THE ALUMNI CIRCUIT

It was about thirty years ago, I guess, that I started making fairly regular appearances as an emissary from Hanover - Town and Gown — at gatherings of loyal Dartmouth men hungry for a word from home. And for better or for worse my technique of approach and presentation through the years has carried over some of the lessons I learned in those early days from that master of the alumni circuit, Dean Craven Laycock '96.

I shall never forget my first assignment to what Craven assured me was one of his favorite clubs - the - Dartmouth Club of Hartford, Conn. I arrived on the afternoon train and was met at the station by a delegation of three or four, and without further ado, and hardly with time to wash my hands, I started on a round of cocktail parties beginning at the home of Dr. Bernard "Red" Spillane '13 about 5 and ending at the Hartford Country Club about 7. There a goodly crowd had gathered and we found the board heavily laden with good things. We ate and sang; toasted everybody from "Hoppy" down and Nat Woodward up, with Craven high on the list; and then ate and sang some more.

Then I gave the word. I recall only that I spoke about what was happening in Hanover and the College from carefully prepared notes, seasoning my talk as Craven had suggested with witty allusions and North Country humor. Then followed comments and questions and a few vigorous debates. Even in those far-off days, I recall, there was some griping about a few "top" boys from the Hartford area who had been refused admission to Alma Mater. Along about midnight a hard core of ten or twelve brethren adjourned to the residence of Charlie Rice '23 where I was to be entertained. Festivities continued until about 2 o'clock when the visiting delegate insisted on retiring and climbed the stairs to a raucous burst of Wah-Hoo-Wahs. Making the 9:00 train to New York the next morning was not an easy assignment for my host or for me, but we made it, and I went on, as I recall, to a gathering in northern New Jersey. This account may not be entirely representative — even for those days - but some who have been through the alumni wringer will certainly recognize familiar landmarks! I soon learned to express appreciation for invitations to homes but to insist on hotel accommodations.

By recent count I find that I have appeared at about 55 different Dartmouth alumni clubs. There are at present over 100 such in the United States, not to mention nine or ten on foreign soil; so I have a long way to go, but at least I have a comfortable start. Clubs I have visited range from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon, from New Orleans and Chicago and Houston to Miami and Cleveland and San Francisco, with special emphasis, of course, upon the East. Although Dartmouth men are notoriously loyal to the College, wherever they are, the warmth of reception of a spokesman from Hanover tends to vary directly with the distance from home. The far-away boys are the most eager for both institutional and personal news of the changing scene, and stirring up the fires of memory is one of the deep satisfactions derived from such a visit.

Times change, of course, and the character of alumni meetings changes with them. One noticeable innovation is the

increasing practice of inviting women to join the group. In the old days stag parties were the rule, but now wives and

prospective wives and sometimes even remotely potential wives are included. This makes for larger gatherings and, interestingly enough, the number is increased not only by the ladies but oftentimes by an increased number of men who find it easier in our present social pattern to get there if they can invite the gal. This change helps to account for another one - a noticeable decrease in the consumption of stimulating beverages. This from the speaker's point of view, not to mention other aspects, is all to the good. Sometimes, on the other hand, these changes have made the meetings more formal and have shortened or eliminated the question and discussion period which could at times be the most pleasant and profitable part of the whole affair.

Many clubs are trying once a year to have a meeting including undergraduates, and there is an increasing tendency to recognize local boys who have recently gained admission to Dartmouth, along with their Dads, and thus to make an early effort to plant the good seed of the Dartmouth spirit.

An alumni trip, which covers any distance at all and includes more than a single meeting is definitely a tough workout and yet, when asked if it isn't fun, I for one have always replied, "It sure is!" But it is a workout. It requires a stout constitution, a strong stomach, and an almost infinite capacity for staying awake and alert and smilingly pleasant even when sometimes the body may be very tired and the spirits dulled. For the brethren in Buffalo or Chicago, Denver or Dallas, it is a one-night affair, and naturally they want to make the most of it, but for the representative of the College it is usually one of several ports of call.

Then there is the sobering fact that the faculty man must never forget that any particular club has probably asked first for the President, and finding that it is physically impossible for him to be everywhere at once, they make the questionable suggestion of "no one lower than a Dean." Then at long last they settle for a member of the faculty. But the professor can take comfort in knowing that many alumni do not like the sudden weaning from faculty pap and what is often the abrupt alumni shift to a steady diet of high-powered administrative pabulum, and he can usually anticipate a reasonably warm welcome.

It should be obvious by now that such trips are for the Hanover representative not all moonlight and roses, and it may be well that the alumni be reminded of a few of the types who are apt to be a bother. The alumnus who has over-indulged is one and I am sure this needs no elaboration, though one such is likely to show in about every third or fourth club. Then there is the griper who has some pet peeve about Dartmouth and who worries it as a dog worries a bone. There also is the fellow who forgets there are others present and who tries to corner you to the exclusion of any general conversation or circulation. There are usually a few who want to go into endless detail about some admissions problem and a few others who want to raise equally endless questions about student conduct and behavior.

A certain amount of this sort of thing is natural and reasonable and the ambassador from Hanover must remember the therapeutic value of a chance to sound off. It is only when it really interferes with others that it irritates. For the most part, meeting former students and greeting old friends and college mates is great fun, and heartening too, as one senses the deep and generous college loyalty in so large a percentage of Dartmouth men.

Alumni meetings play an important role in strengthening and perpetuating this thing we call the Dartmouth Spirit and there is no question but that the spokesman from Hanover, if he will, can focus alumni attention once again on old Hanover days, recalling, in Hovey's words, "Thornton and Wentworth and Reed and the century-hallowed stairways of Dartmouth, the old rooms where we laughed and strove and sang." From that base the spokesman can move on to the accomplishments and the challenge of the New Dartmouth, "still young in heart and ineffaceable in beauty."

Long life to these gatherings - centers of good cheer and good fellowship, a continuing source of strong support to the Old College, and for this traveler at least, hard work but good fun.

Two Hanover gentlemen responsible foralumni-circuit affairs are Sidney C. Hayward '26 and J. Michael McGean '49.