Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College

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Twelve sitting members of the Board during a question-and-answer session with students, November 9, 2007. Left to right: Stephen Smith, Charles Haldeman, R. Bradford Evans (mostly obscured), Pamela Joyner, Russell Carson, Todd Zywicki, Karen Francis, Al Mulley, John Donahoe, Stephen Mandel, Jr., Christine Bucklin, and José Fernandez.
Twelve sitting members of the Board during a question-and-answer session with students, November 9, 2007. Left to right: Stephen Smith, Charles Haldeman, R. Bradford Evans (mostly obscured), Pamela Joyner, Russell Carson, Todd Zywicki, Karen Francis, Al Mulley, John Donahoe, Stephen Mandel, Jr., Christine Bucklin, and José Fernandez.

The Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College is the governing body of Dartmouth College, an Ivy League university located in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. As of 2007, the Board includes eighteen people. The current Chair of the Board is Charles E. Haldeman.

The Board of Trustees describes itself as having "ultimate responsibility for the financial, administrative and academic affairs of the College."[1] Among its responsibilities are the appointment of the President of the College and the approval of institutional policies.[2]

Contents

[edit] Composition

Of the eighteen current members, two are traditionally described as trustees ex officio, eight as alumni trustees, and eight as charter trustees. The Charter mandates that the Governor of New Hampshire always be a trustee ex officio, and the Board traditionally makes the current President of Dartmouth College a member in a similar capacity. Both trustees ex officio may participate fully in Board affairs, although the Governor traditionally does not. The College President is selected for the presidency by the trustees under the terms of the Charter. Most of the trustees are elected by majority vote, as the Charter requires. Of these elected trustees, eight are nominated by a committee within the Board and eight are nominated by alumni of the College.

[edit] Nomination of alumni trustees

The process of nomination and election involves several steps. When an existing alumni trustee nears the end of his or her four-year term, or when a new alumni trustee seat is created, the Dartmouth Alumni Council proposes two candidates to fill the vacancy. If there are two vacancies, the Council suggests three candidates. Any alumnus/na who collects at least 500 alumni signatures may join the candidates on the ballot as a petition candidate. Then the Association of Alumni polls all Dartmouth alumni by paper and electronic ballots, using a preference voting system, to select the nominee or nominees. Finally, the Board traditionally elects the alumni nominee.

[edit] History

The system of alumni balloting to determine a nominee dates to the late nineteenth century as was described at the time as based on the system in use at Williams College. In 1876, Dartmouth's Board of Trustees resolved to fill some upcoming vacancies with alumni. Vacancies were rare at the time, however, and the number of alumni seated was small; most of the members of the Board were still elderly non-alumni clergymen who were seen as theologically and educationally conservative.

Daniel Webster arguing Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward, a Supreme Court case ultimately decided in favor of Dartmouth College.
Daniel Webster arguing Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward, a Supreme Court case ultimately decided in favor of Dartmouth College.

In 1891, in what came to be known as "The 1891 Agreement," the Board of Trustees resolved to elect five trustees who had been nominated by the alumni of five years' standing. The nomination process would be handled by the Association of Alumni of Dartmouth College, of which every matriculated student becomes a member automatically when his or her class graduates. Soon after the Board issued its 1891 resolution, five members resigned to open seats for the new nominees, and Dartmouth's first effective means of granting alumni influence on the composition of its Board was under way.

The Board has expanded twice since it was created as a twelve-person organization in 1769. The New Hampshire Legislature approved an amendment to the Charter that expanded the Board to sixteen in 1961. In 2003, the Board grew to eighteen and stated plans to reach twenty-two.[3] This expansion was the Board's first act under its new authority to amend its own charter, an authority granted by the Legislature during the same period. During each expansion, the Board described half of the newly-created seats as being those of "alumni trustees".[4]

[edit] Changes in the process

A green light shines from the tower of Baker Memorial Library when the trustees convene in Hanover.
A green light shines from the tower of Baker Memorial Library when the trustees convene in Hanover.[5]

