Friday, November 03, 2006
Constitution Rejection in the News
It is an icy morning, this. But it is also the clearest in weeks. It’s a good day for Dartmouth. The constitution has been rejected overwhelmingly. It failed by eighteen percentage points in the largest College vote in history—the broadest…Thursday, November 02, 2006
Constitution Rejected; 51.4% of Alumni Vote ‘No’
With record turnout—the highest ever achieved at Dartmouth—alumni voted to reject the undemocratic constitution. Fifty-one percent voted to reject the constitution, which was the position recommended here at Dartblog over the course of eighty posts composed between September 27, 2005…Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Dartmouth Constitution Results
They will be released tomorrow. 24,918 alumni voted — that’s 37%; an increase of twelve percentage points from the last trustee election….Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Once More Once
Now is the time to call 603-646-2258, get your personal PIN number, and then call 866-620-4940 at any time before midnight tonight to cast your ballot against the undemocratic constitutional proposal for Dartmouth….The 24 Hour Challenge
In addition to the 211th anniversary of the birth of John Keats, today is also the last day to vote on the proposed constitution for Dartmouth. Have you heard about this thing? I’ve mentioned it a few times. I strongly…Monday, October 30, 2006
Rebutting False Claims
Dartmouth trustee Peter Robinson appears in The Wall Street Journal this morning, to defend against factually incorrect charges from constitution drafter John Daukas. The WSJ site is, of course, pay-only, so here is the text of the letter:Dartmouth Constitution: A…Sunday, October 29, 2006
“The whole thing smells bad to me.”
Tom Temple has voted ‘no’ on the proposed constitution for Dartmouth. I personally hope you, dear reader, will do the same. There are two more days of voting. Find instructions on how to vote at AlumniConstitution.org….Saturday, October 28, 2006
The Split-Vote Fallacy
In a letter of October 27 to the editor of The Wall Street Journal, reprinted below, Dartmouth alumnus Robert Downey claims that the proposed constitution for his alma mater would make trustee elections more democratic. Mr. Downey’s heart is in…Friday, October 20, 2006
The New York Sun Reveals Crass Efforts at Passing the Constitution
In today’s editions of The New York Sun, Eliana Johnson looks at the unprecedented tactics being used by the group of folks intent on passing the proposed new constitution and securing their own positions of power, sealing Dartmouth alumni governance—and…Monday, October 16, 2006
Why the Constitution Will Fail
At the Volokh Conspiracy this morning, Todd Zywicki posted an update on the constitution battle. Scrolling through the many comments, I noted this gem from Walker White, who has already voted ‘no’ on the constitution:What gets me is this: who…Friday, October 13, 2006
Another Reason to Vote ‘No’ on the Constitution
Grant Bosse, Class of 1994, e-mails:I’ve been following and working on political campaigns since well before I could vote. So I never really shared the frustration others had with all those annoying Get Out The Vote phone calls leading up…Tuesday, October 10, 2006
How to Disarm the Rich and Powerful: Vote.
Well, then. I suppose it is safe to say that Dartmouth alumni governance has become intensely politicized in recent months. The small group which has dominated it for years—that is, those who control the debate, make the decisions, and listen…Wednesday, October 04, 2006
It Sets Democracy on a Skewer
In the first-of-the-year issue of the Dartmouth Independent, a non-partisan publication if ever there were one, Emily Mirengoff ‘10 undertakes a primer on Dartmouth election politics, and emerges from the thicket of the proposed constitution with the hide of a…Can’t Alumni Make Up Their Own Minds? — Round 2
By now, many Dartmouth alumni know that Peter Fahey ‘68 (who just a week ago claimed in The Dartmouth that, essentially, a vote against the constitution is a vote against Dartmouth College itself), through the organization strangely called Dartmouth Alumni…Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Student Assembly Polls on Constitution
A poll conducted by the Dartmouth Student Assembly—every undergraduate was invited to respond—found that 37% of students oppose the proposed constitution, while 21% favor it. 11% considered themselves undecided, and 31% marked that they either do not know enough to…Why Can’t Alums Make Up Their Own Minds?
When it comes to the proposed constitution for Dartmouth alumni, alumni are starting to wonder whether the drafters of the constitution doth protest too much. The heated arguments in favor of the constitution, it turns out, aren’t about the constitution…Friday, September 29, 2006
Your Criticism of this Document Hurts Dartmouth!
