Posted by Todd Zywicki:
Tear Down This Wall:
As [1]Scott Johnson notes this morning, the speech restrictions
regarding the Dartmouth Trustee Elections are very strict. Which makes
it all that more crucial that they be enforced in an even-handed
manner.
Herewith the text of the email I sent to the Affairs Office and Alumni
Council Ballot Committee this morning regarding the incident
[2]described in an earlier post:
I was surprised and disappointed to see the announcement in the
"Speaking of Dartmouth" Electronic Newsletter last week that
promoted the candidacies of the four official alumni candidates.
Given that candidacy deadline does not close until this Wednesday
Feb. 23, I believe that this announcement was premature,
inappropriate, and very detrimental to the prospects of a fair
election for the Dartmouth Board of Trustess. First, by referring
to "the candidates" in the email announcement, this implies that
the 4 candidates listed there will be the full slate of candidates.
Second, this is very detrimental to my efforts in that any alumni
who clicked through that link last week will be much less likely to
do so with respect to any future announcements. Third, any future
announcement regarding an updated slate of candidates will not only
mention my candidacy but will inevitably also again promote the
Alumni Council candidates; thus, this puts me at a permanent
disadvatage.
To the extent that the College and Alumni Council insist on strict
rules on communication with alumni during the election process, it
is imperative that these rules be applied in an even-handed manner
to all qualified candidates and that there is neither the
appearance nor the acutal effect of favoring some candidates over
another.
I believe that the announcement at this time was premature and
fundamentally unfair to independent candidates and should have not
been issued until the deadline for candidates was closed on Feb.
23.
As a result, I request that the College and the Alumni Council take
the following steps to attempt to redress this situation:
First, I request the IMMEDIATE REMOVAL of the video by Karen McKeel
Calby '81 endorsing the official Alumni Council nominees. This is a
completely inappropriate advantage for the official candidates and
there is simply no possible way for a qualified petition candidate
to offset this advantage.
Second, I would like to request that the following to try rectify
this unfair communication on behalf of the Alumni Council
candidates. First, I would like express authorization to maintain
my personal website for the duration of the balloting period, to
provide alumni with an equal opportunity to discover and learn
about my candidacy. Second, after I am qualified as an official
candidate this week I would like a special email to be sent to all
subscribers of "Speaking of Darmouth" that mentions my addition to
the ballot and directs interested alumni to my personal website. I
would request that this communication mention specifically that the
prior email communication was premature and prior to the candidate
deadline, and that the email that mentions my candidacy is being
sent to provide all candidates with an equal playing field. It is
important that this email mention only myself and any other
petition candidates who qualify for the ballot, and does not
exacerbate the situation by again directing alumni to the official
Alumni website.
I believe this is a serious breach of the promise of a fair and
open Trustee Election. If the College is going to impose speech
restraints on Trustee candidates, it is imperative that those rules
be applied in an even-handed manner and do not favor some
candidates at the expense of others.
References
1.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/273kiqcm.asp?pg=1
2. http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_02_20-2005_02_26.shtml#1108990934
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