The College
Dartmouth began its 204th academic year with Convocation exercises on September 24, and while nearly 3,700 undergraduate men and women were enrolled as full time students, not all of them came to Hanover to attend classes during fall term. More than 400 students were on vacation, working at jobs, studying at other colleges here and overseas, or simply on leave.
If one-ninth of the students aren't in Hanover, then where are they? Some examples:
- David Keenan, '75, begins a year of study at Interuniversity Center in Taipai, Taiwan. He'll earn credits in Chinese language, comparative literature on the novels of the Ming, and make an investigation of the traditional sources of power on Taiwan.
- Stephen Tenney, '74, and others are taking the Earth Sciences "three-way-stretch," a 10-week field trip to study the geology of Colorado, Arizona, and Central America.
- Alexandra Rynkiewicz, '76, is on leave working for Africa 1973, Inc., in Africa.
John Cleary, '74, is living with a Central American family while he works with a mapping crew of the government of Guatemala.
Meanwhile, other students are beginning studies at one of the 25 language and study centers located in the major capitals and centers of Europe, in Africa, and in Mexico. Or they might be involved in a domestic program supported by the Tucker Foundation, the Public Affairs Center, or Urban Studies.
And not to be overlooked are the young men and women who decided to remain on vacation. Still others are holding down blue- and white-collar jobs ranging from three to six months in any or all of the 50 states. It is the type of work that until the Dartmouth Plan was just not available to college students because of the necessity to be in school during the fall, winter and spring terms.
Dartmouth is starting its second year of year-round operation and coeducation, and if the success of the first year is any measure, the Dartmouth Plan should be even more exciting in the years to come. Some 1,000 women will be enrolled by 1975-76. Entering the second year of coeducation, more than half that number are at Dartmouth this year. Of the total student body for 1973-74, there are 275 freshmen women, 265 upperclass women, and 50 to 60 women taking part in the 12-College Exchange Program. The latter group will spend only one year at Dart- mouth, then return to their home schools to complete degrees.
In addition to the coeds, there are 3,000 men of which 800 are in the Class of 1977.
Speakers at Convocation were President Kemeny, F. William Andres '29, chairman of the Board of Trustees, Dean Carroll Brewster, and Thomas Berdeja, president of the Class of 1974. In a salute to tradition the Glee Club led the singing of "Men of Dartmouth" and "America the Beautiful."
