As the Association of Alumni prepares to vote on a new proposed constitution this fall, heated debate has persisted throughout many sectors of the Dartmouth community. Factions on both sides participate, with weblogs becoming an important media for political dialogue.
The website voxclamantisindeserto.org vocally criticizes the proposed constitution and other administrative affairs. A recent alumnus heavily involved with the website is alleging that he was intimidated in private meetings with members of the Alumni Relations administration because of his views on the proposed alumni constitution.
Nick Stork '06 issued a public statement on the website accusing Vice President for Alumni Relations David Spalding '76 of intimidating him and criticizing his views during a June 7 meeting in Blunt Alumni Center.
The website where Stork posted his statement describes itself as a "means of communication for those alumni of Dartmouth College unwilling to accept the often misleading public relations material issued by the College." The site features articles written by current students and recent alumni critiquing the current administration, especially in its dealings with the alumni constitution.
According to Stork, he went to Blunt for a morning meeting with Spalding and Assistant Director of Young Alumni and Student Programs Rex Morey '99 to make up a missed lunch for Greek leaders days before.
When he entered the room, he noticed a BlitzMail message concerning the constitution he had sent to members of his fraternity, Gamma Delta Chi, lying on top of a stack of papers in the conference room.
"I was 100 percent sure that it was mine," Stork told The Dartmouth. "[Spalding] also verified it to me, and later he quoted [from the e-mail]. I used the word bullsh*t in some line, he referred to it and then expanded upon that word to include the entire line [of the e-mail]."
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Spalding said he possessed no private information that had been sent through BlitzMail.
"I guess I'm cautious around the words 'that he sent privately to his fraternity brothers.' I think that if you go on the Vox Clamantis website, most of that information was there," Spalding said. "I don't remember anything private that was sent."
Later in the interview, Spalding neither confirmed nor denied that he had a copy of a Stork's BlitzMail message that was not sent specifically to him.
"I don't recall having a private e-mail that he sent to his Gamma Delt brothers," Spalding said.
Stork alleges that in the meeting, Spalding advocated for the newly proposed alumni constitution, a reversal of his constant dedication to neutrality on the subject.
"I think effectively what he did during the meeting was to say: your political views are wrong, here are the right ones," Stork said, referring to anti-constitution posts on voxclamantisindeserto.org.
"I think when someone tries to let you know that they know what you're up to, there is a serious intimidation there."
Spalding said that the constitution did come up during the meeting, but that he and the administration continue to remain neutral on the issue.
"I may have suggested that commenting that the administration was misleading the alumni about what students think, that that really wasn't true," Spalding said, citing student satisfaction surveys. "I certainly would have taken issue with him on that question, but I don't remember debating the constitution with him."
Morey said that he was surprised by Stork's response to what he thought was "a very cordial meeting."
"The main thing is that when Nick left he was very friendly, and thanked us for our time," Morey said.
College President James Wright said he was unaware of the meeting, but that the allegations of Spalding's behavior seemed uncharacteristic.
"I do have full confidence that neither David Spalding nor Rex Morey would try to intimidate a student -- or anyone else. In fact I have known each of them since they were students and have full confidence in them," Wright said.
Wright also noted that he would be surprised if a Dartmouth student were easily intimidated by debate.
Stork insists he left the meeting intimidated and said he was worried that his degree might be in jeopardy.
"These men just presented an e-mail to me that was my own, they showed that they had a keen understanding of my personal life. At that point I was just backed up into a corner," Stork said.
Andrew Eastman '07, another contributor to voxclamantisindeserto.org, said that he has also felt intimidated by College staff.
Eastman, who works for Greencorps, a Dartmouth-affiliated organization that solicits donations from alumni, was called into a meeting last spring with Executive Director of the Dartmouth College Fund Sylvia Racca.
Racca, who does not handle hiring for Greencorps, said she called Eastman in to "make sure that he understood the role of the gifts from the Dartmouth College Fund in the Campaign [for the Dartmouth Experience]."
According to Racca, Eastman's statements on voxclamantisindeserto.org led her to believe that he thought only large donations contributed to the Campaign, when in fact this is not the case.
"I don't have any other position on any of the other things that he talked about in his editorial," she said referring to posts on the website.
Eastman said that he found her concerns invalid because everything on the site is checked for accuracy.
"I felt that I was being attacked for what I had written and that they were questioning my ability to do my job because of my expressed political opinions," Eastman said.
Stork said that he decided to bring his concerns to a public a forum over two months after the incident because he no longer thought he could be negatively affected by repercussions.
"Now I feel comfortable that I'm in a position to kind of respond to, whereas after that meeting I didn't have any footing," Stork said.