May I observe a stunning bit of intellectual inconsistency? Over and over, proponents of an intensely controversial proposed constitution for Dartmouth’s alumni have attempted to argue that those who disagree with the constitution—those who point to this paragraph and that…Tuesday, September 19, 2006
The Dartmouth Party Line, and why it matters
Another blogger picks up on the constitution battle at Dartmouth. “Bird Dog” presents the fight from a political angle (right versus left), which is one I have found generally inapt for the narrow question of the constitution. But it is…Tuesday, September 12, 2006
The Scripted Proponents
Dartmouth’s Alumni Council has occasionally courted criticism as an unelected and fundamentally unrepresentative group with disproportionate power. Members of the task force which drafted a controversial proposed constitution have publicly agreed with this sentiment, and have explained that their proposal…Monday, September 11, 2006
David Gale’s E-mail About the Constitution
David Gale ‘00 has sent around the attached e-mail offering his arguments (backed by chapter-and-verse citation) against the proposed constitution. My understanding is that David only sent this message to a few hundred or so, so do read and forward…Sunday, September 10, 2006
Petition Trustees Vote Against Board Endorsement of Proposed Constitution
A proposed new constitution for Dartmouth alumni, which would radically overhaul the rules for electing petition trustees—an overhaul that, after the consecutive election of three such trustees, has elicited great suspicion from all corners of Dartmouth—has now been endorsed in…Saturday, September 09, 2006
E-Mail Opposing Constitution
AlumniConstitution.org, which opposes the controversial proposed constitution at Dartmouth and which kindly links to Dartblog’s posts on the matter, is sending around the below e-mail. They also have an excellent ‘e-mail a friend’ feature on the site itself, which is…Friday, September 08, 2006
Who Are ‘Dartmouth Alumni for Common Sense’?
A curious new organization has sprung up and is sending around this letter to recruit support. Please read the letter, which is signed by former chairman of the Dartmouth Board of Trustees Susan Dentzer, and then the below analysis from…The Cost of Electioneering
A reader familiar with Dartmouth’s outreach to alumni writes:In “Responding to Rick Routhier” you wrote that he “had the good fortune some weeks ago to author a letter which Dartmouth College, at what I can only imagine is a massive…Thursday, September 07, 2006
Responding to Rick Routhier
Hush, now! The posts on this ponderous proposed constitution will end in just a few weeks. For now, though, this: Rick Routhier, Class of 1973, a supporter of the controversial proposed constitution and the most recent president of the Alumni…Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Let’s Make Sure the Playing Ground is Level
The official Vox the Vote website says: “The ballot committee of the Association of Alumni is charged with running fair balloting contests for alumni trustee and for other association business that comes before the membership for a vote.” Very, very…Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Will the Dartmouth Ballot Be Fair?
David Gale, Class of 2000 and a ruthlessly logical man, writes about the guidelines for creating the proposed alumni constitution ballot: “This creates a level playing field, but only if your idea of “level” is the same as ‘sheer cliff’.”…Monday, September 04, 2006
The Wall Street Journal Editorial on Dartmouth
The good folks at the Journal have made gratuit their editorial of this past weekend, opposing efforts to end democracy at Dartmouth. The AlumniConstitution.org site has also made available a downloadable PDF document….Friday, September 01, 2006
Stings Like Justice
This bright morning, the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal weighs in on efforts at Dartmouth to ensure that petition trustees, such as those three most recently elected, can no longer to elected to the Board. Read the editorial…Thursday, August 17, 2006
Claims of Censorship and Intimidation at Dartmouth
This morning’s edition of The Dartmouth carries a worrisome story by reporter Rebekah Rombom. Here is a significant portion of it, but please click here to read the whole thing.As the Association of Alumni prepares to vote on a new…Friday, July 28, 2006
The Verdict: Unconstitutional.
New information shows that the decision made months ago by the Executive Committee of the Dartmouth Association of Alumni to cancel the planned October 2006 annual elections—to stretch out their own terms by as many as six months—is, flatly, unconstitutional….Thursday, July 27, 2006
Syndication Deals: Now for Class Newsletters, Too
I hope that, when we 1,095 of the Dartmouth Class of 2008 leave Hanover, and when our mailboxes are graced with our little class newsletters with little news items about the big things we all are doing, I hope that…Tuesday, July 18, 2006
In New Hampshire’s Largest Newspaper, Dartmouth Republicans and Democrats Come Out Against Proposed Constitution
Adam Patinkin ‘07, president of the New Hampshire College Democrats, and Rahul Sangwan ‘07, president of the Dartmouth College Republicans, have come out in the pages of the New Hampshire Union Leader against the proposed new constitution. The piece is…Saturday, July 15, 2006
Say, Didn’t There Used To Be A Blog ‘Round Here?
