Report from the Council

Greetings. The Presidential Search Committee continues to work on the awesome task of choosing a successor for President McLaughlin. Betsy Fauver Stueber '77, Steve Mullins '54, and Justin Stanley '33 are the excellent representatives of the Alumni Council in that task. They have been involved in the review of hundreds of resumes and the interviewing of many candidates. It has been the most comprehensive job search yet in regard to trying to find a candidate to fill the shoes of Eleazar. While I am not aware of any specific deadline, I believe they are hoping to have the final selection process completed by the end of the academic year in June.

President-elect Steve Mullins has also been active as chairman of the ad hoc committee on the alma mater. As most of the College community knows, that committee is reviewing the issue of "Men of Dartmouth" and its appropriateness as the alma mater song for coeducational Dartmouth. Students, faculty, administrators, and alumni are all having an input in regard to this very important decision. (See the ad on page 27.) At this juncture, it does not appear that a decision of any final nature is imminent. This is a matter which requires long and careful study, and a decision may not be made until the next academic year.

Steve Severson '74, who is the chairman of the Alumni Council Committee on Student Life, has been energetic, imaginative, and extremely diligent in exercising his responsibilities. Steve has had several interim meetings with students and committee members during the course of the year and he and I are currently working on a program for student participation in the spring meeting. Steve deserves kudos from the entire College community for his efforts to build a bridge between alumni and students.

The planning and priority process of the College is ongoing and, especially in Blunt Alumni Center, the College has been very responsible to alumni input. Obviously, this process will not be completed for some time, but we are continuing to advocate the involvement of the Alumni Council and its appropriate committees in that planning and priority process.

For the spring meeting, we are hoping to have faculty involvement and perhaps take the Alumni Council back into the classroom for at least part of the weekend. We are working with faculty representative Jim Wright, of the Dartmouth history department, in that regard.

Finally, I am very pleased to report that it appears that we will not be involved in a contested election for a trustee position this year. As you know, Ira Michael Heyman '51 and Joe Mathewson '55 are the Alumni Council nominees for election. Mike Heyman is being renominated for a second fiveyear term and Joe Mathewson is being nominated for an initial five-year term. Their backgrounds and qualities were included in a previous issue. Needless to say, we are delighted that these two superb alumni will be serving together on the Board of Trustees.

I look forward to reporting to you further next month. In the meantime, If any of you are on campus, please make sure that you stop by the new Berry Sports Center and the new dormitories across Wheelock Street from it. These buildings are magnificent additions to the College campus.

See you next month.

PRESIDENT, ALUMNI COUNCIL

Nichol M. Sandoe '19, third from right, was honored at the November 1986 Alumni Council banquetin Hanover for his "dedication and invaluable service" to the Dartmouth Bequest Program, which hehelped develop in 1951. Pictured left to right are Mike Sandoe '75 and wife Cori, Mary Sandoe andhusband Nichol, and Nancy Sandoe and husband Nick Sandoe Jr. '45.