HANOVER, N.H. —
The Dartmouth College provost has resigned after an independent faculty-led committee found his “statements and disclosures about his AI use fall demonstrably short of the standards.”
The review committee was tasked with determining if Provost Santiago Schnell met the artificial intelligence guidelines for publications and his public writing, how he used AI, if he was honest about it and if his use of AI violated Dartmouth policy.
The committee found that “the Provost used AI to meaningfully alter his writing in violation of at least one publication’s AI use and/or disclosure requirement, failed to disclose his use of AI in clear violation of a national newspaper’s stated policy, was not forthcoming about his AI use, and fell short of the standards set forth by Dartmouth’s Code of Ethical Conduct, the Academic Honor Principle, and Geisel’s Policy on Expectations for Professionalism for Faculty, Non-Faculty Academics, and Staff.”
The committee said it ran into the additional challenge of insufficient cooperation from Schnell, who was named provost in May 2025.
Dartmouth College President Sian Leah Beilock said Schnell resigned on his own.
“I expect our senior leaders to hold themselves to the highest standards,” Beilock wrote in a message to the Dartmouth College community. “Out of respect for his colleagues and the institution, Santiago has resigned as provost and is leaving the university. This was his decision. We remain grateful for his leadership and wish him well.”
Students on campus said they were aware of the reasoning behind Schnell’s resignation.
“I think the fact that he’s in such a position of power is kind of like a betrayal of the standards were held to,” said student Aaliyah Robinson.
In one instance, the committee flagged an opinion piece Schnell wrote for the Washington Post titled “Universities are fighting AI cheating. But there’s a deeper problem.“
The review said that in communication with a journalist, Schnell admitted to using ChatGPT to refine a few arguments and check for grammatical errors for that piece. This was in violation of The Washington Post’s policy, which at the time was that writers “agree that the content that (they) submit was not created or manipulated with artificial intelligence or editing software.”
“I think especially when it comes to writing opinion pieces and putting out your work as this person who has a kind of authority, especially in an academic institution like Dartmouth, it’s really disappointing to see that lack of care or effort be put into their work,” said student Nathan Hill.
Some students told News 9 they were pleased by Dartmouth College’s response to this situation, and others applauded the work of student journalists who reported on it.
“The whole thing with the provost occurring in the first place is disappointing,” said student Jasper Park. “But I think it’s encouraging to see that students are making efforts to hold them accountable and strive to improve here.”
News 9 reached out to Schnell, who referred questions to his lawyers.
Beilock said the provost position will temporarily be held by Matthew Delmont through June 2028. Delmont is the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor of History and Frank J. Guarini Associate Dean of Faculty for International and Interdisciplinary Studies in the School of Arts and Sciences.