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Bleyler January 2010
Dear Members of the Classes of 1961 and 1962,
The 199th meeting of the Alumni Council is now history, and it was an extremely interesting session. Following is the "headline news" section of my report to you:
* Mort Kondracke '60 and John Replogle '88 are the Alumni Council's choices to fill the two alumni-nominated seats on the Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. There are likely to be petition candidates also nominated for each open seat in the election this spring. Cast your ballot between March 10 and April 7.
* The 100th anniversary of the Dartmouth Outing Club has been a huge success. Alumni attempted to hike the Appalachian Trail in a day, and 94 percent of the freshman class took freshmen trips.
* The Dickey Center for International Understanding is putting Dartmouth at the forefront of preparing leaders to understand global problems and develop the complex strategies for tackling them.
* Dartmouth is No. 1 in undergraduate teaching among "national universities" (U.S. News & World Report). Our rank on the "national universities" list is affected by "peer assessment," which can be influenced by unattractive publicity and the changing opinions of academicians.
* The Visual Arts Center, paid for by a $50 million anonymous gift, "is making a statement about the centrality of the arts at Dartmouth," says associate dean Kate Conley.
* The strategy to make up for the 19.6 percent drop, 23 percent overall, in the value of the endowment is to make the tough cuts this year and build for a quick revival.
* Alumni interviews of applicants are more important now than ever, not only in the selection process but also in building the brand.
Ambassador Ken Yalowitz, the Director of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding gave a presentation, and began his remarks by recalling Dickey's introduction of the "Great Issues" class. Professor Yalowitz expressed support for President Jim Yong Kim's decision to bring back the course (which will occur during this year's summer term). Yalowitz stated that the Dickey Center was established in 1982 and summarized its three missions:
1. Support the liberal arts curriculum - through war and peace studies, global health initiatives, Swahili lessons, and an international studies minor
2. Provide international settings to students - through international internships, research overseas, and student international groups
3. Involve students in ongoing research at the Dickey Center - within the Global Health Initiative, Arctic Studies, and War & Peace studies programs.
More information on the Dickey Center can be found at http://dickey.dartmouth.edu/.
A presentation followed by David Spalding '76, vice president of Alumni Relations, on Dartmouth's reputation and rankings in response to many inquiries from alumni. He gave details on the excellence of Dartmouth, and went on to explain the disconnect between its high quality and its issues with some national rankings, including its score among peer assessment weighted rankings and the lack of recognition in most rankings in grad schools (except for Tuck). He also explained how U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, and the QS World University Rankings determine the methodology behind their rankings. Dartmouth College was rated No. 1 in "commitment to undergraduate teaching" (U.S. News & World Report, August 2009) and Tuck consistently does well. He concluded by stating that while peer assessment/reputation has its limitations as a measure of institutional quality, it is an indicator of what peers and others think about Dartmouth, and that reputations do matter - for admissions, employment, recruitment and retention, and external funding.
Wylie Collins '83, chair of the Enrollment and Admissions Committee, moderated a panel on student admissions, consisting of Dan Parish '89, director of admissions recruitment and communications; Colleen Wearn '06, assistant director of admissions; and Jeff Solomon '91, alumni interviewer from the Las Vegas area. Parish gave an update on the current state and role of alumni interviewing, providing interviewing data and current trends. Wearn then presented three case studies that displayed how alumni interviews were a factor in admissions staff's decisions. Solomon talked about his experience interviewing, and that he feels his role is to market the College. When interviewing, he looks for both passion and initiative in the candidates, and feels the conversation is a mutual learning experience.
In response to councilors' questions, the alumni interviewing panel provided the following information:
* Last year 33.2% of applicants rated as "outstanding" by alumni interviewers were admitted, which is much higher than the regular admission rate of 12.6% and slightly higher than the 32.5% admission rate for valedictorians.
* Alumni interviewers greatly help in providing local context for applicants (how well the groups in which they are involved perform locally/statewide).
