The 1952 Alumni Fund
THROUGH the generosity of alumni, parents and friends of Dartmouth the 1952 Alumni Fund reached a new high of $611,500. This record total, the equivalent of the income, at 4%, on $15,000,000 of endowment, enabled the College to complete another year, despite the ravages of inflation, with its books balanced and a substantial surplus to add to its scholarship resources.
The outstanding characteristic of the 1952 Fund was the tremendous number of Dartmouth people who joined in making it possible. As important as the impressive dollar total was the fact that the largest number of workers in the 38-year history of the Fund brought in the largest number of alumni givers who were joined by the largest number of parent contributors. If you accept the fact that Dartmouth's resources exist in human form as well as in stocks, bonds, buildings and bank accounts, and that the Alumni Fund is nothing less than an annual tangible return on the love of the Dartmouth family, then it's appropriate to find our greatest satisfaction in the staggering participation of the 1952 Alumni Fund. Some 1,200 alumni served as active workers. Some 15,500 alumni, 65% of all Dartmouth men (a percentage. still unequalled by any other college or university) made gifts, 660 nonalumni parents added their generous support. What college or university anywhere, what privately-supported institution of any kind, would not find confidence and encouragement in such an outpouring of devotion? And it is clearly the first duty of the one privileged to lead this great effort to express not only his admiration but his deep feeling of gratitude to each man and woman who played a part in it.
The Fund's Value
The $611,500 raised during this campaign exceeded by 22% the formal $500,000 objective. In accordance with the traditional purpose of the Alumni Fund, the formal goal was designed to meet the current needs of the College as budgeted by the Trustees. Privately the Alumni Fund Committee had hoped to obtain $600,000, and found great satisfaction in exceeding that figure. The effectiveness of the large corps of workers, and the generosity of the contributors extended well beyond the essential minimum needs of the year, with the happy result that Dartmouth found added resources at its disposal. In accordance with the recommendation of the Alumni Council the surplus has been applied to the financial aid program. $45,000 was added to the Alumni Fund Scholarship Reserve which was set up out of the 1951 Fund overage, and $30,000 was used to establish a single endowed Alumni Fund Scholarship. The Reserve, which now totals $175,000, is being used this year and in the immediate future to bolster the College's assistance to worthy but needy students, and next spring it is expected that an outstanding applicant of the Class of 1957 be designated to receive the Alumni Fund Scholarship.
Comparison with 1951
It is interesting to note that the total of the 1951 and 1952 a Funds, aggregating some $1,200,000, exceeds the amount raised throughout the first 16 years of the Alumni Fund's history. These two years have established a new level of giving. To some it may have seemed that the spectacular accomplishment a year ago when the Fund jumped from $415,000 to $577,000 might not be soon repeated,—that it didn't represent a realistic potential. The increase this year, though not as great as a year ago, was substantial and proved conclusively that the high level established in 1951 was not the exception but rather the level which we can hope will be maintained in the future. In the process, not only did more people give more money than ever before, but the objective was exceeded by a larger amount than in any previous campaign. The average gift of $37.88 established a new record despite the fact that the average alumni contribution dropped twenty cents to $34.49.
Parents and Others
Parents, faculty and other friends of the College all did their share. In only the second year of organized effort 644 parents contributed a total of $44,120, 7% of the Fund total, a remarkable achievement. The work of the Committee of Parents is described by Chairman Andrew Fraser elsewhere in this issue. Class Memorial Fund income added $32,800, memorial gifts from 604 families of Dartmouth men another $15,814. A good share of the in crease came, in fact, not from alumni but from the growth and development of these non-alumni sources. This broadening of interest and participation is a healthy development and an important source of strength for future Fund campaigns.
The Class Agents
No group can claim more credit for the success of the 1952 Fund than the 67 alumni who served as head class agents. Once again this group worked untiringly, and with great imagination and determination, to assure the record response of their class members. Once again they proved that the class interest and loyalty of Dartmouth men is one of the College's greatest assets. From Joseph Matthews '84 through Dave Hilton '51, these 67 class agents produced far more than we had any right to expect.
The six Green Derby winners whose pictures appear in these pages lead all others when performance is measured by yardstick and formula. You will find others singled out for special commendation on some phase of their work. All agents are entitled to more credit and satisfaction than they will ever receive.
I will cite only a few men whose allaround work serves as an example of the finest of class agent activity. Among the older classes who do not engage in formal competition, Clarence G. McDavitt 'oo rolled up his usual amazing participation, this year a 68%, and Richard Ward '01 produced just over $7,000, the largest of any class from 1884 through 1909. Paul R. Jenks '94, too, stands out in this older group for his work in improving 1894's record some 81% in two years' time.
