Is the Trustee Decision Good or Bad for Dartmouth?-- No Anons

By Popular Demand:



This is a new thread asking the same question as another... with one difference. Only people who identify both their name and Dartmouth class should post here. All other anonymous posts, done without such explicit identification, will be deleted as time of the moderator allows. This is done at the request of many who are finding the overwhelming anon postings overwhelming, distracting, and less thoughtful. This is not censorship, something claimed when this moderator attempted this once before.



Anyone who wants to post anonymously can still do so on other threads, and on this specific topic by linking to here. Please also take comments of the "can the trustees do this?", and "what are the rights of alumni?" varieties to the other discussion threads.



The moderator will copy here the identified posts from the prior thread, just to start things off.

A Statement to the Press

Various news outlets have requested commentary by the Association of Alumni. We did not want to prejudge the trustees with a statement prepared in advance, and have not had a formal meeting of the Executive Committee since the announcement.

The following statement was released by members of the committee (a majority in fact, as noted) expressing their opinions. As noted earlier in the email message to alumni, a formal statement of position and courses of action will be made following thoughtful consideration by the commitee as a whole.

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HANOVER, NH -- A majority of the Dartmouth Alumni Association's Executive Committee has condemned the changes in the make-up of the school's Board of Trustees announced on Saturday. The statement echoes results of an alumni poll conducted by the Association in August, which showed over 92% in favor of maintaining the parity between"charter" (Board-selected) trustees and trustees elected by the alumni body.

As the Board's action on Saturday effectively wipes out an agreement between the trustees and the Association dating back to 1891, the Executive Committee is consulting the law firm of Williams and Connolly about its legal options. Dartmouth Trustees and administrators have already been advised to preserve all documents related to the Board's most recent action.

The Executive Committee had gone on record consistently in urging the Board of Trustees to maintain this historic balance between alumni-elected trustees and those chosen by the Board itself, called charter trustees. Frank Gado, an Association officer, said today: "The actions of Dartmouth's Trustees are more in keeping with the conduct of a totalitarian state than with a college dedicated to educating leaders of the world's greatest democracy. When you come right down to it, Dartmouth doesn't trust its graduates with a meaningful vote."

The Alumni Association leaders who are preparing for a potential lawsuit insist they are saddened by its prospect. All express their belief that, had the trustees' study group conferred with their alumni counterparts in good faith, solutions consistent with the historic 1891 agreement were available. Instead, all overtures were ignored. A single meeting with the Association's governance committee occurred after the trustee group had already completed its study and was just days away from finalizing its report to the full Board.

Dartmouth Trustee Chairman Charles "Ed" Haldeman maintains that the enlargement of Dartmouth's Board must be done without adding seats elected by alumni. These elections, Haldeman says, "increase rancor"and "divisiveness" and have become too costly. In response, Gado added: "Surely no strife generated in an election could compare with the rancor and divisiveness that have flared because of the trustees' unilateral stripping away of alumni rights. And the many hundred thousands of dollars consumed by this fight will overwhelm the $75,000 spent by each of the two frontrunners in this year's trustee race."

Undemocratic expansion of the Board is not the only issue being contested by the Association. Executive committee members Tim Dreisbach and David Gale have pointed to the Report's interference in the affairs of the Association, designed to operate independently of the College.

"I'm very disappointed," Gale remarked, "that the Board, rather than telling us which issues they'd like addressed and working with us to find solutions, has decided to mandate certain changes which they expect us to compel a super-majority of alumni to approve before we're allowed to manage further Trustee elections."

Dreisbach similarly questioned the right of the trustees to rip up the Association's constitution and redraft it to their liking. "What the trustees are now dictating for alumni elections accomplishes what was rejected in last year's constitutional referendum, strengthening the advantage of nominated candidates over petitioners. Is the Board teaching us that elections don't count if those in power don't like the results?"

Is the Trustee Decision Good for Dartmouth?

A prior discussion thread was getting long. Let's try to break out differnet issues for discussion. This post is three of three.

A lot of the discussion until now centers on the rights of alumni to select trustees and the efforts of the Association to defend those rights. Go to the immediately preceding discussion areas if you want to comment on that; not here please!!

Another question, arguably more important, is whether the action taken by the Board is good for Dartmouth. Thoughts?

Alumni Interests

A prior discussion thread was getting long. Let's try to break out differnet issues for discussion. This post is two of three.

A majority of the Association executive committee members were elected with a belief that they should adher to their fiduciary duties as specified in the Association's constitution... that they be responsible for the general interests of alumni. Therefore they feel duty bound to fight for the rights of alumni. A minority, but including the AoA president, feel the consitution is outdated and since alumni rejected the recent attempts to update it, it should only be followed "selectively".

So the question for discussion: What are the interests of the alumni? Are those elected by the alumni duty-bound to protect any rights associated with those interests?

Alumni Representation on College Governance

The prior discussion thread is getting long. Let's try to break out differnet issues for discussion. This post is one of three.

There is some question as to whether the Association or the Council is the "primary" representative of alumni. To focus the topic, please comment on that question specific to the concerns of how alumni help chose trustees to govern Dartmouth, not how they provide input into the general activities of the College.

A Statement from the Association of Alumni Leadership

Dear Members of the Dartmouth Community,

We, a majority of the elected leaders of the Association of Alumni, comprising all 68,000 Dartmouth graduates, lament the decision by the Board of Trustees to eliminate the historic parity between the number of trustees chosen by the Board itself and those chosen by all alumni. This is in flagrant violation of an agreement between the College and her alumni that has benefited Dartmouth for well over a century.

Further, we deem unacceptable that the Board should now dictate the election process by which alumni choose trustees, a power which has appropriately and historically been determined and exercised by alumni themselves.

The lengthy report by the trustees’ governance committee, seemingly reasonable on the surface, is revealed upon a more careful inspection to be problematic and at times misleading. One positive in the report, creating standing committees for academics, student life, and alumni relations, is sadly outweighed by the negatives of reducing your role in electing trustees.

A more expansive response, including our proximate course of action, will be issued after we have had more time to digest and deliberate the full implications of the trustee decision.

Association Officers and Executives:

Martin Boles ‘80
Timothy Dreisbach ‘71
Frank Gado ‘58
David Gale ‘00
Alex Mooney ‘93
Marji Ross ‘81
Kathryn Wallop ‘80