His Second Religion

A '78 minister balances the spiritual with the green

In November the Alumni Council presented Rev. Warren Scott Axford '78 with its Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award. Axford, who claims he once considered becoming a monk but couldn't handle the haircut, is anything but a hermit when it comes to Dartmouth. He has served as a club officer, class and regional agent, reunion committeeman, class chaplain, newsletter editor, and in numerous other class and club activities. As a student he majored in history, kept busy with the marching band, The Dartmouth, The Aegis, marching band, and the Daniel Webster Legal Society, and graduated cum laude and with distinction. His early interest in law gave way to the spiritual, and after a stint with New England Telephone he entered Harvard Divinity. He was ordained at the First Church in Plymouth. Mass.. and now preaches to a fast-growing congre- gation at the First Universalist Church in Providence, R.I. Perhaps his popularity has something to do with his renowned sense of humor and his extra-spiritual activities, the Cornish Horrors Sherlock Holmes Society and Moosehead Beer Society among them. He also professes to be an enthusiast of afternoon tea and football tailgates. But his second religion, he has always said, is Dartmouth—and it shows.