Dartmouth men's basketball prepares for union vote – and rivalry game with Harvard

All eyes in the college sports world will be affixed to Hanover, New Hampshire, on Tuesday. The Dartmouth men’s basketball team is set to vote on whether Service Employees International Union Local 560 will represent them as a union.

From 11:30 a.m. ET to 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, polling will be held. A tally is expected to be held shortly after.

That’s not the only notable basketball event being held Tuesday in Hanover, though. The Big Green is scheduled to play its season finale, hosting Harvard for a 7 p.m. ET tip-off at Leede Arena. A source told On3 that shootaround is set for 2 p.m. ET – shortly after the vote count is expected to be held. The game was scheduled for this weekend but was bumped up because of exam schedules.

Dartmouth is 5-21 on the season. The program has not made the NCAA tournament since 1959, the longest active streak in college basketball. The last winning season came in 1998-99, a 14–12 record. But traditionally, the matchup with Harvard is circled on the calendar as the rivalry game. It’s the closest regional Ivy League rival the Big Green have.

Will union vote hang over Dartmouth program?

But with Tuesday’s vote scheduled, there are some questions about if Dartmouth players will play the season finale. A source told On3 that the Big Green is approaching Tuesday like any other gameday. Along with a shootaround, a pre-game meal is scheduled.

But there is the uncertainty about the union vote hanging over the program. Will the team’s first show of action as a union to not play the game? That would be a drastic step, but everything is on the table. Dartmouth players are closing in on becoming the first group of athletes to earn employee status.

Tuesday is just another step in a longer process. If the Dartmouth men’s basketball team does vote to become a union, they will have to begin collectively bargaining with the institution and face a lengthy appeal process.

The union election comes one month after a National Labor Relations Board regional director concluded the athletes are employees of their college. Widespread anxiety exists within those Division I tiers about an employee model taking hold, which many stakeholders believe would force financially strapped athletic departments to cut programs, reduce them to the club level, or move to a lower division.

But on Tuesday, Dartmouth players will head to Suite 203 at 7 Lebanon Street in Hanover to hold a union vote. And later in the day, they’re slated to play a basketball game. It’s quite the juxtaposition for what could be a historic day in college sports.