THE COLLEGE: RETROSPECT AND OUTLOOK

(An address to the alumni at the commencement luncheon, June, 1919)

In connection with the privilege of extending hospitality to alumni and of presenting the President of the Alumni Association as the directing genius of the Commencement dinner it is customary for the President of the College to make brief statement on some phase of the affairs of the College.

This year I particularly welcome the opportunity, when such a large and such a representative group of Dartmouth men are assembled in Hanover, adding the influence of an optimistic, enthusiastic and inspiring reunion season to the many other factors which go to demonstrate that the College, freed from its peculiar responsibilities of the war period, is resuming its normal activities and aspirations by the time-honored and simplest of all methods, — that is, by resuming them!

There are many things of which appropriately one might speak at this time. The opportunity has offered for discussion of some of these in meetings of the alumni associations in various portions of the country. Like opportunities will doubtless be offered and utilized in the future. Today, as we recall a past so worthy and as we anticipate a future so full of opportunity, I wish this distinctive gathering of Dartmouth men to consider particularly how wonderfully the College has been blessed, and how greatly its position and prestige have been enhanced by the material support which has been proffered to it, both by interested and solicitous graduates and by quiet, observing friends. It is justifiable that we should take great pride in our physical plant, and in our present health}' financial state, and it is meet that we should ascribe full credit to faculties, trustees and administrations. But it is not enough to do this alone; for comprehension ought to be ours likewise of what the gifts of generous donors have signified in the development of the Dartmouth of the past and in the potentiality of the Dartmouth of today.

In bespeaking Dartmouth's heartfelt gratitude and collective sense of added responsibility we all feel as a direct consequence of the material support which has been made available to the College during the past year, no other name than that of Mr. Edward Tuck could stand first. His splendid gift of $220,000, which duplicates a like gift two years ago, has, like that, been added to the endowment fund which stands as so fitting a memorial of his honored father and Dartmouth's and New Hampshire's devotedly courageous son, — Amos Tuck. This endowment had its inception and its establishment a couple of decades ago, and, in Mr. Tuck's frequent and generous additions to it, has been one of the principal sustaining forces of the advance of the College since that time. The total now is above a million and three hundred thousand dollars, which, when we add one hundred and thirty thousand for the building of Tuck Hall more than forty thousand for Tuck Drive, and a large number of smaller gifts, shows the College to have benefitted to an amount above a million and a half dollars through the devoted and unflagging interest of this one son of Dartmouth.

The timeliness of the support afforded to Dartmouth in Mr. Tuck's gifts is of hardly less significance than their liberal amount, and offers eloquent testimony to the perspicacity with which the College problem was studied and understood by the donor. Nothing could ever have been more for the advantage of the College than that the moral stimulus and the ethical and educational leadership of President Tucker's influence should have been multiplied in effectiveness, as they were immediately when they began to be supplemented by Mr. Tuck's stimulating gifts. Such benefactions have carried conviction not only in regard to the generous love of the giver for his alma mater but also in regard to the discrimination and foresight which he has chosen to offer his support where it is bound to be utilized for large and permanent advantage for purposes of major significance, both in the development of Dartmouth College and in the influence transmitted through Dartmouth upon the theories of higher education in general.

Verification has come from the trustees of the estate of Mrs. Russell Sage, likewise, of the earlier newspaper reports that Dartmouth had been most generously remembered in the will of Mrs. Sage to an amount that would probably equal $700,000. This endowment will be added to the instruction account. It is difficult to overestimate the amount of good that accrues to the College from a contribution of this sort; but the benefit is not only in the money received but likewise in the stimulating satisfaction which is given by an endorsement of this sort from one whose endorsement always meant that work had been examined and found good. Assuredly the name of Mrs. Sage will be added to those held in love and respect by the Dartmouth constituency, to whom she so eloquently bespoke her confidence in their alma mater.

We have likewise, as the result of the death of a life beneficiary, received one-half of the residuary estate which is the bequest of Alice Hamilton Smith, late of Durham, New Hampshire, and Washington, D. C., and her name is thus en- rolled among that increasingly large list of friends who have proved to be ever available for the carrying out of the developing plans of the College during its periods of necessary expansion. As in the cases of Mr. Tuck's gift and of Mrs. Sage's bequest, this amount will be added to the endowment funds devoted exclusively to the needs of instruction.

I wish also to speak of the appreciation felt on the part of the College for the generosity of the State, which again has signified its understanding of Dartmouth's contribution to it by an appropriation of $15,000 for the year. It is an exceedingly pleasant thing to have this token of esteem, so long as it comes as the hearty and cordial appreciation of the mutual advantages of the relationship between the College and the people of the State.

We have likewise received a memorial fund of $10,000 in memory of E. Phelps Johnson of the class of 1912, for a library fund for the social sciences, the money being assigned by the parents of Mr. Johnson from the estate of their son, whose death in early youth represented that loss of potential alumni strength that comes when a man of talent is taken so early, before full achievement has become possible.

