A New Look for Reunions

REUNION WEEK '66 had a very special quality. As in the past there were colorful hats and other distinctive class apparel, crowded tents, and ample opportunities for fellowship and conviviality, but there was also an atmosphere of concern and interest in problems of contemporary society and matters of the mind that was more akin to Alumni College than the beer and piano semblance too often associated with college reunions.

In numbers of reunioners too, 1966 was one for the record books. For the third straight year more than 3,000 people were on campus, but most importantly the reuning classes of 1901, 1906, 1911, 1916, 1926, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1941', 1956, 1960, 1961, and 1962 brought back a total of 1,376 alumni, 113 more men than at any other reunion in the College's history. They returned to share in a reunion schedule of enrichment and enjoyment, the former being a much desired dimension that reached a new level in 1966 on the solid advances achieved in the reunion programs of the last two years.

Major credit for the specialness of the 1966 occasion must go to the alumni class leaders who initiated and planned the thought-provoking offerings, but their classmates and their wives also must share in the credit for the unmatched success. They filled the halls as interested participants, and, in the case of the men and women of the Classes of 1936 and 1937, they had come to Hanover with their homework done.

Top billing among the major events of the week went to the Class of 1935's morning-long program on the strength of their specially invited guests, James M. Gavin, LL.D. '62, Lt. Gen., U.S. Army (Ret.), former U.S. Ambassador to France, and now Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Arthur D. Little, Inc.; and Walter F. Wanger '15, President of Walter Wanger Pictures, Inc., and long a leading figure in the American motion picture industry.

In his opening presentation to "Peace, Power, and Persuasion," a '35 symposium on world affairs, General Gavin told an audience of approximately 750 in Hopkins Center's Spaulding Auditorium that the United States should step up East-West trade as fast as possible and export businessmen in an aggressive training program to reduce world tension.

"The export of our skills and products has been one of the most successful undertakings in foreign affairs in the history of our country, and the most productive of good in our confrontation with the Communist bloc." He went on to say that "We have raised the standard of living wherever we have marketed our products and services. There is nothing the Communists have done, or can do, that can compare with this."

Serving on the panel with General Gavin and participating in the discussion that followed were Class of 1935 members Frederick S. Beebe, Chairman of the Board of Newsweek, Inc.; F. Leonard Bryant, Chairman of the Board, Hooker Chemical Corp.; Ralph Lazarus, President of Federated Department Stores, Inc.; and Frederick T. Haley, President of Haley and Brown, Inc.

Mr. Wanger made the opening presentation for the second half of the morning program, dealing with the topic "The Media for World Understanding." Mr. Wanger emphasized that a new world is being created by technological advances, that habits and cultures are being changed around the world by the communications media, and that this country should take positive advantage of these advances. "People can respond now in ways never before possible," he noted. "There is a breakthrough in world understanding." He went on to say that we should stop fearing Communism — we are winning'—and start worrying about world understanding instead. Humanity, he said, has a fresh opportunity now for a more enlightened world. Immediate action is needed to serve the world's best purposes.

The panel discussion that followed his address involved '35 class members Sanborn C. Brown, Professor of Physics at Maurice H. Rapf, motion picture writer; Dero A. Saunders, Executive Editor of Forbes Magazine; and Dartmouth's Director of Theatre at Hopkins Center, Prof. James H. Clancy. President John S. Dickey '29 was an ex officio member of both panels, and Franklin J. Cornwell '35, Vice President of the Monsanto Company, was moderator.

More than 180 members and wives in the Classes of 1936 and 1937 signed in advance to participate in reunion seminars. Advance preparation meant studying two books, John W. Gardner's Self-Renewal and Arthur C. Clark's Profilesof the Future, and the article, "Probing the Future" by Olaf Helmer and T. J. Gordon. Louis T. Benezet '36, President of Claremont Graduate School and University Center, gave the keynote address, "A Matter of Time," in the opening session. This was followed by one and one half hours of seminar discussion that afternoon and a similar period the following morning. The group was broken up into thirteen sections, each meeting in its own classroom. Each group had a special prepared moderator from the class. Eight members of the Dartmouth faculty also joined in on the various discussions as "resource participants."

A third special event in the reunion classes assembled early in the week following Commencement was a panel discussion entitled "Forty Years of Change in Education," sponsored by the Class of 1926. Close to 200 people turned out to hear Professor of Mathematics John G. Kemeny, Professor of English Harold L. Bond '42, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Leonard M. Rieser '44 speak on this subject. G. Henry Bixby '26 chaired this interesting presentation.

Before turning the campus over to the incoming 25th year horde, the Classes of 1935 and 1936 shifted their collective attention from affairs of the world to accomplishments and aspirations of the College with a "reunion extra," an abbreviated Dartmouth Horizons program appropriately titled "Dartmouth Revisited." The 90 reunioners who delayed their departures to spend an afternoon in this program heard Provost John Masland in the Medical School's Kellogg Auditorium, Mathematics Professor Donald R. Kreider in Filene Auditorium on the Dartmouth computer, and Warner Bentley and several student actors in the Hopkins Center.