Next on the agenda, Tom Daniels '82, chair of the Nominating and Alumni Trustee Search Committee, gave an overview of the committee, including its purpose, diversity of committee members, and search process, which involved the guiding principles, search criteria, due diligence/vetting, and, finally, the committee's recommendations. He then reported that the committee recommended Morton Kondracke '60, P'91, and John Replogle '88 to run for trustee of Dartmouth College, providing a biography of each candidate. Because petition trustee candidates are anticipated, only one nomination was made per open seat. If there are petition candidates, then each open seat will have head-to-head elections.
Daniels announced the candidates were present, at which time Kondracke and Replogle appeared before the Alumni Council to introduce themselves. The Alumni Council voted 89-1 (with no abstentions) to approve these candidates to run for the two Board of Trustees vacancies. Biographies of these two can be found on the official election website www.voxthevote.org.
Kate Conley, associate dean of the faculty for the arts and humanities, presented, "Moving Forward with the Arts at Dartmouth with the Visual Arts Center." During this presentation, she provided councilors with an update of the plans for the building, including the layout and how it will fit in with the aesthetic of the current campus. The Center will bring into focus the strong arts program at Dartmouth, and there will be an emphasis on teaching both the history and theory of the arts, along with hands-on production. Film and media studies will work together and complement the studio arts program - united in one building for the first time. There will also be a new digital humanities program.
Friday afternoon David Spalding made a presentation on the budget, a financial update and projections, the College's strategic framework, and next steps. The following morning, President Jim Yong Kim provided further details on his and the Trustees' program for addressing the College's financial crisis.
Because of the decline in the endowment, Dartmouth will reduce its workforce, examine staff and faculty salaries, slow or freeze the hiring of staff and faculty, and halt capital expansion (except for the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Building, which was already under way, and the Visual Arts Center, which has been paid for by an anonymous gift).
The main strategy approved by the Board of Trustees is to do the necessary restructuring now to enable a rapid recovery over the next five years. This strategy minimizes risk and reduces volatitility. But it does mean that there will be cuts. It was emphasized that the cuts will be "strategic," and not simply across-the board cuts.
President Kim also said that "cuts will not be as severe among the faculty, because that is core to the Dartmouth experience." He had heard some arguments that this was not fair to the staff, but Kim said, "This is not a social justice issue." The College will be looking for administrative efficiencies and business practices as cost savers. To view Kim's budget presentation, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HEN5J7jfuU.
In the student affairs committee, of which I'm a member, we had presentations by the Student Assembly President and Vice-President, by the President of the Graduate Student Council, and by a panel of three student-athletes. Bob Ceplikas '78, Acting Director of Athletics, provided an update on the scope of the athletics program, with a focus on the current financial condition of the College. Dartmouth participates in 34 varsity sports and almost as many club sports. Dartmouth's 34 varsity programs is the highest, by far, among the Ivy League schools.
In closing, I'd like to mention the Alumni Liaison Committee (ALC), which helps communicate alumni opinions to the Board of Trustees. The ALC has formalized that function by establishing a process by which all alumni input is tallied and sent along to the Trustees. To contact the ALC, the email address is: alc@alum.dartmouth.org. In fact, every message that any of send me in response to my communications, is forwarded to the ALC. If you ask questions that I can't answer, someone on the ALC will get the answer for me to respond.
Lastly, I want to alert you to the "Dartmouth channel" on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Dartmouth. There's a lot of "good stuff" to view. I recommend "Dartmouth Outdoors," which is an old film about the college and the DOC. My guess is that it was made some time in the '40s.
Pete Bleyler '61
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Bleyer June 2009
Dear Members of the Classes of 1961 and 1962,
The 198th meeting of the Dartmouth Alumni Council is now history, and I'm about to start my third and final year as representative for the Classes of 1961 and 1962. This means that both classes will be electing new councilors next year. This will complete the phase-in of the revised membership categories, with every class having their own representative. (Currently, the Constitution provides for three councilors to represent all classes from the 55th on out. During the recent AC meeting, a number of our older colleagues asked that this limit of three be reviewed, with the hopes of adding more for the older classes. The Executive Committee will be analyzing this situation.)
