Hanover Holiday
Discussions in June Will Include Talks on Literature, Arts, Science, Current Events, Business and Government
THE TIME HAS COME to create unrest among the alumni, to stir them up to a pitch of dissatisfaction that can only be quieted by action, and even more, by a descent on Hanover en masse. In the belief that no special efforts are needed to accomplish these results, I shall refer only lightly to the high desirability of returning to Hanover in June for a pleasant vacation away from all the daily grind, and still more lightly to the intellectual gaps that need filling in the minds of even such a well educated group. At this date there can be no necessity of laboring to convince any alumnus that the Hanover Holiday is an excellent idea, and that he ought to come to it if he possibly can.
Certainly if there be any skeptics, the experiences of last June should be ample proof. The memories of the experimental meetings of 1937, when the embarrassed committee apologized to the speakers for the scanty audiences, were wiped out the very first evening, to be succeeded by an equally embarrassing fear that Sanborn would be too small. Its ultimate capacity proved to be rather larger than the cautious estimates of the English Department. Attendance was nearly four times that of the previous year, and most of it was made up of alumni and their wives. The few hardy pioneers had become a group that well filled the Inn. The committee on the Holiday felt very definitely that the attempt to create new relations between the alumni and the faculty, and to provide a week balanced between recreation and intellectual stimulation, had been highly successful.
The program of lectures seemed to be about what was wanted. Certainly if discussion is a test of interest and stimulation, they hit the mark. On more than one occasion, long after the regular meeting was over the sleepy chairman left a group of alumni on the Inn porch engaged in heated debate with the speaker of the evening. And once, at least, they convinced him he was wrong.
Another tribute to the value of the lectures appeared this winter in the form of a traveling extension of the Holiday. Groups in Boston and New York, impressed by what they heard in Hanover, arranged meetings and turned out in hundreds to hear a professor of history talk on his subject. (He has already been signed up again for this June!)
Recreationally, the week was a tremendous success. The hot weather made Storrs Pond the favorite spot, even over golf and tennis. A large but select group battled furiously for the unofficial croquet championship, which went after a severe struggle to a member of the class of 1918. This class, by the way, continued its reunion to include the Holiday, a procedure which is recommended to others as one of the best ideas of the decade. I doubt if any reuning class ever had such a good time.
Perhaps eating is too serious a subject to be classed under recreation, but the long table on the Inn terrace was by all odds a highlight of the Holiday. It was envied by other, "common" guests, and the chairman quietly edged onto a seat at it as often as he dared.
To all sides of the Holiday, the co-eds were a most welcome addition. Careful investigation showed that they enjoyed it all, and want to come again. They will have a good time. If any smaller members of the family have to be considered, bring them along too. The Inn handles that problem admirably, and takes care of the children all day long, with supervised activities for all ages.
As the program gradually takes shape for this coming June, an even better year is promised. Monday, June 19, will be devoted to getting settled at the Inn and enjoying a little quiet after Commencement. The lectures will start that evening and continue through the week, one in the morning and one in the evening, with a dance at the Inn Saturday. The late mornings and afternoons will be free for recreation. Among the lectures will be a group of three on business and government. Professor Joseph L. McDonald will talk about the Hull trade agreements, and their general purpose and results. This talk, and that of Professor Keir on current labor problems, will be looked forward to by hordes of former Eccy students, and will doubtless produce spirited discussion from those of the audience with practical experience along these lines, whose views will find further expression in a talk on the general philosophy of the business man. This third talk will be given by a visiting speaker, chosen for his long experience in the business world. A final announcement must be deferred, but the committee is sure he will be a welcome addition to the program.
A second set of lectures will be devoted to another division of the faculty. Professor James D. McCallum will talk about some of the 'English and American novelists of the past century who were interested in social reform. The recent stress on the importance of literature in eras of change makes this a timely subject, and all who remember Professor McCallum as a lecturer or as a star in local Gilbert and Sullivan will want to hear him. Professor Packard in another talk will discuss the place of the arts at Dartmouth, and their relation to the other divisions. His is a difficult taskto satisfy his immediate colleagues, as well as those who feel the social sciences are allimportant. Even more, he must justify to Holiday alumni the taking over of their croquet field by the proposed theater.
Recognizing the interest in the propaganda methods used by the dictatorships to strengthen their position at home, and to increase their influence within the United States, the committee has asked Professor Choukas to describe them to us. On the scientific side, Professor Scarlett is preparing a talk on some of the more striking developments in modern chemistry. And the success of Professor Anderson's talks, last June and on the circuit, plus the apparently inevitable changes that will come in Europe this spring, make us glad to say he will be on the program again this year, to make clearer to us the international situation.
The Library, the tennis courts, golf course, pond and so on will be available as before. All in all, it looks like a good week, and the cost, it is pl-easing to say, will be what it was a year ago. The lecture ticket itself will be $5.00. Rooms at the Inn range from $9.00 for the week in the bunkrooms to $21.00 for the very best in the house. A double room and bath will be $12.00 per person. Those meals mentioned earlier are $12.00 more. The total cost for the six full days, Monday to the following Sunday, will vary, therefore, between $26.00 and $38.00, with the figure for most at $29.00, payment in full. For children the rates are one fourth less. Those who care to stay elsewhere than at the Inn will find other places open, but it would be hard to do better than this. In fact, the Holiday staff asks any one to tell of a better week for less money if he can, and presents its program for your approval. It recommends it especially to reunion chairmen, and reminds them of the splendid week enjoyed last year by the class of '18. It urges it even more on those alumni without reunions this June, as a means of meeting old friends, and invites them all back for a vacation that so far has satisfied everybody.
WILL DISCUSS FOREIGN TRADE Prof. J. L. McDonald of the department ofEconomics and professor of foreign trade,Tuck School, will be one of three speakerson the current business situation on Hanover Holiday program, June 19-24.
CHAIRMAN HANOVER HOLIDAY COMMITTEE
