Dear Jane,

In the Times Argus article (5/15/96) you state that I am the least collaborative person you've ever met and accuse me of being unwilling to collaborate with the board. If you mean by this that you have been unsuccessful in recruiting me as a "collaborator" (in the sense that this term was used during WW II) then you are right. I will not collaborate with you in an attempt to usurp control over the College's governance process. I will not acquiesce to any claim on your part to "represent" the Goddard community and its real interests.

What makes you an authority on collaboration, I wonder. How can you claim to be the judge of who is collaborative and who is not when:

• you are failing to create opportunities as Board Chair to facilitate discussion, debate, and the forging of consensus

• neither you (nor the President of the College) have met with Goddard faculty to investigate their grievances

• you have ignored Dave Dellinger's (a longtime peace activist) public offer to mediate a dialogue between the board/president and the Goddard community

• you have yet to respond to a memorandum (dated April 12th) signed by 50 Goddard employees requesting you to support them in their efforts to unionize.

Real collaboration only happens on a level playing field, and the playing field at Goddard is not a level one. It is clear from the statement you drafted that you consider "non-negotiable" the call for the president's resignation and changes in Goddard's administrative structure that would make it more democratic and accountable to the Goddard community. To unilaterally decide what is negotiable and what is non-negotiable belies your claim to "collaborative" intentions.

I request you to publicly come out in support of the principle of participatory democracy and its application at Goddard. Please recall that the Governance documents at Goddard College clearly state that "the founders of Goddard College intentionally placed significant emphasis on the practice and theory of democracy in both academic and operational affairs." The stated mission of Goddard is "to advance the theory and practice of learning by undertaking new experiments based upon the ideals of democracy, and the principles of progressive education first asserted by John Dewey."

I am most eager to collaborate with you in seeing to it that the mission is accomplished and that the democratic processes are honored and utilized at Goddard. Will you work with me and the Goddard community on this issue?

Sincerely,
Andrew Dinkelaker
(Student Board Member)