The capitulation begins at Dartmouth

I’m told that Dartmouth’s Association of Alumni (AoA) has filed papers to dismiss its lawsuit against Dartmouth for the college’s breach of contract, specifically the violation of its 1891 agreement that half of the trustees will be elected by alumni. This, of course, was what the elected slate of AoA executive committee members promised to do if successful in the recent election.

The abandonment of the lawsuit which, by all indications, the judge considered meritorious, paves the way for Dartmouth’s small inner circle of trustees to complete their power play by packing the board with those who will do their bidding. The only question is whether this small group that controls the college will provide the so-called Unity slate with a fig-leaf by changing a few minor details of the board-packing scheme before imposing it. After all, the “Unity” slate claimed that the law suit was unnecessary because disagreements over the board-packing scheme could be worked out through negotiations. One would think that “Unity” slate members would want to be able to point to some changes in the trustees’ plan, however inconsequential, as the “fruit” of the promised negotiations.

The question of whether the trustees will provide such a fig-leaf is interesting, but not important.

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