Eight members of Class of 1929 were expected to hail back to their College years this weekend when they returned to Hanover for their 70th reunion.
While they were looking forward to the reunion, they have not planned too many activities. "It gets difficult when you are 92 years old," Charles Dudley '29, reunion chair, said. "We will have events as long as we can stay awake."
In addition to eight members of the class, there were about 40 people affiliated with the Class of 1929 coming back to the Upper Valley including family members, Harold Ripley '29 said.
"The College pretty much takes care of us," Ripley said.
The Class of 1929 had a memorial service on Saturday morning led by Rev. Fred Berthold Jr. '45, emeritus professor of religion. That was followed by a class picture in front of Webster Hall.
They hosted a dinner with the head of the Dickey Endowment for International Understanding, named after former College President and member of the Class of 1929, John Sloan Dickey.
Michael Mastanduno, Director of the Dickey Center and Professor of Government gave the speech in Drake Room in Hanover Inn.
A concert by the Dartmouth Dodecaphonics a cappella group followed the speech.
Dudley recalls his own college years and said, "We had a lot of love for the College."
Dudley, who belonged to a national fraternity, said he thinks fraternities used to behave better than they do now and were well maintained.
"The fraternity was like our home. We maintained it beautifully. Rugs weren't torn down, wall papers weren't falling apart," Dudley said.
He also said the fraternities back then were "better self-disciplined" than today's fraternities.
"We kicked someone out of the fraternity because he took a girl upstairs. We disciplined ourselves well," Dudley said.
Asked about the Trustee's initiative, Dudley said although some of the fraternities do not behave well and give the College a bad reputation, there are other ways to control them.
One the other hand, Ripley said he backs College President James Wright and the College's administration.
"I was hoping that Jim Wright would become the president, he did and with the new policy I trust him," Ripley said.
"Whatever he does, I'll go along with him."
