To the Editor:
Lost in the controversy over parity, the Board of Trustees took a great step forward when it created standing committees to insure Board-level focus on alumni relations, student life and academics. Prior to this, the only standing committees dealt with finance, physical plant, and "governance," the latter being essentially succession planning for the president and the Board itself. While all of these are essential to a healthy Dartmouth, surely none are more central to her mission than academics and student life.
Todd Zywicki '88 played a major role in this positive development. I recall a conversation with him early on in his tenure. Todd agreed on the need and value of having Board-level awareness of academic issues. It was astounding to us both that the College had no standing Board committee interacting with the faculty and administration in this vital area. Without revealing any boardroom details, he expressed frustration with a philosophy that prevailed among his Board peers, who thought that a committee on academics would constitute micro-management and was beyond their purview.
Thankfully Zywicki's view prevailed, apparently so successfully that the Board's governance committee incorporated it as one of their own recommendations. That is a long-term legacy that will long survive after a single out-of-context remark is relegated to the dustbin of history.
Tim Dreisbach '71
South Royalton, Vt.
To the Editor:
While I am grateful for TJ Rodgers '70's distinguished service to the College, especially regarding questions directly relevant to the quality of a Dartmouth education (Hang One, Warn a Thousand, April 22) I think that his defense of Todd Zywicki '88 is disingenuous. To speak of Zywicki's dismissal as an attack on freedom of speech is just plain wrong. As an alumnus who has stayed close to the College for 55 years, I find the Pope Center speech an example of appallingly bad judgment. In the real world, freedom of speech is always measured by the situation in which it is exercised. As a Dartmouth trustee, Mr. Zywicki is not an isolated individual exercising First Amendment rights at the Pope Center. He is a high-level representative of Dartmouth, responsible to the whole Dartmouth community, not merely to himself.
Joe Herring '55
Alpharetta, GA
