Big Green Captain
You know how football fans nod at each other through the cheering after someone has made a particularly fine play. It's the language of approval when words don't help. Well, much of the nodding and the thigh thumping and palm punching this year in the Dartmouth stands will be for Lou Turner who leads the Big Green from the right halfback slot.
Captain Turner at 6 feet is built for speed. You'll see him slash off tackle, knees driving high, and into the open field where his timing and deceptive pacing make him as elusive for hounding would-be tacklers as Reynard himself. (He speaks enthusiastically about the "satisfaction and pleasure of running through a lot of guys.") The quick burst of speed; the dancing side step, the crash of pads when battering out of a box at the sidelines—that is Lou in action. If there were a less spectacular way of achieving the same end, however, he would prefer it; but no one has yet found a way of making an unobtrusive 65-yard run.
One time last fall, alter having a particularly impressive Saturday afternoon, Lou went over to the Dartmouth Christian Union office and found that some of his friends had hung dozens of pictures of their vice-president from strings all over the room. They stood there awaiting his reaction. He blushed as red as his hair, completely nonplused, and then recovered quickly. "Are we going to keep these up?" he asked.
This year Lou is president of the Christian Union, and even though his engineering course at Thayer, his work for board at the Dining Association and his football require a lot of time, he will still visit the DCU office every day and attend two or three meetings a week.
Like Lou on the football field, the DCU is largely known for its good and effective work. Some 300 students are connected with the Christian Union which, as Lou explains, aims to help men see all aspects of life from a position of responsibility. Every weekend DCU crews go out to help some disabled farmer get in firewood or to assist in roofing a barn. ("No matter how much he needs it, it's always hard to get a Vermont farmer to let you help him.") DCU members visit patients at the Veterans' Hospital in White River Junction regularly and collect and process more than a ton of used clothing each year for the needy. Lou has been a leader in these activities since his freshman year. He has also served as a Dartmouth representative at many conferences such as the Student Christian .Movement of New England. He frequently conducts the campus chapel services where he conveys the same unassuming confidence through his faith that makes him a leader on the football field.
Lou played football, basketball and baseball at Westboro (Mass.) High School where he was football co-captain in his senior year but "very bad about scoring touchdowns." Last year he was Dartmouth's second highest scorer with five touchdowns—a testament to the value of a college education. He gained 400 yards in 83 rushing attempts and 160 yards on pass receptions. His long, powerful fingers help him to be a fine receiver and with his ability in the broken field, Tuss relies on him as the team's safety man.
September is yet green and so the season for prediction is still with us. What's the word from the Dartmouth captain? Lou is enough of an old campaigner to proceed with caution: He points out that there are the same nine major games this year as last. He sees strength in the ends and tackles and the need for developing a good fullback. The team, he feels, will be ready from the start to continue where it left off with Princeton last fall. A good season? we asked Lou. "Sure," he said, "we'll have a good season."
So get your tickets and we'll see you out there. We'll know you because you will be the one nodding in satisfaction when Lou runs through a lot of guys.
Lou Turner '54