I thought the session was very good. It started late Thursday afternoon with student-alumni discussions on a variety of topics. As I am on the ad hoc committee to Support Greek Letter Organizations, I attended that discussion group. We had a wide-ranging discussion, and the topics included the conditions of physical plants, alumni involvement with the active brothers, faculty councilors, and the small number of sororities. Whereas the average fraternity has around 30 to 60 members, the sororities average around 150.
There was a plenary session Friday morning, and for me, the most interesting session was a panel of three veterans, two from the class of 2011 and the other from the class of 2010. Moderated by former Dean Ralph Manuel, the students briefly discussed their service in the Marines (all served at least one tour in Iraq), and how they happened to come to Dartmouth. One of them had been visited by President Wright while recuperating from injuries at Bethesda Naval Hospital. President Wright had given the veteran his business card, but with all the medication, he forgot about the visit and the conversation. Later on, after leaving the hospital and while thinking about attending college, he found the business card, and called President Wright. (The rest is history!)
Just prior to the meeting, we learned that President-elect Jim Yong Kim would make a short presentation to the Alumni Council and answer a few questions. I was "blown away" by him. It seemed to me that everyone was equally impressed with the person who will be leading our alma mater into the future. Here's what another Councilor wrote to her constituents about President-elect Kim:
"In the 20 minute speech he gave to us, he showed me that he not only has researched what Dartmouth is to its students and alumni, but that he gets Dartmouth in a way that very few people who have not been students at Dartmouth can do. He talked about how he was drawn to Dartmouth because of the love that Alumni feel for the College-the way that we get tears in our eyes as we describe Dartmouth and our experiences. He talked about the friendships people build at the College that last for a lifetime and how unique that is. He talked about how students are able to walk in and just talk to professors and get to know the people who are teaching them and how different that was from any of his previous experiences. He believes in what Dartmouth has been so intensely that he isn't looking to come in and completely change Dartmouth into his vision of a great university-he's looking to build upon what all of us have experienced and to make that Dartmouth experience as amazing as it can be for future students. He is focused on undergraduates, he is focused on improving the Greek System because he feels it is an important part of life at Dartmouth and he is focused on spending as much time as he has listening and learning about Dartmouth before he feels ready to come up with a full plan for his vision of the College because to him, it's not about what he wants or needs, it's about the students and alumni. He really truly has fallen in love with our College and I am so grateful for the way he has gone through this experience."
Someone from AD told me that when he was introduced to President-elect Kim, Dr. Kim said that he had read "Animal House."
President and Susan Wright hosted a cocktail reception at the President's home Friday evening before the dinner in Alumni Hall. Again this year, the Alumni Council meeting coincided with Green Key weekend, and it was difficult trying to walk to the reception when almost every student on campus was out dancing on Webster Avenue to several bands.
On Saturday morning, trustees Ed Haldeman '70 and Jose Fernandez '77 spoke and answered questions. Regarding the recent budget reductions, Ed Haldeman said that it was a difficult process, but with the endowment down 25 percent, some reductions were necessary. He is satisfied with the strategy, and supports the policy stating two items are off-limits when it comes to budget cuts: financial aid and the protection of academic programs and tenured faculty.
Jose Fernandez provided an update on the facilities on campus. Recently completed was Biondi Park at Red Rolfe Field, the Tuck Living and Learning complex, and the renovation of New Hampshire Hall dormitory. The College is still working on the Life Sciences Center (construction is underway and scheduled to be completed for fall 2011), a sorority house, and depending on the economic situation, a new Visual Arts Center, which is still under consideration.
Please let me hear any comments or questions that I can either answer, or get the answers for you.
