A Perfect 48
ON the basis of our own skimming of the records for some years past, we would say that the Dartmouth student body this fall has the widest geographical distribution it has ever had. All 48 states are represented and the list of 28 foreign lands printed in the 1953-54 edition of the Dartmouth College Directory is the longest such tabulation we can find.
Arizona and Mississippi were missing from the list of states last year, but these two gaps have been filled in to produce a "perfect 48" this fall. New York, with 623 men in Hanover, holds its usual wide lead over all other states. Massachusetts, which once monopolized the top spot but hasn't been there since 1947, is second with 421 men; and then come New Jersey 322, Pennsylvania 208, Connecticut 188, New Hampshire 144, Illinois 121, and Ohio 119. It is interesting to note that the New York-New Jersey total of 945 exceeds the 881 men from all of New England. In addition to the 48 states, the District of Columbia, Hawaii and Alaska, the following foreign lands have students registered at Dartmouth this fall: Canada, Norway, Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina, Japan, Mexico, Germany, Korea, Spain, Austria, Belgian Congo, China, North China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Eucador, Formosa, France, Guatemala, Holland, Iraq, Italy, Luxembourg, Palestine, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
An important development in geograph- ical representation this fall is the record proportion of the freshman class coming from the South. This proportion is only 5.1% but it is nearly double the best previous figure and marks the start, it is believed, of increased Dartmouth drawing power in that section of the country, long the least represented in the student body.
Special efforts to attract more boys from the South and the Southwest were highlighted last month by two regional alumni conferences sponsored by the Dartmouth Alumni Council. These conferences in Atlanta and Dallas and alumni activity in all other regions of the country are part of the nationwide program directed by the Alumni Council's Committee on Enrollment, of which John C. Heston '28 of Phil adelphia is chairman and Edward T. Chamberlain Jr. '36, Executive Officer of the College, is executive secretary. These efforts, emphasizing close relationships with public and private secondary schools, are aimed at enrolling top-quality boys from every part of the country and at maintaining as one of Dartmouth's greatest educational assets a student body that is truly national in its make-up.
Upon his return to Hanover from the Atlanta and Dallas conferences, Sidney C. Hayward '26, Secretary of the College, reported substantial progress in getting the alumni organized to carry forward the Dartmouth enrollment program in these sections. The fact that approximately 100 persons took part in each meeting is an indication of the enthusiasm and seriousness with which the alumni are undertaking this all-important work.
Good examples of what alumni organization and activity can accomplish are the totals of 43 students from Colorado and 67 from California listed in the 1953-54 directory. Just a few years ago 15 boys from Colorado and 25 from California were about average representations from those states. Mainly as the result of enthusiastic and carefully planned efforts by Dartmouth alumni, California and Colorado now send to Hanover each year large groups of students who are making fine contributions to the educational and extracurricular life of the College.
