College alumni have elected Nancy Kepes Jeton '76, an urban planner, as the newest member of the Board of Trustees, meaning that for the first time in the College's history, 25 percent of the Board will be women.
Assuming the Board approves her election this weekend, Jeton will replace Joe Mathewson '55, whose second five-year term ends in June.
Jeton defeated Richard Fairley '55, founder and president of an educational consulting firm, and C. Edgar Haldeman, Jr. '70, partner and director of an investment management firm, to win election to the Board.
In a telephone interview yesterday afternoon, Jeton told The Dartmouth is "very excited about the opportunity" to serve on the 16-member Board.
An urban planner specializing in regulatory reform and growth management, Jeton has worked on Nigeria's National Transportation Planning Task Force, as well as in Salem and Andover, Mass., her hometown.
She was also the town government liaison for campus planning and physical plant issues at Phillips Academy in Andover.
Jeton will become the fourth female Trustee to serve on the current Board, an unprecedented occurrence in the College's history. She joins Susan Dentzer '77, Kate Stith-Cabranes '73 and New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen, an ex-officio Trustee.
Jeton said she has a passion for Dartmouth and a professional base different from other Trustees, given her experience in urban and campus planning.
President of the College and Trustee ex-officio James Freedman said he knows Jeton and thinks she will be an outstanding Trustee.
"She has useful experience and a knowledge of the College," Freedman said. "I am greatly looking forward to working with her."
As a student, Jeton was involved in student government to improve student life on campus, and she now conducts alumni interviews of prospective students.
Student suffrage for Trustee elections has been a topic of discussion in the past year, as Student Assembly President Jon Heavey '97 and others have been working to secure voting rights for students in Trustee elections.
"When I was a student I probably would have passionately looked to vote as well," Jeton said. "But because we are electing Trustees to two five-year terms, we are looking for people who have the general welfare of the College at heart and can see the big picture."
She said students tend to be issue-oriented and can be swayed to one candidate or another by their passions.
Jeton said staff members whose jobs are affected by the Board and parents who pay tuition do not have a vote, either, and half of the Board is appointed by the Trustees themselves, with no one else voting.
"It's all about trusting the vote of the alumni," she said. "And students will soon be alumni themselves."
But Jeton said she thinks it is important the Trustees make an effort to listen to what the students have to say and that students take advantage of opportunities such as the quarterly Trustee breakfasts.
Jeton becomes one of seven alumni Trustees, elected directly by alumni. Seven charter Trustees are appointed by the Board itself, and the president of the College and governor of New Hampshire are ex-officio Trustees.
Alumni voted by mail-in ballots, which were due in Hanover by April 4. Officials finished counting the ballots Tuesday afternoon and declared Jeton the winner yesterday.
Associate Director of Alumni Relations Patsy Fisher-Harris reiterated that Jeton is still only the "official nominee" of the alumni, and will be seated once approved by the Board.
Fisher-Harris said 22 percent of alumni participated in the election -- down just slightly from the 23 percent participation in 1995 when Jonathan Newcomb was elected to the Board.
