Even as potential messiah Robert Haines is out polishing his bad-boy resumé and exploring the "acceptable boundaries between people," darker clouds are massing on Hanover's horizon.

Remember when Dartmouth's Board of Trustees voted to pack itself, leading some journalists ("journalists") to go so far as to declare the death of Dartmouth? Well, not if some crotchety, well-heeled alumni and their lawyers have anything to say about it. According to the Dartmouth, the Association of Alumni has filed an injunction to stop the Green putsch while there's still time.

Not everyone in the Association is on board, though. For instance, there's Association President Bill Hutchinson who says:

"I think legal action against the College at this time is probably one of the worst things the Association could do,"

But Frank Gado (D '58), a member of the Association Executive Committee and liaison to the legal eagles, is so clearly raring to go:

"Honestly, everybody on our side wanted to avoid a lawsuit," he said. "We wanted to avoid going to court, but we wanted respect for alumni rights."

Honestly? Admit it, Gado, you live for this shit. Of course like all legit lawsuits and grassroots movements, funding is provided by anonymous, shadowy backers. Gado explains:

That is really not our concern - whose funds," Gado said. "I have deliberately chosen not to inquire who is funding this. The Association is the client."

Over at Save Dartmouth, Adam Rabiner (D' 88) comments: 

It smacks me as sour grapes or being a sore loser to change the rules at this point and disenfranchise all alumni because the candidates that the alumni governance committees have selected are not winning.

Yeah, sour grapes... why does that phrase seem so suddenly apt?

After the jump -- the article from the D

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Here's Dartmouth columnist Daniel Belkin's assessment of the 907th '08 Democratic presidential debate held last night in Hanover. IvyGate dedicates this two-part series to keggy.

With the start of classes yesterday here at the College, the newly-minted members of the Class of 2011 were flabbergasted at the bizarre world that lay just outside their dorm room windows. For a fleeting 24 hours, the Big Green was transformed from the tranquil academy depicted in admissions brochures to the wretched hell of presidential politics and media feeding frenzies, replete with activists, politicos and wonks. Not sure which is better.

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