During the early twentieth century, much of the contact alumni had with the College was through Dartmouth's Class Secretaries Association, a group made up of the secretaries of the various alumni class organizations. In 1913, the Class Secretaries Association recommended that the Association of Alumni create a group to advise the general Association. The group was called the Alumni Council, and in 1915 the Association transferred to it the authority to put the names of potential alumni trustees on the ballot for the alumni to select as their nominee to the Board. The Alumni Council retains that authority today.[6]

The Board of Trustees has also made changes to the process over time. The Board no longer restricts the voting for nominees to the alumni of the particular schools listed in the 1891 resolution, nor does it prohibit alumni of less than five years' standing from participation. In 1990, the Board resolved to re-elect some alumni nominees for second terms in the future. The Association of Alumni made a corresponding amendment to its constitution at the same time in order to avoid the possibility that a nomination process would start upon the conclusion of a re-elected alumni trustee's first term.

[edit] Recent controversies

In 2004, T. J. Rodgers sought the alumni nomination as a petition candidate and won the balloting, after which the Board elected him as its newest trustee. This was an unusual occurrence, since alumni candidates are typically nominated by the Alumni Council.[7] The only previous petition candidate to successfully be seated on the Board was John Steel in 1980. In 2005, petition candidates Todd Zywicki and Peter Robinson similarly won nominations to the Board. Because they were critical of the College administration and were described as "outsiders," the conservative student paper The Dartmouth Review called their election "The Lone Pine Revolution" and described it as "the most significant event in [Dartmouth's] recent history."[8] Stephen Smith, the fourth petition candidate, also critical of the direction of the College, won the nomination in 2007.[3]

In 2006, an Alumni Association committee proposed a new version of the organization's constitution that would have altered the process of nominating trustees, in part by re-incorporating the Alumni Council within the Association. The proposal was debated fiercely, with opponents arguing that it would game the election rules in favor of candidates selected by the Alumni Council or its successor and against petition candidates. Proponents argued that the constitution would solve longstanding organizational problems for the Association of Alumni and the Alumni Council.[9] Amid significant voter turnout, fewer than the required supermajority voted in favor of adopting the new constitution, defeating the proposal.

In 2007, the Board announced that its Governance Committee would complete a periodic review of the Board's practices at the Board meeting of early September.[10][11] Some alumni took this and other announcements to mean that the Board would reduce the number of alumni trustees or ask the Alumni Council to alter its nomination process, and a new controversy erupted. Newly-formed groups created websites[12] and took out advertisements in The New York Times[13] and elsewhere, meant to influence the Board's decision.

In September 2007, the Board decided to add eight new charter trustee seats, expanding the size of the group from 18 to 26 seats.[14] The decision retained the pre-2007 number of eight alumni trustees. Thus, alumni-nominated trustees went from 44.4 percent of the Board to 30.7 percent, dropping from half of the elected trustees to one third. The Board's decision sparked controversy among alumni, and led the now petition-candidate majority of the Alumni Council to suit against the College to block such action.

In October 2007 New Hampshire state Representative Maureen Mooney (R-Merrimack) proposed to draft a bill that would force the Board to cede some control over the amendment of its charter to the state. As introduced into committee, the legislation would repeal an act of 2003 that finally gave the Board the right to amend its Charter without consulting the state.[15] Mooney states the recent governance changes at the College are a reason for her sponsorship of the bill.[16] In February of 2008, Mooney's bill was voted down in the commerce committee.[17] Thus the bill will not come before the legislature during the 2008 session.

These issues may well be resolved in the elections ending in June 08 whereby alumni will choose a new Alumni Council Executive Committee. Two "slates" of candidates are competing for the eleven openings. The "Dartmouth Undying" slate believes that the system by which petition candidates were nominated, and recently elected, in the past was unfairly slanted against the multiple-candidate offerings placed by the Council, supports the change in Board composition, and plans to retract the aforementioned lawsuit. The slate supporting the petition candidates believes that the change in composition of the Board of Trustees was an effort to reduce the current and future influence of petition candidates, and that it unfairly reduces the historically large influence of alumni on the Board.

