A Galloping Goal for the Fund's Golden Year
IN keeping with the plan of having the Board of Trustees and the Dartmouth Alumni Council meet jointly every other year, a combined gathering was held in Hanover for three days last month, January 16-18. Thirteen members of the Board and 41 members of the Council took part in the sessions, which were attended also by more than twenty former Alumni Council members, to whom the meetings of the Council are always open.
The topics on the agenda had their usual range from A (admissions) to Z (zeal), but the 50th anniversary year of the Dartmouth Alumni Fund provided the main topic on which attention was focused, and the biennial joint dinner of the Trustees and Council members was expanded into a Golden Anniversary Dinner recognizing the Fund's special birthday. Some thirty Alumni Fund head agents, from the Classes of 1898 through 1958, came to Hanover for the Friday night dinner and for an all-day clinic on Saturday,. devoted to advance work for the 1964 Alumni Fund campaign which begins on April 1.
At the dinner, held in Alumni Hall in the Hopkins Center and attended by more than 300 persons, Charles F. Mocre Jr. '25, the 1964 Fund chairman, announced that the Alumni Council had approved his committee's recommendation of a $1,500,000 goal for the Fund's 50th anniversary campaign. Last year, under Mr. Moore's chairmanship, the Dartmouth Fund reached a record high of $1,378,947.
Mr. Moore expressed confidence that the special incentive of the 50th anniversary year would combine with the Fund's recent steady growth to send the 1964 Fund beyond the goal established by the Council. Contributing to the confidence and enthusiasm of everyone connected with the Fund was the news, announced by Mr. Moore, that advance gifts and pledges totaling $420,000 had already been made by 2100 persons. These figures were approximately $138,000 and 1000 donors ahead of the pre-campaign totals at the same time last year.
A printed dinner program contained messages of congratulations and good wishes from Verne A. Stadtman of the University of California, president of the American Alumni Council, and from President Nathan M. Pusey of Harvard, President Robert F. Goheen of Princeton, and President Kingman Brewster Jr. of Yale. All four saluted the remarkable 50-year achievement of the Dartmouth Alumni Fund and praised it, in Mr. Stadtman's words, as "a challenging example of educated men at work on behalf of American higher education."
Speakers at the Fund's anniversary dinner included N. Page Worthington '33, Alumni Council president, who was the presiding officer; President Dickey; Mr. Moore; Harvey P. Hood '18 and John W. Hubbell '21, former Alumni Fund chairmen; and Scott H. Creelman '63, captain of last fall's football team. Mr. Hood and Mr. Hubbell spoke on behalf of the six former Alumni Fund chairmen who were present: Donald F. Sawyer '21, Roger W. Wilde '21, John D. Dodd '22, Charles J. Zimmerman '23, and themselves.
President Dickey in his remarks at the dinner paid tribute to the former chairmen and secretaries of the Fund as the personification of dedicated service to Dartmouth. "The Alumni Fund," he also said, "is that tangible opportunity for every Dartmouth man to testify that what he experienced at Dartmouth was valuable and is worth making available to others." The President added that he is often asked to state what the Alumni Fund means to Dartmouth, and that the best and truest answer he can give is: "The Alumni Fund is literally everything to Dartmouth."
Mr. Moore concluded his remarks by announcing that the Alumni Fund Committee, in token of the 50th anniversary year, wanted to recognize in some tangible way the loyal support of Dartmouth fflen who are regular contributors to the Fund, and that it had therefore decided t0 found the "Ancient and Honorable Society of Latter Day Letter Men of Dartmouth College." A certificate bearing a small "D" in green felt will be awarded to all Dartmouth men who have made ten or more annual, or fifteen or more non-consecutive, contributions to the Alumni Fund. Some 14,000 certificates will be awarded just before the opening of the 1964 campaign on April 1.
The first two certificates were presented by Mr. Moore to President Dickey and to President-Emeritus Ernest Martin Hopkins, who sat at the head table and received many tributes as one of the founders of the Alumni Fund and as the President of Dartmouth during whose administration, 1916 to 1945, the Alumni Fund became firmly established in its place of incomparable importance in the life and progress of the College.
Recognition of outstanding service to Dartmouth College took another form at the dinner with the bestowal of Dartmouth Alumni Awards on two former members of the Dartmouth Alumni Council who were present for the joint Trustee-Council meeting. The men honored were Ellwood H. Fisher '21 of Cleveland and Carleton G. Broer '27 of Toledo, Ohio. Each received a small replica of the silver Wentworth Bowl and a framed citation that was read by Mr. Worthington, Council president. The texts of the citations for Mr. Fisher and Mr. Broer will be found with their respective class columns in this issue.
Although the 50th Anniversary Alumni Fund Dinner was the highlight of the three-day program, the Trustees and Council members were fully occupied with other sessions during their combined gathering. After a reception at the home of President and Mrs. Dickey and an informal dinner at the Inn on Thursday, the evening was devoted to meetings for the Council's committees on admissions and enrollment, public relations, the Alumni Fund, and regional organization.
Friday morning the Trustees and Alumni Council met together in the Kellogg Medical Auditorium and heard from Mr. Moore; Trustee Dudley W. Orr '29 on Trustees Planning Committee activity; and Trustee Charles J. Zimmerman '23 on the work of the Committee on Alumni and Public Affairs, now engaged in studies in this area.
President Dickey attended the Friday morning session and instead of giving a prepared talk answered questions about next summer's Project ABC for underprivileged boys; the three-term, three—course plan (it is working well and has many advantages); athletic team success (it runs in cycles); profitable use of student time (competition these days takes care of it); the Summer Term (higher enrollment is needed and is expected this year); Hopkins Center (it is operating far beyond expectations); and Tuck School admission (a greater number of A.B. degree holders do enter the first year but it is still possible for Dartmouth undergraduates to enter in senior year).
Separate meetings were held again on Saturday morning. At the Council session in the Drake Room, members heard about next summer's Alumni College, and then the first Orvil E. Dryfoos Professor of Public Affairs, Dr. Gene M. Lyons, led a discussion of Dartmouth's program in the area of public affairs. Three undergraduates who had been Public Service Interns in Washington and at the United Nations last summer also spoke. This led to such a lively discussion that it had to be continued after the formal adjournment of the Council's 107 th meeting.
The Council will next meet in Hanover on June 17-19.
Recipients of Dartmouth Alumni Awards at the January 18 dinner of Trustees andCouncil members in Hanover were Ellwood H. Fisher '21 (left) and Carleton G.Broer '27 (right), shown with Alumni Council President N. Page Worthington '33.
Latter Day Letter Men: President Emeritus Hopkins and. President Dickey, firstwinners of new Fund D's, with Fund Chairman Charles F. Moore Jr. 25 (center).
Two former Alumni Fund chairmen who spoke at the 50th anniversary dinner inHopkins Center were John W. Hubbell '21 (left) and Trustee Harvey P. Hood 18.
