Alumni are speaking out and calling for Dartmouth to stand up against the Trump administration.
Over the past five days, The Dartmouth has received over 25 letters to the editor from alumni voicing opposition to the College’s response. More than 1,800 individuals have also signed an April 9 public letter on Change.org calling on College President Sian Leah Beilock and the Board of Trustees to publicly condemn the Trump administration’s “attacks” on the academic freedom of universities.
This comes after Beilock declined to sign an American Association of Colleges and Universities letter co-signed by over 530 university presidents condemning the Trump administration’s revocations of federal funding. She was the only Ivy League president to abstain. Beilock later defended her reasoning as a preference for “action-oriented coalitions” over open letters and announced that she will travel to Washington, D.C., this week to meet with other university leaders, elected officials and members of the Trump administration.
Petition co-author Elizabeth Frumkin ’88 said she and her co-authors started the letter because they believe the Trump administration’s actions threaten the core values of the College, such as freedom of expression and thought. The Change.org letter calls on the College to legally contest and refuse to comply with some of the federal government’s demands and coordinate with other universities to create a “collective opposition.”
“Dartmouth alumni have been encouraged by its administration to stay active in the life and governance of the College and to invest monetarily in its future to foster academic excellence and in support of its mission,” the letter wrote. “ ... We ask you to stand with us in affirming Dartmouth’s commitment to academic freedom and to the First Amendment freedoms of everyone in the Dartmouth community.”
Frumkin added that she hopes the support from “various constituencies of the Dartmouth community” for the letter will encourage Beilock to reconsider signing the AACU letter.
“We’re not trying to attack the [Beilock] administration or the institution,” Frumkin said. “We think that really it’s in the best interest of Dartmouth to take a stand here strategically, morally and for our future.”
Beilock wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth that she is “deeply concerned about the unprecedented government overreach and political interference that threaten to undermine the very purpose and essential freedoms we believe in.”
“There is damage being done and it could be irreparable,” Beilock wrote. “I am fighting in the way I think I can make the most difference.”
College spokesperson Kathryn Kennedy wrote in an additional email statement that Beilock will “reiterate her support” for Harvard University, which refused to meet the Trump administration’s demands, and other peer institutions.
“… She commits to legally challenging any and all unlawful threats to academic freedom and institutional independence, and she has pledged to provide funding for legal support for members of our international community who are denied due process,” Kennedy wrote.
Frumkin said while she believes Beilock’s announced initiatives are “promising,” she believes the College needs to “stand firm and assert things like academic independence and academic freedom” when the federal government is infringing upon those values.
Jessica Brown ’83 said she signed the Change.org letter because she feels Dartmouth should be part of the “group of colleges” standing up against the “authoritarian threat” of the Trump administration.
“If institutions can band together, they’re going to be a stronger force than if they try to stand alone,” Brown said.
Brown also wrote a letter to the editor, based on an email she sent to Beilock in response to Beilock’s initial email to the campus community on why she did not sign the AACU letter.
“I wrote back directly to her by replying to the email, which I realized she may never see,” Brown said. “When I saw [other] letters to the editor of The Dartmouth, [I decided to] send the letter that I sent to her to you in the hopes that maybe she’s more likely to see it if it gets published.”
Over 300 alumni also signed a letter written by Scott Brown ’78 delivered to Beilock and the Board of Trustees on April 21 that expressed concern over the College’s “timidity in the face of Trump administration pressure.”
“There is nothing more closely related to Dartmouth’s academic mission than academic freedom, and little that calls more loudly for unrestrained opposition,” Brown wrote.
Other alumni have also expressed their reactions to the College’s response through methods beyond petitions. Lindsey Wilcox TU ’19, who wrote a letter to the editor, said the “most generous word” she could use to describe Beilock’s decision not to sign the AACU letter was “confusing.”
“Signing this letter is a very easy way to ensure students understand the administration has their back,” Wilcox said.
Wilcox added that her letter was addressed to Tuck School of Business dean Matthew Slaughter rather than Beilock because the graduate school is her “best connection” to campus as a Tuck graduate.
Rick Detwiler ’69, who also wrote a letter to the editor, said he was concerned about the “instead” in Beilock’s stated strategy of pursuing action via lawsuits and meetings instead of signing public statements.
“By just doing one or the other, we’re not using all of our capacity to counter what is emanating from Washington, [D.C.,] now,” Detwiler said.
While many alumni have spoken out against the administration’s response, more than 220 individuals have signed a Change.org petition in support of Beilock’s “measured and deliberate approach” to federal actions that may “undermine academic freedom at peer institutions.”
“As such, we do not believe Dartmouth needs to adopt statements or strategies developed for schools with less consistent commitments to free expression — particularly those whose past actions have contributed to public distrust of higher education,” the letter wrote.
Kelsey Wang is a reporter and editor for The Dartmouth from the greater Seattle area, majoring in history and government. Outside of The D, she likes to crochet, do jigsaw puzzles and paint.
Jackson Hyde '28 is an intended philosophy major from Los Angeles, California. His interests include photography, meditation, and board game design.
