A student group presented Dartmouth Trustee Andrew Sigler '53 with a mock award in recognition of "Dartmouth alumni who are outstanding in their quest to destroy nature" at a press conference Saturday.
Every year the Dartmouth is BROWN organization -- which stands for "Building Real Options for Wrecking Nature" -- gives a satirical award to the Dartmouth alumnus they think has caused the most harm to the environment.
Sigler, the former CEO of the Champion International paper company, earned the Golden Stump award for the "horrendous" environmental policies of Champion under his 20-year leadership, according to Jim Hourdequin '97.
The presenters at the ceremony mockingly honored Sigler for the "accomplishments" of Champion, swhich has "clear-cut innumerable acres of forest, caused severe landslides and polluted our rivers," Josh Mooney '98 said.
Sarah Dickinson '99 presented the award acting as a character named Mia B. Rich, who reminisced about her days in Montana, where Champion cleared 800,000 acres of forest.
Dickinson also discussed Champion's "exploits" in the Pigeon River area of North Carolina, making the river "one of the most polluted" in the United States.
She said "Trustee Sigler has a special place in our hearts at Dartmouth, where one of our symbols is the lone pine."
Dickinson added that she was proud that Sigler "has helped to make the lone pine a reality in forests all across America and the world."
Sigler was not present to receive his award, though he was invited, Hourdequin said.
The Dartmouth is BROWN award was first given last year to Senator Slade Gordon '49 of Washington, who sponsored and introduced the Salvage Logging Rider in the Senate in 1995, Hourdequin said.
The "award" is given by the group to publicize the actions of Dartmouth alumni, who are "not above criticism," despite their contributions and service to the College, Hourdequin said.
In the same ceremony, the group honored Matt Wilson '83 with the Big Green Award for his positive environmental work with the Connecticut and Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group.
When he presented the Big Green award to Wilson, Hourdequin said Dartmouth is BROWN recognizes "that there are many alumni who are not fighting for personal and corporate profit at the expense of the environment and human communities."
"There are many alumni working on the grassroots level to protect watersheds, teach children about environmental issues and work for reform within their communities," he said.