Pete Bleyler '61
Dear Members of the Classes of 1961 and 1962,
The 199th meeting of the Alumni Council is now history, and it was an extremely interesting session. Following is the "headline news" section of my report to you:
* Mort Kondracke '60 and John Replogle '88 are the Alumni Council's choices to fill the two alumni-nominated seats on the Dartmouth College Board of Trustees. There are likely to be petition candidates also nominated for each open seat in the election this spring. Cast your ballot between March 10 and April 7.
* The 100th anniversary of the Dartmouth Outing Club has been a huge success. Alumni attempted to hike the Appalachian Trail in a day, and 94 percent of the freshman class took freshmen trips.
* The Dickey Center for International Understanding is putting Dartmouth at the forefront of preparing leaders to understand global problems and develop the complex strategies for tackling them.
* Dartmouth is No. 1 in undergraduate teaching among "national universities" (U.S. News & World Report). Our rank on the "national universities" list is affected by "peer assessment," which can be influenced by unattractive publicity and the changing opinions of academicians.
* The Visual Arts Center, paid for by a $50 million anonymous gift, "is making a statement about the centrality of the arts at Dartmouth," says associate dean Kate Conley.
* The strategy to make up for the 19.6 percent drop, 23 percent overall, in the value of the endowment is to make the tough cuts this year and build for a quick revival.
* Alumni interviews of applicants are more important now than ever, not only in the selection process but also in building the brand.
Ambassador Ken Yalowitz, the Director of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding gave a presentation, and began his remarks by recalling Dickey's introduction of the "Great Issues" class. Professor Yalowitz expressed support for President Jim Yong Kim's decision to bring back the course (which will occur during this year's summer term). Yalowitz stated that the Dickey Center was established in 1982 and summarized its three missions:
1. Support the liberal arts curriculum - through war and peace studies, global health initiatives, Swahili lessons, and an international studies minor
2. Provide international settings to students - through international internships, research overseas, and student international groups
3. Involve students in ongoing research at the Dickey Center - within the Global Health Initiative, Arctic Studies, and War & Peace studies programs.
More information on the Dickey Center can be found at http://dickey.dartmouth.edu/.
A presentation followed by David Spalding '76, vice president of Alumni Relations, on Dartmouth's reputation and rankings in response to many inquiries from alumni. He gave details on the excellence of Dartmouth, and went on to explain the disconnect between its high quality and its issues with some national rankings, including its score among peer assessment weighted rankings and the lack of recognition in most rankings in grad schools (except for Tuck). He also explained how U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, and the QS World University Rankings determine the methodology behind their rankings. Dartmouth College was rated No. 1 in "commitment to undergraduate teaching" (U.S. News & World Report, August 2009) and Tuck consistently does well. He concluded by stating that while peer assessment/reputation has its limitations as a measure of institutional quality, it is an indicator of what peers and others think about Dartmouth, and that reputations do matter - for admissions, employment, recruitment and retention, and external funding.
Wylie Collins '83, chair of the Enrollment and Admissions Committee, moderated a panel on student admissions, consisting of Dan Parish '89, director of admissions recruitment and communications; Colleen Wearn '06, assistant director of admissions; and Jeff Solomon '91, alumni interviewer from the Las Vegas area. Parish gave an update on the current state and role of alumni interviewing, providing interviewing data and current trends. Wearn then presented three case studies that displayed how alumni interviews were a factor in admissions staff's decisions. Solomon talked about his experience interviewing, and that he feels his role is to market the College. When interviewing, he looks for both passion and initiative in the candidates, and feels the conversation is a mutual learning experience.
In response to councilors' questions, the alumni interviewing panel provided the following information:
* Last year 33.2% of applicants rated as "outstanding" by alumni interviewers were admitted, which is much higher than the regular admission rate of 12.6% and slightly higher than the 32.5% admission rate for valedictorians.
* Alumni interviewers greatly help in providing local context for applicants (how well the groups in which they are involved perform locally/statewide).
