The Undergraduate Chair
As Dartmouth students slowly drifted back into Hanover this fall before - the opening of college to watch the initial football game of the season with Fordham, the big question of draft deferment seemed to have slipped from the minds of most.
Most of the students received 2A deferments during the summer after taking the Army Aptitude Test in the spring, and visions of Army life again shifted to the realm of the unreal. Even the College admitted that the manpower loss was "smaller than anticipated" with only 44 men not returning to classes this fall. Of these only eight were actually called into service, although a larger number, who obtained only temporary deferments, were expected to enter the armed services some time this year. Nevertheless, there were a few perplexed men who did receive cryptic messages from their draft boards. One sophomore was notified that he would have to report to an induction center this fall. "I can't figure it out," he moaned. "I haven't even been sent my questionnaire yet." For some the addition of Army ROTC and AFROTC on the Dartmouth campus appeared attractive, although men with less than three years of study left could not officially become connected with the units.
And yet campus life appeared to be normal. The freshmen ran around with their little green beanies, the Vigilantes right behind them with the usual mock ferocity, while Green Key members quietly went about their job of making the '55s feel at home. Organized by the Vigies, the freshmen built a bonfire for the Fordham game rally, formed a large contingent of rooters at the game and dutifully helped most upperclassmen unpack. The newcomers soon got into the habit of tipping their caps as their black-hatted guardians passed by, and one evening some fifty of them were lined up on both sides of the sidewalk outside of the new Nugget bowing to the steady stream of movie-goers.
But as the first week of classes passed, freshman enthusiasm seemed to have died down. After a disappointing crowd turned out to cheer the football squad as it left for Pennsylvania, the letters began pouring into The Dartmouth criticizing the general College spirit. One group of 109 undergraduates asked, "Is it the freshmen, the Vigilantes, the upperclassmen, the Dean, the President, the Trustees? Whoever or whatever the reason, this is a plea for the revival of the old Dartmouth Spirit. 'Men of Dartmouth, set a watch, lest the old tradition fail.' " Another letter signed by twenty students placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Vigilantes, while 26 freshmen retorted that "the charges against us are grossly unjust. Our conscience is clean, but. . . where are the upperclassmen?"
It was the same old story. Everyone wanted to blame the freshmen for lack of spirit although the trend occurs every year. Usually the Vigies planned a surprise attack on the unsuspecting '55s as beanies and badges began to disappear. Two years ago Indian crew-cuts were in order for the offenders, and last year many freshmen were lured into the depths of Commons where they were artistically decorated with paint. A 1951 Vigilante reprisal was still to be expected sometime before the freshman-sophomore tug-o'-war which determines whether hazing rules will be enforced for the rest of the fall.
One of the important fall events in undergraduate life, rushing, was slightly altered this year following serious consideration of the past system. Last May the Interfraternity Council revised and strengthened the rushing program, adding a neutral adviser for each house to supervise the signing of pledges and the administration of pledge pins. Rushing was divided into three phases: open house, informal rushing and formal rushing with pledging. The adviser would be on hand during the formal phase of the rushing and give out information on the number of openings left in the fraternity. Immediately preceding the rushing evenings fraternity men were forbidden to have contact with rushees; this latter rule created complications which resulted in a slight controversy this fall. Many men claimed that the Tuesday night left open between informal and formal rushing was too much of a temptation for fraternity men to visit and influence prospective pledges. This specific evening was not covered by the rule prohibiting the fraternization of the house member and the rush.ee. In a last-minute decision, the IFC passed a blanket rule forbidding organized contact between fraternity men and prospective pledges. With this latest development, the new rushing program was expected to take some of the pressure off the houses and the student who hopes to join a fraternity.
The Interfraternity Council also announced several other new rushing regulations. Fraternity men will not be allowed to visit any other house during rushing to influence rushees, and any man who breaks his pledge to join another fraternity will be prohibited from joining any house for one semester. Freshmen who have had fraternity contacts will be denied entrance to any house until junior year.
Aside from the fraternity situation and the increased number of uniforms on campus, there were a few other changes in Hanover as the fall semester began. The new Nugget, now situated downtown, was greeted enthusiastically by one and all, although some of the old-timers couldn't help glancing over at Webster and entertaining nostalgic memories of the past eight years. And of course there were still some absent-minded drivers who refused to remember the year-old parking meters installed on Main Street and spent most of the day looking for free parking time.
Probably the most revolutionary aspect of undergraduate life is the new management and dining system at Thayer Hall. The general consensus seems to be that the food is better—and seconds can be had in just about everything. Thayer is packed every day with freshmen and upperclassmen, and the difference can be noticed in the local eating spots.
The student body as a whole still had some problems which needed attention. Because of the delayed opening of College, dormitory guest privileges were not in effect during the first football weekend. Further complications developed when nine dormitories failed to file the required number of petitions necessary for their dormitory council ballots. As a result elections had to be postponed for one week. Since no late-hour privileges can be acquired until dormitory councils are elected, the remaining dormitories had tosuffer through another weekend without full privileges. No doubt this lack of initiative would be enough to knock the summer doldrums out of most of the undergraduates and bring them back to the reality of college life.
The average college man was now readyto settle down to eight months of work and play, disappointments and satisfactions and boredom and excitement. But to the senior who was returning for the last time the year meant just a little more. In a way it was rather sad to realize that there would be no more sights of the green beanie or the mammoth bonfires in the center of the green. The grand old senior was already beginning to live in memories. He was just beginning to grasp the full impact of President Dickey's words when he declared that the College's purpose "is to help you to be a beter educated man that you may be a better man." In the long run "your best bet is on yourself.""
Milestones
WDBS DIRECTORATE: Production Manager, Arthur Schweich '53, University City, Mo.; Personnel Chief, Robert Longabaugh '53, Staten Island, N.Y.; Sports Director, Andrew Stern '52, New York, N.Y.
INTERDORMITORY COUNCIL: President, Douglas Corderman '52, Alexandria, Va.; Vice-President, Peter McSpadden '52, Upper Montclair,. N.J.; Secretary, David Berry '53, Montclair, N.J.
SKI TEAM CO-CAPTAINS: Charles Tremblay '52, Keene, N.H.; Frederick Barstow '52, Massena, N.Y.
ALL-AMERICA TRACK SQUAD: Alan Reich '52, Pearl River, N.Y., for his third-place throw of 210 feet in the NCAA summer meet.
FREE COPIES OF "THE DARTMOUTH": Students leaving Webster Hall after Convocation on October 1 stop to read the opening-day news in the issue that launched the daily on its 111 th year of publication.
Conrad S. Carstens '52, who begins occupancy of "The Undergraduate Chair" this month, comesfrom Manhasset, N. Y. He is Editorial Chairman of "The Dartmouth."
