"The Hershey Kid"
"Pete Geithner has no time for anything but his studies." "Pete is a fine boy gives everything to his NROTC work." "Geithner that boy eats and sleeps basketball." "Pete gives all his time to the Undergraduate Council."
Well, that's the way it seems, anyway. Talk with those who work with Pete and they will convince you that on a certain day in Philadelphia back in 1931 the Geithners had triplets, named them all Pete, and that they are all members of the Class of 1954 at Dartmouth.
Pete could have spent his winters in the pool if basketball were played at some other season. He was a lifeguard for several summers and is an excellent swimmer but, despite the kidding he took from his older brother Paul, who captained the Amherst swimming team, basketball has been the sport all the way. At the end of each summer, while he was in Philadelphia's North East High, Pete helped his father in his contracting business but, when he received his NROTC scholarship and chose Dartmouth, he started spending more and more time on Navy summer cruises and less time pouring concrete and carrying 14-foot planks.
Pete is acknowledged as one of Dartmouth's outstanding student leaders. How does he do it; what is it about Pete Geithner that makes him a leader?
On the basketball court he is a hustler and leads by example. He has been practicing basketball on his own since he returned to college this fall, although the regular afternoon team sessions will not start until the end of the football season. Coach Doggie Julian says he has to keep a rein on Pete so he won't burn himself out. Sometimes, he is ordered not to report for practice when Doggie feels that a rest is in order. As captain of the team, Pete enjoys one prerogative that has earned him the title of The Hershey Kid" from the coach. "Pete's crazy about chocolate," Doggie says, "and I keep plenty on hand for him on trips. When we are in a bus or plane and the
manager comes up to me and asks if the boys can have chocolate bars, I know that Pete has put him up to it and is sitting back there waiting."
In extracurricular activities, Pete ex erts leadership in a different way. "The fellows always feel safe as if everything will work out all right-when Pete's around," Assistant Dean Art Kiendl says. "Pete has three qualities that are bound to add up to leadership: honor, humor and humility." (Unfortunately, the last of these words has been over-used of late.) One of the things Pete likes about Dartmouth is the spirit of the undergraduates and the way they support the teams. He has never thought that he is one of the reasons for this spirit.
In the classroom Pete does very well and, if he maintains the pace he has set for himself, he will probably make Phi Beta kappa. He is deeply interested in his International Relations major and feels that it may be useful to him in the three years of naval service he has coming after his commissioning in June. Captain Thomas H. Tonseth, Commandant of the NROTC Unit, says that Pete ("A boy any man would be proud to have as a son") will make a splendid naval officer.
Pete starts out slowly ana a strong finish. He doesn't force himself into the lead. In time, he proves himself capable of leadership and then it is given to him. This is borne out in his record of undergraduate activities. Offered a number of relatively menial jobs in undergraduate organizations, he accepted all of them and performed so outstandingly that he became marked for the most important posts on the campus. Even a partial list of his present responsibilities is impressive and worth setting down for the record. He is Corresponding Secretary of Beta Theta Pi; Treasurer of Casque and Gauntlet; President of the Class of 1954; Battalion Commander of his NROTC Unit; member of the Steering Committee aiding the Sophomore Orientation Committee; a member of Palaeopitus; varsity basketball captain; member of the Undergraduate Council, on which he is Chairman of the Dormitory Control Committee and a member of the very important Judiciary Committee.
And we don't dare say that he has no time for anything else.
PETER F. GEITHNER '54
