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Dartmouth as an institution cannot support individual candidates for
political office or political parties. Consequently, visits by political
candidates at the invitation of College departments, programs, or recognized
organizations are subject to rules established to ensure that such sponsored
visits are consistent with applicable legal restrictions and the College’s
academic mission.
College departments, programs, and recognized organizations wishing to
sponsor appearances by political candidates are obligated to follow these
rules. The failure of an organization to abide by such rules will jeopardize
the organization’s privilege to sponsor future appearances and possibly its own
good standing. Political candidates who do not wish to appear in accordance
with these guidelines may, like other outside groups, rent certain College
facilities in accordance with established rules and charges.
The following rules apply to appearances by political candidates at
Dartmouth College when sponsored by a department, program, or recognized
organization. Sponsors are expected to provide these rules to candidates and
their campaign organizations..
- The purpose of any appearance by a candidate on campus should be to bring
together the candidate and Dartmouth students, faculty, administrators, and
other employees. It is not necessary to exclude from such meetings other people
from the local area unless their attendance would substantially change the
character of the event and deny members of the community an opportunity to hear
and question the candidate. However, departments, programs, and recognized
organizations may not sponsor or promote public campaign appearances on the
Dartmouth campus by candidates for political office.
- Publicity should be limited to the Dartmouth community and should emphasize
that the appearance is for the benefit of Dartmouth students, faculty,
administrators, and other employees. Posters may appear only on campus. The
only media publicity should be non-paid announcements made only in the Daily
Dartmouth, the VOX, and over the Dartmouth Broadcasting stations. Neither
sponsors nor campaign organizations may advertise such appearances in
non-Dartmouth media. Members of the media present at an appearance are free to
ask questions along with other members of the audience, and press conferences
organized in conjunction with the appearance are permissible.
- The arrangements for the meeting and the control of the format shall be
under the complete control of the department or the officers of the sponsoring
College organizations. At no time should any aspect of the meeting or its
format be dictated by, or put under the control of, the candidate, his or her
representatives, or any outside organization.
- Ample opportunity must be provided for Dartmouth students, faculty,
administrators, and other employees in the audience to question the candidate.
Such question-and-answer periods must be at least 50% as long as the
candidate’s speech and in no event less than twenty minutes in length.
- No fund-raising for the candidate may take place in connection with the
speaking event.
- No College funds (including funds raised by an organization) should go to
the candidate personally or to support his or her campaign. College funds may
be expended for items such as posters which may be reasonably required and are
traditionally used on campus to bring campus events to the attention of the
College community. Limited refreshments (such as coffee, cider, cookies, etc.)
may be provided at the event for consumption by the Dartmouth students and
others during any informal portion of the program which may follow the speaking
and question-and-answer time. Any announcement of the availability of
refreshments at the meeting should make clear that such are being provided by
the sponsoring organization and not by the candidate.
- Selection and utilization of a room for such meeting shall be governed by
existing College rules and procedures. For information concerning scheduling or
to reserve College facilities, contact the Conferences and Special Events
office at 646-2923.
- Any College department, program, or recognized organization sponsoring an
appearance by a political candidate is responsible for insuring that the
candidate and his or her organization are furnished with a copy of these rules
and that they abide by them. If a candidate or campaign organization is
unwilling to abide by these rules, they should not be brought to the
campus.
- Because of specific government regulations concerning debates between
candidates, arrangements and formats for any debates on campus will be subject
to the approval of the Director of the Rockefeller Center, who will consult as
appropriate with the Office of the General Counsel and other College
officers.
- No College department, program, or recognized organization may lend its or
the College’s name or support to any off-campus political campaign activity.
This is not intended to prevent individual students, faculty members, or
employees from engaging in political campaign activities off campus so long as
the College’s name is not used in connection with such support.
It should be emphasized that, while individuals at the College may support
the candidacy of a speaker who is to appear on campus, the purpose of sessions
arranged pursuant to this format is not to bring any institutional support
behind a particular candidate but instead to bring to the Dartmouth community
the valuable educational experience of hearing and questioning candidates for
political office..
The College reserves the right to cancel any appearance by a political
candidate if it is determined that such appearance is not to be held within the
specific rules set forth above or is inconsistent with the above-mentioned
purpose for such events.
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