Dartmouth Alums Vote Down New Constitution

According to Inside Higher Ed, Dartmouth’s alumni have voted down changes in the alumni association constitution that would have made it harder for insurgent candidates to get elected to Dartmouth’s Board of Trustees. 51% of voters rejected the changes while 49% voted for them (a two-thirds vote was needed to pass the changes).

This is noteworthy because the three insurgent candidates for trustee who have won election in the past couple of years (and whose election almost certainly prompted the proposed changes to the constitution) campaigned in part on a platform of making free speech a priority at Dartmouth. Those who follow FIRE’s work may remember that until May of last year, Dartmouth had a “red light” speech code rating from FIRE. Without the pressure stemming from these trustee elections, it’s unlikely that Dartmouth would now have a “green light” speech code rating from FIRE. Let’s hope that the alumni trustees will continue to work to safeguard the rights of Dartmouth’s students.