[edit] Current trustees

[edit] Alumni trustees

Name Elected Graduated Reference
Christine B. Bucklin 2001 1984 [18]
Michael Chu 2000 1968 [19]
Donahoe, JohnJohn Donahoe 2003 1982 [20]
Jose W. Fernandez 2002 1977 [21]
Robinson, PeterPeter Robinson 2005 1979 [22]
Rodgers, T. J.T. J. Rodgers 2004 1970 [23]
Stephen F. Smith 2007 1988 [24]
Zywicki, ToddTodd Zywicki 2005 1988 [25]

[edit] Charter trustees

Name Elected Graduated Reference
Black, Leon D.Leon D. Black 2002 1973 [26]
Russell L. Carson 1999 1965 [27]
R. Bradford Evans 2003 1964 [28]
Karen C. Francis 2000 1984 [29]
Haldeman, Charles E.Charles E. Haldeman 2004 1970 [30]
Pamela J. Joyner 2001 1979 [31]
Stephen F. Mandel, Jr. 2007 1978 [32]
Albert G. Mulley, Jr. 2004 1970 [33]

[edit] Ex officio trustees

Name Office Appointed Reference
James Wright President, Dartmouth College 1998 [34]
John Lynch Governor, State of New Hampshire 2005 [35]

[edit] Notable past trustees

John Phillips, founder of Phillips Exeter Academy, trustee from 1773-1793.
John Phillips, founder of Phillips Exeter Academy, trustee from 1773-1793.
Nelson Rockefeller '30, Vice President of the United States, trustee from 1942-1952.
Nelson Rockefeller '30, Vice President of the United States, trustee from 1942-1952.
Name Elected Left/retired Graduated Reference
Bosworth, Stephen W.Stephen W. Bosworth 1992 2002 1961 [36][37]
Braden, ThomasThomas Braden 1964 1974 1941 [38][39][37]
Brown, Albert O.Albert O. Brown 1911 1931 1878 [40]
Colby, AnthonyAnthony Colby 1850 1870 n/a [41]
Eastman, Ira AllenIra Allen Eastman 1859 1881 1829 [42]
Freeman, JonathanJonathan Freeman 1793 1808 n/a [43][44]
Heyman, Ira MichaelIra Michael Heyman 1982 1993 1951 [45][37]
Marsh, CharlesCharles Marsh 1809 1849 1786 [46]
McLaughlin, David T.David T. McLaughlin 1971 1981 1954, Tuck 1955 [47]
Niles, NathanielNathaniel Niles 1793 1821 n/a [48]
Oelman, RobertRobert Oelman 1961 1976 1931 [49][37]
Olcott, SimeonSimeon Olcott 1784 1793 n/a [50]
Paine, ElijahElijah Paine 1806 1829 n/a [48]
Phillips, JohnJohn Phillips 1773 1793 n/a [51]
Pitkin, TimothyTimothy Pitkin 1769 1773 n/a [52]
Powers, Samuel L.Samuel L. Powers 1905 1915 1874 [53]
Prescott, Benjamin F.Benjamin F. Prescott 1879 1895 1856 [54]
Reed, WilliamWilliam Reed 1834 1837 n/a [55][56]
Reich, RobertRobert Reich 1988 1993 1968 [57][37]
Rockefeller, NelsonNelson Rockefeller 1942 1952 1930 [58]
Ruml, BeardsleyBeardsley Ruml 1946 1960 1915 [59]
Shipler, David K.David K. Shipler 1993 2003 1964 [60][37]
Smith, JohnJohn Smith 1788 1809 1773 [61][62]
Thompson, Thomas W.Thomas W. Thompson 1801 1821 n/a [63]
Tuck, AmosAmos Tuck 1857 1866 1835 [64]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Board and Its Functions. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.
  2. ^ Statement on Governance and Trustee Responsibilities. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.
  3. ^ a b Ghods, Emily. "Faster, Alumni Council! Kill! Kill!", The Dartmouth Review, 2007-07-16. Retrieved on 2007-08-23. 
  4. ^ "The 1891 Agreement: A History in Brief", The Dartmouth Review, 2007-08-05. Retrieved on 2007-08-23. 
  5. ^ Baker Library Bell Tower. Dartmouth College Libraries. Retrieved on 2007-11-11.
  6. ^ Ward, Nathaniel. "Silencing Alumni Voices: Alumni Lose Rights of Self-Governance", The Dartmouth Review, 2003-11-03. Retrieved on 2007-08-23. 
  7. ^ Kimball, Roger. "The New Criterion’s Eyes on Hanover", The Dartmouth Review, 2007-04-10. Retrieved on 2007-08-23. 
  8. ^ Ellis, Michael J; Scott L. Glabe. "The Lone Pine Revolution", The Dartmouth Review, 2005-05-14. Retrieved on 2007-08-23. 
  9. ^ "Alumni reject proposed constitution", The Dartmouth, 2006-11-03. Retrieved on 2007-08-24. 
  10. ^ "Trustee Committee on Governance", Dartmouth News, 2007-08-28. Retrieved on 2007-09-06. 
  11. ^ Haldeman, Ed (2007-08-15). Letter to Alumni. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  12. ^ VoteDartmouth: Save Dartmouth by Saving Your Vote. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  13. ^ Save Dartmouth: Help Preserve a 116-Year Tradition of Democracy. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  14. ^ Preserving Dartmouth's Tradition of Excellence: Governance Recommendations to Maintain The College's Preeminent Role in Higher Education (August 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-09.