A quick glance at the official blog of the Alumni Governance Task Force — the group which drafted a proposed new constitution for Dartmouth’s Association of Alumni — reveals a major change of heart. Not as regards the text of…Friday, July 14, 2006
A Letter from Bill Carney, Class of 1975
Bill Carney is a member of the Dartmouth Council of Alumni and was asked, like his fellow Councillors, to vote on the proposed new constitution preliminarily—that is, before it goes out to the whole alumni body. (It will go out…Sunday, July 09, 2006
The Electioneering Begins
The e-mail reprinted in full below was mass-mailed on Thursday, July 6 to the members of the Dartmouth Class Officers Assocation by that association’s president. The subject line is, “Support for the Alumni Constitution,” referring to the controversial proposed constitutional…Thursday, July 06, 2006
“Let’s ensure a level playing field and treat as equals each Dartmouth alumnus seeking a seat on the Board.”
In the pages of The Dartmouth this morn, alum Tim Dreisbach, who has long been involved in alumni affairs, argues against passage of the proposed constitution, upon which all alumni can vote starting September 15. The article makes a special…Monday, July 03, 2006
The Soma and the Damage Done
Andrew Seal, editor of Dartmouth’s progressive Free Press publication, updates himself on the Dartmouth governance debate and gives this take on the “leadership arc” envisaged in the constitutional proposal which will go out to all alumni for a vote on…Thursday, June 29, 2006
The Dartmouth Covers Governance Battle
Ben Taylor, when not swabbing the decks, reports for The Dartmouth. His article this ayem is “Alumni battle in national spotlight.” Now, I hasten to add that his topic isn’t purely an alumni battle, because the ‘battle’, such as it…Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Chairman of Dartmouth Task Force Accuses Constitution Dissenters of Trying to “take over the board of trustees”
In an open letter to the editor of the New York Times railing against that paper’s coverage of the controversial constitutional proposal at Dartmouth College, the chief of the Alumni Governance Task Force which produced the document, Joe Stevenson, attacks…Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Dartmouth as Political Microcosm
In today’s The Dartmouth, Sara del Nido reflects on the national attention recently brought upon Dartmouth as the powers that be attempt a constitutional overhaul. An excerpt:The answer perhaps lies in the universality of the issues being debated… the proposed…Saturday, June 24, 2006
Peter Robinson on the Laura Ingraham Show
Dartlog has posted an audio excerpt of trustee Peter Robinson’s appearance on the Laura Ingraham Show on Thursday morning, where, after dispensing with Washington business, she asked him about the proposed new constitution here at Dartmouth. His advice? “We’d recommend…Thursday, June 22, 2006
New York Times Covers Controversial Constitution
In an article viewable on the Internet here, in the International Herald-Tribune here, and in a (rather shoddy-looking) PDF document here, New York Times reporter Diana Schemo covers the battle over the Alumni Governance Task Force’s proposed constitution—one I have…Saturday, June 17, 2006
What’s The Right Got To Do With It?
“A new fight has erupted at Dartmouth College, long a battleground for conservatives and liberals warring over politics, education and values.” An old battleground? That’s possible. Few people are in a position to know, most having spent only four years…Friday, June 02, 2006
…and they give up the game
My attention is called to this post at the Little Green Blog, a blog written by Dartmouth leftists including Andrew Seal, the editor-in-chief of the liberal Dartmouth Free Press. Andrew recently joined with Dartmouth Review editor-in-chief Dan Linsalata to oppose…Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Seal and Linsalata Against the Constitution
The editor of Dartmouth’s liberal student publication, the Free Press, and the editor of its conservative publication, the Review, oppose the Alumni Governance Task Force’s proposed constitution in chorus today, demonstrating that there truly is no room for partisan politics…Tuesday, May 30, 2006
The Dartmouth: “Association of Alumni halts imminent elections”
Rebekah Rombom at The Dartmouth reports on the unconstitutional power grab of the Association of Alumni’s Executive Committee and leadership, calling it an important factor in the debate on the Alumni Governance Task Force’s anti-petition constitution proposal:In the latest twist…Saturday, May 27, 2006
Ho capito, signor sì!
