Janos Marton '04 announced in December his decision to run in April as a petition candidate for the open Board of Trustees seat. Marton, who served as student body president for two consecutive years during his time at the College, is a student at Fordham Law School.
At 24 years old, Marton is significantly younger than any of the three slate candidates or current members of the Board -- the youngest trustee, Todd Zywicki, graduated in 1988. He sees his age as an advantage because he believes he better understands the challenges facing students and young alumni.
"There's a category of people who will dismiss me automatically because I'm young, and there's a category who will think it's a great idea and vote for me, and there's a category who will say, 'A young alum is a good idea -- why you?'" he said. "I don't think any alumnus should be given a free ticket to the Board of Trustees."
Marton expressed enthusiasm about his chance to campaign for the seat as he dismissed recent concerns -- voiced by College President James Wright and Alumni Council nominating committee head Rick Routhier '73 Tu '76 -- over candidate "electability" potentially taking over elections since the Alumni Council's fall decision to repeal bans on campaigning.
"God forbid there be campaigning in an election," Marton said.
Marton said the trustees' experience and accolades doesn't faze him.
"I'm not intimidated because I have talked to these people before," he said. "It's not like this is the most revolutionary thing to happen to Dartmouth. I understand Dartmouth very well. Certainly there will be a lot for me to learn but there's a lot for any person who becomes a trustee to learn."
Marton declared on his web site, www.janosfortrustee.com, that the College needs to "proactively move in a new direction," and he said the College's emphasis on liberal arts has become outdated.
"It's not Dartmouth-bashing or anything -- a lot of schools do this -- but the way the liberal arts curriculum is conducted these days, it's really not preparing students for the competitive job market," he said. "[The College] needs to strengthen its Career Services program and its internship program. Basically it's still in a school of thought from the '60s and '70s where you could graduate from Dartmouth with a Dartmouth diploma and do anything you want."
Marton proposed career workshops for sophomores choosing majors and more fundraising to subsidize unpaid, "high profile" internships.
"I'm not suggesting that Dartmouth become a vocational school," he continued, adding that the College should "use the means that we already have in terms of the alumni network, which is stronger than most."
Marton said he first considered running during the debate over the Alumni Constitution this fall.
"[That debate] pushed me the most because I was pretty dissatisfied with the way the two groups were presenting themselves," he said, referring to alumni for and against the constitution. "If [the nominating committee] had perhaps nominated a young alumnus who brought a third voice to that debate, I wouldn't necessarily have wanted to run."
He also confirmed that Alumni Council member Doug Keare '56 has endorsed his petition candidacy, explaining that Keare "comes from the same school of thought as me in terms of reform."
Since 2004, the three petition candidates -- each of whom has successfully won seats on the Board -- have been conservative and vocal alumni. The three as a group opposed the proposed constitution. No similar petition candidate has yet surfaced this election.
Each of those three trustees have argued that the petition process allows alumni to run against a slate of which they disapprove. The Dartmouth contacted Joe Asch '79 -- who supported those trustees and has called for the resignation of Wright -- and asked his opinion of the nominated slate. He said it was difficult to evaluate the nominees because only their rsums and not their stances have been made public. Asch declined to comment about whether he is planning run.
Correction appended
For the record: In an article Friday ("Young alum enters race via petition, Jan. 5), Doug Keare '56 was incorrectly described as a member of the Alumni Council. Keare is a former member of the group and served for three years.
Clarification: In the same article Friday, it was stated that Janos Marton '04 decided to run as a petition candidate for the Board of Trustees. He still must submit 500 petition signatures to be placed on the ballot.
