In response to growing tension and division on both sides of the issue of the proposed new Alumni Constitution, a student-run and maintained website, voxclamantisindeserto.org, has sprung up. The site is dedicated to "providing alumni with an authentic 'on the ground' account of what it means to be a Dartmouth undergraduate," according to its title page. Run by Danielle Thomas '07, Emily Ghods-Esfahani '09, Nick Stork '06, Andrew Eastman '07 and Kat Carmody '09, the site includes articles, a feedback section, a mission statement, and a petition opposing the new Constitution to help meet its goals.

Many alums get a much rosier picture of current Dartmouth life from the administration and from their own happy recollections than reflects truth on the ground. "I was very surprised to talk to alumni [at a Constitution question-and-answer session] in Boston who had no idea that certain classes here in Hanover were so oversubscribed that senior majors couldn't get into them, and who were surprised to hear some of the big names that have recently left Dartmouth for other schools," explained Eastman ; "The only information these alumni had about their College came from Alumni Relations mailings and the Alumni Magazine, both publications which are mainly fundraising tools." To remedy this ignorance and help bring alums into the fold of improving such conditions at Dartmouth, Eastman and Stork, after discussing the issue in Boston with the present alumni, returned to Hanover and set up voxclamantisindeserto.org to "provide authentic accounts" of Dartmouth to its alums.

Not all have been as enthusiastic about the project: Bill Hutchinson '79, a member of the Alumni Governance Task Force of which the site is often critical, calls its contributors a "small, secretive cadre" about whom alumni know very little. Vice President of Alumni Relations David Spalding '76 also voiced concern over the site, questioning its claims that alumni have been misled about student satisfaction. He points out that outgoing seniors have consistently indicated high levels of satisfaction with Dartmouth.

But as Stork explained, "Satisfaction with the Dartmouth experience and satisfaction with policy decisions need not coincide. As a member of the Dartmouth Football team, I have learned to separate the quality of my experience at Dartmouth from my disapproval with the operations of the College." Indeed, the content of the site covers a diverse cross-section of the Dartmouth community. Articles appear from both conservative and liberal views, including Paul Heintz '06, known as the creator of comic strip Guy and Fellow, and an ardent critic of the Senior Executive Committee. Signers of the petition also include a wide range of allegiances: a member of every fraternity is listed as a signer, and many sororities, as well as non-affiliated students, not to mention varsity and club athletes and writers for campus publications, including The Dartmouth. The size and breadth of the support base for the site’s initiatives alone points to its necessity. It fills an important niche, for we need alums to be connected to the sometimes-disappointing realities of Dartmouth life.

The site has been up and publishing articles for close to a month, and has already garnered more than 100 signatures on its petition, with more expected as Dartmouth students become aware of the changes currently being proposed. It has also garnered momentum as it, and other voices being made more public, have drawn attention to the issues at hand. Many undergraduates, previously unaware of the newly-drafted Constitution, have taken it on themselves to research the issues and speak out themselves, many posting articles on voxclamantisindeserto.org.

Many have also linked the kind of administrative cronyism that is criticized on the website with the Senior Executive Committee, which they claim appears to operate along the same guidelines: irrational decisions and insider-elections hidden by non-disclosure and secrecy. Anger at this modus operendi has spurred many to voice their concerns in The Dartmouth and the website. If the SEC, our link to Dartmouth as alums in the near future, is governed by the same shady tactics as our administration, how are we going to be able to trust that the next generation of Dartmouth students finds satisfaction in their experiences? We should be proud to be a voice crying out in the wilderness, but it means nothing if the past sons and daughters of Dartmouth cannot hear us.