Next on the agenda, Tom Daniels '82, chair of the Nominating and Alumni Trustee Search Committee, gave an overview of the committee, including its purpose, diversity of committee members, and search process, which involved the guiding principles, search criteria, due diligence/vetting, and, finally, the committee's recommendations. He then reported that the committee recommended Morton Kondracke '60, P'91, and John Replogle '88 to run for trustee of Dartmouth College, providing a biography of each candidate. Because petition trustee candidates are anticipated, only one nomination was made per open seat. If there are petition candidates, then each open seat will have head-to-head elections.
Daniels announced the candidates were present, at which time Kondracke and Replogle appeared before the Alumni Council to introduce themselves. The Alumni Council voted 89-1 (with no abstentions) to approve these candidates to run for the two Board of Trustees vacancies. Biographies of these two can be found on the official election website www.voxthevote.org.
Kate Conley, associate dean of the faculty for the arts and humanities, presented, "Moving Forward with the Arts at Dartmouth with the Visual Arts Center." During this presentation, she provided councilors with an update of the plans for the building, including the layout and how it will fit in with the aesthetic of the current campus. The Center will bring into focus the strong arts program at Dartmouth, and there will be an emphasis on teaching both the history and theory of the arts, along with hands-on production. Film and media studies will work together and complement the studio arts program - united in one building for the first time. There will also be a new digital humanities program.
Friday afternoon David Spalding made a presentation on the budget, a financial update and projections, the College's strategic framework, and next steps. The following morning, President Jim Yong Kim provided further details on his and the Trustees' program for addressing the College's financial crisis.
Because of the decline in the endowment, Dartmouth will reduce its workforce, examine staff and faculty salaries, slow or freeze the hiring of staff and faculty, and halt capital expansion (except for the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Building, which was already under way, and the Visual Arts Center, which has been paid for by an anonymous gift).
The main strategy approved by the Board of Trustees is to do the necessary restructuring now to enable a rapid recovery over the next five years. This strategy minimizes risk and reduces volatitility. But it does mean that there will be cuts. It was emphasized that the cuts will be "strategic," and not simply across-the board cuts.
President Kim also said that "cuts will not be as severe among the faculty, because that is core to the Dartmouth experience." He had heard some arguments that this was not fair to the staff, but Kim said, "This is not a social justice issue." The College will be looking for administrative efficiencies and business practices as cost savers. To view Kim's budget presentation, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HEN5J7jfuU.
In the student affairs committee, of which I'm a member, we had presentations by the Student Assembly President and Vice-President, by the President of the Graduate Student Council, and by a panel of three student-athletes. Bob Ceplikas '78, Acting Director of Athletics, provided an update on the scope of the athletics program, with a focus on the current financial condition of the College. Dartmouth participates in 34 varsity sports and almost as many club sports. Dartmouth's 34 varsity programs is the highest, by far, among the Ivy League schools.
In closing, I'd like to mention the Alumni Liaison Committee (ALC), which helps communicate alumni opinions to the Board of Trustees. The ALC has formalized that function by establishing a process by which all alumni input is tallied and sent along to the Trustees. To contact the ALC, the email address is: alc@alum.dartmouth.org. In fact, every message that any of send me in response to my communications, is forwarded to the ALC. If you ask questions that I can't answer, someone on the ALC will get the answer for me to respond.
Lastly, I want to alert you to the "Dartmouth channel" on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Dartmouth. There's a lot of "good stuff" to view. I recommend "Dartmouth Outdoors," which is an old film about the college and the DOC. My guess is that it was made some time in the '40s.
Pete Bleyler '61
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March 2009
Dear Members of the Classes of ’61 and ’62,
As your Alumni Council representative, I want to remind you that the Association of Alumni elections will be held from March 25 through May 6. While the slate of candidates for the Association Executive Committee is running unopposed, there is an important constitutional amendment on the ballot concerning procedures for nominating trustees. At the Alumni Council meeting this past December, this amendment was discussed, and the Council voted to recommend its adoption.
