CALLAHAN

Destroying the Fraternity Image

For some in this post-Animal House era, the words "fraternity president" conjure up images of a beer- drinking slug whose last intellectual endeavor was his application for admission. Anyone who believes this is the prototype of all fraternity presidents has never met Tom Callahan (Darien, Conn.). In addition to serving as president of Phi Delta Alpha fraternity, Callahan achieved a 3.73 grade point average, pursued his interest in Russian literature, lettered in two varsity sports, served as vice president of the Interfraternity Council and chairman of its Judiciary Committee, and won The Randolph B. Cardozo, Jr. and The Milton Sims Kramer Book prizes, the two awards recognizing the College's outstanding junior.

In spite of his impressive record, Callahan will be the last to tell you of his accomplishments. As Assistant Dean of the College Lee Levison put it, "The one thing that impresses me about Tom is his lack of ego. He has excelled in many areas but unless you know Tom very well you would not know. He doesn't wear on his sleeve that he is a super student or a championship caliber diver."

In explaining his overflowing schedule, Callahan pauses to think, then shrugs and says, "I feel like I'm the type of guy who does a much better job on something when I have a whole bunch of plates spinning up in the air."

One of the largest plates over the last few years has surely been his involvement in the fraternity system. In fact, he wrote his application for a Rhodes Scholarship he was a semifinalist on his "fraternity experience." "It was a very important part of my Dartmouth experience," Callahan said. "I learned a great deal from working with people how to get things done and how to lead without being obnoxious."

Callahan returned to campus sophomore summer to find his fraternity on probation and himself in charge of "keeping us out of trouble." As IFC vice president he worked closely with Levison and other administrators on a set of minimum standards for the fraternity system. "It was tough walking the fine line between administration and College goals and the laissez faire attitude of most members of fraternities," he said.

Callahan's record in sports is just as impressive. He was literally discovered during his freshman week swim test when a coach saw him bouncing on the pool's diving board. Since he could not decide whether to continue rowing crew or to work seriously on his diving, he decided to do both. "I had diving practice at 1:00 for two hours. I left a few minutes early, put on my sweats and ran down to the docks and rowed from three to five." Callahan later stopped rowing crew but junior spring earned a varsity letter in the shotput after deciding he would train with the track team "to stay in shape."

Men's swimming coach Ron Keenhold, who monitored his four-year varsity career, commented, "Tom, I think, possesses a tremendous amount of natural ability. . . . He might have been a hockey player or a tennis player and excelled in those sports too."

Callahan, whose most recent athletic accomplishment was reaching the finals in the Eastern Championship, remarks, "I love the fact that I've been able to take on a sport that I've never played seriously and ended up playing on a team here. That's something you can't do at a state school. That's one of the things that's wonderful about Dartmouth and the sports program here."

Hearing Callahan, whose Dartmouth lineage includes father Neil '47 and sister Jean, Tuck 'BO, denounce any pretense of superiority may seem rather hard to believe. However, a look at his hard-set face leaves little doubt as to his sincerity. "I'm very critical of any kind of elitism. You put as much into an activity as you can and take out as much as you can. But don't try to believe that somehow you are better than anyone else."

Eventually Callahan feels he will end up in business. Next year, however, in spite of a number of offers from corporate America, he has decided to work on the crew of a racing boat, because it is something he has never had a chance to do. "Someone once said 'The unexamined life isn't worth living.' Well, I hope I always follow those words. If I can do that, I'll never be the type of person who will say at age 40, 'What have I done all these years?' "

"It was tough walking the fine line between administrationand College goalsand the laissez faireattitude of mostmembers of the fraternities. "