The officers and Executive Committee of Dartmouth’s Association of Alumni have done to Dartmouth, to her students, and to her former students a massive disservice by canceling the annual election for the very offices they hold. It is cause for…Friday, May 26, 2006
At Long Last…
Posting has been light because of autre obligations, but here is your notice—the very last patina of decency has melted away. According to this letter just electronically distributed by the current leaders of Dartmouth’s Association of Alumni, alumni shall have…Monday, May 22, 2006
The Official Line, Cut
A member of the Dartmouth Alumni Governance Task Force, in response to this post, writes the following in an e-mail to me:I just read your post about the council’s constitutional amendment and am dismayed by the animosity. The amendment to…Saturday, May 20, 2006
Report: Dartmouth Alumni Council Meets and Votes
The results are, as yet, unofficial, but the Alumni Council of Dartmouth College has met and a few moments ago voted on two items very important to the passage of the Alumni Governance Task Force’s controversial new constitution. First, the…Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Vox Clamantis In Deserto.org
A group of five Dartmouth undergraduates has started a new petition exclusively for undergraduates who oppose the sort of tawdry politicking that’s been behind the actions of the current Executive Committee (A group which has yet to answer whether it…Monday, April 24, 2006
AGTF Follies Continued
Timothy Dreisbach ‘71 is in The Dartmouth today, taking umbrage at “[t]he callous disregard of democratic process by the current officials” and saying that the AGTF’s final proposed constitution is far from perfect….Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Dartmouth AGTF Releases Final Draft
Dartmouth’s Alumni Governance Task Force has released its latest draft. [PDF] UPDATE: The comments are already coming in. I have not yet plowed through it, but for those enterprising few who were considering it, I suppose it is worth mentioning…Wednesday, March 29, 2006
American Council of Trustees & Alumni on the Constitution
ACTA, a non-partisan organization based in Washington, has also taken note of the constitutional debacle here at Dartmouth. The group writes on its website:The AGTF is now writing a new constitution that would compel petition candidates to conform to the…Monday, March 27, 2006
FIRE Notes Dartmouth Constitution Troubles
Charles Mitchell at The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization advocating free speech at colleges, kindly links to Dartblog as he discusses the issue of the proposed constitution. Responding to the draft’s demand that petition…Friday, March 24, 2006
More New Rules, More Reform Prevention
David Gale notes that the Dartmouth Alumni Association’s Executive Committee has released new rules that could allow it to exclude petition amendments from the upcoming constitutional ballot and that it also has reserved for itself the right to print, on…Thursday, March 23, 2006
Tutte le Macchine, Rovescerò
Several days ago I placed a phone call to a member of Dartmouth’s Alumni Governance Task Force—a small group of alumni charged with drafting an overhaul to the constitution on which Dartmouth alumni draw their power and organize themselves, and…Tuesday, March 14, 2006
The Committee Removes All Doubt
A “disgusted” young alum writes to inform me that the Executive Committee of the Assocation of Alumni of Dartmouth College has removed all doubt: They have admitted, albeit unofficially, that they plan not to allow the annual October election to…Friday, March 10, 2006
Alumni Governance Task Force Releases Penultimate Draft
Dartmouth’s AGTF has released its second-to-final draft of the constitution. Analysis to come. UPDATE: In the extended, a notice of the “Final Public Discussion” to be held in Boston. AND: My most recent writing on alumni affairs is here. Per…Monday, February 27, 2006
The Situation on the Connecticut
Note: This post discusses Dartmouth politics and is a continuation of “The Situation on the Charles,” which dealt with ousted Harvard president Larry Summers. Regular, non-Dartmouth readers may be mostly interested in the above. At Harvard it was an entrenched…Friday, February 17, 2006
The Dartmouth Editorial Board on the A.o.A ExCom
From today’s issue:The surprise, then, comes from the way in which the Association went about approving these measures. As our article on Monday reported, the meeting did not follow any defined rules of procedure and its leaders were unresponsive to…Wednesday, February 15, 2006
A Monkey & An Irrational Fear of Democracy
As noted, the amendment to the constitution of the Dartmouth Alumni Association passed. I was surprised to find myself not agitated, as is my wont when a favored politician looses a race, but altogether downhearted at the business. There a…Sunday, February 12, 2006
Amendment Passes
