John D. Rockefeller Jr. Gives $1,000,000 To Fund for Building the Hopkins Center

A GIFT of 51.000,000 from John D. Rockefeller Jr. of New York toward the construction of the Hopkins Center was announced by President Dickey at the 102nd annual meeting of the General Alumni Association on June 16. The roundly applauded news was one of the high spots of the final reunion weekend.

Mr. Rockefeller's gift is offered as a pledge requiring matching gifts from other sources within the next two years, payments on the pledge to be made as matching gifts are received.

The gift was made in tribute to President Emeritus Ernest Martin Hopkins. In his letter informing President Dickey of the gift, Mr. Rockefeller wrote:

DEAR DR. DICKEY

In view of the fact that my father estab- lished the General Education Board many years ago and made substantial gifts to it throughout the years, I have felt that the family interest in the field of education had perhaps been adequately evidenced. My personal giving has, therefore, been largely in other areas. There have been a few exceptions, however, made in certain instances. Dartmouth's plan to erect a Memorial Building and Center as a tribute to Dr. Hopkins is another such instance.

For many years Dr. Hopkins has been my warm and highly valued friend. I greatly adirure him and have the deepest appreciation of the outstanding contribution he has made in the educational field. It gives me peculiar pleasure, therefore, to pledge toward the Memorial Center securities having an approximate value of $1,000,000. The terms of the pledge are set forth in the accompanying letter.

This gift brings with it my best wishes for Dartmouth's future and my congratulations on all that you have accomplished since you became its president. Dr. Hopkins' deep satisfaction in having you as his .successor, I can well understand, knowing with what interest the many friends of Dartmouth (in which number I am glad to be included) have been following your leadership from the sidelines.

In announcing the gift President Dickey stated that plans are actively under way to secure the necessary matching funds. "Mr. Rockefeller's great gift brings the financing of the new Hopkins Center project within reach. It also gives encouragement to the College in pressing forward its efforts to develop a flow of capital funds sufficient to meet Dartmouth's planning objectives between now and Dartmouth's Bicentennial in 1969. The aim of these plans is to have the College enter its third century in a position of preeminent effectiveness."

The Hopkins Center Fund to which Mr. Rockefeller's gift will be added on a matching basis has been accumulating since shortly after the end of World War 11. In the Treasurer's report to the Trustees for the fiscal year 1954-55* the fund stood at $1,672,257 on June 30, 1955, and it has grown closer to the $2,000,000 mark during the past year.

Mr. Rockefeller's pledge is the second large gift he has made to Dartmouth in token of his high regard for President Emeritus Hopkins. In the fall of 1950 he gave the College $250,000 to endow scholarships bearing Mr. Hopkins' name, and the Trustees voted to devote the gift to endowment of the Ernest Martin Hopkins War Memorial Scholarships for the sons of Dartmouth men who gave their lives in World War 11.

In his letter to the Trustees at that time, Mr. Rockefeller wrote: "Many years ago when my son Nelson was a student at Dartmouth, at the request of Dr. Hopkins, who was then President of the College, I spoke to the alumni at Commencement time. I availed of the occasion to say that if I were a young man trying to decide where I would go to college, I would find out of what college Dr. Hopkins was president and go there, so high was my regard for him."

Mr. Rockefeller's son, Nelson A. Rockefeller 'go, has for six months been serving as chairman of a building committee that has been working with the architect upon plans for the Hopkins Center. The Center will be constructed on a site facing Dartmouth's central campus. It will include among its facilities an instructional auditorium for 900; a theatre to seat 450 persons; art galleries; exhibition areas; studios and workshops for the creative arts of painting, sculpture, print making, music, the craft arts and the theatre; and extensive social facilities for students, faculty, alumni and parents.

Preliminary studies for the structure have been made by Wallace K. Harrison, noted American architect.

The planning of the new Center will capitalize on its location at a crossroads of the Dartmouth campus. Primary objectives of the preliminary planning are to create a structure that will focus its outlook on the beauty and activity of the central campus, will promote the related educational and social purposes of the Center, and through an emphasis on spaciousness and harmonious treatment add fresh vitality and enduring distinction to the physical plant of the College.

Preliminary studies for the Hopkins Center were developed during 1955 by an Advisory Committee on Plant Planning, under the chairmanship of Prof. John P. Amsden '20, working in cooperation with Nelson W. Aldrich of Boston, consulting architect of the College. The advisory committee proposed a social-creative arts center. First announcement of the concept for the new Hopkins Center was made last February.

Members of the Building Committee, in addition to Nelson Rockefeller, are: Mrs. John R. Potter ('38), daughter of President Emeritus Hopkins; John F. Meek '33, Vice President and Treasurer of the College; Paul Sample '20, artist in residence; Donald H. Morrison, Provost; Arthur H. kiendl Jr. '44, Associate Dean of the College; Churchill P. Lathrop, Professor of Art; Warner Bentley, director of dramatic production; Victor G. Borella '30, chairman of the Board of Overseers of the Hanover Inn; and Richard W. Olmsted '33, business manager for plant and operations. Thomas E. O'Connell '50, executive assistant to President Dickey, is committee secretary.

President Emeritus Ernest Martin Hopkins '01 enjoying his 55th reunion.