AoA Election Begins Today

The AoA election, which begins today, is essentially a referendum on the Association led lawsuit. The lawsuit is in response to the Board of Trustees’ announced intention to change the proportion of alumni-elected trustees to appointed trustees from 50/50 to 33/67 (the proportion does not include ex officio trustees). There have been claims that the lawsuit is sullying Dartmouth’s name, but the lawsuit would not have been necessary had the Board honored an agreement with more than one hundred years behind it. Let this be clear: we are not against expanding the Board; we are against the unproportional expansion of the Board. Every time the Board’s size has been increased since 1891, the increase has been proportional.

More, beneath the fold.

This is an important juncture in history of the College. The next president must recommit the College to the undergraduate experience, to the importance of a liberal arts education. This, coupled with increased transparency in the administration, is what we—along with many students and alumni—are looking for. This concern has largely fueled the recent victories of petition trustees. Now the Board is changing the rules mid-game. The reason Chairman Ed Haldeman ’69 gave for not increasing the number of alumni-elected trustees was the contentious nature of recent elections. The last few U.S. presidential elections are recent proof that elections become most contentious when more oversight is needed in the governing process. From whom will the increased oversight come, if not from alumni? For this reason, The Dartmouth Review has endorsed the petition slate in the AoA election. Their names, below:

Officers:
J. Michael Murphy ’61
Bert Boles ’80
Paul Mirengoff ’71
F. Marian Chambers ’76

Committee Members:
Frank Gado ’58
Zach Hafer ’99
Alexander X. Mooney ’93
Richard Roberts ’83
Marjory Grant Ross ’81
John Steel ’54
Charles J. Urstadt ’49

More information on the petition candidates can be found here.

To vote, go here.