Dartmouth president to resign

The Dartmouth HANOVER, N.H. (U-WIRE) -- Dartmouth President James Freedman announced this weekend that he will step down after Commencement in June, citing the job's heavy toll on his personal and intellectual life. Freedman, who has been the college's top administrator since David McLaughlin resigned in 1987, will remain a member of the faculty and will stay in Hanover. Freedman said he is stepping down to gain more control over his schedule, which is currently filled with the weighty demands of a university president: travel and fundraising, politics and pomp. "I have enjoyed all that, but I have reached a point where I want to spend more time with my family and set my own schedule," Freedman said. He will take a year-long sabbatical to finish his second book on liberal education. Freedman, who was inaugurated as Dartmouth's 15th president in July 1987, is the longest-standing chief executive in the Ivy League. He will remain president until the inauguration of his successor, which should occur during the summer of 1998. The Board of Trustees is likely to announce his replacement during the spring. Freedman, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1994 and underwent six months of chemotherapy following the removal of a malignant tumor, said his health is good and affected his decision "only in a small way." "Anyone who has cancer lives with the fear of recurrence," he said. "I would not want to have a recurrence and regret that I had not had time to do things with my family and personally." Freedman is announcing his departure at an opportune moment. The endowment has ballooned to more than $1.2 billion, riding a wave of prosperity on Wall Street. Last year, the college earned a 23 percent return on its endowment. Dartmouth has become one of the nation's most selective schools: In 1997, only 20 percent of applicants were admitted. Dartmouth also has the highest percentage of female faculty members in the Ivy League. The number of women and minorities on campus is at an all-time high, due in part to Freedman's liberal leadership. Women now make up 49 percent of the study body, up from 38 percent in 1987. Minority enrollment has risen from 19 to 29 percent.