PRESIDENT DICKEY INDUCTED
president Emeritus Hopkins Receives Honorary Degree
ON THE CLEAR, crisp morning of November 1, John Sloan Dickey '29 took office as the twelfth President of Dartmouth College. The installation ceremony in the Faculty Room of Park- hurst Hall was brief and simple, lasting little more than half an hour, yet it had a perfection, an appropriateness and a family warmth that won over even those who have a leaning toward the academic furbelows that usually go with inaugurations.
Seated on the low dais of the oak-panelled Faculty Room were Mr. Hopkins, who had been elected President Emeritus by the Trustees the night before; Mr. Dickey, wearing the doctor's gown just received as a gift from his classmates of 1929; John R. McLane 'O7, clerk of the Board of Trustees; Dean E. Gordon Bill, representing the faculty; and Dr. Roy B. Chamberlin, director of chapel. The Board of Trustees, meeting thus with the faculty for the first time, sat on their right; and Mrs. Hopkins and Mrs. Dickey were seated on their left. The oak benches were completely filled with members of the faculty and administrative staff, and a few persons stood in the rear of the large room.
President Hopkins opened the proceedings on an informal note when he told an anecdote about ceremonial hokum, but added, "It has been felt, and I think rightly, that there should be something in the nature of a symbolism of the transfer of authority from one set of hands to an- other. And it has been felt likewise that the most auspicious way in which to do it and the most congenial group within which to do it would be the colleagues and the associates who would work most closely with the new President. It is under these circumstances that in the form of a faculty meeting we meet here today and proceed with the exercises symbolic of the transfer of authority."
President Hopkins then called upon Mr. McLane to transmit the original College Charter to the new President. "As Clerk of the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College and on their behalf," said Mr. McLane, "I deliver to you, John Dickey, as you today become the twelfth President of the College, the ancient Charter of the College, ar|d I charge you to keep and defend all the rights which are therein granted and confirmed. It is a living and a vital document, far more than a mere symbol of corporate existence." He spoke of Wheelock's understanding of the importance of the Charter, recalled the document's saving role in the Dartmouth College Case, and concluded: "And were it not for this Charter and for that decision, Dartmouth College would never have come to be the in- stitution which today we know and love. It has not exhausted its vitality, and now we deliver the Charter to you and into your hands, with full confidence in the leadership which you are about to give and with full confidence in your understanding of its importance as the foundation stone of the structure of the College."
thousands of the alumni—yes, and even into the families of the alumni and undergraduates—I have become impressed more and more with the sweetness that attached to the relationship between one and another which constituted this great family which we call Dartmouth. Wheelock was a patriarch. He viewed himself as the head of his family. Wheelock visualized all who worked with him as associates and members President Hopkins then rose and, preparatory to presenting the historic Whee- lock Bowl to Mr. Dickey, spoke of the threads of tradition running back to the origins of the College. "In this mosaic which makes up the College life of the present day," he said, "it is well for us to realize from whence came the colors and how they were formulated in those earlier days, and to what extent we are beneficiaries at the present time because of them. A friendly observer of the College once said to me that nobody could understand Dartmouth who didn't recognize that it was not simply another educational institution but that it was likewise a religion. Personally I believe very strongly that a third aspect is important for us to recognize—that it is a family; and through two or three decades of administrative leadership in the College, in association with friends and colleagues like yourselves and in association with of his family, and in some very definite relationship, I think, down through the years that has prevailed; and at times when it has been most evident, most existent, the College has fared best."
President Hopkins recalled the role in the establishing of Dartmouth College played by "the cordial and courteous John Wentworth, who tempered and softened the asperity and dominance of Wheelock .... and who very little less than Wheelock was responsible for what the College became." He then described the silver punch bowl bearing the following inscription: "His Excellency John Wentworth, Esquire, Governor of the Province of New Hamp- shire, who accompanied him to Dartmouth the first Commencement in 1771, in testimony of their gratitude and good wishes, present this to the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, D.D., and to his successors in that office."
Mr. Hopkins quoted the statement made by President Tucker in transmitting the Wheelock Bowl to President Nichols, the statement beginning with the sentence, "I believe that the greatest possession of the College has been and is still the spirit of Eleazar Wheelock insofar as it has been transmitted to his successors." At the end of this quotation, Mr. Hopkins turned to his successor and said, "And so, President Dickey, to you as the twelfth President of Dartmouth College, I transmit this bowl in succession."
President Dickey then rose and responded briefly: "Mr. McLane, President Hopkins, Gentlemen: I accept the Charter of Dartmouth College and the Wheelock Bowl and the trust which they impose upon him to whom they are so intrusted. Standing in the shadow of predecessors who gave this College life and strength and in the presence of men who daily serve its cause, I have no great words of pledge or promise to stack beside their deeds and proven devotion. I do pray God, and ask each man's help, that my all shall never be less than the cause of Dartmouth, under whatever circumstance or chance, shall require."
