Tucker Foundation

Created in 1958 by John Sloan Dickey '29 to honor Dartmouth's last clergyman president, William Jewett Tucker 1861, the Tucker Foundation bridges the gap between the College's missionary origins and the secular needs of a nation. Combining chaplaincy, moral reflection, community service, and fellowships, the foundation's programs have many imitators including its Peace Corps National Internship; the A Better Chance program, which prepared disadvantaged high school students for college during the 1960s and '70s; collegiate Outward Bound; and Book Buddies, which promotes reading by pairing undergraduates with young children.

Each year a quarter of Dartmouth's undergraduates do community service through Tucker. Another 35 students work full-time in service fellowships, and some 2,100 attend gatherings hosted by 18 religious groups. The lessons seem to stick; studies of alumni show that a high percentage continue to give of themselves to the community long after they graduate.

Tucker put the College in touch with a higher authority.