Overseers for the Inn

For the past fifty years Dartmouth College has been in the hotel business in Hanover as a sideline to its main business of education. After building the old Wheelock Hotel at the southwest corner of the campus in 1889, the College had its troubles with private lessees and finally took over the management itself in 1901, at that time completely reconstructing the building and renaming it the Hanover Inn. A large new wing was added in 1923.

The College reluctantly entered the hotel business, according to all historical accounts, and during the ensuing fifty years there have doubtless been times enough when the President, the Trustees and the Treasurer of the College, wrestling with Inn finances and other problems, have let their thoughts dwell upon the extracurricular nature of the enterprise. Still, as the College has grown, the maintenance of suitable hotel accommodations for alumni, parents and other visitors to Hanover has mounted in importance; and in the absence of privately operated inns of the required capacity, the College has of necessity assumed the responsibility of providing attractive, comfortable and modern hotel facilities for its guests.

As operated by the College, the Inn has an independent status for financial purposes. It has, however, rarely been a profitable enterprise. In view of the essential role the Inn plays in College and community life, not to mention the opportunity it has to promote good public relations for Dartmouth, a limited and unavoidable expense in maintaining the Inn would not be unwarranted. But the Trustees are keenly anxious to make the Inn a self-sustaining enterprise, as well as to operate it at the highest possible level of service to alumni, parents, the Hanover community and other guests.

To promote this twofold objective, the Trustees last month established a new Board of Overseers of the Hanover Inn and delegated to this all alumni group full responsibility for overseeing the management of the Inn, including the selection of personnel arid the determination of operating policies. The Board, under the terms of its appointment, "shall manage the Inn as an essential service of Dartmouth College for the benefit of Dartmouth alumni, parents of students and the Hanover community, and for the purpose of building general good will for Dartmouth College, and, subject to the foregoing, with the objective of making the Inn self-sustaining." The creation of the Board came about after a thorough study of Hanover Inn problems by the Trustee. As part of this study, a detailed and independent report was made by Mr. J.C. Hevenor, vice president of the Hotels Statler, Inc.

The Board 01 Overseers consists initially of seven Dartmouth alumni named by the Trustees to serve for terms of a little over three years, until June 30, 1954, and also two ex-officio members: the Treasurer of the College and the President of the Alumni Council or his delegate from the Council.

The seven alumni appointed to the Board are:

VICTOR G. BORELLA '30, vice president of Rockefeller Center in charge of operations; formerly personnel director for the Terminal Transportation System of New York, 1930-35; public relations counsel for the General Motors Corporation, 1935-39; and director of personnel and industrial relations for Rockefeller Center before his present position.

CHANDLER H. FOSTER '15, senior partner in the accounting firm of Chandler H. Foster and Company, who for many years has handled the auditing of the accounts of Dartmouth College and of the Hanover Inn as a separate financial operation. For ten years, 1940-50, he was 1915 class treasurer, winning the award for the best such officer in 1947.

JAMES D. LANDAUER '23, president of James D. Landauer Associates, Inc., New York real estate consultants; former president of the Dartmouth Alumni Association of Westchester County, and vice president of the Dartmouth Club of New York, 1934-35; secretary of the Dartmouth Club and the Alumni Association of New York, 1931-33, in which post he also won a "best" award; and 1923 class agent, in 1935 and 1938. A summer resident of Hanover, Mr. Landauer is thoroughly acquainted with the Hanover community and some of the Inn's operational problems.

WILLIAM L. MARCY '21, chairman of the board of directors of Hotels Statler Inc., and a partner in the law firm of Moot, Sprague, Marcy and Gulick of Buffalo, N.Y.; former chairman of the Statler Advisory Committee; former Assistant District Attorney of Erie County and member of the New York State Legislature; and chairman of the Unemployment Commission of New York State, 1932-34. He was secretary of the Dartmouth Club of Western New York in 1925-26.

JOHN R. MASON '15, vice president of the Millville (N.J.) Manufacturing Company; president of the Dartmouth Class Agents Association, 1947-48; chairman of the Dartmouth Alumni Fund, 1948-49; and at present a member of the Dartmouth Alumni Council. A frequent visitor to Hanover, Mr. Mason has spent much time at the Inn and is also acquainted with its operational problems.

HERMAN W. NEWELL '20, executive vice president of the New York advertising firm of Geyer, Newell and Ganger, Inc.; member of the executive committee of the National Outdoor Advertising Bureau; formerly vice president in charge of sales for Frigidaire Corporation; and a frequent visitor to Hanover in the role of lecturer at the Tuck School.

CARL E. NEWTON '20, partner in the New York law firm of Donovan, Leisure, Newton, Lumbard and Irvine; Federal Director of Mine Operations in 1943; and former Assistant United States Attorney and Special Assistant Attorney General of New York State.

As an ex-officio member of the Board of Overseers of the Hanover Inn, John F. Meek '33, Treasurer of the College, will act as the representative of the Trustees in their relationships with the new Board. The other ex-officio member will be designated by John L. Sullivan '21, president of the Alumni Council, and will serve as the direct voice of the alumni in Hanover Inn matters. Provision is made for appointment of not more than two additional members in case it should be desirable.

The Board plans to hold its first meeting in Hanover this spring, at which time it will elect a chairman and formally assume its responsibilities. The caliber of its members and their long devotion to the interests of Dartmouth give assurance that in still another important phase of College operations the alumni will render an invaluable service.