Trends in Higher Education

Alumni are pushing for reform across the country.

* When Dartmouth College was established in 1891, the leadership and major donors agreed that half of the trustees would be elected by Alumni. But now the power elite has tried to change the rules. Unhappy with the results of a 2007 election, the Board of Trustees arbitrarily changed the structure of the Board, leaving unchanged the number of elected trustees while doubling the number of unelected trustees.

The Association of Alumni asked for dialogue, was rebuffed, and filed a lawsuit to stop the Trustees’ action. On February 1, 2008, the Court denied the Trustees’ motion to dismiss the Association’s case, rejecting the Trustees’ argument that alumni lack the legal capacity to contract with the College for the election of Trustees.

Dartmouth College has already reaped the fruits of the 1891 Agreement – alumni dollars, votes and reasoned input. It seems ludicrous that the College would now argue that the Agreement they abided by for over a century simply never existed. The Court’s final judgment is pending.