Twelve members of the College's Board of Trustees sent a letter to Dartmouth alumni on Monday which alleges that those individuals working in support of the Association of Alumni's lawsuit are part of a national effort to further an ideological agenda at the College. The letter was a direct response to a different message sent to alumni several weeks ago by the Board's four other alumni trustees, all of whom are supportive of the Association's suit.
The mailing coincides with the first day of voting in the Association election. The winners of the election will decide whether the Association's suit against the College will continue.
The four trustees supportive of the suit and referenced in the letter are T.J. Rodgers '70, Peter Robinson '79, Todd Zywicki '88 and Stephen Smith '88. These alumni, who were elected by petition, also filed an amicus, or friend of the court, brief in support of the Association's suit.
The efforts of these "critics of the College," the 12 trustees' letter states, are "well organized, well funded" and will cost Dartmouth approximately $2 million. These funds could have been used for financial aid, the letter adds, and do not further the College's interests as it undertakes a search for its next president and a capital campaign.
"They have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on full-page newspaper ads, glossy mailings and web sites to elect their allies to the Board and now the [Association]," the letter reads. "They are supporting a costly lawsuit against the College."
The 12 trustees also criticize the Association members who voted to bring the legal action for refusing "to reveal who is really paying for their suit or their campaign."
Association leaders in past interviews have said they have intentionally remained unaware about how the lawsuit is specifically funded.
The Dartmouth reported on Friday that the Center for Excellence in Higher Education, a conservative Indiana-based organization, has helped alumni contribute to the Association's legal effort. This finding confirmed allegations that an outside organization is aiding the legal effort. Monday's letter references this organization.
The 12 trustees write that the agenda of this group of individuals is apparent in comments Zywicki made at the John William Pope Center on Oct. 27. At the Pope Center, a conservative higher education think tank, Zywicki criticized the College's adherence to political correctness and called former College President James Freedman "truly evil." Zywicki, who since then has admitted he misspoke in his Pope Center speech, was subsequently reprimanded by the Board in January.
"Trustee Todd Zywicki provided an unintended glimpse of that agenda in a speech last October where he attacked Dartmouth and its peer schools, saying those 'who control the university today[,] they don't believe in God and they don't believe in country,'" the letter reads. "He discouraged people from contributing money to support the College and told his supporters that it would be a 'long and vicious trench warfare I think if we are serious about taking the academy back.'"
Zywicki, in an interview with The Dartmouth, said the 12 trustees wrote inaccurately about his Pope Center address and took his comments out of context.
"I never ever told anybody not to donate to Dartmouth," he said.
The letter also directly defends Board Chairman Ed Haldeman '70 in light of allegations published in The Dartmouth Review last week. The Review claimed Haldeman was aware of trading improprieties at Putnam Investments during his time in senior management.
"And, this week, The Dartmouth Review launched a reprehensible and baseless personal attack on Chair of the Board Ed Haldeman -- unabashedly timed to coincide with the [Association] elections," the letter states.
Aside from Zywicki, none of the three other petition trustees responded to requests for comment by press time. The Dartmouth was unable to obtain a copy of their letter for this article.
Frank Gado '58, a member of the Association executive committee who voted for the suit, said in an interview that outside forces are not significantly involved in the Association's lawsuit.
"That is out and out a lie. There is no evidence of that because it has not occurred," he said. "Maybe I am a minor functionary in a massive plot, but no one has ever sat down with me and said, 'This is what I want to do.'"
The trustees were "disingenuous" in saying the lawsuit hurts the College, Gado said.
"It is a little like 'Johnny wants to get into an Ivy League school so Jane should not file rape charges against him for what happened behind the supermarket,'" he said. "For them to claim that this hurts Dartmouth is so dishonest."
Trustee Michael Chu '68, one of the twelve signatories, said the trustees decided to send the letter after the four other Board members had sent theirs. Alumni contacted the Board asking about the opinion of the other 12 trustees, Chu said.
"I think [the letter] hopefully does two things," Chu said. "It explains where the 12 of us that signed the letter are, and, secondly, it explains to the alumni the importance of what is going on. I hope it serves as a basis of alumni coming and dialoguing with each other in constructive and civil terms."
The dialoguing must be transparent, though, Chu said.
"Agreeing on everything was never Dartmouth's trademark -- I loved the heterogeneity of viewpoints," Chu said. "Disagreeing is not a problem, but transparency is."
