I’ve had an interest in Dartmouth’s Trustee election since I first heard about petition candidate Stephen F. Smith, Dartmouth ‘88. Though I have no personal attachment to Dartmouth College, it’s hard not to be interested in the candidacy of a man who is so honest about the direction of his alma mater and, most importantly, is quite clear about how to right the wayward ship.
Mr. Smith sees that Dartmouth is abandoning its roots as an elite liberal arts college and becoming yet another research university; he has seen Dartmouth’s administration grow far faster than its faculty; he wants to protect the integrity of Dartmouth’s history and reinvigorate the College’s athletics. In short, he’s a well-qualified alumnus [which might be the understatement of our young century] with a deep commitment to his alma mater – and he’s got the talent and experience to affect change. If you want a crash course on Smith’s candidacy and the issues that surrounded the election, you can see pieces from The New Criterion, William F. Buckley, or you can read Smith’s blog.
Mr. Smith won with the support of 55% of the alumni vote to become the most successful petition candidate in the history of Dartmouth’s Trustee elections. I can’t imagine what the other 45% were thinking.
Smith’s election is a victory for serious-minded alumni, future students and – clearly – anyone with a commitment to maintaining quality in higher education. One need not have a connection to Dartmouth to appreciate that a man as accomplished as Smith is making himself available to guide one of the nation’s bastions of education.
If you’re interested in keeping tabs on what’s to come at Dartmouth, check out the Joe’s DartBlog and, of course, The Dartmouth Review and its Dartlog. I look forward to following Trustee Smith’s service to the College.
UPDATE at 5.21.07, 11.48pm:
Phi Beta Cons links to a lengthy piece by Joe Malchow, author of the DartBlog, that details on MindingTheCampus.com all the events that led up to Smith’s election.
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