Following Friday's confirmation that the Grafton County Superior Court had approved the dismissal of the Association of Alumni's lawsuit against the College, new information has come to light about the funding of the suit and the involvement of The Hanover Institute, a non-profit organization that has traditionally sponsored causes critical of College policies. The court action brings to an end the eight-month legal saga in which the Association attempted to bar the College's Board of Trustees from adding eight members not elected by alumni to its membership.
An August 2007 attorney-client communication recently provided to The Dartmouth by newly-elected Association President John Mathias '69 indicates that The Hanover Institute entered into a contractual agreement with the Association's former law firm, Williams and Connolly, to fund the suit. The communication, an "engagement letter," also outlines a "common interest" shared by the Association and the Institute, and is signed by Institute-founder John MacGovern '80 and Frank Gado '58, the former Association legal liaison and an officer of the Institute.
According to a transcript from the Association's Oct. 2, 2007 meeting, Gado "noted that he does not know who is paying the legal fees. He never wanted to be brought into that discussion. He assumes the funds may be from more than one person, but does not know."
Former Association President Bill Hutchinson '76, who voted against the suit, said in an interview he had previously asked to see a copy of the engagement letter, but both Williams and Connolly and Gado declined his request.
MacGovern publicly acknowledged the Institute's funding role for the first time in January, when he sent a message to the Association executive committee indicating that his organization was soliciting donations from alumni and sending those contributions to the law firm. The message was transcribed in minutes from the Association's Jan. 8 conference call.
Mathias, in an interview with The Dartmouth, said the formal involvement of the Institute "had not been properly disclosed to alumni."
"It is revealing to see that Mr. Gado, vice president of The Hanover Institute and appointed liaison for this lawsuit, signed this engagement letter with full knowledge that John MacGovern, president of The Hanover Institute, was funding the lawsuit through the use of anonymous donors," he said.
Gado dismissed accusations that he misled alumni about the lawsuit's funding source or did not properly disclose that information.
"The Hanover Institute by [August] was publicly raising money," Gado said. "There were letters of solicitation that went out -- what was secretive about that?"
Gado said his reluctance to say who was "paying for the lawsuit" was a refusal to divulge the identity of individuals who were providing donations to the Institute, and not a refusal to identify the Institute as a funding source.
"There was nothing hidden, except the names of donors," Gado said. "There is this attempt to make something look suspicious or nefarious, and it never was so."
Some alumni leaders have said they believe the letter calls into question whether the Association had total control over the direction of the legal action.
"In the event that the Institute does not pay the fees and expenses, [Williams and Connolly] would be permitted to withdraw from [the Association's] representation unless the fees are paid from another source," the letter states.
Gado said the Association was "not beholden to The Hanover Institute in anyway whatsoever." He said he had offered to resign as an officer of the Institute, but "the general view was that was not necessary."
The engagement letter also raises questions about how much money The Hanover Institute had raised for the suit. MacGovern, in a June 19 interview, said the Institute provided roughly $200,000 to support the legal effort. The letter, however, indicates that Williams and Connolly required $50,000 at the initiation of representation, followed by $250,000 "before a complaint is filed."
"Saying that The Hanover Institute is funding the lawsuit is sort of meaningless," Mathias said. "The question remains concerning who was providing financing to The Hanover Institute. We are still committed to finding out what, if any, non-Dartmouth sources of financing were in place in the beginning before the lawsuit was filed."
