One week ago, Dartmouth College launched the Institute for Writing and Rhetoric and officially came over the to dark side. For Big Green students, this means one thing: like us here at Penn, they no longer have the right not to write.

Starting next fall, Dartmouth students won’t be eligible for exemption from the school’s freshman writing requirement. In past years, up to 20 percent of Dartmouth’s incoming class was excused based on high SAT scores. But now every single one of them will enroll in the dreaded First-Year Seminar.

One part of me thinks this is a good thing. After all, Dartmouth students should graduate with writing skills in certain areas — like how to record the minutes for meetings run by Penn grads. But the other part of me remembers those Writing Seminar horror stories I’ve heard from students at this university, and I just can’t wish that kind of torture on our Ivy brethren in New Hampshire.

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Apparently not at Dartmouth. But could Penn students find her?

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Well, the grades are in, and Penn gets a … drum roll please … B!

Yes the College Sustainability Report Card grades universities across the country on issues such as Green Building, Endowment Transparency, or Food and Recycling, and this year Penn got, well, the same grade as last year.

The report did give a shout out to Penn as an “Administration Leader” — Gutmann signed the American College and University Climate Commitment. And the report sends major props to Penn Dining for the farmers’ market and the Earth Tub … whoa.

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