This amendment, developed over several months by the combined leadership of the Association of Alumni and the Alumni Council, will impact how members of the Board of Trustees are nominated through alumni elections and the manner in which elections are conducted. The amendment is intended to simplify, clarify, and strengthen the election process, and help to advance continuing discussions with the Board of Trustees about the prospect of increasing the number of alumni-nominated trustees.
The amendment will:
- simplify voting by adopting a one person/one vote procedure;
- preserve, unchanged, the ability of petitioners to run in alumni trustee elections, and
- assure that the winner receives a majority of the total votes cast.
With this amendment, the Alumni Council will first nominate either one or two candidates for each vacancy. Assuming, based on consistent recent history, that at least one petition candidate will thereafter also be nominated, it is expected that this procedure will promote head to head elections. Alumni will cast only one vote for each vacancy according to the familiar, well-understood one person/one vote procedure. If there are three or more candidates for any one vacancy and no one receives an absolute majority of the votes cast, there will be a runoff election between the top two vote getters, thereby assuring that the winner will receive a majority of the votes cast.
In order to pass, the amendment must receive at least two-thirds of the votes cast in the election. I encourage all of you to vote in this election. Please see the “Frequently Asked Questions” at the following URL link: URL link:
http://alumni.dartmouth.edu/news.aspx?id=483 .
Pete Bleyler ‘61
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May 2008
Dear Classmates of '61 and '62,
There seems to be a lot happening at Dartmouth at the moment: a search for a new President, the election of Association of Alumni officers, continuing discussions about Governance, and the upcoming Alumni Council meeting on May 15 to 17. On April 18 ? 20, the new soccer stadium, named in honor of Coach Alden "Whitey" Burnham, and the Sports Pavilion, were dedicated. The Sports Pavilion, located between the new state-of-the-art soccer field and the Scully Fahey field, provides locker rooms for the men's and women's soccer teams in the fall, and the lacrosse teams in the spring. The following weekend saw the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Nelson A. Rockefeller's birth and the 25th anniversary of the RockefellerCenter at Dartmouth. Many of Rockefeller's family were in attendance for the events, which included lectures by Christy Todd Whitman and historian Richard Norton Smith, and a reception/dinner at the Top-of-the-Hop and Alumni Hall.
But, I digress. As I am our classes' representative on the Alumni Council, I'm seeking your input and questions that I can take to the meeting in mid-May. You can check out the agenda at http://alumni.dartmouth.edu/default.aspx?id=474.
At the Alumni Council meeting, we will be asked to approve three amendments to the Council's Constitution. The first two of these are fairly routine. For example, one amendment extends the term of the faculty representative on the Alumni Council from two to three years.
It is proposed that the wording of Article VI 4.A and Article IV 3 of the Constitution be replaced with the following text:
"ARTICLE VI 4.A -- Faculty Representative
4. The Council shall have the following non-voting liaison representatives:
A. One person selected from the General Faculty of DartmouthCollege for a three-year term."
"ARTICLE IV 3. -- ALC
3. Alumni Liaison Committee. The Alumni Liaison Committee shall be a committee of the Council, consisting of the President, the President-elect, and immediate past-President of the Council, the Presidents of the Association of Alumni during their term on the Alumni Council (or the first or second vice presidents of the Association of Alumni, in the event they are members of the Council pursuant to Article VI.3.L of this Constitution), three current Council members elected by the Alumni Council for staggered three-year terms, and three members of the Association of Alumni elected by the Alumni Council for staggered three-year
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Bleyler April 2008
Dear Members of the Classes of 1961 and 1962,
The 198 th meeting of the Alumni Council will convene on Thursday, May 14. If you have any issues that you would like me to bring up at the meeting, please hit your “reply” button and let me hear from you. Same thing for any questions you might have that I can get answers for.
The meeting starts off Thursday afternoon with five student-alumni discussion groups on five different topics. This is followed by an informal dinner with the students.
We will have a plenary session Friday morning, with presentations by faculty, administration, and students. We’ll also have the opportunity to attend a class.
