1951

Together with over a dozen classmates and most of their wives, I had the privilege of attending the Charter Day festivities in Hanover on Saturday, December 13. The Program was inspiring. The review of the College's development under its presidents gave full recognition to the major contributions of Wheelock, Tucker, and Hopkins. But most of all, it was a well deserved tribute to what has happened in the last 25 years under the dedicated stewardship of John Sloan Dickey.

Most of those 25 years are within our own personal experience as Dartmouth men. Because not everything happened at once and we became aware of changes, additions, improvements as they occurred, it required a presentation such as we saw and heard to focus on the College's total achievements in the Dickey era.

In retrospect, I am deeply impressed with how thoroughly Dartmouth planned ahead for where it wanted to be when it began its third century. I am equally impressed with how well those plans have been executed. I wonder whether our nation as a whole would not be better off if it had similarly planned for its entry into its own third century in 1976.

Dartmouth was a good college when we entered as freshmen in the fall of 1947. By any objective standard, nostalgia eliminated, Dartmouth is now a great college in the first ranks of higher education. We can be justifiably proud of Dartmouth's being a part of our lives and hope that as alumni we may have contributed in some small way to the College's growth in stature.

The evening of the Charter Day celebration, gifts and pledges to the Third Century Fund stood at over $42,500,000 towards a goal of $51,000,000. This is encouraging; but there is still a long way to go, particularly when one realizes that inflation has taken its toll and that $51,000,000 will not buy what it would when the goal was set.

Since the general campaign is only recently underway, many of you may not yet have been approached for the Third Century Fund. When you are approached, let's be realistic about both what Dartmouth deserves and what you can afford to give over and above the Alumni Fund. If you have already made a decision, rethink it. Let's not be sidetracked by petty peeves — Dartmouth is too fine an institution to deserve that kind of treatment — and you are, I think, better men than that.

All five present and past Alumni Councilors from the Class attended the joint meeting of the Alumni Council and Trustees which began Thursday evening before Charter Day. Of greatest general interest to you would be the thorough report given by Professor Kemeny on the work of the committee and subcommittees investigating the possibility of coeducation.

The Class is doing its best to plan ahead, not only for our early 20th Reunion this June, but also for where 1951 will stand at its 25th Reunion in June 1976. Twelve classmates attended a joint meeting of the Class Executive and Reunion Committees in New York City on Wednesday evening, November 12. (Unfortunately, I was unavoidably in Charleston, W. Va., on the occasion, marooned by a snowstorm.)

Under the leadership of Paul Staley, and in conjunction with the reunion chairmen of 1949 and 1950, a fine program with good intellectual content, as well as fun, has been devised. Early tentative commitments to attend also look good. We hope that you and your family will exert every effort to get back to Hanover. For those who have not been back for a while, you should see the changes. You should also want to renew old friendships with men you may not have seen for years, possibly even since graduation.

This June's reunion will also signal a changing of the guard as far as class officers and executive committee are concerned. This new leadership will be in the driver's seat at what is the most key period in terms of the relationship of the Class to the College, the years leading up to the 25th Reunion. The point is that we shall need men who will be more than office-holders on paper; we need men who will take off their coats and roll up their shirtsleeves to do a real job.

By the time you read this column, Navy Commander Roy Reynolds' tour of duty as commanding officer of the destroyer escort "Albert David" will be over. The ship has been most recently assigned to the Southern SAR station in the Tonkin Gulf off North Vietnam. Roy's new assignment is with the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff "back in the Puzzle Palace." As a result, he will be moving his family from the Seattle area, where they have lived on Mercer Island for three and a half years, to somewhere within range of the Pentagon.

After retiring from the Air Force with the rank of Major on July 31, Al Sweet bought a house in Billerica, Mass., near Boston. He now works for Raytheon as senior engineer, reliability and test. His oldest son, Tom, is a Pea Green freshman.

With the recent move of Xerox corporation headquarters from Rochester, N.Y., to temporary offices in Stamford, Conn., the Tom Trolle family now resides in New Canaan. Tom joined Xerox in 1968 as assistant controller. He holds an M.B.A. from Tuck School and was with General Motors Overseas Operations in Sweden before joining Xerox.

Chuck Fitzsimmons has been promoted to the newly created position of assistant general manager of the New Haven Copper Co., a division of Tennessee Corp. Chuck joined New Haven Copper in February 1964 as production manager and was promoted to plant superintendent in May 1964 and to plant manager in April 1966. He is a director of the Lower Naugatuck Valley Chamber of Commerce and was previously employed by Bridgeport Brass Co.

THE NEWS IN BRIEF John Per-Lee, who holds a Cornell M.D., promoted to associate professor of surgery (ORL) at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. ... "Stretch" Mulloy sworn in for his second stint as an Assistant United States Attorney in Philadelphia and named chief of that office's Civil Division. ... College librarian EdLathem editor of a single volume edition of "The Poetry of Robert Frost," published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Secretary, 2107 Fidelity Bldg. Philadelphia, Penna. 19109

Treasurer, Box 229, R.D. 5 Princeton, N.J. 08540