Background of the ballot

Not until Dartmouth's second century were the alumni given a voice in the selection of College Trustees. A direct alumni say in the nomination of Trustees was first adopted in 1891, near the close of the administration of President Samuel Colcord Bartlett, who joined some conservative members of the Board in opposing it. For the next 23 years, the so-called Alumni Trustees were elected from several nominees in each race, until the Dartmouth Alumni Council, soon after its founding in 1913, took over the responsibility of making a single nomination on behalf of the alumni.

The process of nominating an Alumni Trustee by the Alumni Council, and the subsequent election by the Trustees, had become so routine that it was seen by some as a new College tradition.

The first challenged election in College history occurred in 1977. Since then there have been three other challenges, but only in the election of 1980 was the challenger elected. That year Dr. John Steel '54, now in his second term, defeated Raymond Rasenberger '49.

The recent spate of contested Trustee elections reflects the intense alumni interest and involvement with the College. When Daniel Provost '41 and Stephen Kelley '81 ran against incumbents Robert E. Field '43 and Ronald Schram '64 this spring, the result was a record voter turnout. Fifty-two percent or 22,682 of the 43,599 alumni voted. In the election of 1981, forty percent of the alumni voted, and in 1980 only thirty-one percent returned ballots.

This record voter turnout is attributable, in part, to the campaigns waged by independent committees. The Alumni Committee for a Strong Dartmouth supported Provost and Kelly, and Alumni for Dartmouth backed Field and Schram.

Once all the ballots were tabulated, some interesting voting trends emerged. The challengers enjoyed their strongest support from the older classes, while Field and Schram won every class from 1961 through 1985. The vote spread between the candidates also increased as the ballots of the younger classes were counted. Alumni graduating in the eighties supported Field and Schram with margins as high as four to one over the challengers. As the final tally indicates, the victory was not overwhelming. Field received 13,088 votes. Kelley got 9,020. Schram received 12,-727 votes and Provost got 9,403.

Field put the election in perspective in a statement he made after the results were announced. "The results don't mean the Board now can be complacent. It s nice to win, but it's also incumbent upon us to recognize that we have 9,000 very important people out there who are expressing disapproval over what has happened at the College in the last six months. Communication between the College and the alumni has to be improved."

Trustee Election Results by Class

Ballots PercentClass Members Received Voting Field Kelley Schram Provost1908-1920 199 76 38 45 29 32 41 1921 60 41 68 20 19 16 22 1922 77 41 53 21 17 18 20 1923 114 64 56 35 27 33 30 1924 165 98 59 50 43 44 47 1925 155 108 70 58 41 53 48 1926 171 110 64 53 53 46 60 1927 187 120 64 57 60 50 67 1928 233 161 69 62 96 45 112 1929 268 181 68 93 82 81 95 1930 272 193 71 60 129 52 135 1931 281 215 77 87 119 81 126 1932 303 209 69 93 105 86 112 1933 325 229 70 105 115 91 131 1934 378 256 68 138 107 129 116 1935 430 313 73 150 150 142 159 1936 412 286 69 122 156 103 174 1937 438 305 70 118 179 105 193 1938 470 306 65 118 172 108 183 1939 427 278 65 113 162 93 182 1940 431 283 66 106 169 94 183 1941 493 363 74 93 261 70 286 1942 490 309 63 124 171 96 201 1943 498 331 66 194 124 147 168 1944 550 345 63 133 206 118 221 1945 587 310 53 113 188 94 209 1946 753 388 52 132 247 114 265 1947 574 324 56 136 181 123 194 1948 373 216 58 76 135 69 142 1949 499 334 67 107 216 100 225 1950 629 402 64 158 229 150 236 1951 601 348 58 179 163 162 179 1952 641 363 57 178 176 173 184 1953 646 405 63 228 165 214 178 1954 635 301 47 194 100 186 109 1955 666 348 52 165 169 168 172 1956 644 363 56 162 191 162 192 1957 676 382 57 198 175 196 176 1958 681 366 54 193 162 193 162 1959 678 348 51 174 168 172 169 1960 723 372 51 180 188 183 186 1961 653 326 50 163 155 163 157 1962 683 340 50 188 138 191 136 1963 775 370 48 193 171 211 155 1964 726 363 50 212 133 229 116 1965 726 323 44 199 114 209 104 1966 759 384 51 245 130 248 127 1967 768 364 47 228 125 241 111 1968 747 377 50 263 105 257 111 1969 763 365 48 248 112 254 106 1970 760 340 45 234 99 232 103 1971 776 345 44 233 106 240 99 1972 781 341 44 248 89 255 82 1973 860 369 43 280 87 277 89 1974 801 343 43 241 98 236 101 1975 820 377 46 268 104 262 108 1976 973 973 488 50 352 130 342 141 1977 1,006 555 55 392 154 395 153 1978 1,004 530 53 414 110 425 100 1979 1,019 539 53 409 121 408 120 1980 1,001 567 57 435 119 444 107 1981 1,028 550 54 420 118 424 112 1982 1,023 536 52 415 100 413 108 1983 1,055 578 55 451 117 466 100 1984 1,066 573 54 450 113 463 103 1985 1,041 512 46 401 100 409 94 Tuck 2,322 709 31 386 309 350 342 Thayer 313 84 27 52 30 50 33 DMS 710 172 24 117 50 114 55 Advanced Degrees 808 171 21 130 38 127 40 43,599 22,682, 52 13,088 9,020 12,272 9,403