1940 Alumni Fund
DARTMOUTH'S 26th annual Alumni Fund will officially get under way with the distribution about the first of May of the Fund Committee's 'first general mailing piece, a message from President Hopkins. This opening appeal, going to more than 18,000 alumni of the College, will contain a pencil sketch of President Hopkins drawn by Paul Sample '20, artist in residence at the College.
Much Fund activity has taken place during the month of April, following dinner meetings of class agents and their ason April 1, and New York on April 2. Sumner B. Emerson '17 of New York, chairman of the 1940 Fund Committee, spoke at all three meetings. Henry H. Hilton '90 also spoke at Chicago, while at Boston and New York speakers included President Hopkins, Albert I. Dickerson '30, executive secretary of the Fund, and Davis Jackson '36, Fund assistant.
OBJECTIVE SET AT $ 115,000
The objective for the 1940 Fund has been set at $115,000, a goal $5,000 greater than last year's due to the more pressing financial need at present. The Fund Committee this year is also seeking better than 10,000 contributors, a figure which will give Dartmouth the greatest total of alumni fund contributors in the country as well as the greatest percentage of graduate givers, a record which the College has held for many years. Last year $114,709.64, or 104% of the Fund objective, was contributed by 9,453 Dartmouth men, representing a proportion of contributors to living graduates of 79%. The amount was the highest since 1930, while new records were created in both number and percentage of givers. As major allocations, $81,271.23 was given to offset the operating deficit for the college year and $34,009.47 was applied toward the cost of reconstructing Dartmouth Flail.
Early contributions to the 1940 Fund show a gain over last year. On April 13 a total of $12,923.08 had been received from 703 men, which figures compare with $8,635.99 from 524 men at the corresponding time last year. This early gain is largely accounted for by the excellent precampaign organization in several classes. Four classes have already exceeded their objectives—1978 with $105, 1881 with $1,220, 1890 with $449, and 1901 with $1,651—while other classes off to flying starts include 1912 with $1,406, 1926 with $2,100, and 1930 with $1,084. The Classes of 1914, 1923, and 1928 have also collected substantial parts of their objectives, and the Class of 1937 among the younger classes has an impressive pre-campaign total.
Excellent reaction has been given to the innovation this year of designating as "Dartmouth Regulars" all alumni who have contributed for the past ten consecutive years or who have contributed every year since graduation for at least five years. Two new additions have been made this year to the Fund's library of Dr. Seuss (Theodor S. Geisel '25) cartoons, which is the envy of all other alumni funds. Gordon Smith '27 has also contributed a drawing to be used on the class agents' acknowledgment cards.
The Fund will close on June 30, before which date the Committee will send out a second general mailing piece and a lastminute reminder. Active direction of the campaign, however, will continue to rest in the hands of the class agents and their
assistants. In addition to Mr. Emerson and Mr. Dickerson, the general committee includes Prof. Leon B. Richardson '00, Hanover; Edward K. Robinson '04, Boston; Fletcher R. Andrews '16, Cleveland Heights, Ohio; and Harvey P. Hood II '18, Boston.
