Correction appended
Dartmouth Board of Trustees Chairman Ed Haldeman '70 released a statement on Friday outlining and defending the Board's reelection process for second-term trustees following recent controversy surrounding the Board's decision not to reelect Trustee Todd Zywicki '88. Haldeman said in the statement that the Board's "overriding goal always remains doing what is in the best interests of the College."
The statement, posted on the College's web site, comes three days after Zywicki's April 14 open letter to the Dartmouth community, in which he questioned the Board's dedication to freedom of speech, as well as Board procedures for the reelection of trustees.
An amendment to the constitution of the Colleges Association of Alumni changed the alumni-selected trustee reelection process from an alumni vote to a vote of the Board itself in 1990, the same year that the first petition trustee, John Steel 54, completed his second term on the Board. The amendment led to a lawsuit from alumni who claimed that the Association had not notified enough alumni that it was going to vote on the changes. That lawsuit was later dismissed.
In the past, reelection for a second term has generally been routine.
"A majority of Dartmouth's trustees insist on turning inward to consolidate power in a small coterie of insiders," Zywicki wrote in the letter.
In his statement, Haldeman asserted that the Board's reelection procedures are fair.
"The evaluation process itself is thorough and consultative," the statement says. "Input is solicited from every member of the Board."
Haldeman sought to downplay speculation about any perceived politicization of the decision in his statement, noting that the two other petition candidates up for reelection at the Board's April meeting, Peter Robinson '79 and T.J. Rodgers '70, were both reelected.
"While I cannot speak for my fellow Board members on how they cast their votes or made their individual decisions, all Board members are held to the same standards irrespective of whether they are 'alumni' trustees, 'petition' trustees or 'charter' trustees," Haldeman said in the statement.
Haldeman also referenced the Board's January 2008 decision to reprimand Zywicki after he called former College President James Freedman "truly evil" in an Oct. 27, 2007 address at the John William Pope Center, a higher education think tank.
The Board "strongly supports every individual's right to free speech," but trustees also "have fundamental responsibilities and obligations -- including fiduciary duties," Haldeman wrote.
"The Board reprimanded Mr. Zywicki because it concluded, after careful review, that a speech he delivered on October 27, 2007, at the John William Pope Center for Higher Education in Raleigh, North Carolina, was inconsistent with his duties as a member of the Dartmouth Board," Haldeman said in the statement.
Haldeman declined to comment for this article.
The original version of this article incorrectly stated that the Colleges Board of Trustees ruled in 1990 to change the alumni-selected trustee reelection process from an alumni vote to a vote of the Board. In fact, that change came as a result of a vote of the Colleges Association of Alumni, which amended its constitution in 1990. The amendment led to a lawsuit from alumni who claimed that the Association had not notified enough of its alumni that it was going to vote on the changes. That lawsuit was later dismissed. In addition, the article stated that 1990 was the same year that the first petition trustee, John Steel 54, was reelected. In fact, Steels second term on the Board ended in 1990.