Dartmouth Grads Fail To Take Over Leadership of Alumni Association

A group of Dartmouth College alumni critical of the Ivy League school’s president, James Wright, failed in its bid yesterday to take over the leadership of the alumni association.The association held officer elections yesterday in Hanover, N.H., that were widely perceived as a referendum on alumni satisfaction with Dartmouth’s administration. The results were a good sign for the administration, which has come under criticism from some alumni who say the college is undermining undergraduate education by trying to turn into a research university.A slate of petition candidates who aired concern about the academic direction of the college lost to candidates who were nominated by the Association of Alumni. With almost 400 people voting, all but one of the four officer candidates who ran on the petition slate lost by more than 100 votes.The defeat of the petition slate threatens to cut momentum built by critics of the administration. In the past two years, alumni have elected to Dartmouth’s board of trustees three petition candidates, a Silicon Valley businessman, T. J. Rodgers, a Hoover Institution fellow, Peter Robinson, and a George Mason University School of Law professor, Todd Zywicki, who have expressed opposition to administration policies.Petition slate candidates said they would have won the election if Dartmouth’s 62,000 alumni were permitted to vote as they do for trustee candidates, by submitting ballots by e-mail or by mail. Only those who were physically present at the college were allowed to vote.“Clearly this insider group has quite different opinions compared to the great majority of alumni when they are able to vote,” a businessman who ran for 1st vice president on the petition slate, Joseph Asch, said.The election comes as alumni are debating a proposed constitution that would alter the way alumni elect members to the board of trustees. Critics of the proposed changes, including a Dartmouth graduate and contributor to the Power Line blog, Scott Johnson, say the proposed constitution makes it more difficult for petition candidates to win seats on the 18-member board of trustees. The defeat of the petition candidates increases the likelihood that the proposed constitution will come before a vote of alumni, possibly as early as the spring.The incoming president of the alumni association, Allen Collins, a winner in yesterday’s election, said one purpose of the proposed changes is to help level the playing field between petition candidates and those who are nominated by the association.

Dartmouth Grads Fail To Take Over Leadership of Alumni Association

More from the New York Sun

Is John F. Kennedy Having a Comeback?

Moody’s Warns on New York City’s Debt

One War Aim Might Require Boots on the Ground

More from the New York Sun

Is John F. Kennedy Having a Comeback?

Moody’s Warns on New York City’s Debt

One War Aim Might Require Boots on the Ground

Reckoning Ahead for Democrats Over Soaring Energy Costs

‘Insanity’: White House Blasts CBS News for Hiring Former Liz Cheney Staffer for Prestigious Job

Trump Walks Back Welcome After Iran Says It Won’t Play in U.S.-Hosted World Cup

Trump Administration Plans Jones Act Waivers in Effort To Lower Skyrocketing Fuel Costs

Paranormal Podcast Film ‘Undertone’ Upends the Horror Movie Genre, To Creepy Effect