Dartmouth Parity

Our slate of eleven Dartmouth graduates - nominated by alumni petitions, not hand-picked by the nominating committee - constitutes a strong and experienced group of independent thinkers.

The slate covers 50 years of Dartmouth classes from every decade between 1949 and 1999, and together we represent thousands of hours of service to Dartmouth over many years. Four of our candidates are current officers or members of the Association of Alumni Executive Committee, standing for re-election so that they may continue to defend alumni rights by preventing the Trustees’ Board-packing plan and the abrogation of the historic 1891 Agreement. Recognizing that the Association is currently in court with a faction of the Trustees, and with earnest hopes that Trustee reconsideration could lead to an honorable settlement, five of our candidates have law degrees.

We are guided solely by our deep love for Dartmouth and the knowledge that the warm and intense alumni participation that has made Dartmouth great must not be lost. We remember being taught by extraordinary, accessible teachers in small classes; this is the Dartmouth that must be preserved.

J. Michael Murphy ’61

Windermere, FL | Independent, Pro-Parity Candidate for President

U.S. Army Officer; two years active duty. M.B.A., Harvard Business School. Built the largest industrial container recycling business in the Southeast; sold to Industrial Container Services, 1998. Founded American Container Net, Inc., 2004; currently Director. Past chairman of both the national and international industry trade associations. Past chairman and current member, The Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, Inc. Board of Trustees. Daughter, Erin, graduated 1995.

Current VP, Class of 1961. Treasurer, SAE fraternity. Past President, Dartmouth Club of Central Florida; helped establish DCCF Scholarship Fund. Current alumni interviewer. Dartmouth Alumni Council, 1982-85. Past President, Dartmouth Rugby Football Club, significant contributor to Corey Ford Rugby Clubhouse. Class Project Officer, 1991-96, responsible for life-size bronze sculpture of Robert Frost, a gift to the College from Class of 1961 at the 35th Reunion.

“As the Editors of the Daily Dartmouth pointed out on March 7, the College is in a period of “sleepy stagnancy.” In too many areas the Administration has lost sight of our beloved school’s core goals.

“Earlier than other groups, the alumni recognized this situation. We have myriad sources of information about the College: our children, the children of friends to whom we have sung the virtues of the College on the Hill, cherished faculty friends from student days, newly minted graduates who we meet professionally, and many independent campus publications.

“In the best Dartmouth tradition, the alumni acted. Petition trustees were elected to the Board in 2004, 2005 and 2007, and last year the majority of a reform slate was elected to the Association of Alumni.

“Regrettably, the Board did not heed the alumni’s expressions of concern. Rather than working directly on the challenges facing the College, the Trustees reacted defensively. After their new constitution failed to obtain alumni support in the fall of 2006, the Trustees sought in September 2007 to unilaterally change the central element of the alumni’s relationship with the College: our right - obtained in1891 - to elect half the members of the Board.

“I feel compelled to respond to this misguided step. Though I have been energetic in supporting the College in many specific areas over the years, for the first time I would like to play a central role. Together with the other members of our slate, I seek to maintain the alumni’s participation in the life of the College. Like Daniel Webster in 1819, and our brothers in 1891, once again the alumni have been called upon to keep Dartmouth true to herself.

“As leaders of the Association of Alumni, we will fight the Board-packing plan, and we will seek to reinvigorate the alumni’s relationship with Dartmouth. The future of our great institution lies in the balance.”

Bert Boles ’80

Arcadia, CA | Independent, Pro-Parity Candidate for First Vice President

J.D. / MBA, Stanford University. Litigation partner, Kirkland & Ellis, Los Angeles. Dartmouth Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude. Ebers Award for Outstanding Earth Science major. Editor-in-Chief of The Dartmouth; Casque and Gauntlet; Lord Hall Dormitory Chair; Alpha Delta Fraternity. Vice President of the Board of St. Monica Academy, a private liberal arts school. Married, nine children.

“Getting past the hyperbole, the fundamental difference between the pro- and anti-parity camps is whether the governance of higher education should be reserved to an elite group of administrators, wealthy donors, and the few others whom they choose to admit into the inner circle. According to the anti-parity side, decisions about education should be left to the specialists. Perhaps that is a reasonable hypothesis, but it also is reasonable to test it by looking at the results of decades of such governance.

