Axel H. Baum
92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine
France
To:    Members of the Board of Trustees                                             December 5, 2002
 
Dear Member of the Board:
           
            You are no doubt aware of the outrage which has erupted around the College’s abrupt decision to eliminate the varsity swimming and diving programs.  I presume you have received many, many letters of protest.  I hope you have also looked at the special website created to address this issue, and the compelling letters reproduced on that site.
           
            The decision to eliminate the swimming and diving teams is a terrible mistake.  The way in which it was implemented is even worse.  The decision is unfair, and it is wrong from every standpoint; it is harmful to the students involved, it is harmful to the student body as a whole, and in the long run it will prove extremely harmful to Dartmouth and its reputation.  You have, I am sure, been bombarded with the reasons and I will not repeat them here.
 
            I have talked with all of my many friends who are graduates of Dartmouth.  These include several of my own law partners (in fact, three plus two who are parents); with a number of partners in other leading U.S. law firms; and with friends and clients in the financial sector, in business, and elsewhere.  All of them are appalled by the decision, and by the way it was made.  So this is not the reaction of a small, disgruntled group; it represents the view of a broad and influential sector of the Dartmouth Community.  These are your constituency, your support and your “market”; you cannot just ignore them.  Nor can you ignore the view of the students and of all the other athletic teams which have shown their unqualified support for the swimmers/divers.
           
            This decision, if it is left to stand, will send precisely the wrong message to the students, to future students, and to the world at large.  It will say that Dartmouth does not abide by its commitments; that it does not care about the interests or the well being of its students; that it does not care about athletics; that it is willing to abandon principle for short-term expediency; and that it is unable to manage its financial affairs in a coherent manner.  Dartmouth will be on its way to becoming a second-class institution.
 
            I am not a Dartmouth Alumnus.  I went to Amherst and Yale Law School, which I thought – until now – shared the same ethos and vision as Dartmouth.  But our son chose Dartmouth instead and is a student there now (a sophomore, with A-level grades, and as you might guess, a member of the varsity swimming team).  I am deeply concerned for him, and I am also concerned for Dartmouth.  I hope you and your fellow Trustees will give this issue the attention it merits, and carefully consider, with input from all concerned parties, what other, less harmful solutions can be found.
 
            Thank you for your attention.
 
            Sincerely Yours,
 
            Axel H. Baum
 
P.S.    Please take the time to look at the special website www.b-k-ind.com/dartmouth.
            It makes compelling reading.
 
Cc:   President Wright
         Dean Larimore