25 Years Ago

When June rolls around, the Hanover Plain is at its best. Grim March, with its dirty mud and snow, is happily a thing of memory. Spring often comes late in Hanover but in June there is a quickening of the spirit. The perfect architectural beauty of Dartmouth Row is enhanced by fresh gleaming paint, the elms around the campus (and they are, alas, thinning out) spread their leaves, casting shadows on paths worn smooth by the feet of countless students, the sky is generally a clear blue, the air warm and soft, the Baker spire points to infinity, and one can dimly understand a few of the reasons why we, as alumni, are so loyal and devoted to our College.

When one remembers 25 years back he realizes how the college plant has grown under the leadership of Mr. Hopkins. New dormitories, one of the finest libraries in the United States (while we bumped our heads going up the spiral staircase of Wilson Hall), Memorial Field (dedicated in our time), the new Tuck and Thayer Schools, and so on. But the spirit here, the atmosphere of Hanover, remains much the same, as do the habits of the students. Men still congregate, not in Scotty's for a toast side, but in the Coffee Shop, or Mac's; the men on the C & G porch still gaze complacently at the passing throng; the music of Texas Bill no longer sounds in the Nugget (sound track is here and owing to the Nugget fire the movies are now in Webster Hall); the tents are up and around them men are singing "with a stein on the table"; their laughter, bringing back memories of their youth, rings clearly across the campus.

As I try to remember back 25 years ago, I think of Johnny Carleton and Dick Bowler doing somersaults off the new jump, of Ralph Steiner taking pictures, of a few professors who started me thinking, of a ski trip to Moose at Thanksgiving (winter comes early here) with Clarence Sanders and Paul Sanderson, of getting mired in the spring on the road to Lebanon, of the sheer beauty of Dartmouth and the country round about, of friends made and kept, and of lots of other things. It has been my privilege to make my home here for the past 27 years but still at odd times I am moved by the sudden beauty of the College, and its long tradition, going back to 1769, gives Hanover a mellowness which comes only with age. I hope you will return this June once again to renew old friendships and to pledge again your love for the College on the Hill.