To the Editors:
Trevor Burgess' patronizing letter to the editor on Jan. 12 highlights the fundamental contradiction of the proposed changes to the Alumni Constitution. If the Council really did put "two years of hard work" into this document, I find it surprising that a fatal flaw, dismissed as a "technical glitch" could be left in the final version. This flaw could have jeopardized the voting rights of every Dartmouth alum for reasons I lengthily articulated in the days before the vote.
As Student Body President I try to stay informed of our College's most important issues, and thus found it insulting when I found out about these proposed changes not through the Alumni Council or Administration, but a group of "concerned" alums led by Doug Keare. Keare helped save the swim team, and fought vehemently against the Student Life Initiative. He is a supporter of the Greek system, and is opposed to censorship and the proliferation of administrative bureaucracy. Yes, Keare has a bitter relationship with some college officials, but he has been on the right side of nearly every issue, and the college would do well to have more alums like him.
Noah Riner and I led the protest to safeguard alumni voting rights. We neither protested the diversity initiative, nor questioned it during our meeting with the Alumni Council, in which we were severely berated for raising our concerns about a small section of the new constitution.
As for your charming Mussolini analogy, I would have hoped that your Dartmouth education would have taught you how trite it is to bolster your argument with fascist analogies. Noah and I protested the facts of the new constitution; so please, Mr. Burgess, stick to the facts when arguing your point, and try to avoid hurling demeaning analogies.
