Letters to the Editor

Dark Chapter

Alumni who give money now to the Dartmouth Review should have their heads examined! Alumni whose money got the Review started last year should be ashamed of themselves! Don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining about the Review's editorial policy or its tendency to play fast and loose with the truth. After all, student journalists have always shown more passion than reason and always will.

What gets me down is that alumni, whatever their feelings about the Dickey years or the Kemeny years, would give financial support to these students. That's akin to buying liquor for juveniles, motorcycles for children too young to have a driver's license, or birth-control devices for minors.

We should look upon the Review as a student publication with a student readership and a campus setting. Unfortunately, it is none of these - the rag is now financed and inspired by alumni for alumni consumption. The great majority of the student body today is no more concerned about Indian symbols, year-round operation, or trustee elections than we, 30 years ago, were concerned about whatever bothered the Daily D editorial writers. Financing their efforts gives these student journalists a sense of purpose they neither need nor deserve.

The Indian symbol, Hovey murals, and the singing of "Eleazer Wheelock" will be small footnotes in Dartmouth history; a continuation of alumni support for the Dartmouth Review could produce a very dark chapter.

Instead, let's support the new president and the Board of Trustees. Our money, our time, and effort should be far more beneficial to the Dartmouth of tomorrow if expended in that direction.

Oakland, Calif.

In recent months, I have noticed with considerable dismay that a publication known as the Dartmouth Review has somehow gotten hold of an alumni mailing list.

I have received free copies of the paper which, I understand, has about as much right to the use of the name "Dartmouth" as I have and I have received numerous mailings asking for money. One of the latest envelopes contains a "questionnaire" that is so loaded I was afraid it might go off in my hand.

As a Dartmouth alumnus whose ties to the College depend upon more substantive things than artificial Indian yells, I have little use for this publication or its appeals. More importantly, I want the College to know that I resent the fact that private organizations can apparently "borrow" the alumni list with impunity. The Alumni Directory does bear a copyright notice. One would think a journal that professes such concern for conservative probity would have some small respect for the law. And one would think that Dartmouth, as an institution of learning, might decide to give the editors a lesson in legal procedure if that respect is lacking.

When I inform the College of changes in my address, it is to maintain ties with Dartmouth, not to be dunned by anyone with a commercial or ideological ax to grind and the price of a stamp.

Chesterfield, N.H.

[Founded last spring, the Dartmouth Review isa weekly tabloid given to ignoring certain conventions. For example, the copyright notice inthe 1976 Alumni Directory expressly prohibitsthe reproduction or use of the addresses thereinfor "any multiple mailing." Ed.]

Priorities and the Trustee Ballot

In an open letter dated February 27, 1981, President Derek Bok of Harvard University has written, in part, "... we should endeavor to build an atmosphere ... in which all students feel welcome, accepted, and sufficiently confident of their status that they can devote themselves fully to obtaining the best possible education in the broadest sense of that term." Elsewhere, President Bok admits the difficulties of achieving this and similar worthy goals that are obstructed by issues of race.

Although we who cherish Dartmouth may have differing ideas or methodologies in dealing with issues of race in their totality, we can unreservedly accept the criterion above stated because it is basic to human beings regardless of race, sex, or religion.

It was a shock to receive from Hanover literature urging the election of Messrs. Beard and Andrews to the Board of Trustees. It may be that their campaign manager has put words into their mouths. However, the candidates' stated primary claims to represent the alumni on the Board of Trustees rest on restoration of the "Indian symbolo" (sic!).

Their childish priorities reveal a total lack of understanding. Our nation is divided economically and culturally by the white man's refusal to accept responsibility for this appalling division. Dartmouth's task is to understand and ameliorate this condition, not to exacerbate it! President Kemeny, his administration, and the faculty generally seem to recognize the white man's problem. It is hoped that brothers Beard and Andrews, if they are elected, will learn that it is their problem.

As for those stubborn but beloved fellow alumni who are having difficulty in adjusting to the present world, my wife (Wellesley '35) remarks, "Traditions are made by students, not by the Board of Trustees."

Eaton, New Hampshire

I have recently been beleagured by pamphlets from the editors of the Dartmouth Review, who seem to believe that John Kemeny has singlehandedly brought Dartmouth to wrack and ruin, and who are urging me to support candidates for the Board of Trustees who each put the return of the Indian symbol at the top of their list of concerns.

