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The Dartmouth
March 29, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

AoA exec. committee fights over interests

David Spalding
David Spalding

Currently, six of the 11 members of the executive committee were elected to the committee as so-called "outsider" petition candidates, with four, including Association President Bill Hutchinson '76, elected after earning a spot on the slate from the nominating sub-group of the executive committee. Only one member earned a seat through both petition and slated nomination when the elections took place this spring.

Hutchinson, reached at his home late Monday evening, denied comment at the time but said he would comment in the morning.

Spalding is currently out of the country and could not be reached for comment.

The conflict stems from the desire of the executive committee's critical majority to send a letter to its members detailing and questioning various facets of the Board of Trustees governance committee's review of the Board and its announcement in June that it is exploring changes to "the size and composition of the Board and the method of trustee selection."

The Association's spring election, the organization's first to allow all-media voting, followed the trend of recent Board of Trustees elections, in which petitioning "outsiders" openly critical of the College have won seats over slated candidates more supportive of the College. Frank Gado '58, one of the more vocally critical alumni of the College during the past year's various contentious elections, was elected as second vice president of the committee after running as a petition candidate.

Following a request made to the office of Alumni Relations in June by the Association's executive committee to provide a mailing list of alumni, fund the mailing and distribute that letter electronically to all alumni who have e-mail, the Alumni Relations office denied the request, saying that the proposed communication would be "duplicative."

In a letter dated July 6, Spalding responded to the request, saying that "a number of steps have already been taken and mechanisms are in place to keep alumni up to date about the governance review and to solicit alumni views on this matter -- and these measures appear to be working effectively. I discussed this with [Board Chairman] Ed Haldeman and [College President] Jim Wright. Given the various efforts underway, we do not believe that separate and duplicative communications from the Alumni Association are necessary."

"The majority of the people on the executive committee felt that it was important," Tim Dreisbach '71, a member of the committee, said. "We said, whether it's duplicative or not, our members need to know this. We had a difference of opinion between the College and ourselves so we thought we should be able to send a letter."

In a letter Dreisbach addressed to Spalding on July 24, he said: "It is understandable that the College only spends its money as it wishes; that is its right. What upsets me is the Alumni Relations office not giving access to mail lists that would cost nothing additional, including email lists that were provided for use by the prior Executive Committee but are now denied. It is disconcerting to find that even changes to content on our Association web site, which you (wearing your other hat as Dartmouth VP Alumni Relations) once described to me as 'maintained by the College as a convenience for the alumni' are also subject to review and veto by College staff."

Gado attributed both the denial of funds and mailing lists and the changes to the website to "an outright effort by the College to try and censor what the Association has to say."

"We are really upset about the way the College is trying to muscle us around -- it's a pure act of thuggery," he said.

The reassessment of the Board caused several opponents of the College administration to balk at the announcement in June. John MacGovern '80, president of the Hanover Institute, an organization that has lobbied extensively against the Wright administration, threatened legal action in an interview with The Dartmouth in July. In that interview, he declared, "I think we will see what the governance committee comes up with, but if they thought the fight over the new constitution was contentious, I guarantee you they haven't seen anything yet."

"The e-mails come from the Association and not the College, so we think we should be able to decide whether our members think we are getting too many e-mails from us, separate from the College," Dreisbach added.

Gado, who put up money of his own to fund the mailing, said that the proponents of the mailing tried several times to work with Spalding before resorting to private funds and mailing lists not supplied by the College.

"We said 'okay, then we will distribute in some other way,'" Gado said. "Well no, he's opposed to that, too, and when we asked for access to the [e-mail list], he denied us that. Remember, this is our own membership. This is nakedly an attempt to keep us from communicating with our own people."

Gado continued that the argument soon became heated.

"I said, 'Damnit, if I have to get a mortgage on my house to fund this, well then I'll do that,'" he said. "Well, he couldn't stop that, although he tried. There has been not a threat, but a veiled implication of legal problems."

Gado also noted that the donation checks he has solicited from various alumni to help fund the mailing have to be forwarded to Spalding, since checks made out to the Association must go to its treasurer.

"I think it is wrong, and I think it is meant to shackle this effort," he said. "The alumni need to know what's going on. The [Board governance committee] is going to publish its report in September so we don't have much time."

Dreisbach summarized the issue as one of loyalties and control.

"The question is, is the Association of Alumni an independent association of alumni that supports the College, or is the Association of Alumni an organ of the College itself -- part of the College's organizational structure?" he said. "We believe the former. We certainly care about the College, but we are not an organ of the College."