The Wheelock Succession

LONG A TRUSTEE, Dr. Tucker, Professor in the Andover Theological Seminary, was elected to the presidency by his colleagues in 1893. With his advent a rebirth came to the College and the "new Dartmouth" began. Up to his time a rather stodgy conservatism had controlled its destinies—it was definitely an institution of the past. Now its intangible but none the less real affiliation with ecclesiastical groups was slowly and painlessly severed. New studies were introduced. The curriculum was modified and enlarged. Liberalism of outlook was encouraged. The student body grew by leaps and bounds. The institution rapidly developed in accord with the spirit of the times.

Nor was material advance less pronounced. As an executive Dr. Tucker was both bold and astute. For the first time the principle was set up that the institution should invest in its own growth. Dormitories were built with College endowment, a water system and dining facilities (College Hall) were installed, with results, from a financial point of view, that were satisfactory. Gifts provided additions to the educational plant, such as Butterfield Museum and Wilder Laboratory. Close relations were established with the alumni who made themselves responsible for the replacement by a modern building of Dartmouth Hall, burned in 1904, and the erection of an auditorium (Webster Hall). Through the generosity of Mr. Edward Tuck funds were secured for the establishment of the Amos Tuck School of Admin- istration and Finance and the erection of a building (now McNutt Hall) for its use. The vexed problem of the Chandler School was solved by its merger with the College, while the Agricultural College had already departed to Durham in 1891, eventually to become the University of New Hampshire.

Far more important, however, than any material development was the impress which Dr. Tucker made upon successive generations of undergraduates. Manifested in many ways, it reached its climax at Sunday vespers when each member of the student audience hung intent upon his words. Few men in any college can have exercised so profound an effect upon their undergraduate hearers. Few college presidents can have been held by all associated with them in such veneration and love.

IX. WILLIAM JEWETT TUCKER, 1839-1926 Dartmouth, 1861; President, 1893-1909