THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS

Dartmouth's Alumni Council, for solid achievement, responsible direction of alumni affairs, and constant concern for the College's welfare, rates a golden anniversary Wah Hoo Wah

SECRETARY OF THE COLLEGE and SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL

FOREWORD

Ten years after his retirement President-Emeritus Hopkins gave the Dartmouth Alumni Council this credo: "I could never figure out to what purpose the College existed if it wasn't for the production of alumni. I still hold to that conviction and I am conscious that in my commitment to that belief lies not only the motivation which led to the organization of this Council but to the policies which later dictated my administration as President. In my opinion the onus is upon a college in very considerable degree if not entirely for the kind of alumni body it has."

The kind of alumni body it does have is one of Dartmouth's unique strengths and proudest achievements, widely recognized in the educational world and beyond. Devotion to the College - to its historical purposes, its educational quality and leadership, its Hanover location and spirit - has led countless Dartmouth men over the years to serve it with distinction and with great benefit to its welfare.

Holding a very special place among all these devoted alumni are the 414 Dartmouth men who have been members of the Dartmouth Alumni Council or are now so serving. The Council this year marks the 50th anniversary of its founding, a milestone in Dartmouth alumni affairs that makes it appropriate in this issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE to present a short account of the Council's history, purposes, achievements, and present organization.

The Alumni Council not only represents all Dartmouth men but in a real sense epitomizes as it leads and directs their remarkable participation in College affairs. Tribute to the Council on its 50th anniversary is tribute also to hundreds upon hundreds of alumni who have worked with Council members and made this success story possible.

THE FIRST GRADUATING CLASS of 1771 produced four alumni to represent Dartmouth College beyond the wilderness setting in New Hampshire. During its first century Dartmouth was served by individuals who made the long journey north to meet with the Board of Trustees, to participate in Commencement oratory, and attend class reunions. The famous defense of the College before the Supreme Court, in the Dartmouth College Case, was a contribution by Daniel Webster, Class of 1801.

Organization began when the General Association of Alumni was founded in 1854 as the parent for all activity. The Boston Alumni Association formed in 1864 was the first such regional group among all the colleges.

The General Association gave voice to the deep interest of alumni in the College and their desire to advance its welfare by playing a part in its government and affairs. This cohesive force finally secured recognition of the alumni by the Board of Trustees but only after a prolonged period of bickering as to whether the self-perpetuating Board should provide representation of the alumni in its membership and how this could be accomplished.

The plan now in effect, by which seven Trustees of the sixteen are selected by the alumni, was adopted in 1891 and an era of cooperative understanding and cumulative progress began between the College in Hanover and the alumni. Growth of both the intangible spirit of the alumni and their tangible participation in activities was given firm foundations through accession to the presidency of William Jewett Tucker, Class of 1861, in 1893. As a Trustee he had strongly supported the alumni movement.

All members of the Board traditionally being alumni (with the exception of the ex-officio position held by the Governor of New Hampshire), they could be considered as representing the entire body of former students. However, the Dartmouth plan for a direct alumni voice in the selection of some members of the Board was far-seeing and radical in its day. Through a gentleman's agreement the nominee of the alumni is confirmed by the Board. Since 1915 this function of nomination, earlier effected by mail ballot, has been the responsibility of the Alumni Council.

AN ACCELERATING MOVEMENT

A further and major step was taken by President Tucker in collaboration with the first Secretary of the College, Ernest Martin Hopkins of the Class of 1901, when the secretaries of Dartmouth classes were invited in 1905 to return to the campus for the purpose of forming an organization of these key class officers. A first action of the Secretaries Association established the DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE of which it continues to be the publisher. Subsequently the secretaries of regional alumni clubs joined class secretaries at annual meetings in Hanover. More recently groups of other class officers have formed their own associations and joined the secretaries at the May weekend meetings—including class agents of the Alumni Fund, class treasurers, class chairmen of the Bequest and Estate Planning Program, class chairmen and presidents, chairmen of class gifts, newsletter editors, and reunion chairmen.

In 1957 an Association of Alumni Club Officers was formed so that presidents and secretaries of alumni clubs could also meet annually in Hanover. Regional organizations, attesting to their importance in the College's alumni affairs, have grown from the 1864 pioneering group in Boston to the 134 alumni clubs now existing throughout this country and overseas.

