Update: quasi-campaigning allowed

Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 13:08:28 -0600
From: “Association of Alumni” (make list)
Subject: To members of the Dartmouth Association of Alumni
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To members of the Dartmouth Association of Alumni,

Due to the somewhat unusual nature of this year’s election of Alumni Trustee nominees, the Ballot Committee of the Association of Alumni of Dartmouth College felt that some additional clarification of the process that lies ahead was warranted. Therefore, this communication should be seen as supplementing my email to you of Thursday, March 3, 2005.

First, a word of introduction. The Ballot Committee, which oversees and establishes guidelines for all Alumni Trustee elections, was appointed from the Officers and Executive Committee of the Association of Alumni of Dartmouth College who were elected at the last annual meeting of the Alumni Association on Saturday, September 18, 2004. The members of the Ballot Committee are as follows:

John Walters ’62, President, Association of Alumni (Chair)
Merle Adelman ’80, Second Vice President, Association of Alumni
Allen Collins ’53, Executive Committee, Association of Alumni
Precious Stargell ’85, Executive Committee, Association of Alumni
Kaja Schuppert, ’95, Executive Committee, Association of Alumni

Questions and comments for the Ballot Committee may be submitted to the Office of Alumni Relations at Dartmouth who will see that they are forwarded to us.

It has been our practice to send out biographies and personal statements for each candidate with your ballot. You will be receiving this mailing for the current election shortly. Additionally, candidates’ biographies and personal statements are now posted on the Dartmouth website , where you will also find personalized responses to a set of six questions from each of the candidates. You may view these responses in streaming video or read them as text.

Because of the number of candidates on the slate this year and their desire to provide you with a robust sense of who they are and what they stand for, we are allowing each candidate to send you up to two separate e-mails on topics and issues of their own choosing. We hope you will receive these in the spirit in which they are offered, as an opportunity to become informed on the opinions and positions of these candidates and not as an intrusion in your inbox.

Please note, the allowance of these candidate e-mails is not meant to suggest that we have authorized carte blanche “campaigning” by the candidates. It is our standing belief that the position of Dartmouth Trustee is a significant enough fiduciary responsibility that the candidates should not be burdened with the costs of a political campaign. Therefore, additional broad communications by the candidates, or by others at their direction, are prohibited. Our guidelines provide that it is the responsibility of the candidate to communicate the dignity of the Trustee nomination process to his or her supporters and to honor the spirit and the guidelines of the process. All candidates are expected to take reasonable steps to
discourage their supporters from campaigning on their behalf.

You may receive (or have already received) endorsements of candidates by third parties. Please note that no mailing lists have been or will be released to anyone by the College for the purposes of campaigning or endorsing candidates, and no person or organization directly connected to the College will be permitted to provide endorsements. If you have concerns about violations of the campaigning rules, please e-mail the Balloting Committee through the Office of Alumni Relations.

On behalf of the Balloting Committee, I urge you, as a committed Dartmouth alumnus/a, to consider all candidates and their stated positions equally and with an open mind. Dartmouth alumni now have the privilege of voting for half of the Board of Trustees (excluding the President of the College and the Governor of New Hampshire). This year, there are two Alumni Trustee seats to be filled, one which is open due to retirement and one which is open due to the expansion of the Board of Trustees. You may cast one vote for each of the candidates you feel is qualified to join the Board; by election guidelines you can cast only one vote per candidate but you may vote for as many candidates as you see fit. It is your privilege, and your responsibility, to vote.

The voting period begins today, Monday, March 7, 2005, and concludes Friday, April 22, 2005 at 11:59 p.m. We thank you in advance forparticipating in this important process for our alma mater.

John Walters ’62
President, Association of Alumni of Dartmouth College
Chair, Balloting Committee