Zywicki on the Dartmouth Battle
Want Todd Zywicki’s take on university governance, using the Dartmouth case as an example? IvyGate has a recent speech. I have to say that I have a mixed disagreement with IvyGate’s assessment of his speech. They’re right that it was a bit inarticulate — if I were in the audience I would have been annoyed by the seconds and thirds in all the wrong places. I’m also a bit uncomfortable with the university-as-a-church analogy, though less so with the environmentalism-as-a-religion analogy. But as for how a university tries to propagandize its trustees? That’s right on point. In fact, I would contend that a university president’s ability to steer the governing board in his direction is a defining measure of presidential power — and in this respect universities are no different than any corporation or nonprofit with a board governance.