THE CASE FOR LEADERSHIP

During this period, from 1905 to the present, and including the long span of Alumni Council history since 1913, Dartmouth has fortunately not lacked devoted and distinguished leadership for its alumni program both in and out of Hanover. Dr. Tucker's wholehearted convictions on the importance of nourishing the interest and encouraging the services of men who attended the College have been fully shared by those who followed him in the Wheelock Succession.

Throughout his life from graduation in 1901 to retirement as President-Emeritus in 1945, Mr. Hopkins recognized the necessity of constantly strengthening relationships of the alumni with the College, and of the College with the alumni. His addresses throughout the country achieved this goal - not only to the benefit of their College to which they freely gave service and support, but to the enrichment of the lives of alumni who found that their undergraduate years were just the beginning of an enduring, lifelong association with the institution and its great cause.

President John Sloan Dickey '29 has given himself unreservedly, and in the midst of increased operating complexities and demanding requirements of his position, to the further strengthening and integration of the alumni body with faculty and undergraduates as three major components of the College. To keep pace with the growing numbers of alumni, and to provide assistance for their activities, more staff and facilities are provided in Hanover.

ALUMNI COUNCIL ORGANIZED

The Alumni Council came into being at a meeting in Philadelphia November 7, 1913. This step to provide operation and coordination of existing activities, and of other plans yet to come, was taken after full deliberation over a period of time. The alumni felt a need for some representative group to guide and direct Dartmouth alumni affairs, and to serve as liaison with the College.

The General Association of Alumni starting in 1854 functioned along the lines of an annual town meeting in June. In 1905 the Secretaries Association began to develop class and alumni club organization and achievement which are at the heart of a successful alumni program. But these groups recognized their limitations and supported the new plan to provide broad class and geographical representation in a smaller group of alumni leaders.

There resulted in 1913 organization of the Council of the Alumni, deriving constitutional powers from the General Association. The aims of the Council were stated thus:

The purpose of this Council shall be to give organization and aid for the highest efficiency to all efforts of the alumni of Dartmouth College for the benefit of the College; and more particularly in the following respects:

To act as a clearing house for alumni sentiment and the interchange of alumni ideas.

To approve or disapprove projects put forth in the alumni name and to be the seat of authority in all such matters.

To act as the official spokesman of alumni sentiment to the administration and as the avenue of approach by which the administration should have access to the alumni collectively.

To initiate and carry on such undertakings, or to provide for their being carried on, as are reasonably within the province of alumni activity.

Not a word of these original objectives has been altered in the subsequent half-century.

The alumnus most active in formation of the Alumni Council was Ernest M. Hopkins 'O1, who was truly its founder. After leaving the administration upon Dr. Tucker's resignation in 1909, he filled business positions until his return to Hanover as President of the College in 1916. It was during this interim that he, with the enthusiastic support of others, made clear his vision of the great good that this move would accomplish for the College.

Demonstrating as he did on other occasions his deep and continuing interest in alumni affairs, and his farsighted wisdom on these matters, Dr. Tucker wrote from retirement to the founding meeting in Philadelphia. He expressed confidence that the stated purposes of the Alumni Council represented very real and important requirements in the development of more participation by alumni in the work and affairs of the College. And he reminded the group, in the context of representation on the Board of Trustees accorded to the alumni, that: "The alumni having assumed the function of government must bear its responsibilities."

Dr. Tucker found the plan promising in all respects. In that historic communication he prophetically described the sponsorship that the Council could give in attracting a student body of highest quality, in securing much-needed financial support, in its members' keeping in touch with the educational work of the College and with plans of the administration so that the Council could truly serve as a "clearing house for alumni sentiment" on the basis of an informed membership making decisions and determining policies.

ORIGINAL MEMBERSHIP

Although subsequently enlarged to fifty in order to provide broader representation, and adequately to handle, its duties, the Alumni Council first consisted of 25 members. Since these are the founding fathers, the original membership and the constituencies represented are recorded here: New England States: Fred A. Howland '87, Montpelier, Vt.; Webster Thayer 'BO, Worcester, Mass.; J. Frank Drake '02, Springfield, Mass.

Middle and Southern States: Luther B. Little '82, New York City; Clarke W. Tobin '10, New York City; Henry P. Blair '89, Washington, D. C.

