College Holds 179 th Commencement

Rain Fails to Spoil Colorful Exercises, Divided Between the Bema and Webster Hall, at Which June Class of 471 Men Get Bachelor Degrees

PRESIDENT DICKEY, who claims that the hardest decisions of his administration have involved the Commencement weather, had his third straight bout with rain and threatening skies on the morning of the 179th Commencement exercises; and although he did not score a clean-cut victory over the elements, as he had in the previous two years, the compromise decision to hold the first part of the graduation program outdoors in the Bema, despite the drizzle, and the second part indoors in Webster Hall gave him at least a draw and proved to be a satisfactory arrangement for the 471 seniors who received bachelor degrees June 13 and for the parents and friends who crowded Hanover for the traditional Commencement weekend.

With Webster Hall woefully inadequate to accommodate all who wish to attend the graduation ceremonies, and with the use of the Bema therefore essential to a successful Commencement, the weather is always a jittery factor in the Dartmouth program. The sun was little in evidence the entire weekend, but Class Day on Friday, June 11, and the baseball game and alumni events on Saturday were held on dry ground and according to schedule. On Sunday morning the rain-laden clouds could hold back no longer, but at least it was a drizzle and not a downpour. Then began the telephone calls for official weather reports and the almost familiar administrative huddle, out of which came President Dickey's announcement that the order of the exercises would be changed, with the conferring of bachelor degrees taking place first in the Bema, where the greatest number could witness this important part of the program, and the remainder of the exercises, including addresses and the awarding of honorary degrees, following in the dryer confines of Webster Hall. And so, with impressiveness and color that no rain or leaden skies could seriously diminish, Dartmouth's 179 th Commencement exercises took place. The flexibility of the liberal arts college—and President Dickey's logic—won the day.

JUNE GRADUATES NUMBER 471

The June graduating class totaled 471 men, just two more than last year, but to this group were added 51 October and February graduates who returned for the exercises, nine men receiving the Master's degree, and 23 recipients of the two-year diploma in medicine. The total of 554 men who marched to the Bema and there received diplomas was probably the largest such group ever to participate in a Dartmouth Commencement. The June graduates included men from the classes of 1943 through 1949, and other classes were represented among the young alumni who returned for the graduation ceremonies which had to be skipped last October and February.

The seniors made their first appearance in cap and gown at the Class Day program on Friday afternoon. From the Senior Fence they marched to Dartmouth Hall behind Class Marshals Robert L. Merriam '4B, Charles J. Schaefer '4B, Gene J. Bokor '46 and James E. O'Neill '46. There, before the procession moved on to the Old Pine, the seniors and their guests heard words of welcome from Class President Francis R. Drury Jr. '4B, the Class Day Oration by Malcolm McLane '46, the Class Poem by Robert C. MacLeod '46, and the Address to the College by Frederick G. Loomis '4B. The pervading Class Day theme was the public duty of the educated man to make democracy work at home so that it might be a greater force for good in the world battle of ideologies—a theme which Dr. Frank P. Graham, President of the University of North Carolina, and Drury, as class valedictorian, took up again in the Commencement addresses two days later.

"We know that economic security is no less important to us than it was to former graduates," McLane declared in the Class Day Oration, "but today we know that our security is nothing if there is no guarantee of the same to others It is man's right to think, and to believe, and to say what he will, but none of these is right in one man if it is denied to another Beyond our private interests, Dartmouth has tried to make us see our public duty. How well she has succeeded in this attempt we will show in our lives."

In his Address to the College, Loomis analyzed the individuality of Dartmouth and found it in informality, friendliness, love of the outdoors and broad intelligence. "I think her greatest gift to me," he added, "is that we must more and more participate in the affairs of the world or risk our own self-preservation."

At the conclusion of this address, the seniors, who had been seated on the lawn in front of Dartmouth Hall, again formed ranks and marched behind the Band to the stump of the Old Pine, where the traditional peace pipes were smoked while Dirk B. Kuzmier '48, in Indian regalia and with all the props of a Dartmouth Sachem, including a horse, expounded the class prophecy. Then followed the Address to the Old Pine by Richard K. Donahue '4B, who praised Dartmouth's teachings of free and liberal thought, humility and tolerance, and the role of responsibility. "We are grouped before the Old Pine," he concluded, "to seek its strength to prepare us for the struggle of the world, its height to make us leaders of men, and its straightness to make us worthy of that post of leadership."

In traditional fashion, each senior then smashed his peace pipe on the stump of the Old Pine, to seal the pledge of fellowship. Except for the march back to the campus; Class Day was over.

That evening the Dartmouth Band gave the first of two Commencement concerts, and despite the unseasonable June weather, President and Mrs. Dickey were able to hold their garden reception for the graduating class, parents, faculty, alumni and other guests. At this event the reuning alumni, dominated by the phenomenal turnout of the 85-year class of 1923, had a chance to meet with the graduation forces, and later in the evening this mingling was repeated at the senioralumni dance in the gymnasium. Also a highlight of this first night was the annual Commencement concert by the Dartmouth Glee Club, which sang before a packed house in Webster Hall.

