To the Editor:
Can we understand the logic of an 11-member committee of the Association of the Alumni which, while claiming to represent all of the alumni, has just voted to sue the College without so much as consulting the alumni ("Alumni to take legal action against College," Oct. 3)?
First, consider that the Association is nothing more than a super-nominating committee and overseer of the election process for alumni trustees. It does not and has not had the right for almost 100 years to speak for the alumni on any issue; it does not and never has had the right to determine the size or composition of the Board of Trustees; and it does not have and never has had any governance rights in the College.
How does an 11-member "executive" committee of the Association presume to speak for almost 69,000 alumni on such a charged issue as a lawsuit against the College? If the executive committee claims to be acting "in the best interests of Dartmouth College and its alumni," why hasn't it seen fit to ask the alumni?
Before driving over the cliff, why not convene a meeting of the Association of Alumni (as expressly permitted in the Association constitution) and ask for our views? And if the executive committee claims to represent the alumni, how can it proceed with a secretly financed lawsuit?
Regrettably, this lawsuit will be more of the same mean-spirited, political hyperbole which has been rejected by most of us. Far from serving the interests of the alumni, the actions of the executive committee and its secret allies simply add to the partisan divide.