Central States: Walter E. McCornack '97, Chicago, Ill.; William T. Abbott '90, Evanston, Ill.; Willard G. Aborn '93, Cleveland, Ohio.

Western States: Henry L. Moore '77, Minneapolis, Minn.; Charles W. Pollard '95, Omaha, Neb.; Edgar A. DeWitt '82, Dallas, Texas.

Rocky Mountain and Pacific States: Richard C. Campbell '86, Denver, Colo.; Paul G. Redington '00, North Fork, Calif.; Selden C. Smith '97, San Francisco, Calif.

For the Faculty: Professor Charles D. Adams '77, Hanover, N. H.

Representing Class Secretaries: Ernest Martin Hopkins '01, Boston, Mass.; John R. McLane '07, Milford, N. H.; Morton C. Tuttle '97, Boston, Mass.

Members by Virtue of Official Relation to the Alumni: Horace G. Pender '97, Boston, Mass. (Chairman, Executive Committee of the General Association of Alumni); Homer Eaton Keyes 'OO, Hanover, N. H. (Secretary, General Association of Alumni); Irving J. French '01, Boston, Mass. (Senior alumni member of the Athletic Council).

Members-at-Large: James P. Richardson '99, Boston, Mass.; Arthur L. Livermore '88, New York City; Clarence B. Little '81, Bismarck, N. D.

The first officers of the Council were: Ernest M. Hopkins '01, president; Henry P. Blair '89, vice president; Homer E. Keyes '00, secretary-treasurer.

EARLIEST FUNCTIONS

With the immediate naming of committees, the Council started operating in several major areas: a committee to work on enrollment and admissions ("Committee on Preparatory Schools"), an assignment to organize the Alumni Fund on the Tucker Foundation (which had a modest forerunner in the Tucker Scholarship Fund), and other committees to work on undergraduate affairs, to consider projects advanced in the name of the alumni, and to promote Dartmouth publicity.

Having been requested by the General Association to take over the nomination of Trustees in behalf of the alumni body, the Council in 1915 assumed this additional and important duty. A constitutional provision requires publicizing the name of the Council's nominee to the entire alumni bodyin advance of election by the Board itself. A mail ballot of alumni will be held if 100 alumni petition for another nomination - a procedure which has never occurred, nor has the Board failed to elect the alumnus proposed by the Council for a vacancy.

In the process of organizing the Alumni Council some apprehensions were expressed that its accomplishments would not measure up to the high hopes that went into its foundation. What would the Council's achievements really be in the face of no clearly defined program? Those fears have not materialized. From the outset the Council found important work to do and as now constituted - having been eager to adapt its membership and functions to increasing requirements — it handles varied and important duties which form valued parts of the whole College. Its field of usefulness is constantly expanding.

ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

In view of the fact that the minutes of Council meetings fill 1332 pages of five large notebooks, with vastly more supporting data, it is hardly feasible here to record in detail the achievements of the Council during five decades of service. Some of its major functions have continued unbroken through the years. Other duties have been less permanent and once a special committee has completed an assignment there have always been more than enough new projects requiring the Council's attention.

Perusal of the records and personal participation in the group's work provide conviction that the Alumni Council is not interested in passing the buck. When faced with handling a project, or with initiating and completing a study on a matter of importance to the College, the Council has found its members wholly responsible and persistent in their efforts to arrive at the best possible plans and procedures.

Two permanent projects began with the first meeting in 1913. Because there is no automatic flow of quality material into the student body the Council has discussed at all its meetings, now more than 100 in total number, the vitally important matter of interesting outstanding schoolboys in Dartmouth. From early explorations of its Committee on Preparatory Schools the Council's activity moved into the alumni interviewing of applicants for admission which began with the Selective Process in 1922. This was the first of such systems of alumni aid in admissions that are now common among the colleges. More recently the Committee on Enrollment and Admissions has organized nationally, with increased effectiveness for this area of alumni activity. The interest and work of the Council never diminished, but increased, through the years to insure a student body of highest caliber.

Likewise with the Alumni Fund whose modest beginnings Dr. Tucker predicted would eventually reach $25,000, but which, he continued prophetically, "may in subsequent years attain to very large proportions, proportions which may now seem to be purely speculative." How right he was!

