Alumni Council Sets '56 Fund Goal At January Session in Minneapolis

THE Dartmouth Alumni Council, which met in Minneapolis on January 19-21 for its 91st session, established a 1956 Alumni Fund objective of $775,000 as one of its top items of business. This action followed a report by Fund Chairman William G. Morton '28 of Syracuse, one of the 22 Council members who attended the meeting in company with six former members and a "Hanover team" of College officers headed by President Dickey.

The full Council approved the recommendation of its Fund Committee that $660,000 of the 1956 net income be applied to current operating expenses of the College, $23,000 to scholarship aid, and $35,000 to faculty salary increases, so that the College may have available for 1956-57 the full income from the Ford Foundation grant to endow salary raises. One-half of the Ford gift will be received by July 1, 1956, and the other half by July 1, 1957. The Alumni Council's action, however, will have the effect of making the Ford Foundation endowment fully rather than only half operative in the coming year.

Mr. Morton reported that toward the 1956 Fund goal $650,000 will be sought from the alumni and $50,000 through the Parents Committee. He also announced that early contributions, as of January 20, stood at $102,000, which is $20,000 more than for the same date last year.

During the three-day meeting in Minneapolis, where the Council had never gathered before (only eight meetings have been held outside the East), the Alumni Councillors discussed a wide range of Dartmouth affairs. Council President Roger C. Wilde '21 of Chicago presided and during the various sessions introduced as College speakers: President Dickey; Vice President and Treasurer John F. Meek '33; Provost Donald H. Morrison; Sidney C. Hayward '26, Secretary of the College; Edward T. Chamberlain '36, acting director of admissions; George H. Colton '35, executive secretary of the Dartmouth Development Council; Robert K. Hage '35, director of financial aid; Nichol M. Sandoe Jr. '45, executive secretary of the Alumni Fund; Prof. Herbert R. Sensenig '28, faculty member of the Council; and Football Coach Robert L. Blackman. Also participating in the discussions were Michael McGean '49, assistant to the Secretary of the College, and Charles B. Keenen '52, assistant to the Director of Admissions.

Following are some of the highlights of the Alumni Council reports and discussions:

The President's Remarks

President Dickey spoke informally on Saturday morning, January 21, and outlined in some detail the new concept of the Hopkins Center, about which news appears in this month's opening section. He reported that the Board of Trustees has given approval to going ahead with architectural plans, subject to final approval next fall, and that it is the Board's hope to start construction in 1957.

President Dickey was the principal speaker the evening before, at the annual dinner of the Dartmouth Alumni Association of the Northwest, held in conjunction with the Alumni Council meeting. To a large audience of 200 alumni, wives and local schoolmen he spoke about the importance of "place" in Dartmouth's character and in the loyalty of her sons, and then discussed the College's pioneering spirit. In citing the numerous instances in which Dartmouth has pioneered he ended with the present planning of the Hopkins Center, which in its revised form will be a unique combination of social and creative art facilities designed "to add a new dimension to the educational experience to be had at Dartmouth."

The Provost's Remarks

At the Council's Friday luncheon, Provost Morrison said the next five to ten years would be critical ones for the faculty, because of the turnover necessitated by a large number of retirements. With highly qualified teachers in short supply, and the competition for them stiffer than ever before, he stated that salary-wise Dartmouth is steadily improving its competitive position but that better faculty housing must be provided. To meet this latter situation, he pointed out, Dartmouth is constructing two new faculty apartment houses and is also moving ahead with the construction of pre-fabricated houses suitable for young teachers and their families. The College is fully aware of its faculty recruitment problem, Provost Morrison concluded, and is determined to continue its efforts on all fronts to insure that the excellence of Dartmouth's teaching staff shall not only be maintained but advanced just as much as possible.

