Girding the Loins
In view of the uncertainties of Wartime it may be unwise to dogmatize concerning the Alumni Fund, beyond the confident statement that never in the history of that fund's existence has it been so important as it is now. Nobody knows how long the war will last, or how lasting will be some of its incidents when hostilities are over—incidents which must inevitably affect the colleges of America and most notably of all those colleges which are privately endowed.
Hopefully the strain on academic resources will not be so long continued as the more pessimistic of our prophets insist it will be, but at least it is prudent to take note of the reasonable, probabilities and particularly to bear in mind the great intensity of that strain while it lasts. Revenues from invested funds have been diminishing for some time; and the income from tuition fees, already cut down by the draft, will certainly be further depleted by the extension of the draft to take in young men of the age customarily associated with freshman and sophomore years. All this figures in the assertion that the Alumni Fund is more vital this year than ever it has been before in its bearing on the continuance of Dartmouth College through the period of stress entailed by the war.
One may dismiss the argument that taxes are going to be terribly heavy next year. Every one knows that, and it affects everybody, so that we are all in the same boat. But somehow or other we've got to keep the College intact and functioning, and so far as it is humanly possible paying as we go. That is one of the places where sacrifices must be made by the individual who up to now hasn't really been much hurt by his support of the Alumni Fund, if the College is to go on and be ready to resume full speed when the emergency is over. It must and shall go on—so let us highly resolve to gird up our loins and do whatever may be necessary thereto!
(Preparations for the 1943 campaign ofthe Alumni Fund are briefly described onpage 22 in this issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE. Gifts to next spring's drive may bemade before the end of this month if deduction from income tax returns for 1942is an important factor for contributors.)
REVIEW ON THE CAMPUS, NAVY DAY, OCTOBER 27 In celebration of Navy Day, the Naval Training School held a formal review on theDartmouth campus assisted by the College band which was drilled in advance by chiefpetty officers of the Naval Unit.
