George Nickum '31 to Head Alumni Council for 1956-57

GEORGE C. NICKUM '31 of Seattle, Wash., was elected president of the Dartmouth Alumni Council for

1956-57 at its annual meeting in Hanover last month during reunion week. Mr. Nickum, who succeeds Roger C. Wilde '21 of Chicago, has been a member of the Council since 1954 and is former president of the Dartmouth Club of Western Washington. He is managing partner in the Seattle firm of W. C. Nickum and Sons, naval architects and marine engineers.

Other officers elected at the June 15 meeting were Richard M. Pearson '20 of New York, vice president, and Sidney C. Hayward '26 of Hanover, secretary. The executive committee includes Messrs. Nickum, Pearson and Hayward, Clarence V. Opper '18 of Washington, D. C., and Guy P. Wallick '21 of San Francisco.

To serve as new members-at-large for three-year terms the Council elected Laurence G. Leavitt '25 of Saxtons River, Vt., and Lewis K. Johnstone '41 of Cincinnati. Louis V. Wilcox '23 of Westfield, N. J., who had been filling out an unexpired term, was also elected member-at-large for a full term to June go, 1959.

Alton K. Marsters '30 of Rochester, N. Y., was elected a member of the Athletic Council for a second term of three years; E. Spencer Miller '31 of Portland, Me., was named representative on the Board of Overseers of the Hanover Inn for the coming year; and Michael J. de Sherbinin '42 of Hanover was named alumni representative on the Board of Proprietors of The Dartmouth for three years.

The Alumni Council's June meeting had excellent attendance, with 33 of its forty members present, several from the Pacific Coast and the Far West. Seventeen former members and three new members whose terms begin July 1 also attended the Council sessions. In addition to a number of group meetings, the Council held three general sessions and at a concluding luncheon heard President Dickey speak about the long-range financial needs of the College, particularly as related to the planning, now being undertaken for the years leading up to Dartmouth's Bicentennial in 1969-

Two other major talks were given by John F. Meek '33, Vice President and Treasurer of the College, who discussed the "Plant Planning Program," and by Donald C. McKinlay '37 of Denver, whose topic was "Trials and Triumphs of an Enrollment Chairman." The Council also heard about the Class of 1960 from Edward T. Chamberlain '36, director of admissions, and the Glee Club's western tour from Edward C. Lathem '51.

Plant Planning Program

Mr. Meek told the Council that Dart- mouth is now engaged in its third great period of intensive plant planning. The first period occurred before World WarW and the second in the '20s and early '30s. Plant inadequacies came to light under the pressures following World War 11, and with progress having been made in recent years on faculty salaries and scholarship aid, the Trustees have now turned to the problem of the Dartmouth plant and have authorized both immediate and long-range studies, first to answer the problem of crowding and obsolescence, and second to produce a blueprint of needs for the next fifty years and to coordinate the College's plans with the growth and development of the town of Hanover.

Mr. Meek reported that the Trustees Committee on Plant had been reactivated, an architectural consultant retained, and a Trustees Advisory Committee on Plant Development formed, under the chairmanship of Prof. John P. Amsden '20. The Amsden Committee, which has long-range planning as one of its responsibilities, has already made important contributions in connection with new faculty housing, now under construction: the new dormitories, on which work will begin this summer; and the Hopkins Center, for which the committee did a complete re-study leading to the new concept of a focal building for both social activities and the creative arts.

In' connection with the most pressing plant problem, that of overcrowding in the dormitories, Mr. Meek discussed the new residence units to be built on the old Clark School playing field, and reviewed their concept, as described in last month's issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE, and their design, approved by the Trustees as best carrying out the educational and social purposes of the new units.

Concerning the Hopkins Center, Mr. Meek told the Council that so far only preliminary drawings have been sketched and that many detailed problems remain for Wallace K. Harrison, the architect, and for the special planning committee headed by Nelson A. Rockefeller '30. All those working on the Hopkins Center appreciate, he said, that it will be necessary to design a structure that will not detract in any way either from Dartmouth Row or Baker Library. Once the design is finally known, after thorough study, details of the building will be made known to the alumni body. The executive committee of the Alumni Council has agreed to the responsibility of keeping informed on building matters.