  15. ^ Mooney, Maureen. H.B. 1292. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
  16. ^ Schpero, William (2007-10-23). N.H. House proposal eyes College charter. Retrieved on 2007-11-01.
  17. ^ Schpero, William (2008-03-06). House refuses state control over charter. Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
  18. ^ Christine B. Bucklin '84. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  19. ^ Michael Chu '68. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  20. ^ John J. Donahoe '82. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  21. ^ Jose W. Fernandez '77. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  22. ^ Peter M. Robinson '79. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  23. ^ Thurman J. Rodgers '70. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  24. ^ Stephen H. Smith '88. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  25. ^ Todd J. Zywicki '88. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  26. ^ Leon D. Black '73. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  27. ^ Russell L. Carson '65. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  28. ^ R. Bradford Evans '64. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  29. ^ Karen C. Francis '84. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  30. ^ Charles E. Haldeman Jr. '70. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  31. ^ Pamela J. Joyner '79. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  32. ^ Stephen F. Mandel, Jr.. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  33. ^ Albert G. Mulley, Jr.. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  34. ^ James Wright. The Wheelock Succession of Dartmouth Presidents. The Office of the President, Dartmouth College. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.
  35. ^ Lynch, John (2005-01-06). Governor's Inaugural Address. Governor of New Hampshire John Lynch. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.
  36. ^ Nomination of Stephen W. Bosworth To Be a Member of the Board of the Panama Canal Commission. The American Presidency Project (1982-09-13). Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  37. ^ a b c d e f Trustees Emeriti. Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  38. ^ "'We Want Teachers Who Are Educated'", Time, 1963-05-10. Retrieved on 2007-08-19. 
  39. ^ 2007 Honor Roll. Dartmouth College Fund. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
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  48. ^ a b Shirley, John Major (2003). The Dartmouth College Causes and the Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
  49. ^ Freudeneheim, Milt. "Robert S. Oelman, 97, Chief Who Led NCR to Automation, Dies", The New York Times, 2006-05-16. Retrieved on 2007-08-19. 
  50. ^ Chase, Frederick; John King Lord (1891). A History of Dartmouth College and the Town of Hanover, New Hampshire. The Rumford Press. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
  51. ^ John Phillips Chronology. Phillips Exeter Academy. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
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  55. ^ Notes toward a Catalog of the Buildings and Landscapes of Dartmouth College. Dartmo.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
  56. ^ William Reed. Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
  57. ^ Robert Reich Biography. RobertReich.org. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
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  59. ^ MacArthur Coverage. Time (1951-05-21). Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
  60. ^ Stavis, Laurel. "Six to receive Social Justice Awards", Vox of Dartmouth, Dartmouth College. Retrieved on 2007-08-19. 
  61. ^ Bryant-Mason-Smith Family Papers, 1761-1861: Guide to the Collection. Massachusetts Historical Society. Retrieved on 2007-08-19.
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  64. ^ Amos Tuck. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.

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