Dear Association of Graduates members:

On behalf of the Association of Graduates board of directors, I am writing to:

1.  Make you aware of the need for a special election for one elected board member.
2.  Ask that you participate in the special election. The special election will take place April 10-24, 2023.

Why do we need to hold a special election?

The Association of Graduates board of directors consists of 16 directors, each serving a four-year term. Our Bylaws identify three types of directors: elected (11), appointed (4) and the sitting Class Advisory Senate president (1) – totaling 16 board members in all.

Our 2023 board election should have been for six spots on the board. Unfortunately, that was not the case, as the election ending on March 6 was incorrectly held to fill only five board spots. This happened due to a record-keeping error. The error, recently discovered by our board secretary and immediately brought to the attention of our board and our Association’s leadership, stemmed from records pertaining to the 2021 appointment of a board director to fill a vacant elected spot. Our records erroneously categorized that spot as appointed when it should have been categorized as elected.

In short, in 2023, our membership elected five board members; we needed to elect six. Although the 2023 election of the five directors has been certified, we are short one elected board spot and now need to take corrective action.

Let me be very clear: This was a mistake. We acknowledge and own our mistake, and we are committed to correcting it.

What is the plan?

Our mission is to serve graduates, support our Academy and preserve the heritage of the institution. With our mission and our Bylaws as guidance – and our core values as our foundation – our board of directors met on April 3 to discuss the situation, evaluate various options and agree on a plan for filling the elected director spot.

Each of the options we evaluated has pros and cons. One of the options we considered was to seat the candidate in the 2023 election who finished sixth in the voting. The board had a significant concern about that option. In the recent election, AOG members were not asked to select six directors; they were incorrectly asked to select five. We cannot assume the tallies would have been the same had the election been for six.

The plan the board ultimately agreed to is to hold a special election, as this is the fairest way to allow members to decide. The special election will be for the remaining slot. Candidates from the 2023 election pool who were not elected to the five spots already filled, and who wish to again be considered, will be in the pool. The special election will be held from April 10-24, 2023; will be open to all AOG graduate and associate members; and will be conducted by a neutral third party, Survey & Ballot Systems. Each member will get one vote. This is a fair plan.

You will receive your electronic ballot from SBS on April 10, along with a series of reminders.

Please vote

Please participate in the special election. Vote for the candidate you would like to see on the board of directors. Whichever candidate receives the most votes will be seated on the board.

We apologize for this mistake. We are taking the necessary steps to prevent such a record-keeping error from happening again. Please know that we as your board are committed to serving the Long Blue Line and supporting our Academy.

Respectfully,
Col. (Ret.) Bob Lowe ’71
Chairman, AOG Board of Directors