National Enrollment Program

Mr. McKinlay, who has been chairman of the National Enrollment Committee since its beginning and who on June 30 ended his term as an Alumni Councilor, stated that during the initial period of the Committee's existence effort had gone primarily to catching up with other institutions and that the time has now come to take stock of the nationaf program. He reported that the program, being carried forward in 73 districts throughout the country, is beginning to show its effectiveness, not exclusively in enrollment activity but in all areas of alumni responsibility.

Mr. McKinlay said that two years ago there were ten states without undergraduates at Dartmouth and that this year there were only three. He made special mention of the fact that in the next freshman class there will be fourteen men from Montana, ten of them on financial aid. He paid tribute to the work done this year by Coach Bob Blackman and his assistants, who have interested, among others, eighteen valedictorians.

Mr. McKinlay cited statistics and cases to show that there are many highly qualified young men who do not go to college, or think seriously about college, and this he declared to be a vast undeveloped area for enrollment activity. He also said that admissions work is entering a new era, due to the population bulge and to new and effective systems of testing which permit accurate evaluation of a student's potential and capability of doing college work.

In closing, Mr. McKinlay recalled the comments of Dr. Alan Gregg about young men of real potential who are "late bloomers" and who in the long run reach greater heights than their contemporaries who may arrive at college age with more brilliant records. The true evaluation of these men of intrinsic ability and quality is a special responsibility of all in enrollment work, he said.

Mr. McKinlay's successor as chairman of the National Enrollment Committee is Louis V. Wilcox '23 of Westfield, N. J., who also heads the Alumni Council Committee on Enrollment and Admissions. Other committee chairmen for the coming year are; Alumni Fund, William G. Morton '28, Syracuse, N. Y.; Alumni Club Activities, John B. Faegre '33, Minneapolis; Bequest and Estate Planning, Ellsworth B. Buck '14, New York City; Class Gifts to the College, Edwin C. Chinlund '29, Pittsburgh; Class Organization, Richard M. Pearson '20, New York City; Vocational, Norris E. Williamson '26, Denver; Public Relations, Charles G. Bolté '41, New York City; and Nominating Committee, E. Spencer Miller '31.

Members of the Alumni Council who were in Hanover for the meetings were:

Charles H. Kent '10, Holyoke, Mass.; Ellsworth B. Buck '14, New York City; Clarence V. Opper '18, Washington, D. C.; Charles T. Garnsey '20, Miami; Richard M. Pearson '20, New York City; Guy P. Wallick '21, San Francisco; Roger C. Wilde '21, Chicago; Leon L. Freeman '23, Racine, Wis.; Julius A. Rippel '23, Newark; Louis V. Wilcox '23, Westfield, N. J.; Charles M. French '24, Cleveland; Leon I. Rothschild '24, Los Angeles; Sidney C. Hayward '26, Hanover; Norris E. Williamson '26, Denver; Carleton G. Broer '27, Toledo; William B. Head '27, Houston; Howard J. Mullin '27, New York City; Robert M. Edgar '28, Boston; Creighton C. Hart '28, Kansas City, Mo.; William C. Morton '28, Syracuse; Herbert R. Sensenig '28, Hanover; Edwin C. Chinlund '29, Pittsburgh; Lee A. Chilcote '30, Cleveland; George C. Nickum '31, Seattle; Robert S. Oelman '31, Dayton; William G. Bates '33, Hartford; John B. Faegre, Jr. '33, Minneapolis; Orvil E. Dryfoos '34, New York City; James K. Tindle '36, Philadelphia; Donald C. McKinlay '37, Denver; Donald G. Rainie '40, Concord, N. H.; Charles G. Bolte '41, New York City; Alfred W. Gordon, Jr. '41, Omaha.

George C. Nickum '31, new Council president, photographed at last month's meeting.

Roger C. Wilde '21 (left), outgoing president of the Council, about to go out on the broad reaches of the Connecticut to start a crew race. With him is Guy Wallick '21, Alumni Council member from San Francisco.

Howland H. Sargeant '32