Goal To Go

As the books close on June 30, that date may be regarded as the deadline for the Alumni Fund as usual—and the time between this writing and the finish is manifestly short. Within that period will be established the measure of success which this current Fund campaign achieves; and the hope is that one more significant record will be chalked up, indicating anew the fervent loyalty of the alumni of Dartmouth College which knows no wane. That loyalty is the chief asset of the College— the asset that suffers no depreciation, that never needs to be written down, that increases in value from year to year. On it the College has come to rely, and in an especial manner must rely in this year of crisis.

Never, be it remembered, has the Fund meant more to Dartmouth than it means this year. Just as prudent corporations in good years lay aside funds to maintain steady dividend records during the occasional bad years when customary dividends may not be earned, just so does Dartmouth plan to bolster her reserves to meet the demands of an impending period of transition from a wartime to a peacetime basis. There is bound to come a period of dislocation when the functions of the College change—perhaps very abruptly—from those required by the training of young men for active service in the Navy and the Marines, to those that will be required in the training of civilian citizens. We shall revert, as all colleges will revert, to the task of purveying liberal education, rather than a specialized education having in view the exigencies of war. In the absence of a miracle, that change will entail a year or two of highly uncertain conditions, against which it is the duty of the administration to guard, so far as sound financing can do so, in order to keep the College functioning smoothly, both as a matter of plant and a matter of personnel. In other words, this year's Fund involves something more than the familiar question of avoiding current deficits. It involves provision for the future, by cushioning the shocks of change.

We are in sight of the finish line—the position in which it is customary for the radio announcers to describe the situation as "goal to go." Within the time remaining we much reach the line if we are to score.

Just what the intervening yardage is one need not say. The important thing is to reach that goal line by our final plunge, lest we lose possession of the ball at the most critical moment. The ease or the difficulty of doing it need not be considered. There is the line—and it must be reached. That is all we need to know. On what we do this year may depend the whole future of the College that we love.

V-12 SUNBATHERS BEHIND TOPLIFF HALL LOOK JUST LIKE CIVILIANS