A Sort of Pride

This past summer Mrs. Dickey and I dealt several times in passing at the small roadside stand of a farmer previously unknown to us. We were struck by an honesty to all that stood out even in Vermont. We speculated about what it was that moved a person to such unusual lengths of fairness in dealing with strangers most of whom would never be back. We decided that whatever the origins of our farmer's fairness, it was now best explained as a sort of pride. Anything else would be letting himself down.

The more I've thought about what the Dartmouth fellowship has done in the Capital Gifts Campaign, the more I find myself coming back to those words, "a sort of pride." Whatever the origin of the way Dartmouth men feel about the College, it is now a part of their heritage that anything less than an extraordinary response to any call from the College would be letting themselves down. We can thank each other and will for sacrificial service and giving, but one does not presume to say thank you to anyone for such a fellowship; we are simply thankful and proud to be a part of it.

The Dartmouth fellowship and the Capital Gifts Campaign were the mainthemes of President Dickey's Convocation address opening the College's 191 styear on September 24. The full text of his address will be printed next month.