To the Editor:
I've been tagged with many labels since graduating from Dartmouth more than 35 years ago, but until Joe Malchow's letter, "faceless" and "neutral" were never among them ("Bring on the trustee campaign," Jan. 11). I'm not neutral. I responded to the Alumni Council's trustee candidate recruiters because I care very deeply about the students, faculty, employees and alumni of a vital institution.
My interests do not separate me from Dartmouth. To the contrary, my debt of gratitude to the College and my passion for fostering agents of positive change bind me to it. And if I am chosen to serve, I intend to work towards making Dartmouth a globally competitive college that attracts the best students and the best faculty from around the world with the promise of the best education in the world.
As much as I respect the importance of the petition candidate process, I can't help but wonder at what point the petition candidates stop being the outsiders and become part of the mainstream alumni. My sense is that they've already made it inside the tent.