1922

If you happen to be dining at the fabled Palm Beach, Fla., hotel The Breakers this winter, don't be surprised if your waiter is a Dartmouth College student.

In fact, The Breakers is probably the single largest employer of Dartmouth students on leave terms. Nearly 30 students headed south to work at the luxurious oceanfront resort last winter, while another half dozen made the trek during the spring term.

This special "Dartmouth connection," as the students call it, has been in operation since the 1972-73 school year, the first year for the College's flexible four-term calendar.

The pipeline to Palm Beach began soon after Dartmouth alumnus James Myers '50, then president of the corporation, received a routine letter asking for information on job opportunities for undergraduates during the fall, winter, or spring terms.

Myers immediately recognized that the College's flexible calendar could benefit his hotel, which needs additional employees during the winter and spring months.

The arrangement has been a success for both students and The Breakers, so much so that most of the regular patrons of The Breakers have come to expect that their waiter or waitress will be a Dartmouth student. By far the most popular question asked in the dining room is not "What's the soup du jour?" It's "Are you a Dartmouth student?"

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