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Dartmouth alumni get it right
For over a year, ACTA has been charting controversies at Dartmouth surrounding alumni governance. ACTA applauded the election of dark horse petition candidates Todd Zywicki and Peter Robinson to the board of trustees, deplored the alumni association's decision to prolong its officers' elected terms by postponing an election date, and challenged the Dartmouth administration to cease its electioneering activities in favor of a new alumni constitution that would make it much harder for petition candidates to win election to the board. While Dartmouth administrators never admitted wrongdoing or mended their ways, the alumni saw through their machinations and voted down the new constitution. For the new constitution to be voted in, 66% of voters would have had to approve it. In the end, only 49% did, while 51% voted against it.
InsideHigherEd.com has the details, along with a quote from ACTA president Anne Neal, who called the vote a "significant victory." "This is substantial vote because alumni want to ensure free speech and thought," Neal said. "There's a traditional perception that alumni should put up and shut up. That attitude has been changing across the country--it's a healthy situation."
Congratulations to Dartmouth alumni on a decision well made! While the new constitution would have concentrated power among inside candidates, the existing one does much more to encourage genuinely democratic process when it comes to placing alumni on the board of trustees.
Posted by acta online on November 03, 2006 at November 3, 2006 07:42 AM
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