A conservative think tank that has frequently spoken against Dartmouth's governance structure has ties to alumni that have been critical of College policies and openly supportive of the Association of Alumni's lawsuit against the College.
Over the past four years, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni has criticized "electioneering on the part of the Dartmouth administration" in alumni governance elections. Recently, ACTA opposed the September decision to add eight new trustee-selected members to the College Board.
"Having suffered six recent electoral defeats -- as alumni in record numbers demanded independent voices on the Board and Alumni Association -- the Dartmouth establishment now found a different way to end the College's unique tradition of vibrant alumni involvement and participation," ACTA President Anne Neal said in a Sept. 10 press release.
Neal did not return requests for comment by press time.
The "independent voices" praised by ACTA include trustees T.J. Rodgers '70, Peter Robinson '79, Todd Zywicki '88 and Stephen Smith '88. Both Smith and Zywicki have spoken at ACTA events.
The four trustees, nominated for election by petition, outspokenly criticized College policies and campaigned with promises of change. They also filed a joint brief in support of the Association of Alumni's suit against the College.
Other Dartmouth connections to ACTA include William Tell '56, a member of ACTA's "National Council," who brought a series of lawsuits against the College in the early 1990s. The lawsuits challenged the College's decision to eliminate an alumni electoral process in the reappointment of alumni-elected trustees.
Tell could not be reached for comment.
ACTA, a non-profit organization based in Washington D.C., was founded in 1995 as the successor to the National Alumni Forum. ACTA aims to "ensure that the next generation receives a philosophically-balanced, open-minded, high-quality education at an affordable price," by working with alumni, donors and college leaders, according to its mission statement.
The organization was established in part by Lynne Cheney, the wife of Vice President Dick Cheney. A November 2001 ACTA report gained national attention for its claims that American universities condemned expressions of support for the war on terror but tolerated criticism of it.
"Although the public responded with clear condemnation of the terrorist attacks, many professors failed to do so, and even used the occasion to find fault with America," the report states.
College officials interviewed by The Dartmouth were critical of ACTA's involvement in "internal" Dartmouth issues.
"I think that this is a case of an outside group with limited connection to the College trying to use what is going on at Dartmouth to further a political agenda," said David Spalding '76, vice president of Alumni Relations and a member of the Association of Alumni executive committee. He added later, "I don't know whether ACTA has had any official advisory role, but I know Frank Gado '58, the legal liaison [for the Association in its suit against the College], has had close ties to them."
Spalding did not vote for the Association to bring the suit.
Gado said he has attended ACTA's two most recent national conferences, speaking publicly in one. He insisted that his only other communications with the organization include some discussions of the College's governance issues with Neal, ACTA's president. He has also asked ACTA to compile statistical information for research purposes in the past, he said.
While some College officials have speculated that ACTA has directly supported the Association in its suit against the College and related alumni conflicts, Gado insisted that as far as he knew "there was no coaching."
"I can tell you from my experience they have had no real role in any of our conflicts at Dartmouth," Gado said. "It is a clearinghouse for information."
