Alumni Association to Observe 100th Anniversary Next Month
THE 100th anniversary meeting of the General Association of Alumni of Dartmouth College will be a featured event during the Commencement weekend next month, June 11-13. The meeting, scheduled for Saturday afternoon, immediately after the traditional Commencement Luncheon at the gym, will recall the first gathering of the association in the college chapel on July 26, 1854. President Dickey, Harold M. Sherman Jr. '29, association president, and John S. Fletcher '04, representing the 50-year Class, will be among the speakers.
The program for Dartmouth's 185th Commencement will, in general, follow the three-day pattern established in recent years. The final graduation exercises on Sunday morning will be held on the lawn in front of Baker Library, where they were staged so successfully last year when President Eisenhower's presence made it necessary to shift the exercises from the inadequate Bema. Last year's arrangements will also be repeated, for Class Day exercises, which will be held Friday afternoon in the Bema rather than in front of Dartmouth Hall. One change this year will shift the ROTC commissioning ceremony from Sunday to Saturday morning. The ROTC graduation on Sunday morning, in advance of Commencement, had to be rushed in order to avoid conflict, and with some 170 reserve officers being commissioned this year, there is additional reason for changing the ceremony to Saturday morning, which is relatively free of events. For the first time the ROTC graduation will be held in the Bema.
Other events of the Commencement weekend will include a garden reception by President and Mrs. Dickey on Friday evening, followed by a Glee Club concert and the Commencement Dance; the traditional Phi Beta Kappa meeting Saturday morning and fraternity reunions that afternoon; and a Dartmouth Players show Saturday night. The Dartmouth Band will give a campus concert both Friday and Saturday evenings. The combined Commencement and Baccalaureate exercises will take place Sunday morning at 11, with Alumni Gymnasium in readiness in case of rain.
In conjunction with Commencement, reunions will be held by the Classes of 1889, 1894, 1899, 1904 and 1929. With the 25-Year Class of 1929 promising a record number back for reunion, and other classes also expecting large turnouts, dormitory space will be taxed to capacity. This will be true also the following weekend, when 1914, 1923. 1924, 1925, 1944. 1948, 1949 and 1950 return for reunions. Dormitory room reservation cards have been mailed to all members of reunion classes and should be returned to the Bursar's Office before the stated deadline (May 29 for the first weekend, June 5 for the second) or there can be no guarantee that rooms will be available.
HAROLD M. SHERMAN JR. '29 will preside at the 100th anniversary meeting of the General Alumni Association during Commencement weekend.
