Casque and Gauntlet Trust

“Administration of the trust resides with its trustees and, for certain decisions, the alumni holders of "trust certificates". No new trust certificates have been issued in recent decades. Based on a thorough examination of records, an overwhelming majority of the outstanding trust certificates are held by the trustees as a group.”

“The treasurer and executive director review the 990 before it is filed to check for accuracy and correctness. They also provide a copy of the finished product to the trustees before filing.”

“All financial matters are handled solely by an independent treasurer who is not a trustee and who is the only individual able to disperse cash. The treasurer receives advance approval for all sigificant cash outlays from at least two of the trustees. Ongoing financial reports and a description of significant cash outlays are provided for all trustees. All significant actions taken by the trust are voted on by the trustees in a meeting where the intended motions are detailed in advance. During this fiscal year, the trust's conflict of interest policy was reviewed by trustees and again approved august 2022. Given these core processes, the primary approach for ensuring ongoing compliance with the conflict of interest policy is to request, prior to any trustee vote, that each trustee identify any conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest. During this fiscal year, this approach was followed. One trustee continued to request that they not to be involved in either discussions or voting on a specific matter based on a concern that there might be potential appearance of a conflict of interest. This request was honored even though the trustees could not identify an actual conflict of interest. There were no other conflicts of interest identified.”

“The organization allows the public to request the documentation and it is provided upon request.”

“From june 1964 until march 15, 2020 (when the covid pandemic caused dartmouth college to cease in-person operations), the casque & gauntlet trust used its real estate holding at 1 south main st., hanover, nh and its financial resources to provide housing and programmatic support for the casque & gauntlet, inc., an entity that comprised an alumni association of prior members linked to a certain senior society at dartmouth college. Beginning in late march 2020, the trustees of the casque and gauntlet trust met several times to discuss how the trust could continue to survive in the short term as well as what its longer-term future might be based on the several significant challenges confronting it -- including that dartmouth's move to virtual operations had reduced the organization's real estate income to $0 even while expenses continued. On may 8, 2020, the trustees concluded as follows: 1. Reflecting continuing consideration of a) several years of increasing real estate losses even without including any provision for significant unfunded and accumulated depreciation, and b) greatly increased complexity of its residential operations, the trustees determined that it did not appear likely there was a sustainable go-forward financial model for the real estate as a residence for the casque & gauntlet, inc. 2. In order to avoid imminent financial insolvency based on a) the impact of the covid pandemic on the rental revenue for the real estate, b) impending increased monthly losses, and c) dwindling trust cash balances, the trustees decided to launch immediately an attempt to lease the real estate to the trustees of dartmouth college and to so inform the board of directors of the casque & gauntlet, inc., the entity for which the trust had historically provided programmatic support. On july 31, 2020, the trust signed a three-year, $1 per year lease for 1 south main st. With the trustees of dartmouth college whereby, on behalf of the several graduate school programs at the college, dartmouth would manage, utilize, and cover all operating expenses for the real estate used for graduate student housing. The lease allowed the trust to avoid insolvency as well as time to restore its cash balances. Importantly, it also assured that the trust would have at least through late 2023 to assess thoughtfully the trustees questions regarding viable go-forward financial and operating models for the real estate as well as regarding the future of the real estate and the trust itself - all in the context of the mission of the organization. Subsequently and largely unrelated, in december 2020, the casque and gauntlet, inc. Made the linked decisions to move toward dissolution and to sponsor two new entities, each building on a separate aspect of the corporation's mission. Given the above, it is the trustees' expectation that, guided by the mission of the trust and working collaboratively with dartmouth college, an appropriate use for the real estate will be identified by mid 2023. Depending on the specifics of whatever arrangement is determined most appropriate, and since the trust's primary purpose has always been to manage its real estate in support of its mission and dartmouth college, the trust may then continue to operate or it may dissolve.”