The growth of the Fund, operated as it is by a committee of the Council working with a host of class agents, has provided spectacular evidence of the soundness with which Council leaders planned and developed this indispensable asset of the College. In 1963 gifts to the Alumni Fund totaled $1,378,947 from 20,972 contributors. The annual Fund collected $6,500 in its first year, 1915; achieved its first big $100,000 goal in 1926; reached $500,000 for the first time in 1951; and hit the major milestone of a million dollars in 1961.

SOME UNRESOLVED MATTERS

Some questions remain unresolved by the Council. Many hours have been devoted to wrestling with a memorial to Eleazar Wheelock. In 1923 a special committee was appointed to study the proposal of an alumnus that a statue of the founder of the College be erected on the campus, but statues - inviting decoration by students - were wisely avoided.

When plans for new buildings were described to the Council by the President or other officers of the College, consideration for creating some other memorial to Dr. Wheelock was often suggested. In the '40s an omnibus committee representative of the Council and other groups deliberated at length, but inconclusively, on ways and means of including Eleazar in the Hopkins Center. The Council could never find the right solution to this knotty problem. Perhaps the famed song named for him, and the founding and existence of his college, are adequate tributes to the immortal Eleazar.

There has been a helpful and healthy concern by the Council for major College problems. It has consistently supported a policy of more adequate compensation for faculty and staff, more scholarships, and higher tuition rates when operating expenses have required higher fees. Not waiting for its advice to be asked, the group has urged the Administration to make progress on these financial fronts. Special committees reported the necessity for salary advances in two studies made as long ago as 1916 and 1918. Results of the Alumni Fund have been of great value in this area of College finance.

In 1916 there was appointed a "Committee to Discourage the Use of Liquor by the Alumni at Commencement." The work of this committee did not achieve complete success.

Eugene Francis Clark '01 was appointed a committee of one to investigate the condition of the Old Pine, "the Council being concerned about the gradual deterioration of its stump." In this case Secretary Clark showed his uniformly good judgment by reporting at the next meeting that "experts were being consulted and the matter had been referred to the College."

Throughout its history the Council has been able to say "no" to proposed projects that did not seem desirable. In 1922 a precedent was established by opposing free circulation of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE. In 1935 the Council's Committee on Class Organization launched a successful effort for group subscriptions paid for by all classes. If the earlier proposal had been adopted the College would have carried heavy expenses of the MAGAZINE through the years, whereas the ALUMNI MAGAZINE has remained selfsupporting and has achieved nearly 100% circulation of the alumni body through the Council's later plan and work.

That the Council did not always give a green light to alumni proposals was demonstrated again when it discussed the raising of funds for the new Alumni Gymnasium and Memorial Field. Proponents of a plan for putting donors' names on bricks in the walls of the trophy room presented a strong case but it was vetoed by the Council. This project of needed new facilities may also be cited as another case where the Council went ahead to solve a problem without asking the College or anyone else to meet the need. The necessary substantial funds were secured.

The Council has a strong tradition of standing firm against fund-raising projects not judged to be of the highest importance or that might interfere with the Alumni Fund or other approved plans.

DESIRE FOR NON-INTERFERENCE

The Alumni Council has resisted an understandable temptation, especially in the earlier years of charting its course, to get into operating matters of the College. The wonder is that much more of the Council's time and thought was not devoted to student, administration, and faculty affairs of primary concern to other groups. In 1917 the Council expressed disapproval of the continuous session required in World War I. It has become involved at times in discussing the length of Christmas and spring vacations on the College calendar, and admissions policies are frequently discussed. The Council has always been concerned about student conduct but resolutions proposing one or another restriction on the undergraduates, or investigation into their habits and social activities, have failed to receive majority support of members.

Non-interference in affairs clearly not within its jurisdiction became a settled policy of the Council. Questions were aired at meetings, and College officers became aware of alumni sentiment thereby, but the history of the Council has been free of votes and formal actions that would have put on record controversial opinions of these influential alumni who did not, however, possess legal or other authority in such matters.

Fraternities came in for much discussion through the years, especially during a period when the fraternities were criticized as not essential to the College and as not contributing toward its over-all objectives views that have ameliorated with a resurgence of greater responsibility on the part of the student social groups.

Requested to study "the fraternity question," a special committee headed by Clarence G. McDavitt '00 reported that the request of the Council on this subject "can best be carried out by pursuing a policy of inaction." He referred to discussions in progress between officers of the College and a Committee of the National Interfraternity Council, and reported that the Council committee felt "it would be highly inappropriate for us to edge into the area of discussion or to take any action whatever that might interfere or tend to interfere with the successful prosecution of such discussions."