Holt's Ledge Ski Development

Mr. Meek summarized progress on the Holt's Ledge project and invited members of the Council to join in the contest to name the new ski area in Lyme Center, twelve miles from the campus. He reported that of the $125,000 needed to put the development into full operation $73,000 had been raised up to that time through gifts and pledges (since raised to $93,000). Mr. Meek described the general purposes of the new area and its importance in Dartmouth's famed skiing program, and also reported that a committee for trails and design had been appointed, consisting of Ski Coach Walter Prager, Area Supervisor Howard P. Chivers '39, Edgar H. Hunter Jr. '38, David J. Bradley '38, George Macomber Jr. (Harvard '39) and C. Frederic Hansen, nationally known ski jump designer and engineer.

Regional Scholarships

Mr. Colton, speaking for the Development Council, reported that the raising of regional scholarship endowment funds is a club activity that is growing rapidly, with great potential for strengthening not only the enrollment and financial aid programs, but also the clubs themselves through the provision of specific projects and a sense of purpose to supplement the social side of organized alumni groups. It is College policy, he said, to encourage such funds wherever there is a sufficient base of interest on the part of club members and where there is the potential for effective financial results. Mr. Colton cited as three particularly successful club scholarship funds the Toledo Fund, the Rochester (N.Y.) Fund and the three scholarship funds centered in the Twin Cities area. In all three cases, the participation of members is substantial and so are the annual amounts being raised.

Financial Aid

Mr. Hage, who directs the College's program of scholarships and loans, reported that the Class of i960, entering next fall, will be the fourth successive class to have approximately 25% of its members on aid. It will also be the fourth class in the National Scholarship program, so that next year Dartmouth will be operating fully on the enlarged financial aid program which has been one of the College's major goals. Outright grants for 1956-57 will exceed $650,000, Mr. Hage disclosed.

Applications for scholarship help continue to grow in number, Mr. Hage pointed out, with a 22% increase over last year at latest count. The strength of academic and personal qualifications continues to be the vital factor in selection among those who need aid, he said.

Enrollment and Admissions

In the absence of Chairman Donald C. McKinlay '37, the report of the Council's Committee on Enrollment and Admissions was presented by James K. Tindle '36, who stated that applications for the next entering class were running 27% higher than for last year. He summarized the Committee's thinking with respect to cutting attrition among accepted candidates and reported an expansion this spring of "Operation Holding," the club-sponsored program designed to hold the Dartmouth interest of successful applicants. The final date for acceptance of admission this spring will be May 26, he announced.

Mr. Chamberlain, acting director of admissions, also took part in this discussion and outlined the progress being made in Dartmouth's national enrollment program. He introduced Mr. Keenen, his new assistant, who has assumed Hanover duties in connection with the growing enrollment program. Regional enrollment conferences were held last fall in San Francisco, Indianapolis and Washington, D.C., and the Council also heard brief summaries of the accomplishments of these three meetings, from George C. Nickum '31, Lee A. Chilcote '30 and Clarence V. Opper '18.

Dartmouth Athletics

Sumner D. Kilmarx '22, chairman of the Dartmouth College Athletic Council, reviewed athletic affairs in general, with some emphasis on the past football season under a new coaching staff and on the formalization of Ivy League schedules. Sizable deficits in the DCAC's financial operations will continue to be the price of having an intramural program and an intercollegiate program properly related to the educational purposes of the College, he said. Mr. Kilmarx listed six major needs in athletic facilities: (1) a complete resurfacing of the football field; (a) a new swimming pool which would be deep enough for high-board diving, seat more spectators, and avoid present conflicts on use of the pool; (3) gravel bases and drainage for the practice fields so teams can get outdoors earlier in the spring; (4) a black top in the hockey rink so it can be converted for tennis practice; (5) increased seating capacity for hockey and basketball games; and (6) larger indoor cages.

