Dartmouth rewards its smear artist

Dartmouth has announced the composition of the committee that will conduct the search for the college’s next president. On the plus side, our friend Peter Robinson will be one of the committee’s 14 members. On the minus side, Martha Beattie has also been included.

Beattie played an ignominious role in the recent election for executive positions on the Association of Alumni. Specifically, she co-wrote a letter to female alums claiming, without any evidence or supporting argument, that the “Parity” slate favoring equal alumni representation on the board of trustees was pursuing an anti-female agenda. She thus accused those who disagreed with her about a procedural issue of somehow attempting to undermine the role of women at Dartmouth. The slander was so blatant that, I understand, the “Unity” slate on whose behalf she uttered it removed Beattie’s letter from its website as soon as the election was over.

Beattie’s reward for wielding the hatchet on behalf of Dartmouth’s power structure is a seat at the table where the college’s next president will be selected.

It’s difficult to believe that any good will come from a process in which a smear artist like Beattie has a role. Let’s hope that she, and not Peter, is just a token presence. But let’s not bet on it.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, Beattie’s smear currently is on the “AoA Unity” website, one of two sites operated by the “Unity” slate. I was informed that it was removed after the election. As I made clear in my post, I have no personal knowledge as to whether this occurred.

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