Marvin L. Frederick '15, Roger C. Wilde '21, Leon H. Young Jr. '23, and David H. Hilton '51 should also be mentioned. The Class of 1915 with a high average gift of $81.59 and near-perfect participation won its sixth consecutive Green Derby under Marvin Frederick. Roger Wilde, now a member of the Alumni Fund Committee, led 1921 to its fifth Derby triumph in a row. For the second successive year, the Class of 1923 set a new class dollar record with Lee Young, new president of the Class Agents Association, raising $20,791 in his class. The youngest class and agent of all, 1951 and Dave Hilton, combined for a Green Derby victory and 98% of objective, a marvelous record for any younger class in any year.
As I have said, these men are only examples. I could go on and on citing the extraordinary work of many other agents. It is no easy job they do, and it is no easier for any one of us to express the appreciation and respect which ought to be theirs. These agents themselves would be the first to give proper credit to their associates who worked as assistant agents and newsletter editors. The names of the editors are listed elsewhere in this issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE, but the front-line troops, the assistant agents, are so numerous that they must remain anonymous in this report. We remember, however, in our praise of the head agents that without the teams of workers who work with them, their records would be far less distinguished.
Finally we remember and salute those class agents who have turned over the reins to successors. Max Hartmann '06, William H. McKenzie '16, Roscoe A. Hayes '19, Francis M. Austin '24, William L. Benger '31, John S. Black '33, Frederick L. Porter '40, Addison L. Winship '42, L. Donald Pfeifle '44, and Donald DeB. Campbell '45 have served a total of 43 Fund campaigns, and we can all hope their successors will prove a match in devotion and achievement. One other alumnus the Fund has been extremely proud to count among its class agents, Dan Hadlock '87, passed away last summer following completion of his 13th Fund campaign last June.
Other Workers
In addition to the class organizations, there were several other groups who made real contributions to the success of the 1952 Fund. First, there was the group of parents that sponsored the highly successful campaign among the families of Dartmouth alumni and undergraduates. Second, there was a group of ten men who conducted supplementary solicitations in ten western cities. The following is a list of the regions involved, and the men who served as their chairmen: J. Nevin Carson '23, Denver; David T. Hedges '34, Houston; Robert S. Thompson '40, Kansas City; John J. Lyman '28, Los Angeles; Edgar R. Oppenheim '39, Oklahoma City; Howard J. Mullin '27, St. Louis; Richard E. Sankey '31, San Diego; Paul F. McKown '23, San Francisco; John G. Beranek '20, Seattle; John L. Ferguson '15, Tulsa. Third, I would certainly want to refer to my enthusiastic and valuable co-workers on the Alumni Fund Committee. Lincoln S. Wilson '13, Addison L. Winship '42, John C. Woodhouse '21, and my predecessor as Alumni Fund Chairman, Charles J. Zimmerman '23, all played a very significant part in last spring's campaign. Lastly, there is the hard-working staff in 105 Crosby Hall in Hanover, which serves as the focal point for all this widespread voluntary effort. Without the splendid daily cooperation of this office headed by Executive Secretary Nichol M. Sandoe Jr. '45 his associate, Glenn L. Fitkin Jr. go, the tremendous resources of alumni interest and effort could hardly have been brought to bear on this big job.
Certainly, too, we must always remember how fortunate the Alumni Fund is to have the interest and support of so many women. Inevitably they get too little credit for the work they do, but I'm sure my patient wife and able secretary are simply two examples of the many, many ladies who share in the effort and satisfaction of Alumni Fund work.
A Look at the Future
In conclusion I want to add a personal word about what I have observed as Fund Chairman during the past year. It has been a completely enjoyable and satisfying experience. It has been enlightening for a man who came to the job without too much past association with this Alumni Fund activity. First, I have learned at first hand the breadth of the interest and participation which I mentioned at the start of this report. I am greatly impressed by Dartmouth's 65% alumni participation, and the though tfulness with which most men support the Fund. And too, nowadays this support comes not only from alumni but from all who believe in Dartmouth. Second, I have found no complacency about the Fund's past records. Nothing is taken for granted. Other fine Alumni Funds, particularly Princeton and Yale whose results have been excellent, are watched closely. Everyone is constantly seeking new ideas and practices and reexamining those methods which have grown up over the years. Even the oldest traditions are subject to review. Lastly there is the College itself. I have welcomed the chance to become acquainted with the Dartmouth of today and its able President and staff. I have found that this College is completely worthy of all the splendid work and generous giving that characterizes the Alumni Fund. I look forward eagerly to the 1953 campaign, sure that so long as Dartmouth remains as deserving as it is today, the Fund results will continue to be as satisfying as those which I have just had the pleasure of reporting.
KENNETH M. HENDERSON '16 Chairman of the 1952 Alumni Fund
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY: Nichol M. Sandoe Jr. '45, who directs Alumni Fund operations in Hanover.
CHAIRMAN OF THE ALUMNI FUND COMMITTEE
