New Constitution Draft Next Week

Now that the administration-dominated Alumni Council has succeeded in changing the threshold to approve a new constitution from 3/4 to 2/3, they’re going to try to shove a new constitution down our throats even sooner than expected.

It looks like a draft of the new constitution will be made publicly available next week and that a vote could some as early as this summer.

— Forwarded Message —
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2006 09:01:32 EST
From: Patricia Fisher-Harris Harris@Dartmouth.EDU>
Subject: Letter from President Rick Routhier
To: ALUMNI-COUNCIL@LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU
—

To Alumni Councilors
Re: Recent Alumni Association Constitutional change

As you know, all Dartmouth alumni were recently asked to
consider an amendment
to the Association constitution which will change the
method of voting for
constitutional amendments. The amendmant, which I include
at the end of this
message, shifts the process for considering constitutional
amendments from
in-person voting requiring a three quarters majority
to ‘all media’ voting
requiring a two thirds majority.

Despite a blizzard that blew up the Northeastern Coast the
day of the vote, 230
alumni convened in Spaulding Auditorium on Sunday, February
12. I’m happy to
report that the measure passed by a vote of 198 To 32, (86%
approval, well
above the 75% requirement for passage).

The passage of this amendment by more than 80% of those
present means that we
will be on a different track than the one we discussed in
December when our Alumni Governance Task Force presents
their upcoming final
constitution recommendation. We have asked the Task Force
Committee to
complete their work in early March. Soon thereafter, we
will send out to the
entire Council their proposal. The Council will be asked
to vote on the
proposed constitution at our May meeting. And if we
approve the proposal, the
Association will then send out the proposed constitution
for consideration by
all alumni via “all media” voting, probably sometime this
summer.

The reason I bring this up is that once the final proposal
is completed,
opportunities for further input will be limited. At our May
meeting we
will likely be asking you to consider a straight up or down
vote on the
document. Therefore, if you or your constituents have input
you would
like considered, and have not done so already, I would urge
you to read the
draft constitution and give your feedback to the Task Force
during the next
month.

The draft will be sent to you next week, and you have two
ways to provide
feedback:

1. Email the Task Force directly:
AGTaskForce@Alum.Dartmouth.org.
2. Participate in a WEBCAST during which all alumni will be
able to comment on
the draft and ask questions of the Task Force.

The webast is taking place on Monday, March 27, in Boston,
from 7-9 pm (EST) at
the Sheraton Boston. A formal invitation will be coming to
you this week.
Please come to the webcast in person if you can, or
particpate online.

The constitution draft resolves issues regarding the
leadership structure,
nominations for officers and alumni trustees, and the
process for amending the
constitution.

If you have a strong point of view on anything in the
draft, we’d like to hear
from you. Again, you can contact the Task Force by emailing
your point of view
directly to them or back to me.

On our behest as a Council and on our behalf, the Task
Force has worked hard to
craft a document and a constitution that will best serve
the alumni. They are
very near the finish line and we want to make sure they
have the benefit of as
much input as possible before they complete their work.

Thanks in advance for your consideration. I look forward to
our next meeting
from May 18-20 in Hanover.

Rick Routhier ’73
President