COMMUNICATIONS

Chicago, January 4, 1928

Editor, THE DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE, Dear Sir:

I have read with special interest your editorial in the December number entitled, "Should they pay in full?" in which Mr. Rockefeller is quoted as asserting that every student should pay for his own education.

Some years ago after giving a good deal of thought to this same question I reached certain conclusions. I talked them over with various people including President Hopkins and was invited by him to come to Hanover and address the class of 1925 on the eve of their graduation. This I did and was given a very pleasant reception by the class which I greatly appreciated, coming as it did at a crowded period for all of them.

The situation as I saw it and stated it to them was briefly this: The state universities are supported by the states and have a reasonably certain and regular income. The privately endowed colleges are supported only in part by tuition and have been obliged to rely upon gifts from individuals which were uncertain and irregular as to time and amount. It is evidently highly desirable, if not imperative, that the privately endowed colleges must have incomes comparable to those of the state universities if they are to keep pace with the latter in salary schedules, buildings and equipment. To whom are the colleges to turn but to the alumni for such necessary support?

My proposition therefore to the class of 1925 was that they and all succeeding graduates should pay the expenses of their college courses. The statement appears to be identical with Mr. Rockefeller's. It was modified, however, in this important particular: that the unit should be the class and not the individual. I expected the class to be responsible for the expenses of that class.

In talking to the class of 1925 I elaborated this idea somewhat as follows: No one could tell before graduation what was to be the activity of the various individuals,—who were to be the financial leaders, who were to be the men of moderate income, who were to be the men who would go into non-lucrative vocations. But it was reasonable to assume in the light of the history of previous classes that the class of 192S would have all of these elementsThere would be millionaires who could pay to the college many times, others who could pay several times, what each had cost the college, some who could pay only their own cost, and still others who, through misfortune or illness, could not pay at all. The average financial capacity of the class would clearly be sufficient to insure the return to the college, of the difference between the tuition paid by the class and the actual cost of the class without hardship to any individual.

Consider for a moment the reaction of any senior who is asked to participate in such a movement. He does not know what he is going to do, what his income is to be. This question is put to him: We want you to be one of a group who will assume a certain responsibility. Your share will depend upon your financial ability. If that ability is large your share will be large. If your incoftie is modest your share will be modest. If misfortune overtakes you your portion will be cared for by some classmate. It is hard for me to imagine anything but a favorable response from any and every man to such a proposal.

With the tuition as it is and the costs what they are today, the deficit per man is approximately $1000. My suggestion was that some payment should be made each year, the installments gradually increasing as the men became established, the entire amount being paid within twenty-five years. With such a program at Dartmouth, the classes approximating three hundred fifty graduates, the college would receive from this source alone more than onethird of a million dollars each year. Such a plan would come near to solving the financial problem of Dartmouth or any other college, for giving begets giving and many of those who were contributing to this cause could be counted upon for additional amounts as need appeared.

I was enthusiastic in advocating this plan and hoped that Dartmouth would be the first to adopt it( for it seemed to me that her prestige would thereby be increased and that it would be one more source of satisfaction and pride for Dartmouth men to be able to proclaim that for the future each class is to be self-supporting.

I have mentioned my courteous reception by the class of 1925. I talked to them one hot June evening when it was not easy to sit and listen to any kind of talk, much less an appeal for funds. I left the same night for Chicago and upon my arrival received a telegram stating that the class had met the next day and voted unanimously to adopt the plan.

Why has not anything more been heard about it? My understanding is that the Committee on the Alumni Fund, observing that the class of 1925 for the year following graduation failed to do as well as some previous classes, concluded that it was unwise to make a similar approach to succeeding classes. Perhaps their thought was that the class of 1925 had taken their vote in a moment of enthusiasm, but upon mature reflection they had become discouraged by what appeared to be the staggering amount which they were asked to raise and as a consequence many of them had not contributed at all.

I have no disposition to argue the case with a committee which has proven its efficiency and I should have pursued the matter no further, had not your editorial appeared and become the subject of discussion. I want to state now that I believe that the proposition should have been presented to three or four succeeding classes and should have been thoroughly discussed and therefore understood by the alumni in general. I am still of the opinion that the plan is sound and practicable and that something of the kind is inevitable if the privately endowed colleges are to hold their own with the state supported institutions.

Denver, Colo., Jan. 6, 1928.

Editor, THE DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE, Dear Sir:

As one who had something to do with the establishment of the selective system at Dartmouth, and firmly believing in it, I am opposed to raising the tuition charge to a point that must virtually shut out what my experience has led me to regard as a large portion of the most desirable applicants we receive—namely the boys who come from poor, or at least, not well to do families. And a high tuition charge in many cases does this very thing, in spite of the limited scholarship aid we are able to afford.

If we could lessen the burden by more and higher scholarship refunds the matter might well be different, but at present this is not possible.

To state my position briefly, I want to see every worth while boy have his chance if he wishes in Dartmouth. Of course he must be really worth while. Make your entrance and your course requirements as high as you like, and apply them rigorously, but don't put up the bars too high in a financial way against those who are quite likely in the future to honor the name of the college to an extent impossible now to be appreciated.

Dover, N. H., Dec. 21, 1927

Editor, THE DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE, Dear Sir:

On page 149 of the December ALUMNI MAGAZINE is an article on "General John Clay McKowen of the Confederate Army, member of the D. C. class of 1866." This is to say I can add to the information given in that article which says—"he was taken prisoner in 1863, but after exchange with a prisoner of equal rank, he felt disinclined to return to his Louisiana home (at Jackson). Looking around among the various colleges in the North to finish his education, he decided to unite his career with that of the class of '66 at Dartmouth. Arriving in the spring of 1864 he was graduated in the course, but had no part in Commencement."

I entered Dartmouth College in 1859; at the same time Alexander Couper McKowen, of Jackson, La., entered and remained a member until the Civil War broke out. As soon as McKowen read the proclamation he packed up and left for home. Soon after arriving there he enlisted in a company and participated in the siege at Vicksburg, Miss., and died there July 19, 1863. His brother John Clay McKowen, was taken prisoner; later he was exchanged, as above stated.

As his brother had spent two years at Dartmouth, it appears he decided to come north and finish his brother's course of two years, and graduated in the class of 1866. This explains how the college required only twoyears for him to receive his diploma. It is an interesting story all round.

I remember McKowen very well; he was tall, fine looking, very courteous in his manners, and good in his recitations. He was a son of an aristocratic, wealthy family.

A guest room in Dick's House Photograph by Clara F. Sipprell