“We can all agree that Dartmouth is richer, more prestigious, and admits smarter students than ever before, and we celebrate these feats. But shouldn’t the primary focus be whether Dartmouth students are well-educated in the liberal arts? Do they know history, and the great thinkers who have shaped its course? Can they speak and write with precision and grace? Have the incumbent stewards of Dartmouth been attentive to these issues, let alone given them priority? And if they have not, is it not reasonable to insist on a mechanism that brings an objective perspective to bear on College governance, especially when that mechanism is the voting rights of the loyal daughters and sons who love her? A Court has now refused to cast aside those voting rights as a matter of law; shouldn’t our Trustees and Alumni Association preserve them as a matter of wisdom?“

Paul Mirengoff ’71

Bethesda, MD | Independent, Pro-Parity Candidate for 2nd Vice President

Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude at Dartmouth. President of the Dartmouth Forensic Union; winner of the Story Philosophy Prize. J.D., Stanford Law School; member, Stanford Law Review. Practiced law at the U.S. EEOC, providing appellate support in law suits attacking employment discrimination. Currently a partner with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Washington DC office. Writes a political blog called Power Line, along with John Hinderaker ’71 and Scott Johnson ’73, which follows national issues and ones relating to Dartmouth. Daughter Emily is a sophomore at Dartmouth.

“As the father of a Dartmouth sophomore, the quality of whose Dartmouth experience probably exceeds even mine, I know that there is a great deal that’s right with Dartmouth, but also some significant challenges. However, this election is not about the specifics answers to these challenges, but rather the process through which the challenges will be addressed.

“I am running for the Executive Committee because I believe that the alumni – all alumni, not just a small cadre of self-appointed leaders – should have a significant say in how Dartmouth goes about preserving what’s great about it and dealing with its challenges. The Board of Trustees’ efforts to relegate alumni elected trustees to permanent minority status would deny the sons and daughters of Dartmouth this traditional and vital role.

“The heavy-handed, anti-democratic actions of the Board of Trustees have alienated a large portion of Dartmouth’s alumni. Yet, despite its consistent lack of electoral success, the Board acts as if only a small, grumpy, and improperly-motivated group is standing in its way. By electing an independent Executive Committee that will maintain the law suit which has stopped the Board’s latest power-play in its tracks, we should finally be able to convince the Board that it needs to proceed through consensus rather than fiat.”

Marian Chambers ’76

Wichita, KS | Independent, Pro-Parity Candidate for Secretary-Treasurer

Graduated Dartmouth 1975 (Class of ’76), Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude; Colby Government Prize. M.Sc., London School of Economics, 1976. Alliance Francaise, 1977. U.S. Congress International Relations Committee Staff 1978-1999. Visited 117 countries, author of 20 government reports, highest security clearance, responsible for overseeing $20 billion in U.S. foreign spending. Married high school sweetheart 1999, active as a Board officer in local community since (Foreign Relations, D.A.R., Church Board of Trustees); organized first Phi Beta Kappa Association in Kansas.

“Nominated by alumni petition, I support the efforts of the 2007-2008 Executive Committee to preserve the 1891 Agreement that established Board parity and guaranteed it for 116 years. As my resume indicates, I write as what might be deemed an unlikely supporter, much less slate member, of an “old-school-tie cabal”-for starters, I am the first female to graduate from Dartmouth’s first coeducational class.

“We are all asked, indeed implored, to give to our alma mater. What disturbs me, and why I am running with the other petition candidates, is that alumni now have to overcome all sorts of obstacles to stand for the Board of Trustees or the leadership of the Association of Alumni-to which all of us 68,000 alumni belong.

“It is not putting it too strongly to say that Dartmouth alumni have entered the world of George Orwell. We are supposed to contribute, but not ask where the money goes. We are supposed to swallow meekly whatever candidates the establishment serves up to us. We are reproved for offering competitive candidates as Trustees, or for the leadership of the Association of Alumni, and if we do, and win-then “oops”, the rules have to be changed.

“I am running as a truly independent candidate and I pledge that, if elected, my responsibilities as the Association Secretary-Treasurer will always be guided by my judgment of what is best for the alumni I represent. No other concerns will influence my actions. On this point, I must note that my opponent for this office, David Spalding, Vice President of Alumni Affairs, is a full time employee of the College. Because the Association is currently involved in litigation (and later, perhaps, in negotiations) with the Trustees, it is necessary to recognize a serious conflict of interest that Mr. Spalding has in determining which constituency should be primary for him.”

Frank Gado ’58

White River Junction, VT | Independent, Pro-Parity Candidate for Executive Committee

Ph.D., Duke University; retired Professor of English, Union College (33 years); Department chair; active in faculty governance; NEH Fellow in Autobiography; Delphic Society Award, Best Teacher; UC Press Editor; Fulbright Fellow, Uppsala, Sweden (twice); Writing consultant, Italian Foreign Ministry; author/editor approximately dozen books, including The Passion of Ingmar Bergman and William Cullen Bryant: An American Voice.

