Armavirumque, Apr 27, 2005 10:09 AM

A tale of two trustees

by Stefan Beck

If you haven’t been following Dartmouth’s trustee election imbroglio, be sure to read this detailed account by a former Dartmouth Review colleague of mine, National Review’s Alston Ramsay. (Let this be a reminder to the Dartmouth administration: Reviewers don’t cease to be a nuisance when we graduate. Resistance is futile.)

What all the anti-petition commentary had in common was an underlying air of desperation, like a condemned man trying feverishly to exculpate himself as he�s led to the gallows. Here, then, was their true offence: Robinson and Zywicki had blasted Dartmouth�s � and, by extension, higher education�s � blind faith in its own twisted agenda. They demanded answers and explanations, not sticky bromides. They attacked the underlying rationale of the diversity university, and they did so publicly. Robinson and Zywicki wanted the governing apparatus to be open and accountable. And, of course, they wanted free speech for everyone.