I was disappointed to read the story in The Dartmouth about a meeting I had with Nick Stork '06 in June ("Alumni Debate Reaches Students," Aug. 17). I was surprised and sorry to read that Stork felt intimidated in the meeting; I certainly had no plans for the meeting other than to talk with Stork about the same sorts of issues I had recently discussed with other graduating seniors.
In my role as vice president for Alumni Relations, I meet with many current and former students as I seek to understand their concerns and let them know how they can become active and involved alumni. I am especially interested in meeting and talking with graduating student leaders because they represent the future leadership of the alumni body.
For that reason, I met last spring with groups of student government officers, athletic team leaders, the Class of 2006 Executive Committee and leaders of the Coed, Fraternity and Sorority organizations.
Stork's name was suggested to us by the Office of Residential Life. I was particularly interested in talking with him to get a better understanding of his dissatisfaction with the College administration. It is important to note that when Stork responded by BlitzMail that he could not attend the group meeting, he requested that we let him "know of any other opportunities to discuss," which indicated a mutual desire to meet. Stork later commented via BlitzMail that "While we disagree on some of the issues, I would really appreciate the opportunity to hear things from a different perspective." As he requested, we set up another meeting. Rex Morey, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations for Young Alumni and Students, attended all of the meetings; this was not a special instance.
Stork referenced a BlitzMail of his that I had and suggested that I improperly accessed his BlitzMail account. I will take this opportunity to reassure Stork and other students that we take student privacy concerning BlitzMail accounts very seriously, and that officers of the College do not have access to student accounts. I did have a BlitzMail with me during our conversation but I did not know that it was from Stork because it was anonymous. It had been forwarded to someone in my office from another student who had said that it was circulating widely on campus.
Because Stork's name did not appear on the BlitzMail, it was not clear to me when interviewed by a reporter for The Dartmouth which BlitzMail she was discussing. When I read the story the next day, the mention of the profane word in the second line confirmed that this was the BlitzMail in question. I had brought the BlitzMail to the meeting because it pertained to student concerns about the constitution and the work of my office, and it mentioned the new website, Vox Clamantis in Deserto. Stork is listed as a contributor on the voxclamantisindeserto.org website.
Stork asked some questions about the proposed constitution. I maintained a neutral stance on the constitution and simply explained the rationale on those issues given by members of the Alumni Governance Task Force, which drafted the proposal.
We also talked about other issues of concern to him, including student satisfaction. We subsequently have received the preliminary results from the Class of 2006 satisfaction survey (Stork's class) in which students reported a high rate of satisfaction with their experience at the College.
It is also worth noting that 73 percent of the members of the Class of 2006 made a gift to the Dartmouth College Fund.
I am sorry for any misunderstanding created by the meeting. As I did that day, I wish Stork nothing but success in the future.