Dartmouth alumni interviewer; DKE fraternity. Produced 40th Reunion Book; Taught in Dartmouth ILEAD; Contributor to College newspapers. Currently Association 2nd Vice President; designated liaison with counsel in court action against Trustees.

“Having again been nominated by petition, I renew my commitment to maintaining the balance of elected to appointed trustees, as contractually provided in the 1891 Agreement. My research in Rauner Library not only laid the foundation for our legal case but also inspired me to keep faith with our valiant forbears.

“During my incumbency, I led the Executive Committee majority’s efforts to protect the alumni’s franchise. Unfortunately, those efforts went unreciprocated, leaving us no recourse but to file suit. Our action has met encouraging success, but a victory by opponents would produce nullification of the 1891 Agreement, an immediate surrender of alumni rights forevermore. Given that consequence, therefore, this election will be the most important in Dartmouth’s history. The unique bond between Dartmouth and its alumni must be preserved.

“Once the parity issue is resolved by court action or settlement, reconciliation within the Dartmouth family should be our prime priority.”

Marjory Grant Ross ’81

McLean, VA | Independent, Pro-Parity Candidate for Executive Committee

M.A. in Journalism from American University (1982). After several years as a business editor and publisher, in 1999 became General Manager of Regnery Publishing, the country’s leading publisher of conservative books; named President and Publisher in 2003. On the Board of Directors for the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, the National Conservative Campaign Fund, and the Beth Chai congregation. Ms. Ross has three teen-age daughters.

“I have once again been nominated by alumni petition and I fully support the efforts of our 2007-2008 Association of Alumni Executive Committee to prevent the Board of Trustees from discarding the 1891 Agreement which has guaranteed for 116 years that Dartmouth alumni elect 50% of the Board. Last year, when I ran for this position, I promised to be devoted to transparency, full financial disclosure, and honest representation of all alumni.

“Having served on the Association Executive Committee for the past 10 months, I can tell you that those principles — as well as the College we love — are under attack. The Board of Trustees’ attempted power grab last fall, which would relegate alumni trustees to permanent minority status, reveals the serious and imminent threats against alumni involvement and the integrity of Dartmouth College.

“I believe it is essential that the Association of Alumni Executive Committee speak up forcefully and sincerely in representing alumni views. Electing independent members is the only way to ensure that voice.”

Zach Hafer ’99

Boston, MA | Independent, Pro-Parity Candidate for Executive Committee

J.D., University of Virginia School of Law; Armour Scholar (full-tuition merit scholarship); awarded the Traynor Prize for outstanding oral advocacy in Virginia’s moot court competition. Law clerk for the Honorable Shirley W. Kram, U.S. District Judge, S.D.N.Y.Litigation associate, Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP, New York City. Currently an Assistant United States Attorney in Boston, in the Office’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force.

Graduated Dartmouth cum laude. Member, Men’s Hockey team; named First-Team Academic All-Ivy. Active supporter of the Dartmouth College Fund, Dartmouth Hockey, and the Class of 1999. Dartmouth alumni interviewer.

“I am running because I love Dartmouth and the passion, loyalty, and camaraderie of the Dartmouth community. I think that elected Trustees are a big part of what makes Dartmouth special, and I want to preserve their role and influence on the College.

“I fully support the efforts of our 2007-2008 Association of Alumni Executive Committee to prevent the Board of Trustees from discarding the 1891 Agreement which has guaranteed for 116 years that Dartmouth alumni elect 50% of the Board.

“The trustees have dismissed elections as “divisive,” but the effect has been the opposite. Look at the cover of the most recent Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, and you can see the new unity of sentiment for smaller classes and a better student-faculty ratio. This is an issue that languished until it became the centerpiece platform of the last Alumni Trustee election. Stanching alumni elections will once again relegate fresh voices to voces clamantis in deserto.”

Alexander X. Mooney ’93

Frederick, MD | Independent, Pro-Parity Candidate for Executive Committee

Currently serving in 10th year as a member of Maryland State Senate. Executive Director, National Journalism Center, Washington, D.C. At Dartmouth, Vice President of the Aquinas House Student Council; member of the Dartmouth Latino Coalition. Contributor to the Corey Ford Rugby Clubhouse building fund.

“I have once again been nominated by alumni petition and I fully support the efforts of our 2007-2008 Association of Alumni Executive Committee to prevent the Board of Trustees from discarding the 1891 Agreement which has guaranteed for 116 years that Dartmouth alumni elect 50% of the Board. I believe that diminishing the role that alumni play in the life of the College will harm Dartmouth, and I pledge to support all reasonable efforts to reverse the Trustees’ action. I am running for re-election at this pivotal time to continue the effort to defend these crucial alumni rights. I believe that Dartmouth alumni strongly support the power sharing agreement on the Board of Trustees, which existed since 1891. The Trustees’ attempts to throw out this wonderful source of Dartmouth’s strength are wrong. Whether through a court decision or by negotiation, the Association of Alumni must continue to bring about the end of these efforts.

