Making a Comeback

Yes, you can go home again—as alumni demonstrate with every reunion. Here, a peek behind the scenes at reunion season in Hanover.

A POST-WAR TRADITION

Dartmouth's unique way of grouping classes for reunions rather than inviting classes to return at five-year intervals formally began ip 1948. Following a two year suspension of reunions during World War II,administrators decided in 1945 to invite every class, grouped by decade, back for an extended grand reunion over five weekends. Although classes returned to a regular pattern of gatherings in 1946 and 1947, the success of the 1945 plan—and the appreciation alums expressed for getting together with alums from other classes—prompted mathematics professor Robin Robinson '24 to create the cluster plan still in effect.

WHO COMES BACK?

Class participation varies depending on the reunion, says David Orr '57, interim director of class reunions, who returned after a 40-year career with alumni relations to again organize reunions. Not surprisingly, 25th and 50th reunions are the best attended, with a typical return rate of 30 to 50 percent for the half-century class. Recently about 40 percent of the fifth-year reunion classes have participated, but these numbers will likely drop for 10th and 20th reunions because of work schedules, children in school and cost concerns. An overall return rate of 25 percent is expected this year.

LONG TIME, NO SEE

Orr vividly remembers one day in 1987, the Thursday before Commencement, when a man walked into his office and identified himself as a member of the class of 1927. "He asked me where his class reunion was," Orr recalls. "I told him that it wouldn't start until the next Monday. He needed a place to stay so we sent him to the housing office." In the interim, Orr called the alumni office to verify the mans story. According to College records, he was dead. He had not been heard from since WWII and was presumed to have passed away. Says Orr: "He had not been back to Hanover since the day he graduated. You can imagine what it was like for him, arriving on campus with 60-year-old memories. We put him up in the Lodge, and when his classmates arrived Monday morning they were surprised to see their classmate alive and present for the reunion. He had been living in Brooklyn with his son and all of a sudden decided to make the trip up."

AN 80TH REUNION!

The oldest alums ever to return for reunion belonged to the class of 1900. Two centenarians were still living in 1980 one was hale enough to travel and the other resided in Hanover, where the pair spent the weekend reminiscing in his back yard. The College sent the Aires over to serenade them.

HUB OF ACTIVITY

In the office of alumni relations Orr and one assistant work year-round to facilitate reunion planning. The director works with all class reunion chairs—who plan reunion events on a break-even basis and their committees, which range from three to 12 members. The College allots some administrative dollars for required expenditures such as mailings "to make things work," says Orr. By June, E.J. Kiefer, manager of conferences and special events, and his assistant have created an enormous three-ring binder documenting every single day of the reunion schedule, broken down in detail by the hour. Thirty copies are distributed. During reunion weekends the College supports returning classes by hiring three or four students to liaise between the tents and the office.

NO TURN-DOWN SERVICE

Roughly 2,700 beds are reserved for alums who elect to stay on campus. They are located in most residence halls and Greek houses. Assistant director of residential life operations Patricia Hedin oversees this gargantuan task, which she terms a "controlled chaos operation." Hedin, who luckily has her B.A. in hotel management, places each alum and his or her family individually, grouping dormmates by similar age. First priority is given to those with special needs, but Hedin tries to honor individual requests—for a beloved sophomore-year dorm room, for instance. Sometimes an alum wants a certain room but can't recall its location. Hedin once had to send one former resident a dorms floor plans so the alum could visualize walking to the room requested. Not infrequently, Hedin fields requests for double beds, which she points out are not offered in student housing. "There are twin beds in our rooms so you can push them together if so inclined," says Hedin. The 50th reunion class is always placed in the East Wheelock cluster, which offers a large number of rooms and proximity to Alumni Gymnasium and its lawn, the site of many events.

HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE

During reunion weekends Dartmouth dorms operate like hotels with cash or credit cards accepted as payment. Basic amenities are provided. Approximately 90 undergraduate students serve as office clerks, manning computers at "the front desk" to monitor comings and goings, checking guests in each time they return to the dorm, helping with luggage, making beds, bringing extra pillows, etc. Shifts run from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. and the pay is $6.50 an hour, with $1 per hour extra for the head clerk and a 25-cent raise with each returning year of service. Students may receive—but not solicit—tips. Undergrads flock to apply for the job. The work is fun and the overtime pay is huge.

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

Safety & Security has more than once been called to escort an over-served alum back to his or her room. One year officers were called to Topliff to help an alumnus open a difficult door. They ended up escorting the inebriated man out of Topliff and into his actual room—in Wheeler.

UP, UP AND AWAY

There's always a hot air story associated with reunions, right? Orr recalls a member of the class of 1955 who came one year with his hot air balloon. In the morning he would plant himself in the middle of the Green and offer to take people on rides. 'At one point he was alone in the basket, tossed out his rope and sailed off. We saw him going over Baker Tower. Abit later we had a call from the Thetford [Vermont] police saying they had a guy in a balloon who landed in their dump."-A car was sent to pick up the errant enthusiast.

PRESIDENTIAL PRESENCE

President James Wright gives three speeches during the 10-day reunion period. The first is addressed to the 50th reunion class during a luncheon on Commencement Weekend. On the Tuesday and Saturday mornings of reunion week he gives a "State of the College" address and fields questions from his audiences. Additionally, Wright tries to visit every dinner at which a class gift is presented.

THE BEAT GOES ON

After the festivities die down on June 18, planning for the next year begins. Orr travels around the country to meet with the next group of reunion chairs, convening them again on campus in April. Classes need to designate a reunion committee by September and send out a first mailing by October. For the past few years the 65th and 70th reuning classes have held their celebrations in the fall. Over the years Orr has seen a huge change in the way classes handle their reunions, utilizing the Internet to communicate with classmates, register for events and post information on class Web pages. Enthusiasm, he says, has never changed.

QUOTE/UNQUOTE "We've had a lot of fun using the Chinese Year of the Dog to our whimsical advantage." SOTH REUNION CHAIR LINC SPAULMWG '56, WHOSE COMMITTEES INCLUDE "THE DOG POUND" AND "THE KENNELMATES."

BY THE NUMBERS And you thought that wedding you went to was big? A typical reunion weekend requires the following: Tents: 15 Tables: 300 Chairs: 5,000 Ice: 15,000 lbs. ON DECK Staffing gets a boost also. The following are on hand for reunion week: Custodians: 123 Electricians: 6 Carpenters: 2 Electronic techs: 2