Friday afternoon will be the committee meetings. I am on the Student Affairs committee, and also on a sub-committee in support of Greek Letter organizations. The Student Affairs committee is involved with almost every aspect of student life, including athletics, academics, out-of-classroom experience, etc. Again, if you have any questions or comments, please let me hear from you.
President and Susan Wright will, once again, host a reception at the President’s home Friday evening, followed by dinner. The dinner will conclude with Jim Wright’s final address to the Alumni Council.
Pete Bleyler ‘61
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Bleyler January 2008
Dear Classmates in '61 and '62,
First, a quick update on the College governance front. Last week the parties in the lawsuit met in the Grafton County Courthouse on the issue of the College's motion to dismiss. There was a lively discussion, including reference to Daniel Webster's famous "It's a small college, Sir...." remarks. After the testimony, the Judge made no decision. It will be continued at a future date.
Meanwhile, in the New Hampshire legislature, a member of the House has introduced a bill that would restore the State's control over the College's charter. Up until 2003, the State had to approve any changes in Dartmouth's charter, and this goes all the way back to the founding of the College. The legislature passed a law in 2003 to eliminate the State's involvement in Dartmouth's charter, so the current bill is to overturn that law. My wife, Ruth, is a NH state representative, and she plans on voting against this bill, if it gets out of committee.
In my last message to you all, I mentioned the students campaign to make the Moose the College mascot. I asked for your thoughts on this and the responses I received are the following:
Gut feeling is that it is too hokey. Agree The Big Green is inadequate.
The moose is among the dumbest vertebrates in the wilderness. If that is the direction in which Dartmouth wants to move, so be it.
I'm for the Moose or any other thing that can be represented and cheered for (not a color).
I support the moose as the mascot.
I'm not excited about the "moose" as a Dartmouth College mascot--- it does nothing for me.... Besides, I believe Colby College (ME) already has the moose...
Mascot - Good idea. As far as I'm concerned, Dartmouth currently doesn't have a mascot. What's a "green"? A big lawn doesn't appear to be a symbol to be cheered on at an athletic even. By the way, my Colby College (Waterville, ME) daughter tells me Colby is also considering adopting the moose as their mascot.
I see a potential problem and I am surprised those floating the idea have
not included an explanation on how to deal with the obvious: what is the
plural of "Moose", as in "Go Indians". Go Meese? Yes, I am serious.
The Moose or "Dartmoose" works for me.
I think the Moose as a college mascot is a great idea. Fits with the territory. Beats running around as a Pine Tree. Smart animal in many ways.
I prefer the moose to the green blob or keggy!
I think the moose would make a fine mascot. A moose would certainly be more appropriate than a block of New Hampshire Granite. We could adopt Gifford's "Moose Tracks" ice cream as the official Dartmouth ice cream and Harry and David's Moose munch as the official Dartmouth snack.
Pete Bleyler '61
Alumni Council Representative for the Classes of 1961 and 1962
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Bleyler December 2007 Alumni Council Meeting of November 29 - December 1, 2007 Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 2:21:51 PM
Subject: Message from Dartmouth Alumni Council Representative for the Classes of 1961 and 1962
Dear Members of the Classes of '61 and '62,
I'm writing to you about the Alumni Council meeting on November 29 - December 1. An orientation session for new members was held Thursday afternoon. This was followed by a reception in the Hood Museum, including remarks by Director Brian Kennedy, and dinner in the Daniel Webster Room at the Inn.
Friday morning started off with committee meetings, and I'm assigned to the one on Student Life. That was a pretty good session, and the meeting was attended by the head of the student assembly and other students, We listened as the students described some of their key issues, such as inadequate housing for graduate students. A panel of students discussed programs to bring the increasingly diverse student body together, to overcome ignorance and bias. We also heard about the students promoting the "moose" as the College's mascot. (Students would like to get input from alumni on this. If you respond to me, I'll pass the information on to the students as well as let you all know what people think about this idea.)
