Dartmouth to alumni democracy: Drop dead.
Dartmouth College announced late Saturday night that its board of trustees would expand to 24 members, two-thirds chosen by the college and one-third elected by the alumni.
Since 1891, Dartmouth alumni have elected eight trustees and the administration has appointed an additional eight, giving the college an unusually small board and an unusual level of alumni power.
The changes come largely in reaction to divisive trustee campaigns over the past three years, in which alumni rejected the candidates officially nominated by the alumni association and instead elected four libertarian or conservative alumni who got onto the ballot through a petition process.