The "Alumni Movement"

The following brief summary of thegrowth of the Dartmouth alumnimovement is taken from the Committee's study of alumni history and objectives.

Without going into all the causes and reasons that lie behind the history of the alumni movement at Dartmouth, the fact stands out that Dartmouth men have had an insistent interest in and an intense desire to be a part of the on-going work of the College. The present Association of Dartmouth Alumni, formed in 1854, was the outcome of this insistent alumni interest or "pressure" and is the earliest formal recognition of the alumni influence. Something more than a decade after the formation of the association, alumni representation on the Board of Trustees was urged, but was not to be adopted until 1891 - some two-score years later. The next twenty years mark a period of accelerated alumni activity: alumni control of athletics came in 1892; the holding of the first "Dartmouth Night" in 1895 with its tribute to alumni solidarity; the spontaneous response of alumni to rebuild Dartmouth Hall and build Webster Hall in 1904; the formation of the Dartmouth Secretaries Association in 1905; the starting of the Tucker Alumni Scholarship and Instruction Fund in 1907; and the alumni fundraising for construction of the Gymnasium in 1909.

The formation of the Council of Alumni of Dartmouth College in 1913 is usually thought of as the beginning of the modern alumni movement, wherein definite and important responsibilities were delegated to and capably discharged by this self-perpetuating, representative body of alumni: "to act as a clearing house for alumni sentiment and the interchange of alumni ideas; to act as official spokesman of alumni sentiment to the administration and as the avenue of approach by which the administration should have access to alumni collectively."

While starting out as a small body, the Alumni Council presently consists of forty members, covering all areas of the country, and includes representation for the faculty, club secretaries, class agents, treasurers and secretaries, the General Association of Alumni and the Athletic Council, with standing committees on all phases of alumni activity.

In addition to the Alumni Council, alumni actively participate in the work of the College by voluntary service on the Board of Trustees, Boards of Overseers of the Associated Schools and the Hanover Inn, and various standing committees, such as the Development Council, College Committee on Public Relations, etc. Including those serving in various capacities in the Class and Regional Associations, National Enrollment Committee, and other sundry special agencies and adhoc committees, makes an imposing array of organized alumni effort. In its entirety, hundreds of alumni are currently involved in a multitude of time-consuming and rather exacting duties out of a sense of responsibility for service to the College. It is found that alumni serve in 33 College agencies through which some 4,000 alumni are actively engaged in the work of the College.