We were in plenary sessions for the rest of the two-day meeting. The first order of business was to discuss and vote on the proposed Alumni Council constitution. After the presentation by the committee that developed it, the Council approved the new constitution by a 96% in favor vote. (I voted in favor.) More information on the new Constitution can be found on the Dartmouth web-site.
A panel that included Josie Harper, Director of Athletics and Recreation, Carrie Pelzel, VP for Development, Adam Keller, EVP for Finance and Administration, Barry Scherr, Provost, and Carol Folt, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, answered questions that were posed by the session moderator. While certainly not a complete overview of the entire Q&A session, a few of the interesting points that I wrote down include:
There are over 200 student organizations on campus. These include the Greek Houses, as well as organizations sponsored or supported by The Tucker Foundation, The Dickey Center, Rockefeller Center, and COSO, the committee on student organizations.
There are 600 to 700 graduate students in Arts and Sciences, and a total graduate population of well over 1,000 when Tuck, Thayer, and the Medical School are included.
Between 2001 and 2006, the administrative staff increased 1.1% per year while faculty increased 3% per year. Many of the new administrative staff are in development, due to the capital campaign for the Dartmouth Experience. Other increases in administrative staff are due to legal compliance, mandated by the government, and for college-provided childcare.
Students sign up for 37,000 classes over the course of a year, and about 1,000, or 3%, are "closed out," meaning the student cannot get into that class. About 25% of these are in Studio Art, and Economic and Government classes are also large. (Some of the faculty increases are in these two departments to alleviate this situation.)
At the beginning of the fall term, the football team decided to "go dry," i.e., refrain from alcohol, during the season.
Since Jim Wright became President almost $1.1 billion has been spent on building construction.
Another session included two members of the Board of Trustees. While they didn't talk too much about the lawsuit, they did discuss the "teaching" vs. "research" issue that seems to be a hot topic among alumni. What I inferred from this discussion is that the Board wants to have the best undergraduate teaching college or university in the country (or world). However, to get the best teachers, the college needs to provide them the opportunity to advance their knowledge and stay abreast of the rapid changes in their field. They need to "teach what they learn," and not simply "teach what they were taught." Students, also, are demanding the opportunity for undergraduate research.
During Saturday morning's session, a resolution was submitted to express disappoint and disapproval of Trustee Todd Zywicki's public remarks. The Council was unanimous in the belief that a statement should be made, while the actual resolution was passed with 62 in favor, 1 against, and 1 abstention. (I voted in favor). The resolution reads:
The Allumni Council expresses disappointment and disapproval of the behavior of the Alumni-nominated Trustee Todd Zywicki.
It is inappropriate, and contrary to Dartmouth's best interests, for a Trustee publicly to:
§ Criticize the motives of those Alumni who donate to the College;
§ Disparage a former College President by referring to him as a "truly evil man";
§ Promote giving to institutions other than Dartmouth, at the College's expense;
§ Accuse College faculty and administrators of godlessness and lack of patriotism; and
§ Make false statements and misleading statements about Dartmouth and its history.
The last session of the meeting was a panel discussion of four members of the executive committee of the Association of Alumni. Representing two of the six members who voted to sue the College were Tim Dreisbach and Frank Gado. Representing those who voted against the lawsuit were Bill Hutchinson, President of the Association, and David Spaulding, VP of Alumni Affairs. Each member of the panel made an initial 5-minute speech, and this was followed by a long comments and Q&A period. While a lot of different points representing diverse points of view were expressed, I'm not sure anyone changed their mind. Anecdotally, there seemed to be a good number of Councilors who opposed the Trustee decision to expand the size of the Board while not retaining parity between "charter" and "alumni" trustees. However, this group was also opposed to bringing a lawsuit.
More details of the meeting can be found on the Dartmouth web-site: Click on "alumni" and then "office of alumni affairs" and then "alumni council.
Pete Bleyler '61
Alumni Council Representative for the Classes of 1961 and 1962
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