I honestly question thee judgment of people who believe this is the most important issue facing the College. I also find the statements of their supporters arrogant and insensitive. They assert that "no sane person believes the Indian symbol to have been denigrating." I am not a Native American, but I do not find it impossible to believe that if I were I might find the spectacle of a white cheerleader in body makeup, feathers, and a raccoon coat quite deeply offensive. There was a time when minstrel shows were quite popular and not thought denigrating either, at least by the white audiences who attended them. Does anyone doubt that if a cheerleader appeared in "traditional" blackface it would be considered an outrage?

Frankly, I don't give a tinker's damn about the Indian symbol, and I wish the issue were put to rest. I did not attend Dartmouth because we had Indian cheers, cheerleaders, auto stickers, and senior canes. I don't think the experience was materially improved because of them, and I would still want to attend Dartmouth today, even if her symbol were the Great Auk. I hope the members of the board will keep their attention on more fundamental concerns.

New York, N.Y.

I gather from a perusal of various issues of the Dartmouth Review and letters to you and to the editor of my class newsletter that the subject of this letter is a matter of heated dispute.

Well, how should Dartmouth be governed? 1) By the state? No, this was put to rest by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1819.

2) By a more or less self-perpetuating Board of Trustees operating under the law of the Charter, obviously an elite body whose freedom to govern as it sees fit is tempered only by the Alumni Council, the bureaucracy composed of College administrators and faculty, and the student body, expressing itself through student organizations exercising free speech and assembly?

3) By something resembling a democratic plebiscite, permitting the alumni, faculty, and students to elect the trustees and control their deliberations? The difficulty with this mode of governance is that, judging from the reactions mentioned in the three types of publications referred to in the first paragraph hereof, there would be no meeting of the minds between older alumni, recent alumni, students, the College bureaucracy, etc. concerning the direction and celerity of change. Superficially, these groups appear to agree in not approving the nature of the changes under Kemeny, but there the similarity of their attitude ends.

The older alumni and some of the younger are rooted in nostalgia—no change. Most of the younger and the students are bemused by great expectations—plenty of change and the sooner the better. The other constituencies are looking for the main chance, understandably, willing to join either faction.

From the foregoing you can see I strongly favor the second, or present method of governance.

Hinsdale, Ill.

I received some literature concerning two candidates for trustee: Malcolm V. Beard '67 and T. Coleman Andrews '76. The statement by Beard reads: "At the present time, there is no one on the Board of Trustees who brings to it a perspective that connects education, a liberal arts education, with the experience of varsity athletics." At the time that was written the chairman of the board was David McLaughlin '54, recently elected 14th president of Dartmouth.

The story in the March ALUMNI MAGAZINE reports McLaughlin as setting records as a pass receiver on the football team and subsequently receiving offers to play for the Philadelphia Eagles.

I never saw Mr. McLaughlin play football. I did see Mickey Beard play in 1965, and he did an outstanding job in the game against Princeton.

Perhaps you would like to publish this to set the record straight.

Sarasota, Fla.

[Yes, David McLaughlin did. rather well atfootball (and basketball) for Dartmouth. Present trustees Donald McKinlay '37 and GeorgeMunroe '43 also played varsity basketball. Infact, Munroe played it well enough to earn all-America honors. So much for perspective. Ed.]

The 14th President

As a loyal son of Dartmouth, may I say how pleased I am to learn of Dave McLaughlin's election to the presidency of the College. I have known Dave for ten years here in Minneapolis and can attest to his many fine capabilities that will serve Dartmouth well. The much-needed balance between the business and academic communities will be strengthened.

He is a man of honor, of deep principle, of economic and political acumen, and he will bring back many alumni who have resided for years "on the periphery" to assist the College in any way they can.

Minneapolis, Minn.

[More on the 14th president appears in thisissue. Ed.]

The New York Times article on the naming of Dartmouth's 14th president, datelined Hanover, February 23, looks like it must have been written by a Harvard person. The tenor of the piece might seem to indicate that the trustees had their chairman in mind for the job all along while they massaged the names of almost 400 candidates. And never mind the obvious awkwardness of changing status from employer to employee, the incumbent expressed an "overwhelming feeling of relief" regarding his announced successor. (Come to think of it, the Kemeny change in status isn't without its problems, either.)