The Council then moved and voted that the committee's report be accepted but with the request that although no future reports would be expected the study group would keep in touch with the fraternity situation and be prepared to cooperate in respect to alumni participation, should this be desired by those most concerned.

The emphasis given here to this matter of spreading itself over more territory in College affairs than might strictly involve the alumni seems justified because of fears sometimes expressed, and doubtless more often felt, that those who pay the piper may call the tune. When an institution recognizes so fully the part of the alumni in its government and activities - and these unique qualities have come to make Dartmouth recognized as an Alumni College - it is understandable that alumni interference is suspected as a problem to be coped with by the adminisration and others.

That there have been no such hazards in strong alumni organization is a tribute to the guidance given by the Alumni Council to developing sound policies. History does not provide basis for serious concern on this point.

To the contrary, the great advantages of enthusiastic and informed alumni support are clear. Both in respect to tangible and intangible support given to its work, and the desire of alumni to develop and keep open the lines of a strong two-way relationship with the College, the Dart- mouth climate has been good, and continues so now and into the future.

GOAL OF CONTINUING PROGRESS

If the College in Hanover was ever superior to all other institutions in respect to alumni organization and achievement, this has largely disappeared in the vastly increased emphasis on alumni affairs by all the other colleges with which Dartmouth is associated. There is no room for a smug attitude about having the best alumni organization.

It remains true that Dartmouth is still unsurpassed in the spirit of the men who serve the College in and out of Hanover. It is the function of the Alumni Council to continue, as in its distinguished past, to provide the leaders and the program to achieve progress in the future.

SPECIAL COMMITTEE STUDIES

A few examples of the many important ad hoc committee studies undertaken on a variety of matters follow:

A committee study to determine policy on alumni affiliation of World War II Navy students resulted in some number of these special students being absorbed as nongraduate alumni members of the war classes.

In 1946 the Council undertook a thorough survey of all Dartmouth fund-raising activities. This led to the creation of the Development Program by joint action with the Trustees.

As a result of study by an ad hoc committee in 1952 a plan for making Alumni Awards to recognize distinguished careers and exceptional service to the College is now in full operation, and 72 such awards have been made in the past nine years.

A major project shared in by the Council created a study Committee on Alumni Relations (CAR) in 1956, functioning under the Trustees Planning Committee. The president of the Council nominated members of the 14-man group to TPC. Several members of the Council served in this important work including its chairman, Guy P. Wallick '21 of San Francisco. The committee undertook a full review of alumni relations with recommendations to the Trustees for strengthening the two-way relationship between the College and the alumni. The work concentrated on areas of communications, organization of the alumni, their intellectual interests, and all alumni activities. Many of the CAR recommendations have been put into effect.

MEETINGS OF THE COUNCIL

Except at intervals for purposes of meeting in cities on the eastern seaboard, or Middle West, the Council has met in Hanover. At the cost of more travel time and personal expense, Councilors have preferred to return to Hanover and the College environment for their semi-annual programs - which have grown from one day to a full two-day schedule in addition to committee meetings.

MEMBERSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Desirable qualifications for membership on the Councilhave been summarized as follows:

1. The Alumni Council is the "Senate" of the Dartmouth alumni body. Men of outstanding achievement and top caliber should be selected. Keen and active interest in Dartmouth, proven and demonstrated over a period of years, should be a requirement. Distinction in business or professional life is essential.

2. Attendance at semi-annual meetings is of the greatest importance. Prospective members should agree to attend all meetings. (Members from a great distance may not be able to be present every time but should aim to do so.)

3. The Council should at all times have some older alumni among members; but emphasis should be upon electing younger men when they measure up to other qualifications.

4. Although membership on the Dartmouth Council is an honor, it involves prompt and effective handling of committee duties, attendance at meetings, and readiness to serve the College in the local area. Membership is not an honor without obligations.

5. When a vacancy occurs on the Board of Trustees of the College an extensive search is made for the best qualified alumni to fill the position. In a similar way, vacancies on the Alumni Council should be filled on the basis of nominating the very best of Dartmouth citizens who will add strength to the important work of the Council.

There are now fifty members of the Alumni Council serving in various capacities.

