An Unrealistic Request

The Dartmouth Editorial Board's recent editorial criticizing the Board of Trustees for not accelerating alumni trustee elections ("Verbum Ultimum," May 22) misses several key facts. In these litigious times, it would be exceedingly difficult if not impossible for the Board to accelerate the election. Under the Association of Alumni's constitution, the election process begins when the Board notifies the Association that there will be a Board vacancy "on the Monday after the next following Commencement." The constitution sets forth a strict, sequenced timeline requiring the College to notify all alumni of a vacancy through the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine or other writing. Alumni may then nominate candidates by submitting names in writing to the Alumni Council at least 30 days prior to the meeting of the Alumni Council at which nominees will be selected. After the Alumni Council nominates candidates, petitioners have two months to gather 500 signatures to get on the ballot. Thereafter, the Association sends out a ballot to each alumnus containing the names of the candidates and their statements. The polls "close on the April 7th before Commencement unless another date is specified" by the Association's balloting committee, according to the constitution. In the past several elections, the Association balloting committee extended the voting period well beyond April 7 to ensure that all alumni were able to vote. I am aware of no situation in which the election period was shortened or moved forward in the calendar. Those are the constitutional requirements. As a member of the Alumni Council trustee nominating committee, I know it would be extremely difficult from a practical standpoint to accelerate this process, and in any event it would be meaningless to do so as the constitution indicates that a new alumni-nominated trustee will not take office until after commencement (here, June 2010). The next Alumni Council meeting is not until December, at which time the 120 members of the Alumni Council will meet in person to discuss and select trustee nominees. The meeting date is set years in advance in large part to allow lodging of the full Council in Hanover, and to allow councilors to set aside three days from their lives for meetings concerning Dartmouth. It would be very difficult to re-book rooms and cancel the reservations of non-councilors to have an emergency meeting before December. Perhaps more important, from a practical standpoint, it takes months to accomplish all that is required under the constitution. Alumni need adequate time to submit nominees to the Council. The Council nominating committee then gathers information about all candidates and interviews those who know them. The nominating committee (whose members reside in locations across the country) meets many times to discuss candidates and to develop a short list. The nominating committee then spends one or two weekends interviewing the people on its short list in person. The people we want to serve as trustees are generally extremely busy and it is often difficult to schedule interviews with them on short notice. Thereafter, the nominating committee gives a presentation to the full Council at the December meeting, and the Council votes on nominees. Nominating Dartmouth's trustees is extremely important, and the Alumni Council devotes a tremendous amount of time and energy to get it right. Regardless of when this spring the trustees announce that an election must be held, the earliest an election could practically occur would be spring of next year, and the victor would not take a seat on the Board until June 2010. The trustees cannot alter or accelerate the process without violating the Association constitution and opening themselves up to yet another lawsuit. Following October's lawsuit challenging the Board's authority to change election rules, it was not until alumni themselves voted to improve election rules this May that the trustees were free to call for an election without fear of further legal action. The amendment which the alumni just overwhelmingly adopted permits the trustees to extend trustee terms, and doing so in this situation to allow an orderly, fair election in which the Alumni Council has time to nominate candidates and petition candidates have time to run is consistent with the College's best interests.