The College is again and increasingly indebted to the Reverend John E. Johnson of the Class of 1866 for additional securities to the value of $7,000, to be added to the Harrison Memorial Fund. This fund serves as endowment, under Mr. Johnson's wise specification, for the Outing Club, which has probably had a more salutary influence on undergraduate life than any single project of like nature ever inaugurated within the College.

An additional amount of about $4,800 is likewise added to the Richard Fletcher Fund, through the death of one of the life beneficiaries.

Another gift of very attractive significance in the development of the College plant and in the addition to the attractions of Hanover is the contribution of $1,300 from Mr. Henry H. Hilton of the class of 1890, to cover the cost of additional land for Hilton Field, which makes possible a desirable addition to the facilities of the golf links. This gift is in addition to previous gifts of $7,000 in 1915 for the buying of the land of the golf links and the gift of $4,500 in 1917 for the erection of a clubhouse, making Mr. Hilton's gifts in this connection approximately $13,000.

I come now to a gift of especial import, which will be many times multiplied in value to the college if it serves as the precedent it well may, — an anniversary gift from the class of 1894 amounting to above $25,000 for the establishment of undergraduate scholarships of major size, calculated to make possible the coming to Dartmouth of men whose interest lies this way, but many of whom in recent years have too frequently been obliged to forego their desire to be enrolled in Dartmouth's undergraduate body. Further definition of the purposes which lie in the minds of the class of 1894 will be given by Mr. Matt B. Jones of that class a little later. I dwell upon the gift both because of its inherent value and because of the inspiration which it is to be hoped will be found therein for other classes to go and do likewise. This gift of the class is supplemented likewise by a further gift of $5,000 for scholarships from Mr. George E. Duffy, like- wise a generous contributor to the class fund.

The Treasurer's books are not yet closed, and we cannot estimate with accuracy as to the extent to which we shall have to avail ourselves of the offer of the Dartmouth College Alumni Fund on the Tucker Foundation to supplement the inadequacy of college receipts, whatever may prove to be necessary. We take some pride that, in a year such as this, the amount will not be too large; and we take greater pride in the sustaining force of this continuing contribution from the alumni, which has meant so much to the College in the past years of crisis, and through which we are enabled to stand today with practically no indebtedness after a period of stress such as the College has seldom known. Too much appreciation cannot be felt for the work of the Alumni Council in this connection, and the steady insistence with which it holds before the alumni group as a whole the theory that the College has a right to count among its assets an annual contribution of major amount from the sons of the College.

I would note in addition the fact that there has been a host of smaller gifts for special purposes, mention of which cannot be made by name at this time, but each of which has gone to meet some special need or to make possible some new effort on the part of the College.

I have left until the last the mention of the long desired and much needed addition to the plant — a swimming pool — for which provision has been made by former Governor Rolland H. Spaulding. It is not enough, however, simply to say that Mr. Spaulding has assured the College a swimming pool. He has done far more than that. He has not only said that Dartmouth ought to have a swimming pool of the highest grade, equipped in every necessary and in every desirable way, a building large in usefulness and attractive in appearance, which should constitute a real and significant addition to the College plant.

It is, perhaps, not a breach of confidence to say that when Mr. Spaulding originally considered this idea the amount he had in mind was a far smaller one than will be required for the purpose ; but in the developing plans he has never hesitated for a moment, as questions have arisen, to say that what he -really wanted to do was to make a gift that would be of maximum worth to the College and one which should be worthy of the best standards of the College plant and fully capable of meeting the desires of the student body. The net result of these negotiations has been that within a few days the figures have been submitted to Mr. Spaulding showing that the cost of such a project as he had in mind would approximate $115,000; and, after careful consideration of the plans and detailed study of the specifications, he has stated that in view of the fact that the quality is there he is willing to guarantee the project.

It is particularly pleasant to receive this gift at the hands of one who has stood in the relation to the College that Mr. Spaulding has. As governor of the state he interpreted his responsibility as an ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees of the College as a real responsibility, sat with the Board of Trustees of the College at all its meetings, took an intelligent and helpful part in all its deliberations, and came to a knowledge of what Dartmouth is and the way in which its affairs are handled to an extent equalled by few men. Mr. Spaulding stands as a fine representative of that group of friends of the College who are surely of the intimate Dartmouth fellowship, even though not graduates of the College, and if he were here today I should express to him personally the appreciation of Dartmouth men everywhere.

The College has large needs yet to be met, but it looks to the future with confidence for the meeting of these needs. Our spirit today can only be one of the most heartfelt gratitude to all of these friends, the sum of whose gifts amounts in this war year to one million two hundred thousand dollars, and who have added to the College not only the strength of financial resources and of added plant but likewise that self-confidence and invigoration which make up the courage with which Dartmouth faces the great necessities of the years immediately before us. In no sense by such gifts are we relieved from striving even more fully to meet the responsibilities of the College. Rather the reverse! The added resources do, however, open the door to possible accomplishment a little wider and do give us a more sufficient vision of work to be done. In genuine humility we must seek to view accurately and to approach boldly the field of opportunity, which ever lies just beyond, meanwhile being always conscious of the friendly scrutiny upon us as a college of many whose material support will be available for intelligent effort.