Five regional areas of the country each elect three members and two regions each elect four - a total of 23 district delegates.

The Council itself elects fourteen members-at-large.

One member is elected by the faculty.

One member is chosen by each of the following groups: class chairmen, class secretaries, Alumni Fund class agents, class treasurers, newsletter editors, bequest chairmen.

Alumni club officers elect three members.

There are three ex-officio members: the chairman of the executive committee, and the secretary, of the General Association of Alumni; and the senior alumni member of the Athletic Council.

District members may serve for not more than two consecutive terms of two years each. Members-at-large and those elected by the several associations of class and club officers serve one term of three years. Rotation of the other positions is in accordance with the custom or constitution of the group represented.

All former members are invited to attend meetings - a custom started by vote of the Council in 1918. Every meeting includes some number of former members who do not vote but who otherwise share in the program and often sit in on meetings of their former committees. They stand as a ready reserve to work on affairs of the College as needed. Former members are a special resource of experienced leaders for alumni clubs throughout the country.

OFFICERS, COMMITTEES, MEETINGS

The Council elects a president and vice president for one-year terms. The secretary has traditionally also filled the administration position of Secretary of the College. These officers along with three other Councilors comprise the executive committee.

Much of the work of the Council is accomplished through committees of which the personnel is usually made up of members of the Council. However, in some cases the particular work of a committee may indicate the desirability of including one or more non-members of the Council drawn from the alumni body, or others. In the early development of national enrollment activity, committees of twelve to fifteen alumni representing all parts of the country were named, regardless of Council membership. The chairman of Council committees is always a member.

The Alumni Council at present has nine regular committees working in varied areas of Dartmouth affairs. These committees deal with the Alumni Fund, class gifts to the College, bequests and estate planning, enrollment and admissions, public relations, placement, regional organization, nominations, and Alumni Awards. The Council sponsors the National Enrollment Committee and appoints its chairman, and Council members are actively engaged in the work of the 72 enrollment districts.

The Council customarily meets in January and June. The majority of meetings are held in Hanover and the June meeting invariably is, during the week after Commencement. On occasion the Council has held special or regular meetings away from the campus; to date these locations have been Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, and San Francisco.

A combined meeting with the Board of Trustees is held every other year, in January in Hanover.

In general the Council's work is serviced by the Secretary's Office although other staff personnel are also directly concerned, as in fund-raising where the Office of Development provides staff help, and in enrollment and admissions where the Admissions Office staff provides help.

The staff in Hanover has simply done its job of following through on all the plans and policies and projects thoroughly discussed and decided upon by the Councilors themselves. But too much modesty on the part of staff workers in the Hanover home office would fail to recognize the great role they have played in the history of the Alumni Council. One thinks back through the years to that wonderful gentleman who was secretary of the Council from 1921 to 1930 - Eugene F. Clark '01; and to the first secretary, Homer Eaton Keyes 'OO. Then to two men in the President's Office - Cotty Larmon '19 and Bob Strong '24 — who worked closely with the Council; to Al Dickerson '30, who has attended almost as many Council meetings as the present secretary; and to many others engaged in the daily work of the College.

CONCLUSION

In the foreword to this 50-year review, it was stated that the history of the Alumni Council is truly in its men - in the large chunks of their lives they have given to Dartmouth College. No matter who might undertake to give an account of the background, history, objectives, and achievements of the Council, he would need to speak in human terms of the top quality men who have been elected to the Alumni Council from all parts of the country, from all the classes - men who have been not only leaders but workers.

We do not recall any Dartmouth man asked to serve on the Council who declined. Members of the Council have a remarkable attendance record, and many of them, even from great distances, serve their terms without missing a single meeting. They make personal sacrifices of time and money to be present. And the long tradition of inviting former members to the semi-annual meetings brings back to the campus many men who thus voluntarily keep in touch with College and alumni affairs and constitute an experienced, ready reserve for Dartmouth activities across the land.

And so this historical account rightly closes, as it began, with recognition of the immeasurable devotion of Dartmouth men to their College, making possible the founding of the Dartmouth Alumni Council fifty years ago; then its half-century of leadership and hard work, with vast benefit to the welfare of the College; and now the prospect of another half-century of alumni service that is almost certain to achieve results as undreamed-of today as were today's achievements when the founding fathers gathered in Philadelphia for their first meeting back in 1913.