College Whistleblowers Denounce Trustee Conflicts to Government
This space has regularly reported on the incompetence and malfeasance of the Dartmouth administration. While most of our reporting comes from public sources, a great deal of Dartblog’s content has been provided by honest people on the College’s payroll — longtime staffers, past and present, who are disgusted by the conflicts of interest and self-dealing that have diverted the College from its educational mission.
Dartblog has now learned that a group of College insiders, who call themselves the Friends of Eleazar Wheelock, have written a whistleblower letter to numerous government figures and other institutions: NH Governor John Lynch, NH Attorney General Michael Delaney, Massachusetts House Judiciary Committee Chairs Cynthia Creem and Eugene O’Flaherty, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, Massachusetts Senator Patricia Jehlen and Massachusetts Representative Mike Moran (sponsors of a bill that would require enhanced disclosure of conflicts of interest, investment holdings, managers and fees, as well as other vital financial data from private colleges and universities), the Internal Revenue Service, the Service Employees International Union, the NH Department of Justice Charitable Trusts Unit, the Union Leader, and the New Hampshire Health and Education Facilities Authority.
The letter details how members of the Dartmouth Board of Trustees — a Board dominated by MBA money managers, unlike other Ivy Boards — and people in their circle have plundered the College’s endowment, using it to fill the coffers of their investment funds. The details go far beyond the information contained in a Tellus Institute report and a Valley News series that were published last year.
While the conflict of interest of Trustees steering College money to their own enterprises is obvious, the effect on Dartmouth of these unwise decisions should also be noted. As Dartblog has previously described, the endowment’s performance in the 1990’s was the best in the Ivy League; during the past decade — when these practices took flight — it has been the worst.
Find the above-mentioned link regarding Pamela Joyner here.
Find the above-mentioned link regarding Leon Black here.
To download the entire letter as a pdf file, please click here.
At this time, it is unclear whether the various governmental authorities who have received the above communication have responded to it or initiated any kind of investigation.
