The Denver Conference: An Alumni Milestone
THE experimental West-of-the-Mississippi Conference on alumni organization held in Denver, November 10 and 11, made definite claim for a regular and important place on the permanent schedule of Dartmouth alumni affairs. In otherwise mild-climated Colorado, arrangements by the local Denver committee even included typical Winter Carnival weather in honor of the visiting delegates from the area of the 23 Western states. Twenty-eight delegates came from as far as Illinois and Missouri to the East, Oklahoma to the South, Washington and California to the West, and Wyoming and Minnesota to the North. They represented 13 different alumni organizations interested in furthering the work and welfare of the College and who, because of distance and time, often are not represented at alumni business meetings in Hanover. They included the newly elected member of Congress from St. Louis. They were sincere, interested alumni who took time away from families and business to exchange ideas and programs and to learn from each other how they could best continue Dartmouth's greatest strength, the work of their loyal active alumni groups.
The two day business session was work, interesting as it might be, not entertainment. "We solved that problem in Seattleby On dues the Chicago experiencehas been High school principals inKansas City tell us In Des Moines toget interest from other towns we Ourexecutive committee in Minneapolis is setup to The preparatory school awardin Oklahoma City was On interviewing we found in San Francisco Howdoes your Denver budget control ... . InOmaha have you run into . ... ? Wouldthat work in Wyoming where we have. . . . ? Our enrollment activity in St. Paulis based " And so on and on. This was the business at hand, sparked by College officials and experienced local alumni committee chairmen and officers who preceded general round-table discussions on all subjects by practical and interesting talks on the various phases of alumni organization activity.
Chairmen of the various sessions were Sidney C. Hayward '26, Secretary of the College; Justin A. Stanley '33, Chicago, Chairman of the Alumni Council's Committee on Enrollment; and Congressman Thomas B. Curtis '32, St. Louis. Rapporteurs, a title defying dictionary search and developed by Al Dickerson for added dignity to session secretaries, included: Ralph L. Rickenbaugh '2B, past secretary, Donald C. McKinlay '37, enrollment committee chairman, and Norris E. Williamson '26, president, all of the Denver Dartmouth Association of the Great Divide.
The opening Friday morning session was devoted to alumni club organization, with Norris Williamson '26 and Sidney C. Hayward '26 as the principal speakers. Following luncheon, the discussion turned to enrollment and admissions, two matters which are developing more and more as separate but coordinated activities both at the College and the local levels. Participants in this portion of the program were Chairman Justin A. Stanley '33, Albert I. Dickerson '30 and Robert K. Hage '35 from the College, and three members from the Denver club, Frederick W. Long '11, Dr. William S. Curtis '36 and Dr. Calvin Fisher '32.
Fizz, FOOD, AND FOOTBALL
Friday evening, Everett Parker '16 introduced the delegates to the active Denver alumni group at a cocktail party in his Denver Country Club home preceding the stag dinner and evening business meeting at the Cherry Hills Country Club.
The evening program was an interesting statement of the Dartmouth position on athletics by Edward T. Chamberlin '36, Assistant Director of Athletics. His statement of policy that Dartmouth wants winning teams, teams that play the game because they like it, teams that meet Ivy League regulations and competition, but teams that are not more important as teams than the educational purposes of the College could not be challenged.
The Saturday morning session featured a fine talk on the scholarship policy of the College and what it means to a wellrounded student body by Thomas B. Curtis '32, St. Louis. Everett Parker '16, chairman of the Denver Vocational Committee, made an equally fine presentation of the organization of his committee and how they have worked to locate positions for Dartmouth men. Sidney Hayward '26 then closed the official business of the conference on the work of the Development Council and Dartmouth's capital needs to further strengthen faculty, scholarships and plant. A showing of the new color film, My First Week at Dartmouth, was enthusiastically received.
The Saturday night cocktail party and banquet at the University Club included the ladies of delegates and Denver alumni. The movie was again shown together with Dartmouth Outdoors after talks by Norris Williamson '26, who presided, John Cunningham '18, Alumni Councillor, Harry Litzenberger '32, Conference Chairman, all of Denver, and Robert More '13, Denver, who introduced the parents of undergraduates. The four College officials also made brief but fine talks to the over 100 in attendance.
Delegates, other than those previously mentioned, all of whom contributed greatly to the discussions and interchange of ideas, included: John U. Loomis '15, Cheyenne; Eugene Hotchkiss '22, Chicago; Thomas P. Campbell '18 and Hart Gilchrist '31, Denver; George C. Carpenter '18, Miles M. Mills '23, and James E.Cooney '38, Des Moines; Bradford M.Kingman '25, George J. Winger '25, Creighton C. Hart '28, and Fred C. Byers '45, Kansas City; John de la Montague '42, Laramie; Stuart L. MacPhail '40, Minneapolis; Edgar R. Oppenheim '39, Oklahoma City; Hodge L. Jones '40 and GeorgeG. Tobias '42, Omaha; Boyd Rogers '35 and Robert S. Turner '33, St. Louis; Stephen A. Osborn '27, St. Paul; LincolnS. Wilson '13, San Francisco; and John S.Mauk '24, Seattle.
Summed up in Sid Hayward's words closing the banquet, "Dartmouth's needs are great, but no College has greater alumni loyalty and organization to find the way in solving those needs." There can be no doubt that the Western Conference in Denver is an important contribution by the College and alumni toward that end.
SOME OF THE LEADING PARTICIPANTS in the Dartmouth West-of-the-Mississippi Conference at Denver, November 10-11, shown at the Friday night dinner at the Cherry Hills Country Club. Left to right: Robert E. More 13, Robert K. Hage '35, Hart D. Gilchrist '3l, Alumni Councillor John M. Cunningham 'lB, be- hind him Norris E. Williamson '26, Edward T. Chamberlain '36, Donald C. McKinlay '37, Alumni Councillor Justin A. Stanley '33, Director of Admissions Albert I. Dickerson '3O, Everett H. Parker 'l6, College Secretary Sidney C. Hayward '26, and Harry E. Litzenberger '32, Denver club secretary and conference chairman. The floral center piece was a super-success.
FIFTY ALUMNI LEADERS FROM THE WEST shown at the Friday dinner session when admissions and en- rollment were further discussed. In the left foreground is Edwin A. Toothaker '32, who arranged the dinner.
