A word to our Dartmouth readers

Today is your last chance to vote on (and I recommend against) the proposed Dartmouth Constitution. The pro-consitution forces have blitzed Dartmouth alums with email appeals, pre-recorded messages, and calls from telemarketer types. The essence of their message is that a “yes” vote will “keep Dartmouth strong” while a “no” vote will lead Dartmouth into “a downward death spiral.” To my knowledge, though, no one has explained why radically overhauling the process of electing trustees will strengthen the College, or why not doing so will kill it
The reality is that Dartmouth alums recently have succeeded in electing a few independent-minded trustees who ask tough questions about where the College is headed. The folks who run the College don’t like being asked these tough questions, so they have concocted a complex new mechanism to try to prevent the election of independent-minded trustees.
Adopting the new Constitution would tend to insulate the administration from concerns over its politically correct agenda, the decline of certain departments into bastions of quirky leftism, the loss of outstanding faculty members, and other such issues. Even if the Constitution is defeated, the administration and its supporters will still hold most of the cards, but its critics will at least have a fair chance to pick up a few.
Voting ends tonight at midnight. You can vote electronically if you still have the relevant email, or by calling 603-636-2258 to get you pin number and then 866-620-4940 to cast your vote.

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