Can't We Get Along?

AS THE CONTROVERSY about College governance issues boiled over when the trustees met in September, so too did conflict among leaders of the Association of Alumni. The president and second vice president differed in their reactions to the trustees Mecisions (see story, page 26), with the second vice president preparing to lead a lawsuit against the College—in direct opposition to the president.

Here's what president William Hutchinson '76 had to say in a press release: "We are very pleased with the trustees' recommendations, since they preserve the role of the petition candidate and give us the opportunity to improve the election process. As a past petition candidate myself, I have discovered how important it is not simply to criticize but to work effectively with colleagues and address issues and challenges productively. These changes should result in elections that are fairer, less costly and less politicized, to the benefit of all candidates but most essentially to the benefit of Dartmouth."

In a simultaneous press release second vice president Frank Gado '58 said: "The actions of Dartmouth's trustees are more in keeping with the conduct of a totalitarian state than with a college dedicated to educating leaders of the world's greatest democracy....Surely no strife generated in [a trustee] election could compare with the rancor and divisiveness that have flared because of the trustees' unilateral stripping away of alumni rights. And the many hundred thousands of dollars consumed by this fight will overwhelm the $75,000 spent by each of the two frontrunners in this year's trustee race."

UPDATE: Gado filed court papers in early October, seeking an injunction to prevent the seating of more trustees. He claimed not to know who was paying for the retention of lawyers from the Washington D.C., firm of Williams & Connolly.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Should alumni sue the College over the trustees' governance decisions? Send your opinion to: damletters@dartmouth.edu