund the team indefinitely,

 with the understanding that if we didn't have X amount of dollars after the 2

 years the team would be eliminated. It achieves the short term budget cut,

 addresses the long term funding issue, and has the least impact on the

 students. That's just one thought, there are hundreds of other possibilities.

 I know that if we all work together we can satisfy everyone, and protect the

 integrity of the institution. Give the students, our parents, and the alumni

 some input in these decisions, and it will be rewarded in the future with contributions.

 

 We do not need a new pool to be competitive. Granted, this is not a

 state-of-the-art facility, but it is not "substandard" either. I should know,

 I swam for 4 years in a 50-year old outdoor pool that had been converted to an

 indoor pool by adding a wood roof and no ventilation. The chlorine levels

 varied so much that at least once a month we would be unable to ender the

 water. And in 2000, we sent 5 swimmers to the Olympic trials, and one went on

 to the Olympics in Sydney. Yes, it would be nice to have a huge new pool

 (which cost about 6-10 million, my club team at home has raised the funds to

 build their own pool). But it does not make the swimmers faster. Look at

 Middlebury. They have a nice new pool, but OUR swimmers have the records

 there. WE are the ones who beat them.

 

 For the sake of the institution, I implore you to work with the students and

 parents to find an agreeable solution that allows everyone to save face. It's

 only a matter of time before someone succeeds at getting on 60 minutes,

 dateline, the morning shows, etc. (what a great story - Ohio state's football

 team plays for the nation championship but will never graduate; Dartmouth's

 swimmers are national leaders in the classroom and are cut to make other

 programs more competitive)... After that happens, this college's reputation

 will suffer, alumni will reconsider gifts, and prospectives will consider going

 elsewhere. I sure don't want that, but if we aren't included in some sort of

 dialogue then what other options are open to get our voice out?? And I'm not

 saying that to be threatening, I'm just trying to articulate my thoughts. Give

 us a chance to help out, don't exclude us.

 

 Bear in mind that I obviously cannot speak for all my teammates or their

 parents. This is simply my thoughts on our situation after having my whole

 Thanksgiving weekend to reflect.

 

 I would really like to meet with you face-to-face one day this week if that's

 possible, I feel like communication is so much more efficient when we don't use

 computers, and there is much more that I would like to say that I cannot

 express in a blitz of reasonable length. I am available all day Thursday,

 please let me know if you have any time then to talk.

 

 Thanks,

 

 Scott Trubisz  D'04