Report from the Council

Greetings. One of the primary interests of all alumni at this time in the College's history is the Presidential Search Committee and where the search process currently stands. While the committee's meetings are confidential, it has publicly stated that the search is wide open to men and women of varied backgrounds and that a professional search firm has been retained to help screen applicants. The committee has received a substantial response to its various inquiries and advertisements. It is now in the midst of the difficult process of narrowing the pool of candidates. By the time this report reaches you, each of you will have received a letter from the search committee soliciting comments and suggestions. I hope that you take advantage of the opportunity. The committee is to be applauded for reaching out to the entire College community during the course of its search.

Last fall President McLaughlin asked the Alumni Council to examine the issue of the appropriateness of the alma mater, "Men of Dartmouth." I then asked Council president-elect Steve Mullins '54 to chair an ad hoc committee to pursue such a study. Steve has done an excellent job of selecting a superb group of men and women for the committee from the entire spectrum of the alumni body. There is also a student representative on the committee. The options are: (1) keep the song as it is; (2) modify it; or (3) drop it as the alma mater and pursue some alternative. At the same time an allstudent committee on campus is also studying this issue. It is a delicate and difficult issue, and I'll continue to keep you apprised of the progress of the. committee through this column. If you have any thoughts, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to write to me at my firm's address, Morrison, Mahoney and Miller, 250 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02210, and I will pass your ideas on to the committee.

Finally, in our effort to improve communications between the alumni and the faculty, we will be discussing the formation of an academic affairs or faculty committee (with both alumni and faculty representation) at the next meeting of the executive committee of the Council. A standing committee that can meet on a regular basis throughout the year would be an important step in effecting a constructive dialogue between Dartmouth's teachers and graduates.

Former governor of Colorado Richard Lamm and his wife, Dorothy.