Stephen Smith '88 announced Saturday that he is planning to enter the race for a seat on the College's Board of Trustees as a petition candidate. Smith, a law professor at the University of Virginia, is running on a campaign of keeping Dartmouth a "college," guaranteeing due process for students facing disciplinary action, stopping "bureaucratic bloat" and ensuring freedom of speech.
Smith is the second petition candidate to announce plans to enter the race, joining Janos Marton '04, who announced his candidacy in December. In order to officially enter the race, Smith and Marton must submit 500 petition signatures by Feb. 2. If they do, they will face off in April against Richard "Sandy" Alderson '69, Sherri Oberg '82, Tu '86 and John S. Wolf '70, all of whom were nominated by the Alumni Council.
Smith, a recipient of the prestigious Margaret G. Hyde award upon graduation from the law school at UVA, worked for two federal judges after law school: U.S. Court of Appeals Judge David B. Sentelle and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Following six years in private practice as an associate attorney at the law firm Sidley and Austin in Washington, D.C., Smith began teaching criminal law, criminal procedure and appellate advocacy at UVA. He served as chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Reviewing Authority, to which he was appointed by former U.S. Education Secretary Rodney Paige, from 2000 to 2004. He also served twice as a community representative on the Police Citizens Advisory and on the Executive Committee of the Charlottesville/Albemarle United Way. He was awarded tenure at UVA in 2005.
A philosophy and history double major while at Dartmouth, Smith played basketball and football and was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. He spent his childhood in inner-city Washington, D.C., where he helped his mother -- who was afflicted with multiple sclerosis -- raise his three brothers.
On his website, www.stephensmithtrustee.com, he said that he "would like to repay [his] debt to Dartmouth" by running for a seat on the Board. "All that I have achieved -- all that I am -- the College has made possible," he wrote. The Dartmouth was unable to reach Smith for comment at press time.