“As the child of a mother who fled communist Cuba, I am especially passionate about free speech on college campuses, and wide respect for diversity of opinion. Dartmouth must never consider “speech codes” in a concern for political correctness.”

Richard Roberts ’83

Wethersfield, CT | Independent, Pro-Parity Candidate for Executive Committee

J.D., University of Virginia Law School. Private practice in Hartford, CT; currently partner at Halloran & Sage, LLP. VP and Director, Dartmouth Club of Hartford; alumni interviewer for over 20 years. Currently District Enrollment Director. Involved in local government and farmland preservation efforts.

“The overriding issue in this election is whether the long-established right of Dartmouth alumni to elect half of Dartmouth’s trustees will be preserved. I respectfully disagree with the view expressed by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees that reducing the percentage of trustees elected by alumni somehow will mean the election of more capable trustees. In my view, the opposite is true; who has better judgment in this matter than, collectively, the sons and daughters of Dartmouth? I also take exception to the Board’s efforts to achieve by Diktat what it could not achieve by consent.

“The Association of Alumni acted correctly in suing to prevent the high-handed reversal of procedures that have served Dartmouth so well since 1891. Fortunately, the lawsuit has stopped the Board in its tracks. If the Association of Alumni petition candidates are elected, the Board will hopefully see the need, finally, to seek consensus regarding any electoral reform. Differences can then be resolved. If our slate is not elected, this lawsuit will be dropped and the Board will see itself as unchecked, and divisions will deepen.

“I am running to promote the former result and to avoid the latter.”

John Steel ’54

La Jolla, CA | Independent, Pro-Parity Candidate for Executive Committee

Dartmouth Board of Trustees, 1980-1990. Honorary M.S. Degree. Alpha Delt; Sphinx. Board of Overseers, Dartmouth Aquinas House, 1980 to present. U.S. Naval aviator 1954-1958. M.D., Tulane Medical School; Interned at U.S. Navy Hospital, San Diego; Residency at Ochsner Clinic, New Orleans. Chief of Medical Staff, Scripps Memorial Hospital, 1991-1993.

“I have been nominated by alumni petitions and I fully support the efforts of the 2007-2008 Executive Committee to prevent the Board of Trustees from discarding the 1891 Agreement which has guaranteed for 116 years that Dartmouth alumni elect 50% of the Board. Having my 5 children attend Dartmouth (’80, ’81 exchange, ’82, ’83 and ’88) and serving as a Trustee 1980-90, I have much vested in the College. My current desire is to prevent the loss of parity on the Board of Trustees. The parity agreement of 1891 between the Board and the Association of Alumni has served the College well and enabled it to become one of the leading educational institutions in the country. Why unilaterally change the Board composition by adding eight more charter trustee seats, and no further alumni trustee seats? I am not convinced by the reasoning given by the current Board of Trustees.

“As the first Alumni Trustee to have reached the Board by the petition route, I would bring to the Executive Committee a unique experience in dealing with relations between alumni and the Trustees.”

Charles Urstadt ’49

Bronxville, NY | Independent, Pro-Parity Candidate for Executive Committee

Dartmouth BA ’49; MBA ’51; Cornell LLB ’53; Pace LLD (Hon) ’90; Lt. USNR ’54-’56; New York State Commissioner of Housing ’67 - ’73; Founding Chairman of Battery Park City ’68 - ’78; Trustee, Pace University ’72 to Present.

At Dartmouth - Captain of swimming team and two time All American. In Masters Swimming I hold five National Records and won the World Championship in 2000 in the 50 meter Breast Stroke, age group 70 -74. Presently, CEO of Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. a New York Stock Exchange listed company with headquarters in Greenwich, CT.

“I support of the current Executive Committee to prevent the Board of Trustees from discarding the 1891 Contract which has so clearly benefited Dartmouth. The alumni of Dartmouth College - who created the nearly 4 billion dollar endowment - are really its shareholders and deserve to have a voice not controlled by the administration and the faculty. They should be a VOX CLAMANTIS in Hanover, not IN DESERTO.

“As chairman of a NYSE listed company, I am particularly struck by the fact that the Trustees’ board-packing plan is completely opposite to the direction of reform of corporate governance in the United States today. If elected I will work to strengthen the Association of Alumni, making it a more independent body, free of administration control and fulfilling its role to democratically select eight of the eighteen College trustees in accordance with the 1891 Contract.”