Returning to college has been a happy

RETURNING to college has been a happy experience for me, and I am glad to -have an opportunity to describe some of the things which have made these past few months here at Dartmouth seem as good as those before the war. It wasn't long after the war had started when I first seriously thought of coming back to Dartmouth some day. I had been away then about a year and a half, which seemed like a long time. Now that the war is over, I appreciate that a year and a half is really a short time. Nevertheless, if someone had told me that the matter of returning to Dartmouth would continue to be on my mind for almost four more years, I doubt if I would have believed it.

Yet when I drove up Main Street in Hanover one afternoon last August, just on a visit, fully five years had passed, and I was sure then how much I had wanted to come back all the time. The war ended, and the decision was made quickly. The next term was starting in November, and I went on terminal leave in September, so I was all set.

I was married early in October, and the thought of married life in Hanover made the entire outlook of college life again seem even brighter. Mary and I had talked it all over and she was about as excited over coming up as I. When I picked up the college catalogue again, I discovered I hadn't forgotten as much about topics like prerequisites and the general outline of courses as I had imagined. It was relatively simple to select the subjects which I wanted to study this term, as I could draw on past experience and also lean in the direction of interests which had developed since the war.

While waiting to return, I pondered the usual questions on how easily could I get back into the studying routine, how much I should like it, and how fully might any ideas which were outgrowths of the war fit into the college atmosphere. I was already convinced of the merits of college to begin with,,but these other questions had to be answered also. I was fairly optimistic, actually, about the outcome of each. In addition, I further thought that college was a good place to be for a year or two while some of the problems in the business world were getting straightened out.

We arrived in Hanover a few days before classes started and after briefly surveying the situation in Middle Fayerweather we commenced furnishing our apartment on the third floor. I had lived in old Fayer for two years and felt right at home coming back there. Mary did most of the arranging and a good deal else as well, which she seemed to enjoy. My pleasure over the year that lay ahead was steadily increasing. I visited a couple of professors I had known and found that they were happy to see old faces back again. This was rather nice, too.

My stock of civilian clothes was extremely limited, and I was strolling about the campus dressed in what I had worn in the old days, although I was feeling happy every place I went, even in the Ad Building. There I found that the veterans were being treated pretty well in all respects, which, by the way, I know is not overlooked by many of them now here.

In Fayer, I found a few of my classmates plus other friends, all with their wives, of course. Off campus, also, there were some fellows from '42 and they lent a kind of kindred spirit to those of us who had been away a long time. When classes started, I guess I must have been as eager and curious as a freshman to see what it was all about. This didn't take long, however, and I found I actually enjoyed picking up the books again and listening to lectures on topics in which I was interested. I felt a little bit more inquisitive about the College also. Perhaps that was just the difference in years. Nevertheless, I was wondering about the new President and imagining what he might do and if I would agree with his ideas and aims. I subsequently heard him speak and then attended a class in which he discussed with the students matters regarding the College. I felt this was a good thing, and left the room that day reassured about certain questions which had been on my mind.

As the semester grew older, I began to think about getting a little exercise now and then. After seeing my old friend, Red Hoehn, I obtained a new squash racket and started playing some. It was then I noticed that although a few years in the Army may condition a fellow for some things, certain other things are neglected to a large extent. For I was puffing around the squash court like an old woman. But it was fun, and soon I was going down almost every afternoon.

I began to possess a more comfortable feeling after the first set of exams when I felt I could make out satisfactorily and that the years between hadn't worked to my disadvantage in this respect. There doesn't seem to have been any difficulty for Mary or me, so far as having enough time for things is concerned. She recently started working in the mornings and goes skiing when not doing something at home in the afternoons. Like most of the couples in Fayer, we eat all our meals in, although the kitchen units have not yet arrived.

Bill Hirons and his wife, Swifty and Ginnie Barnes, and Mary and I usually go to the basketball games and hockey games together, which the girls enjoy as much as we do. Most of the girls in Fayer have jobs and manage to keep as busy as the fellows throughout the day. It is usually quite peaceful around the dormitory on the weekday evenings, while over the week fend things liveri up somewhat. All in all, the social activities among the couples are quite fitting and pleasant.

The College has said that several hundred more veterans are returning next month, and I presume it reasonable to expect that more than a few will be bringing wives with them. Despite housing difficulties for some, I feel sure that these couples will find life pretty much to their liking. All ex-Dartmouth students, whether married or single, are really already aware of the attractions in Hanover, and I don't think that any adjustments which they may be making after they come back will alter their pleasant reaction to college life. Actually, I think a lot of them will receive more satisfaction and feel that they are getting more out of being here now than they ever did before. And in addition to this, I feel that the veterans who will return in the next couple of years, plus those here now, may be able to render a fine service to the College in the way of helpful recommendations and suggestions. These returned students are a little older and more experienced now, which is really to the advantage of the College as well as of the fellows themselves.

It is very likely that soon after Mary and I have left, we shall feel that the time here flew by much too rapidly. This term has gone by very quickly, and as I look back on the past few months, I can happily say that becoming adjusted to college again has been a pleasant experience and no task at all.

Before I finish, I should like to express a thought which is existing in the minds of many returned students. That thought is relevant to the relations between the administration and faculty of the College on the one hand and the students on the other. Many of us want to feel that there will always be a maximum effort made to provide for frank and harmonious handling of affairs between the college officials and students. I think this is very important for several reasons, which may be summed up by saying that the closer in touch with each other the College and the students are, the higher will be the subsequent efficiency and morale within the groups involved. This pertains, of course, to matters of concern to the whole College.

Students are probably more apt to press for closer relations these days than before the war. The College seems aware of this, and I think it will do its part in promoting and maintaining a desirable condition. The students are similarly responsible, and I feel optimistic about their attitudes and efforts here at Dartmouth during the next few years.

AS CAPTAIN OF THE SQUASH TEAM, Roy Carruthers (right) played No. 1 for Dartmouth this season, and for a "beginner" did well. His opponent is Bob Mann '46, also a team member and a veteran.

Starting the War as a Flying Cadet, after nearly five years Roy Carruthers ended as Major. The South West Pacific and the Mediterranean were his theatres of action; Flying Fortresses and Liberators, his planes. Stationed for a time in Washington, he served the War Department as an expert on Air Intelligence on Far Eastern Theatres. As an undergraduate now, Roy has exchanged his instrument panels for textbooks, his power settings for fountain pens, and his bomber missions for the lesser impacts of gut on squash balls and the neat incisiveness of corner shots just above the tin. Coming from Larchmont, New York, he first entered Dartmouth as far back as 1938, played No. 2 on the freshman tennis team, and pounded a typewriter on the editorial staff of The Dartmouth. Now No. 1 man on the squash team, he is its captain. Roy is an undergraduate with a difference—he is married, and his wife lives with him in Middle Fayer. The former Mary Elizabeth Rennie of Minneapolis used to work with the Columbia Broadcasting System and the War Production Board as a personnel technician. Still unable to make up his mind what he wants to do after graduation, Roy indeed has not yet made up his mind that he should go to Tuck School.