Seven Dartmouth alumni have filed an appeal with the New Hampshire Supreme Court, challenging the decision of a Superior Court judge's October dismissal of their lawsuit against the College.
The suit, filed in March 1995, alleges that amendments made to the Alumni Association's constitution in 1990 were illegal and should be invalidated, College Counsel Cary Clark told The Dartmouth in a previous interview.
After their case was dismissed by Justice Kathleen McGuire, the alumni filed for reconsideration. McGuire denied the motion. The alumni have appealed McGuire's decision to the state Supreme Court, the state's highest court.
"The Court will go through the process of deciding whether to accept the appeal," said Steven Winer, the attorney representing the alumni. Winer said it may be quite some time before the Supreme Court decides whether to hear the case.
The 1990 constitutional changes give the Board sole power to reappoint Alumni Trustees after their first term.
Lawyers for the seven alumni argued that the Board manipulated the Alumni Association into ratifying amendments reducing their voting power, thereby curtailing alumni control of the College.
McGuire's 13-page decision stated that the suit should best be settled outside of court.
"Simply put, the present case involves a disagreement by certain alumni to the procedures by which Alumni Trustees are selected," McGuire wrote in her decision. "This is not a matter for judicial resolution but for resolution within the governing mechanisms of Dartmouth College and its related alumni organizations."
The decision also stated that there was no legal basis to the alumni allegations of manipulation, and that Trustees were not liable for the actions of the alumni council, which is a separate institution.
