Two student petitions regarding the Association of Alumni's lawsuit against the College began circulating on campus Tuesday, marking the first time Dartmouth undergraduates have organized mass efforts in response to the suit. At least one of the petitions will be mailed to alumni by Dartmouth Undying, an alumni group against the lawsuit.
The suit stems from the Board of Trustees' September decision to add eight Board-appointed seats to the Board, which would alter a historical balance between the number of alumni-elected and Board-elected members. The Association's executive committee voted to bring the suit. A new executive committee, which will be announced following an election that begins Monday, could choose to drop it.
The letter and petition that circulated in opposition to the lawsuit were made public Tuesday when The Dartmouth Review posted the letter on its blog. The blog post cited Bonnie Lam '10 as the probable author.
Lam confirmed that she wrote the letter, in an interview with The Dartmouth. She explained that she contacted Dartmouth Undying, which supports Association candidates who disagree with the lawsuit, about two to three weeks ago, soon after she came up with the idea but before drafting the letter. Dartmouth Undying, she said, is funding the mailing of the letter to all Dartmouth alumni. Mailings to all Dartmouth alumni are rare and expensive, costing an estimated $50,000 to $90,000.
"I'd always wanted to do something to voice student opinion," she said. "I communicated with [Dartmouth Undying] pretty early on in the process just because I didn't want to have this idea to write a letter with no outlet."
Martha Beattie '76, a member of Dartmouth Undying, confirmed that the organization has agreed to fund the mailing of the documents. She said two other students, aside from Lam, helped to write the letter, titled, "From Dartmouth Students to Alumni."
"We didn't change a word [in the letter]," Beattie said. "[The students] said, 'What we're going to try to do is get a few students on campus to sign it to show that really great kids on campus believe the same message."
A disclaimer at the bottom of the letter says that the organization is paying for its mailing as a service to alumni.
"We had a meeting of Dartmouth Undying to discuss it, and we decided we will be completely delighted to fund this letter to Dartmouth alumni so they can know the Dartmouth student of today," Beattie said. "We agreed we'd send it out after [Bonnie] wanted to get a few more signatures."
While Beattie said the 15 to 20 active members of Dartmouth Undying had been informed of the group's decision to fund the cost of sending the letter to Dartmouth alumni, Dartmouth Undying member Doug Keare '86 told The Dartmouth that the organization is not funding any student letters.
"There is a student group generating a letter, and we are aware of that, but we are not funding it, and it is up to the students," he said.
Following the exposure of the anti-lawsuit letter, two letters in support of the suit began circulating among students. One of the two is written by 11 self-described independent members of the pro-parity, pro-lawsuit petition slate of candidates running in the Association election. Another, titled "Yes: We Want to Preserve Democracy at Dartmouth," is written by students from "diverse corners of campus." The letter was circulated primarily by Joe Braunreuther '08 and Diane Ellis '08.
"We believe that it is important for alumni to hear the voices of undergrads who care about participation in alumni governance organizations," Joe Braunreuther '08 said in a statement to The Dartmouth. "In our e-mails [to students], we attached the letter to alumni, which is clear and self-explanatory, as well as information from alumni who advocate that half of the trustee board will continue to be elected by alumni."
Several prominent members of the campus community have signed the petition against the lawsuit, Lam said, including Student Body President Molly Bode '09 and former President Travis Green '08.
"I have a deeper personal relationship with Molly Bode than with these other people that I've gotten signatures from," Lam said. "I know she's fine having her name attached to this."
Bode denied having signed any petitions, although she stressed she does not support the Association's lawsuit.
Bode said she has been contacted by alumni advocating both for and against the lawsuit. She offered her position as a student and not as representative of the Assembly, she said.
Green said he signed the petition, but would not have done so if he were still Assembly president.
"I don't think SA should be involved in this issue," he said. "I don't think it is the right place for it."