The Alumni Association has passed the contentious amendment by a vote of 198 to 32. The AGTF’s proposed constitution, the revision of which has not yet been made public, will now be subject to a 2/3 approval threshold rather than…Friday, February 10, 2006
Comments on the Sunday Vote
The creaky old Inbox weighs rather decisively against the amendment up for vote on Sunday, though the majority of folks say they’ll be merely sending their regrets. Sunday afternoons in New Hampshire are hard to come by. However, I thought…The Appearance of Impropriety, Continued
In today’s The Dartmouth, Trustees T.J. Rodgers, Peter Robinson, and Todd Zywicki point out concerns about the constitutional amendment up for a those-present-only vote on Sunday. The amendment would enable Internet voting for the adoption of the Alumni Governance Task…Thursday, February 09, 2006
The Appearance of Impropriety
David Gale, Dartmouth ‘00, on the amendment up for vote this Sunday:A week ago, I was planning on voting in favor, because it introduces all-media voting, which I strongly desire. Once I started posting here and giving it more thought…Wednesday, January 25, 2006
The Folly of Borda’s Rule, and Giving Approval
Borda’s Rule: With N candidates, your 1st ranked candidate receives N-1 points from you. Your 2nd ranked candidate receives N-2 points from you. And so on. Non-chosen candidates receive zero points. Iterate the tallying and come up with an eventual…Thursday, January 05, 2006
A [Fundamentally Wrong] Question of Race
As Morgan Freeman, who is a man as close as any in memory to being a wise old tree, recently said: “The only way to defeat racism is to stop talking about it. I am going to stop calling you…Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Be The Change II
In this post, I reported and commented on the rule enshrined in a proposed overhaul to Dartmouth’s alumni constitution that certain groups—black, Native American, Asian, Latino, and gay—would have extra representatives in the alumni assembly. I took several tacks, notably…Sunday, November 13, 2005
Be The Change You Want To See In The World
Image Courtesy: Scott Meacham and Dartmo.com. Circa 1950.1976: Dartmouth’s very first female students—they matriculated in 1972, taking up the rear among the Ancient Eight—are graduating and, as they receive their diplomas, they not only embolden their contemporaries in the classes…Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Rising Mists and Pierced Fog
Dartmouth, as an institution with vasty roots spread across, as the Alma Mater goes, the girdled earth, is no stranger to political, scientific, or academic controversy. No worthwhile college is, I suspect. But what is new, at least in the…Friday, October 28, 2005
A Revolution In Rest
Despite the rejection of the petition slate of candidates at Dartmouth’s Alumni Association meeting last weekend, the so-called Lone Pine Revolution is far from over. Writers for the Dartmouth Review recently published Professor Jon Appleton’s resignation letter which had been…Monday, October 24, 2005
More Dartmouth Election Reaction
Drew Cline, National Review contributor and opinion editor of the Union Leader calls it a sham election, and asks: “Where are the campus activists who are always running around advocating ‘speaking truth to power’?” Grant Bosse ‘94, staff director for…Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Election Reform and Communication Reform
In The Dartmouth, alum Frank Gado of White River Junction, VT, who is running for second vice president on the upcoming petition slate, complains rightly that dissent on the proposed constitution, which would severely limit petition opportunities, is being quieted.Geoff…Thursday, October 06, 2005
Defending the New Constitution
Dartmouth Alumni—or at least those making the trip to Hanover for Homecoming Weekend—will be considering the proposed new constitution which would govern Dartmouth’s alumni organization and the election of the College’s trustees at the Association of Alumni Annual Meeting on…Friday, September 30, 2005
Strong Connections
I reported yesterday on the unfortunate specters of consolidation of power and anti-petition electioneering enshrined in a proposed new constitution for Dartmouth. Prompted by reader email, I find that it is worthy of note that one of the major changes…Thursday, September 29, 2005
Changing The Rules
Joseph Asch ‘79 has a column in The Dartmouth this morning that inveighs against the proposed constitution. He writes:The Dartmouth community deserves better than schoolboy manipulation of the numbers and the petulant re-jiggering of election rules. Show some sense of…“As though a rose should shut, and be a bud again.”
Dartmouth College is in the midst of a power shift. The Task Force on Alumni Governance was commissioned to draft an update to the constitutions of the Dartmouth Alumni Council and Alumni Association in the Spring of 2004, just as…Tuesday, September 27, 2005