Alumni criticism fuels mistrust
By Will Schpero | September 24, 2008Alumni-fueled criticism of the College administration in recent years has called into question an historical belief in the credibility of Dartmouth's president, according to statements made by College President James Wright in a meeting with The Dartmouth this spring. "When [Dartmouth President] John Dickey used to speak 45 years ago, it was Moses -- he was the president of Dartmouth -- good heavens, people may have not always agreed with what Mr. Dickey said, but nobody would ever think that he was misleading or saying something that was not quite correct," Wright said. Still, some alumni, who arguably represent a small minority of the 67,000 living Dartmouth graduates, have often been critical of College policies and are hesitant to believe what Wright and his colleagues say about the state of the College. "My sense is that the College spins everything," Joe Asch '79, who often writes opinion pieces critical of the administration, said.