The First Year

An All-Too-Short History

1769

THERE ARE NO FRESHMEN on campus. The entire student body consists of transfer students.

1770

THE FIRST FRESHMAN matriculates. College records are unclear as to his name.

1771

ELEAZAR WHEELOCK ESTAB lishes "selective" admissions. He writes,"l think it proper to let the world know, there is no encouragement given that such as are vain, idle, trifling, flesh-pleasing; or such as are, on any account, vicious, or immoral, will be admitted here." Besides passing Wheelock's moral SATs, potential freshmen are also expected to be well versed in Virgil, Cicero, and the Greek New Testament, translate English into Latin, and perform basic arithmetic.

1772

STUDENTS ARE SUMMONED to class by a freshman blowing into a conch shell. John Ledyard hates the job. "It was his custom," says historian Frederick Chase, "to perform it with a reluctance and in a manner corresponding to his sense of degradation."

1775

A GROUP OF FRESHMEN object to the mental and physical stress of College life. Professor John Smith receives a petition asking "that part of our Lessons may be taken off for the present till we are able to get them without impairing our health."

1802

GEORGE TICKNOR is offered admission to Dartmouth. He decides to wait a year, until he is 12, before enrolling. He graduates with the class of 1807. He later becomes a distingushed professor of French and Spanish at Harvard.

1822

THE FRESHMAN Curriculum for the fall term consists of three classes: Livy, Roman Antiquities, and Graera Majora.

1825

FASHIONABLE FRESHMEN sport half a single-sprigged diamond on the left sleeve of their black, single-breasted coats. Fashionable seniors display four half-sprigged diamonds on their sleeves.

1832

A SMOKING STOVE IN THE freshmen recitation room sparks a rebellion. The class tosses the defective stove into the river and all are suspended.

1874

THE CLASS OF 1877 PRINTS a broadsheet proclaiming that members of the class of 1878, having been "prematurely deprived of the privileges of the nursery," are permitted "to amuse themselves, at all proper hours, with either [sic] of the following toys: Rattle, small Horn, or Plug Hat."

1875 (Sept.)

FRESHMAN CLIFFORD SMITH writes to his mother, "The Sabbath School makes me homesick."

1875 (March)

SMITH WRITES IN HIS DIARY, "Smoked another cigar. I'm getting tough."

1875 (May)

SMITH WRITES IN HIS DIARY, "What's the use in keeping a diary, anyway! It's baseball time."

1877

THE BODY OF A HANGED criminal mysteriously appears in the freshman section of the chapel. A newspaper reporter writes that the body "remained there during morning prayers with its aroma ascending heavenward."

1896

A GROUP OF sophomores, armed with revolvers, kidnap a freshman. The faculty passes a resolution asking for the hostage's release.

1910

FRESHMEN LIVING IN Thornton Hall may enter only through the back door after pleading, "Oh noble and respected upperclassmen, my Masters: I (name) of (home conglomeration of substances known as 1914, do humbly beg permission to intrude my clownian and careless form within the sacred portals of Thornton Hall."

1915

A FRESHMAN ASKS A SENIOR to bring him a napkin. The Aegis reports "the body is shipped home by Palaeopitus."

1921

E. GORDON BILL BECOMES the first dean of freshmen.

1924

PRESIDENT HOPKINS "Permanently" abolishes the rushing of freshmen into fraternities.

1934

A NEW RULE FORBIDS freshmen from having any contact with fraternities.

1937

NEW RULES BANNING freshmen rush are instated.

1947

DOC BENTON MAKES HIS first freshman trip. His story is told in a darkened Ravine Lodge.

1948

THE CLASS OF 1952 GIVES the best freshmen academic performance in College history. Only 16 flunk out.

1950

THE RULES AGAINST Hazing freshmen are toughened. Sophomores find a loophole: There is no rule against giving haircuts. According to the Aegis, "chunks of hair were seen on the sidewalks of Main Street."

1953

AN APPLICANT TO THE college writes that he wants to come to Dartmouth because "it is highly recommended to me by many of my father's acquaintances." His father is a bartender

1954

A CLASS ENTITLED "The Individual and the College" replaces Doc Pollard's "Smut" class (Hygiene 1-2) as a freshman requirement.

1967

A TUG OF WAR BETWEEN freshmen and sophomores determines the date the shmen can remove their beanies. Wily sophomores tie their end of the rope to a tree. A riot ensues. Fifty freshmen burn their beanies in protest. Others smash plates and windows in Thayer.

1969

THE CLASS OF 1973 Becomes the last class to wear beanies.

1970

A FACULTY COMMITEE RE- ports "with the admission of the Class of 1973 Dartmouth found itself for the first time with a numerically representative segment of blacks in the entering class." The number totals 87.

1971

PRESIDENT KEMENY allows freshman to rush fraternities during spring term.

1973

THE FIRST KATHERINE Brock Award is awarded to an "outstanding freshman woman in recognition of her loyalty to Dartmouth College and its ideals, service to the community, and concern for others.

1976

U.S. REP. MARGARET HheckIer—mother of Belinda '79—is the first mother to be the principal speaker at Freshman Weekend.

1979

FRESHMEN ARE NOT waiting until spring term to partake of the offerings of the Greek system. Rather than enforce a lapsed rule, a dean proposes that freshmen be banned from the houses until Convocation. He warns: "The administration will not be responsible for patroling fraternity row in search of freshmen."

1980

THE SPECIAL FRESHMAN issue of The Dartmouth counsels students with only a cursory interest in math to wait until winter term to enroll in Math 3. That is when the class is taught by a professor who is "famous and loved by students." The professor is President Kemeny.

1987

A LETTER IS MAILED TO THE entire freshman class reminding them that rushing the stands is against the rules. Two hundred freshmen rush the stands at Harvard Stadium.

Ticknor held off collegeuntil his age was wellwithin the two digits.