THE DARTMOUTH WAR FUND

The Dartmouth War Fund is the name under which, during the past year the Alumni Fund operated. The obvious and unavoidable financial embarrassment of the College resulting from war conditions this Fund proposed to meet. Though first estimates of the probable College deficit were placed at $110,000, by the time the Fund was under way they had been reduced to $60,000 and this amount was set as the goal of the fund by the Alumni Council.

Collection was organized in part through classes, in part through territorial divisions. The double arrangement caused confusion at some points, but, on the whole, justified itself in results. Instead of the $60,000 called for, $62,429.29 was received in unrestricted gifts. Contributions to special class funds, other funds, hitherto carried separately, and the income from invested principal and from student loans, brought the available grand total to $68,206.59

As it turned out, the deficit was finally cut to $50,815.39. Thus the Fund was sufficient to wipe this out completely; to cancel $5,000 of the remaining indebtedness on the gymnasium; to apply $1,000 to the support of the American University Union in Paris; and to carry something over $7,000 to the invested fund.

The accomplishment is one which Mr. Lewis Parkhurst, Chairman of the Business Committee of the Trustees, characterizes as the finest piece of work in the recent history of the College; not only because of the financial benefit to the College, but because of its effect upon the unity, interest and enthusiasm of the alumni with regard to all aspects of the progress of Dartmouth.

The report of contributions to the fund by classes with an analysis by districts is appended. It will be observed that several classes have a showing of better than 100 per cent of givers, an interesting paradox. This is due to the method of recording whereby only men regularly graduating with a class are counted as of its living membership, whereas all gifts received by non-graduate members and by friends of the class are credited to the roll or donors. This makes pretty poor arithmetic; but it works reasonably well in all other respects; and seems entirely fair to all concerned.