The "Dr. Seuss" Medical School

On Wednesday, Dartmouth announced that the Dartmouth Medical School had been renamed "The Audrey and Theodor Geisel School of Medicine." Theodor Geisel, better known by his nom de plume Dr. Seuss, is arguably Dartmouth's most famous real-life alumnus (if fictional characters were introduced, Michael Corleone would give him a run for his money). The announcement, which was circulated in an email from Board of Trustees Chairman Stephen Mandel '78, noted that Dr. Seuss and his wife were the most munificent philanthropists in Dartmouth's history.

This change was received with a predictable mixture of responses, with alumni and students expressing reactions along a spectrum from benevolence to wariness to ridicule. There was some grumbling that the name change reflected a continuation of the iconoclasm that began when stadium and arena naming rights were granted to the highest bidder (Qualcomm Stadium, anyone?). This, at least, seems like a fairly toothless argument; there is a rich tradition of naming buildings and schools after distinguished alumni who have made considerable contributions to the institution in the decades following their graduation. That Dr. Seuss was not a real doctor is just an unfortunate coincidence.

One slightly more legitimate reservation was that graduating from the Dr. Seuss Medical School would not confer the same gravitas as would a degree from Dartmouth Medical School. It is, frankly, hard to disagree. But as one close friend, a current medical student and ever an optimist, put it, "At least I don't go to the Pepsi Medical School."

Hear, hear.