Dartblog

The movement to get alumni involved and included in the governance of colleges and universities is alive at Colgate. A Better Colgate is campaigning “to elect a majority of the members of the Board of Trustees in a free and fair election by a majority vote equal to or greater than 50% plus one of the alumni voting.” Dartmouth College alumni just lost the hundred-plus year-old right to parity— to elect 50% of our Board of Trustees. But hope springs eternal. Perhaps students and alumni at Colgate will succeed in establishing their own right to influence the direction of their university. We can hope, and perhaps more.

Here is the online petition being presented for Colgate alumni to sign to support this change to the Colgate Constitution and a general link to the A Better Colgate website. The goal of this effort is simple: “Our mission is to empower alumni to have a say in the future governance of Colgate University.”

The folks at Colgate are experiencing some of the same, unfortunate problems that have beset Dartmouth including rising tuition and other costs, bloated bureaucracy, and undergraduate and alumni dissatisfaction with the operation and direction of the school. Alumni donations are falling.

Addressing these issues is certainly an admirable goal, whatever the specific solutions. But there is also a larger, transcendent issue. No matter a student or alumnus/a’s perspective on class size, faculty hiring, accountability, bureaucracy, etc. the right to exercise a democratic voice is critical. It is the same principle that has America elect the next president and Congress, rather than allow them to select their own replacements. If, as Americans, we did not have this right we would almost certainly stand up and demand it. Indeed, we have had to when it was denied to some groups. As I see it, the right of alumni to vote is no different.

Colgate is a small university but, evidently, there are those who love it.