The real zinger in the Times report, however, lies in what is said and what isn't said about president-elect David T. McLaughlin. Not a word to indicate that he was "all-everything" in the class of 1954 (or so I am informed). Nary a line about his contribution to the progress of the College since his graduation. Rather, the writer discloses that McLaughlin will now be leaving his post as chairman and chief executive of a company that "recently projected a loss in excess of $4 million for the fiscal year 1981, announced the dismissals of its president and chief operating officer and three senior vice presidents, and indicated that it planned to lay off 125 salaried employees and 75 percent of its manufacturing force."

A disinterested reader might conclude that McLaughlin managed to switch teams just in the nick of time, accounting for the nervous smile in the photograph accompanying the news release. Publicity like this he can do without. Must have been an enemy agent filing from Hanover. (Still, it would be interesting to know who, among the 400, survived to the finals.)

Baldwin, N. Y.

Peculiar Inconsistency

I write to express my disappointment at a certain peculiar inconsistency exercised by Dartmouth in the granting of promotion or tenure.

An English instructor was recently not granted tenure, despite a majority recommendation by the English Department that tenure be granted. It would appear that it was not granted because this teacher used Dartmouth, by name and place, in a recent apparently explicit novel. He must thus have brought dis honor on Dartmouth.

That's all well and good. But what about the anthropology professor who was caught plagiarizing last year? A two-term teaching suspension and a one-year delay in attaining full professorship were his only penalties. Does not the fact that he brought real, not fictional, dishonor on Dartmouth make his action all the worse?

The English teacher was guilty of bad taste; the anthropology professor of bad professional ethics. Which do you think is the greater misdeed?

Milwaukee, Wise.

[The facts of the matter involving theanthropologyo professor were not made public As for the tenure case, Hans H. Penner, dean ofthe faculty, says, "The rumor regarding theEnglish instructor is false. The novel was not included by the candidate in the list ofpublications for external review. It was,therefore, excluded from the decision onpromotion and tenure." Ed.]

Shrugs and Whistles

Years ago, someone — it probably was Morris Bishop — wrote a fairly long and acid dissertation for The New Yorker on college alma maters, anthems, and fight songs. When he came to Dartmouth the writer as much as shrugged his shoulders and admitted he could do nothing, inasmuch as, uniquely, all Dartmouth's songs had been written by poets.

We can no longer claim that distinction.

I have just read in the 1936 newsletter the stanza of "Men of Dartmouth" that will be sung at this year's commencement. These 13 execrable lines, as our fastidious editor, F.K.K., observes, were "obviously committee―written." But not, I try to tell myself, by a committee drawn from the students, faculty, or alumni/ae of Dartmouth College. F.K.K. suggests the stanza was the work of something that calls itself the Cobra Society. Whoever these people are, they have little feeling for the College and less taste.

There is an old saying in my trade that anyone who would whistle in a newspaper city room would do something awful in Sunday school. Whoever wrote that stanza would do the same thing every Sunday and twice on Easter.

"Give a hand to one another, Build a dream in the North to endure."

Indeed. For the first time in my life I am able to write, with utter honesty, words fail me.

Washington, D.C.

[lf Morris Bishop had tried to sing or evenwhistle the poet Hovey's "Our Liege LadyDartmouth" he would have done more thanshrug his shoulders. At any rate, as we havereported here before, Cobra is a secret societyof women students, and, as also reported here,some of the members devised a new verse to"Men of Dartmouth." When the new verse wassung along with traditional verses at commencement last June, nobody fainted. Ed.]

Send the Best

On Saturday, February 28, 1981, the Dartmouth Glee Club gave a concert here for the benefit of the Winchester ABC House. I am glad to say that it was a sell-out for a very worthy cause.

The audience was polite but disappointed in what they heard. Our own high-school chorus sings with more spirit, verve, and sophistication. Given the caliber of the direction, the choice of music, the quality of the voices─both men and women and the unattractive garb of the women members, it was a performance that left much to be desired.