There then followed the surprise event of the exercises. Dean Bill stepped forward and said, "Mr. President, I have the rare honor and privilege of presenting to you at the request of the Board of Trustees, and I am sure with the unanimous approval of the faculty, a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa. The candidate is Ernest Martin Hopkins."
As his first official act as President of Dartmouth College, Mr. Dickey then conferred the honorary degree upon Mr. Hopkins after addressing him as follows:
"ERNEST MARTIN HOPKINS: New Hampshireman by birth and choice; graduate of Dartmouth College, class of .1901; disciple and collaborator of Tucker; eleventh President of the College in the Wheelock succession. The measure of your devotion and of your doing, like that of other true north-country men, will never be weighed in any man's scales. Your services, both in counsel and in adminstration, have been often sought in the nation's public and private affairs. You, regardless of the prizes proffered—and some men know how great they were—chose, when choice was necessary, to serve this College. In this thirtieth year of your leadership the College you and Mrs. Hopkins so lovingly served and you in all respects so largely built stands ready to carry forward, in the fore, today's great tasks of the historic College. That, sir, is your work and your reward. On behalf of the men of Dartmouth, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Trustees and in grateful and affection- ate testimonial of your place in the Dartmouth family as the most beloved of the College's sons I hereby confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Laws."
The dignified Faculty Room never before had heard such applause as now resounded minute after minute. When this tribute had reluctantly subsided, Mr. Hopkins said, "Utilizing the privileges of the past, I am going to depart from precedent and make a response to this unexpected honor which has so suddenly come upon me. I will say, moreover, that in years past I have been avaricious for this degree and wondered whether I was ever going to get it or not. (Laughter) I have sat in the halls of other colleges and have been happy and proud to receive the recognition of Dartmouth as the College's agent, but I have wondered sometimes if I would be worthy and would be considered worthy of that which I now have received, whether worthy or not. . . .I wanted to say this final word under any circumstance. I can imagine no greater happiness that can come to a man than to feel absolutely confident that the work in which he perhaps has had a part is to be carried on in hands fully competent, and I want to say here and now what I think most of you know, that there is no confidence lacking and there is every be- lief that the administration which is to follow will be one of the great and one of the distinctive administrations which Dartmouth has had And I want to say a word of appreciation for the confidence and support that you have given me. I have often been conscious of the words of Ste- venson, in The Lantern Bearers, that 'they who miss the joy, miss all.' .... It has been a joyful period and I have had a happy time. I have known that I have dwelt among friends, I have known that support and confidence were available when they were needed, and, gentlemen, there is no belief I have in life stronger than the belief that it can be said of Dartmouth today, as Mallet said of Ox- ford, that 'Through all the changes, greater than the traditions gathered round her, wiser than the prejudices which, she has outgrown, saved by the new blood ever flowing through her as strongly as the waters underneath her walls, still young in heart and ineffaceable in beauty the College lives, sharing her treasures ungrudgingly with those who seek them her spirit with those who understand.' it is in my deep conviction that in the new leadership of the College you have one who understands the treasures to be conferred and, from my point of view even more important, understands the spirit, that I have the happiness in this occasion and in the anticipation of years to come."
Again applause for Dartmouth's President Emeritus. Then President Dickey anounced that the exercises would close with a prayer and benediction by Professor Chamberlin. The installation prayer, beautifully concluding an altogether perfect inauguration, was as follows:
"Humbly but proudly we give Thee our unfeigned thanks this day, O God, for this college, planted long ago in the wilderness, rooted in the faith of strong men and nurtured by their trust in Thee. Ever mindful of that small beginning, we praise Thee for the patient service of many generations whereby the present wealth of learning has become our common. possession, and for the unstinted labor of those whose breadth of vision and nobility of purpose have held the College to its appointed destiny through dark days, thus keeping inviolate this treasured heritage. Each of them has heard the word of the Master, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'
"O Thou for whom a thousand years are but as yesterday when it is past, as we gratefully remember all that has made Dartmouth worthy of Thy favor, we pray that Thy blessing may rest upon its on-going life for years to come, making of it indeed a community of hope and of high endeavor, and we pray that the torch, now passed from one hand to another, may become ever brighter. As we have received much, teach us, O Lord, to give much, working not for ourselves alone nor for our own time but for those who, following after us, may share to the full the beauty of our inheritance. Do Thou remind us, now and always, that
'Except the Lord build the house They labor in vain that build it.' "
THE TRANSFER OF PRESIDENTIAL AUTFIORITY was symbolized in this moment when Mr. Hopkins passed over to President Dickey the historic silver punch bowl which has been in the possession of all Dartmouth presidents from Eleazar Wheelock on. Looking on, left to right, are Dean E. Gordon Bill; John R. McLane '07, Clerk of the Board of Trustees; and Dr. Roy B. Chamberlin, director of chapel.
HONORARY DEGREE FOR MR. HOPKINS. As his first official act President Dickey conferred the honorary LL.D. degree upon Dartmouth's retired leader. Mr. McLane is in the center.