The student actors and the other members of the cast of the Dartmouth Players' production of Once Upon a Mattress, presented seven times during Commencement Weekend and Reunion Week, delighted alumni audiences so much that on the two occasions when the cast invited the visitors to join with them in a post-performance reception few, if any, in the audience declined.

The Class of 1941, the 25-year Class for 1966, presented a Friday panel discussion very much in keeping with the sessions earlier in the week. Moderated by Charles G. Bolte, Executive Vice President of Viking Press, the discussion on "How Did This Ever Happen, Anyway?" brought together a quartet of class members who spoke with authority on vital issues: William P. Durkee, Director of Civil Defense, on "What's Happening in Government?"; Julian Koenig, President of Papert, Koenig & Lois on "The Market Place"; A. Fredric Leopold, Beverly Hills (Calif.) Councilman, on "The Cities"; and Charles B. McLane, Professor of Russian Civilization and Government at Dartmouth, on "The Communist World." A crowd estimated at upwards of 400 was in attendance for this one and one half hour program in Spaulding Auditorium.

The final panel discussion of the week, sponsored by the Class of 1956, attracted another big crowd to the Hopkins Center Theatre to hear a first-rate presentation on "The Urban Crisis and the College." Participating in the program, moderated by Belden H. Daniels '56, Associate Director of the Commonwealth Service Corps in Boston, were his classmates the Rev. James P. Breeden, Assistant Director, Commission on Religion and Race, National Council of Churches; Thomas S. Marvel, partner in Reed, Torres, Beauchamp and Marvel in Puerto Rico; Richard S. Scobie, Director, Department of Tenant and Community Relations, Boston Housing Authority; and Richard Worrell, Associate in Worrell and Hodge, Providence, R. I. Also participating in the session were Franklin Smallwood '51, Associate Professor of Government at Dartmouth and an author of several books on urban problems; and Charles F. Dey '52, Associate Dean of the College and immediate past Director of the College's pioneering ABC Program. According to numerous reports, the topic was carried from the Hopkins Center back to smaller group discussions at the Class Tents - and was still going strong at an informal gathering at the C & G House late that evening.

The weather, for the most part, was perfect for class picnics - the new areas around Storrs Pond were the most popular group picnic spots this June — and class dinners kept staffs at Thayer Hall, Alumni Hall, the Hanover Inn, and the D.O.C. House bustling. Speakers for the big dinners included President Dickey (1941), Provost Masland (1935), Dean Thaddeus Seymour (1937 and 1960), Dean Dey (1926 and 1962), Coach Bob Blackman and Director of Financial Aid Robert K. Hage '35 (1956), Coach Earl Hamilton (1961), and Leonard C. Mead '36, Senior Vice President and Provost of Tufts University (1936).

The Class of 1916 won the Class of 1894 Cup, awarded to that class which returns with the highest percentage of graduates, by achieving a total of 47 percent of graduates back for the 50th reunion. Under the leadership of Clifford L. Bean, the class had a total of 155 people in attendance. The Class of 1930 Cup went to the ten-year class, 1956, for bringing back a total of 206 men.

There were other attendance marks too. The Combined 30th of the Classes of '35, '36, and '37 was the largest ever for three classes back at that time. Each class had more than 200 people, with '36 leading the trio with 297. The Class of 1960 also went home with honors, having gained the distinction of setting the record for the largest fifth reunion, 326 people (179 men).

Reunion Attendance Class GrandClass %of Grads Members Total 1901 22% 6 23 1906 40% 17 37 1911 40% 42 92 1916 47% 77 155 1926 34% 124 233 1935 17% 88 205 1936 24% 122* 297 1937 17% 86 207 1941 37% 191 645 1956 32% 206 393 1960 25% 179 326† 1961 21% 139 235 1962 15% 99 179 Totals 1,376‡ 3,027

* New record for the number of men at a 30th Reunion. Old record 114 set by Class of 1930.

† New record for a 5th Reunion. Old record of 305 set by Class of 1953. Also 179 is largest number of men to return for a 5th Reunion.

‡ A new record for the number of alumni to return during the ten-day reunion period. The old mark of 1,263 was established in 1965.

General James M. Gavin (top) and Walter Wanger '15 were featured participantsin 1935's panel on international issues.

General James M. Gavin (top) and Walter Wanger '15 were featured participantsin 1935's panel on international issues.

The 1956 reunion discussion panel on "The Urban Crisis and the College."

Forty years of change in education was the topic for 1926's panel members: (I to r)Prof John G. Kemeny, mathematics; Prof. Harold L. Bond '42, English; Dean of theFaculty Leonard M. Rieser '44, and G. Henry Bixby '26, moderator.