With all that is brewing at Hanover these days (and as a long-time lover of glee clubbing myself), I feel it would be wise to send out the very best to represent the College. Dartmouth glee clubs of the past set a high standard, and though comparisons are odious, this club just doesn't have it!

I am sorry to have to write this. I wonder if it all may be a lack of funding for the Music Department. If so, I hope some attention can be given to it in the budget. The arts are an important part of any curriculum, and it is too bad if Dartmouth is retrenching from this view−point.

Since we now have a unisex Glee Club, let's make it such a good one in direction, quality of voice, and library that we don't provide ammunition for the "opposition."

Winchester, Mass.

Something Happened Again

On reading the letter "Something's Happened" from Arthur Carpenter '42 in the March issue, I feel impelled to endorse its contents. Of course, this letter of mine, as he says of his, may be a subjective observation due to the onset of mellowing age. Like him, I had the thought that something had happened, and this thought was strengthened upon seeing the cover and contents of the January/February magazine.

Like another contributor on a preceding page of the March number, I have long refrained from burdening the magazine with my thoughts; in fact, I do not remember having ever contributed a letter to it a record which, however, I am not proud of.

McLean, Va

[In his letter in the March issue ArthurCarpenter said he liked reading the ALUMNI MAGAZINE lately. It is worth noting that sincehis graduation Arthur Leavitt has seen upwardsof 700 issues of the magazine. Ed.]

Qualifications

As I read the [item] "Employment Record" on page 20 of the March issue, I was amazed at the complete absence of any regard for the students' needs. The great concern was that minority groups be given primary consideration their qualifications seemed to be of minor concern and irrelevant. Should not the students get the best teachers regardless of "border, nor breed, nor birth?" After tenure, which seems to be a "right" to some, the students get shortchanged again.

Cohasset, Mass.

[The article was about Dartmouth's affirmativeaction program. Ed.]

Different Outlook

It is significant that the sole letter in the March issue in criticism of President Kemeny should come from a member of 1928. What a real difference, in philosophical outlook, a few years can make between various graduating classes! With apologies to those '28ers who were lucky enough to be ahead of their time, it seems fitting to point out that 1931 was a true watershed class in the life of the College and the beginning of a new era.

A wah-hoo-wah to a great president as well as to David McLaughlin, who I know would be the first to admit that John Kemeny's act is a hard one to follow.

New Haven, Conn.

The Symbol (cont.)

A dominant purpose in the founding of Dartmouth College was to educate and Christianize the Indians. When Eleazar Wheelock saw the success of Moor's Charity School which he had started in Connecticut, he thought that it would accomplish much more if it were established nearer to Indian country, and Hanover was the choice in 1769. The turmoil of the Revolution greatly disrupted Indian life and though the school continued as a preparatory school for Indians, very few of them entered the College for the next century and a half. The story of the life of Charles East-man, 1887, so well told in the January/February ALUMNI MAGAZINE, shows what might have been accomplished if circumstances had been better.

But the dream which Wheelock had of help ing the Indians continued to be a part of the Dartmouth tradition, giving the College a distinctive character. It was preserved in the legend of the Old Pine around which the first Indians had gathered to smoke the peace pipe and where they had composed the song "When Shall We Three Meet Again?" Richard Hovey gained inspiration for some of his lyrics from the tradition, and later the senior canes used by some classes carried an Indian head.

I do not know when the Indian symbol came into use, but I think it was in the early decades of this century when Dartmouth's athletic teams were bringing new glories to the College. It was an honored symbol of the College for a number of years, but in time it came to be perverted from its original intent and was used in ways which caricatured and demeaned the Indians. When the College sought to revive the former relationship and admitted a group of Native Americans, I think they were right in rejecting such a stereotype and in seeking to have the symbol discontinued.

Dartmouth's history in association with the Indians has meant much to the College for over 200 years. Isn't it still important for both of them? Isn't it possible that a symbol could be devised which would embody that tradition and be acceptable to everyone? Could they not work together to create a symbol that would honor both the College and the Native Americans?

Pomona, Calif.

The ALUMNI MAGAZINE welcomes comment from its readers. For publication, letters should be signed and addressed specifically to the Magazine (not copies of communications to other organizations or individuals). Letters exceeding 400 words in length will be condensed by the editors.