Statement on Trustees and Alumni Sentiment

The Executive Committee of the Association has voted to issue the following statement:

Evaluation of alumni trustees is properly the function of elections conducted by alumni.

For this reason, we favor and will strive to restore the historic right and obligation of Association members to determine whether alumni-chosen trustees should be elected to a second term, and to require that such trustees stand before all alumni in seeking re-election.

To further the voice of alumni sentiment on any matter, we favor and will seek to install a mechanism for alumni to place resolutions on the annual ballot by petition, similar to the process for petition amendments to the Association constitution, in order to assay alumni sentiments.

Concerning Trustee Zywicki and the Alumni Council

Regarding recent statements, often quoted inaccurately and unfairly out of context, by Trustee Todd Zywicki, the majority of the Alumni Association Executive Committee has voted to issue the following statement:

The Association urges all members of the Dartmouth community to engage in dialog with civility and respect, but condemns the Alumni Council's censure of one Trustee's recent remarks as reflecting selective outrage out of political motivation, by an organization whose members simultaneously have, in their official capacity, issued condemnations of others in the Dartmouth Community that mirror the stridency of the remarks they condemn.


The entirety of Trustee Zywicki's remarks are available online.

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UPDATE:

A message from Trustee Zywicki

The condemnation by the Alumni Council,
as published by the Office of Alumni Relations.

The Association is the Client

In response to requests from several Association members for assurances that legal counsel for the Association serves only one master, the following statement is authorized by Rob Cary, lead attorney in this matter for Williams and Connolly, representing the AoA:

"Our client is the Association of Alumni of Dartmouth College. As resolved by the Executive Committee of the Association, we receive our direction from its liaison as that individual is authorized by the Association's executive committee. The fact that our fees and expenses may be paid by others does not change the fact that the Association is the entity with whom we have an attorney-client relationship and the sole entity to whom we owe our professional duties in this regard. We understand that the liaison has not been authorized to direct any actions that will involve expenses due from the Association."

AoA Transparency Regarding Lawsuit

This thread is initiated at the request of Anton Anderson '89"

Purpose: Discussion regarding whether the AOA Executive Committee should disclose the details, including funding sources, of its pursuit of the lawsuit against the College to the broad membership of the Association of Alumni.