PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Janteloven

We are in the process of interviewing firms for possible hire to do a marketing study. We’d like to know what current and prospective students think of Dana, and why they would or would not choose Dana. A comprehensive study of this type has not been done in the 17 years I have been here.

When asked to evaluate our publications, one of the firms interviewed said they were well done, but thought the message about Dana is sort of “vanilla.” We don’t say much that clearly boasts of our distinctiveness. This made me wonder if we don’t have anything to boast about or we are reticent to boast about ourselves. Those who know me know I’m not shy about promoting Dana.

I have often felt our Danish roots may have contributed to Dana folks being reluctant to “blow their own horns.” You see, while Danes may have much to boast about, it is not their nature to do so. The Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, (June 29, 2002), featured a story about janteloven, Jante’s law, a fictional law used to describe the modesty or humility that marks Danish culture. The writers, Stig Matthiesen and Carsten Ingemann, say Jante’s law is: “You shall not believe that you amount to anything, or that you are just as good as another, as intelligent as another, and you should not imagine you are better than another, know more than another, are more worthy than another.” Further, you should not “laugh at another,” “believe that another cares for you,” or that “you can teach another anything.” In short, it is important that you not promote yourself above another.

The authors also suggest this view extends into other aspects of life, so one should not be too religious, too old, too wise, rich, bright, loud and the like.

Although janteloven is not the same as being vanilla and the Danes do many things very well and take pride in doing so, they are reluctant to brag or promote themselves. There is something to be said for such a philosophy. I tire of people or institutions that boast when there is little to back their claims, but humility can also be a liability. One Dane explained, “We have never been given permission to fully share our feelings, and we pay a price for that in our country.”

I have sometimes wondered if Jante’s law doesn’t sometimes reign at Dana. Are we too timid to share our strengths, that our faculty love teaching and do it well, programs like social work and education have been rated exemplary by outside reviewers, our job placement rate is high, our library materials per student ratio is far above those at comparable institutions, our archive is a celebrated collection, and most of our student services are rated by students above the norm for peer colleges on a national rating instrument? Dana students leave to become excellent teachers, doctors, pastors, lawyers, business leaders, musicians, coaches, scientists and community leaders. We need not be afraid to share successes.

I also know that we can do better or need to make improvements at Dana. Sometimes small vision and scarce resources stifle risk-taking. We should be judged by our performance, not alone by our claims. However, failure to “toot our horn” might mean no one knows we’re here. Let’s not fail to take center stage if we have something worthwhile to share. I’d like to hear from Dana alumni. How did your Dana experience prepare you for life or career? What about your experience sets it apart from that of others with whom you work or serve? What was extraordinary that we should try to replicate?

Bertha Andersen, a gifted retired teacher from Elk Horn, Iowa, sent a note with her Christmas greeting that I cherished. “You were my home (away from home) [and gave me] a scholarship when money was scarce and the banks closed,” she wrote. “The friends I met there, teachers also, made a real positive gift to my thinking. And I got a ride home at Thanksgiving, but was happy to return on Monday. Yes, the friends I met are gone and are not getting my Christmas greetings. May you [Dana] always be there on the hill. You are important and I am deeply in debt to you.”

Dana has had a profound effect on many and continues to help shape some exceptional people. We don’t need to gush with pride over nothing, but let it not be the “Dana law” that we are expected to keep our achievements and our blessings to ourselves.