Coach Blackman also spoke to the Alumni Council, reviewing his recent trip to alumni clubs on the West Coast. He emphasized his full understanding that football players at Dartmouth must be qualified first and foremost as students, and said that quality rather than quantity is the important thing in the College's quest for student-athletes. He made some suggestions for the strengthening of Dartmouth's national enrollment program, and one of his proposals led to the Council's voting to recommend to the College the preparation of an illustrated booklet describing athletics, the Outing Club, skiing and allied activities at Dartmouth.

The Secretary's Report

Mr. Hayward spoke to the Council on the status of a history of the Dartmouth Alumni Council that is now being prepared for publication within the next year. He also reported progress on a new film, This Is Dartmouth, to be completed soon, and on a new set of Dartmouth color slides now available for sale or loan.

Following Mr. Hayward's remarks, President Wilde announced that a committee composed mainly of past and present Alumni Council members would be formed to make a thorough study of Dartmouth alumni relations and organization in conjunction with other studies being made by sub-committees for the Trustees 1969 Planning Committee. This committee will be headed by Guy P. Wallick '21 of San Francisco.

Other reports to the Council were given by Professor Sensenig, who discussed the work of the Office of Student Counseling and his own specialized responsibilities as adviser to foreign students; by Howard J. Mullin '27, chairman of the Committee on Club Organization, who discussed the desirability of continuity in club leadership and the Committee's approval of the decentralization of Dartmouth clubs in large centers such as New York, Boston and Chicago; and by Mr. Colton, who in the absence of Ellsworth Buck '14 read a letter from him summarizing the results of a sample survey of alumni bequest provisions or intentions. Mr. Buck made the point that because of family responsibilities which must be of concern to alumni, greater effort should be devoted to informing Dartmouth men about the possibility of contingent provision for the College in their estate plans.

At the Friday night banquet, John B. Faegre Jr. '33, Council member from Minneapolis, presented to the Alumni Council a bell mounted on a stand with Dartmouth motif, to be used to call future Council meetings to order. Mr. Wilde expressed the thanks of the Council and at the business session the following morning used the bell for the first time.

Following is the list of Council members in attendance at the meeting:

PRESENT MEMBERS - Charles H. Kent '10, Holyoke, Mass.; Clarence V. Opper '18, Washington, D.C.; Roger C. Wilde '21, Chicago; Sumner D. Kilmarx '22, New York; Leon L. Freeman '23, Racine, Wis.; Charles M. French '24, Cleveland; Kenneth F. Montgomery '25, Chicago; Sidney C. Hayward '26, Hanover; Norris E. Williamson '26, Denver; Carleton G. Broer '27, Toledo; Howard J. Mullin '27, St. Louis; Creighton C. Hart '28, Kansas City, Mo.; William G. Morton '28, Syracuse; Prof. Herbert R. Sensenig '28, Hanover; Edwin C. Chinlund '29, Pittsburgh; Lee A. Chilcote '30, Cleveland; George C. Nickum '31, Seattle; John B. Faegre Jr. '33, Minneapolis; Orvil E. Dryfoos '34, New York; Robert L. Patterson '36, Rochester, N.Y.; James K. Tindle '36, Philadelphia; Alfred W. Gordon Jr. '41, Omaha.

PAST MEMBERS - Louis E. Leverone '04, Chicago; Orton H. Hicks 'si, New York; Eugene Hotchkiss '22, Chicago; Robert C. Borwell '35, Chicago; Clark Weymouth '26, Chicago; Stephen A. Osborn '27, Lake City, Minn.

At the dinner of the Dartmouth Alumni Association of the Northwest, held in conjunction with the Council meetings, President Dickey presented the Dartmouth Plaque to Principal Leonard A. Fleenor of Washburn High School, Minneapolis, whose freshman delegation of four men achieved the highest scholastic average for the college year 1954-55.

Part of the committee of Twin City alumni who handled arrangements for the Council's visitto Minneapolis. Left to right: Harold S. Wonson Jr. '40, past club president; Herbert D. Bissell'29, chairman; Walter Bush '51; Bobb Chaney '35; Wood Foster '33; and Stuart MacPhail '40.