FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE:
Contact: Anne D. Neal or Charles Mitchell, 202-467-6787
Alumni Association Refuses to Hold Scheduled Election
“Since when are
alumni forced to remain silent when fundamental fairness is at stake?” asked
ACTA president Anne D. Neal. “What is so radical about holding an election when
it is scheduled?”
On May 24, the leaders
of the association announced
that they were “postponing” the group’s scheduled October 15 annual meeting—and
thereby the elections for their own offices. ACTA protested in a June
1 letter, which resulted in media coverage in the Boston
Globe and New
Hampshire Union Leader, as well as on talk radio and many weblogs.
The Association of
Alumni responded
to ACTA’s letter on June 15, but failed to answer any
of ACTA’s substantive criticisms. The group’s
executive committee claims that its constitution gives it “the right to set the
meeting date, and to change it if required.” But the group’s “Guidelines
for Conduct of Meetings” clarify that “the executive committee shall set
the date for the Association’s next annual meeting” not whenever it wants, but
“at each annual meeting.” As ACTA’s letter pointed
out, “there are no provisions for a unilateral decision to postpone the meeting
date” to some indefinite time in the future.
The letter also
claims that the election should be “postponed” so that alumni can “focus on one
set of issues at a time.” The other issue would be the vote on a proposed new
constitution for the alumni association, which will end on October 30.
“The leadership’s
claim that duly-scheduled elections should not go forward since alumni can only
‘focus on one set of issues at a time’ is simply incredible,” Neal remarked. “Even
worse, their letter did nothing to answer the widespread public concern over
changes to
As ACTA’s letter made clear, the proposed new constitution would
make it nearly impossible for petition candidates to win election to
“Those in power at
“Simply saying ‘trust us,’ as the recent letter does, will not suffice,” Neal concluded. “The October 15 election must be held as scheduled, and a full and open debate over the proposed constitution must continue.”
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni is a national
education nonprofit dedicated to academic freedom, academic quality, and
accountability. ACTA has a network of trustees and
alumni around the country including those from
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