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Entry: Dartmouth's spin doctors
Not trying to hijack the thread, but speaking of Dartmouth, now one of the profs says she's going to be suing the school and some of her students for harassment based on course evaluations.
http://www.ivygateblog.com/blog/2008/04/putting_the_class_in_class_action_also_the_attentionseeking_bookselling_passiveaggressive_trainwreck_in_professor.html
So one has to wonder whether there was a breach of anonymity, and what the school is going to do to protect the students. They might have to hire lawyers for each of them, which I doubt that they'll do, but if they don't they might wish they had.
Posted by AYY at April 30, 2008 8:44 AM
Do you really care whether the Trustees are "myopic" if they've got the law and right on their side? And speaking of "a new low," why not mention the unsavory and completely unethical behavior of the lawsuit supporters, including the four petition trustees? Their violation of their oaths will be the main excess that is remembered from this episode.
Posted by ANY good? at May 26, 2008 3:12 PM
A quick update on a recent change in the status quo: the Dartmouth Board of Trustees has appointed (following its democratic elections) five alumni to fill new seats, providing fresh perspectives and completing part of the reform that was so controversial earlier in the year. Although all but the Board's ex officio trustees are "insiders" elected by the board itself, the number of those who are nominated by alumni has stayed the same, at eight. The number nominated by the board has risen to thirteen.
This reform came after the alumni voted overwhelmingly against the lawsuit, electing all eleven candidates on the anti-lawsuit slate in the annual Alumni Association leadership contest, each one by a margin of about 60-40. The election had a very large turnout. (Please note that the Association should not be confused with the Board of Trustees.)
Incidentally, Todd Zywicki and Stephen Smith are deeply if not zealously religious and are not "free-thinkers." They and the other two trustees you favor disgracefully filed a vicious brief with the court in support of the plaintiff in a lawsuit attacking their own board. This is the same board to which the four trustees owe duties of fiduciary responsibility and loyalty as well as duties of public relations and fundraising based on their Trustee Oaths. Todd Zywicki also accepted a public reprimand from the board for his malicious and vilifying comments to the Pope Institute.
Posted by update at September 10, 2008 7:18 AM
For any reader curious about how the story turned out, the alumni voted by an overwhelming margin to defeat all eleven members of the pro-lawsuit slate of candidates for this year's association leadership. There was a large voter turnout. The main plank in the platform of the winning slate was the withdrawal of the lawsuit, and the lawsuit was dismissed soon after the election.
Posted by democracy triumphs in the end at October 8, 2008 8:23 AM