Saturday was Alumni Day. Following a morning meeting of Phi Beta Kappa in Carpenter Hall, the College played host at a buffet luncheon in the gym for seniors and their fathers, alumni and faculty. This was followed by a meeting of the General Alumni Association on the large upstairs floor of the gym, reminiscent of final exams for the men of '23 if not for the reuning members of the honored FiftyYea Class of 1898.

John E. Moore '23, vice president of the General Alumni Association, presided over the meeting, at which speakers included President Dickey; John R. Spring '9B, who gave the traditional Fifty-Year Address (printed in full in this issue); George F. Barr '45, president of the Undergraduates Council; and Sidney C. Hayward '26, secretary of the General Association.

President Dickey, in his brief address, discussed the free spirit which is the core of Dartmouth College and declared that without that core Dartmouth would no longer be Dartmouth. This free spirit, he said, is "the spirit which permits freedom of inquiry, which permits freedom of speech, which permits freedom of thought and conviction."

"Those words," he continued, "are kicked around in American life today until it is very hard to be sure just what application they have to a particular situation. But let me make it very specific; Dartmouth College this year goes forward in her task of educating men and of preserving this free spirit while the country of which she is a part enters what will probably be a customarily bitter political contest, and the minds of men will be the ultimate goal of that contest. Some would urge that the College during such a year run to cover and that she attempt to preserve here in Hanover a sterile atmosphere in order that there may be no contamination of men's minds on such matters as political issues

"There is no ducking American life. American life has been a tempestuous life because it has been a free life, and it will continue to be a tempestuous life so long as it continues to be a free life. That is going to be the problem of Dartmouth; whether issues are primarily religious or economic or political or primarily international, or what not, the College has the problem of preserving here a climate in which men may express those thoughts with which other men disagree and disagree violently. And that is a very hard responsibility to fulfill."

Following the Alumni Association meeting, most of the crowd repaired to Memorial Field and there witnessed Bob Amirault's one-hit, 3-0 victory over the University of Maryland baseball team. Other Saturday afternoon events included Dartmouth movies, an organ recital, and fraternity reunions. In the evening, another concert by the Band preceded the Dartmouth Players' production of VetsVillage, an original play by Robert MacLeod '46, class poet. In another quarter of town, alumni history was being made by the Class of 1923 at its reunion banquet, scene of the presentation of a Class Memorial Fund of more than $100,000.

Sunday morning Hanover awoke to a dripping world, but on the assumption that the afternoon might be even worse, preparations went ahead for the combined Baccalaureate and Commencement exercises at 11 a.m. Shortly before that hour the decision was made to divide the exercises between the Bema's outdoor amphitheatre and Webster Hall. Headed by President Dickey and President Emeritus Hopkins, and by the six honorary degree recipients escorted by Trustees, the academic procession left Parkhurst Hall and made its way through the split ranks of the seniors to the Bema. The faculty members in the procession did not number over fifty, so widespread was the belief that the weather had forced a postponement of the exercises until late afternoon.

With the audience clustered as much as possible under the protecting trees of the Bema, the 1948 graduation exercises opened with dignity on the traditional religious note. Following the invocation by Prof. Roy B. Chamberlin, director of chapel, the audience sang one verse of Milton's paraphrase of Psalm 136. President Dickey then conferred, in turn, the Masters' degrees, the two-year diplomas in medicine, and the Bachelors' degrees. The seniors, as they received their individual diplomas, marched directly to Webster Hall for the remainder of the exercises. Parents and guests followed and after a short delay to allow for this transfer of the audience, the speaking program and conferring of honorary degrees took place. To the overflow crowd in Rollins Chapel the Webster program was carried by a public address system.

The Valedictory to the College was given by Class President Drury and the traditional reply was made by President Dickey. The texts of both will be found elsewhere in this issue. The main address, following the conferring of honorary degrees, was delivered by Dr. Graham, one of the country's foremost educators and public servants, who was awarded Dartmouth's highest honor, the Doctorate of Laws. His address likewise appears in full in this issue.

Five other honorary degrees conferred by President Dickey were: Doctor of Laws, the Hon. Louis S. St. Laurent, Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs; Doctor of Letters, Ben Ames Williams 'lO, author; and E. B. White, author, poet and editorial writer of The New Yorker; and Master of Arts, Frank S. Dodge '11, proprietor of the Mountain View House, Whitefield, N. H.; and Laurence F. Whittemore, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The citations accompanying their honorary degrees are printed in the pages following.

PRESIDENT DICKEY AND PRESIDENT EMERITUS HOPKINS lead the honorary degree recipients down the steps of the Administration Building on their way to the Bema for the first part of Commencement.

CLASS DAY PROCESSION: Seniors march up walk in front of Dartmouth Hall for Class Day exercises.