The latest power play at Dartmouth
Joe Malchow reports on the latest power play at Dartmouth. As we have noted, the powers-that-be are considering plans to strip alumni of their longstanding right to elect half of Dartmouth's trustees. The decision follows (a) an unbroken string of victories in trustee elections by independent candidates critical of the status quo at Dartmouth and (b) the defeat of a constitutional amendment designed to make such victories more difficult to achieve.
The Dartmouth Association of Alumni wanted to mail a letter to all alums advising them that the trustee election process is being re-evaluated. It therefore requested the list of its members—all former students of Dartmouth—as well as funds to support the mailing. Joe reports that the administration denied both requests.
Joe describes the denials as "evidently without precedent." He also notes that last year, when alumni groups were headed by supporters of the proposed constitutional amendment to make it more difficult for independent candidates to be elected, their mailings were paid for and executed by the college.
Dartmouth's vice president of alumni relations claimed that the current mailing would be “duplicative.” However, the prior communications in question were supportive of the effort to reevaluate the composition of the Board. The Association’s communication—which was eventually sent with private funds and through a privately held mailing list—was not. Thus, it's implausible to suppose that the real issue is duplication. More likely, the college refused to pay for the mailing (or even provide the list) this time because it knew the mailing wouldn't advance its agenda. As Joe puts it:
Withholding the College’s mailing machine—routinely used to communicate on such matters when the Association was dominated by ardent supporters of the Administration—appears to be viewpoint censorship.
As part of the same power play, the Administration reportedly has informed the Association that it will no longer support its retention of an attorney. Historically, Dartmouth’s Alumni Association has been represented by counsel, but this relationship now will be dissolved, presumably in order to make it more difficult for the Association to challenge future administration power plays.
