Fellow members of the Dartmouth College community:
As president of the Class of 1953, the 50th reunion Class, I am delighted by the opportunity to discuss two issues with you in this op-ed piece.
As we, the Class of 1953, reflect back on our undergraduate years there can be no doubt that one of our most memorable, most influential and most stimulating experiences was the "Great Issues" course taken by all seniors. With the whole class assembled in Dartmouth Hall, we were treated to lectures and discussions on the broad topics of the day -- political, economic, scientific and cultural. Some of the speakers who addressed us in 1952-53 were: Lester Markel, Sunday editor of the New York Times; Norman Thomas, leader of the Socialist Party; N.H. Congressman Norris Cotton; Leon Keyserling, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors; Clarence Randall, president of Inland Steel; Thurgood Marshall, NCAA Director; McGeorge Bundy, Harvard professor of Government; Barbara Ward, assistant editor of The Economist; Paul Tillich, professor at Union Theological Seminary; Robert Frost, professor at Dartmouth College; and last, but not least, John Sloan Dickey, president of Dartmouth College.
But the course went well beyond the stimulation of good speakers and interesting topics. We were challenged to read up on each of the great issues under discussion in multiple media sources and to report on the difference in the media coverage. What an eye-opener that was for us all! Throughout my career in the investment management field I often reflected on the value of that "Great Issues" course in opening the mind via the forced concentration on the bias, slant and spin exposed by thoughtful study of media coverage of identical or similar stories and topics.
The Great Issues course has long since been discontinued, and this seems to me a great loss to the College and the whole Dartmouth community. I realize the difficulties of structuring an interdisciplinary course -- I'm sure there are many -- but I am equally sure that the problem is solvable and that never has such an educational experience been more needed. The education of today is outstanding when examined from a single discipline approach, and we are all in awe of what great, but special, skills the graduates of today have.
Yet the problems of today, on a broad basis are "inter-disciplinary" -- in economic and political terms particularly. Dartmouth graduates of 2003 will be well prepared to meet the challenges of the future, I'm sure. But they would be better able to do so if they had had the "Great Issues" experience that we were privileged to enjoy.
One other difference I have with the College administration is the issue of class trusts. We, the Class of 1953, established a class trust to be turned over to Dartmouth at this time, June 2003, as part of our class gift to the College. Working with the administration, we have structured the gift to go toward a new, and badly needed, commons building on the North Campus -- the "Class of 1953 Commons" building.
If all Dartmouth classes, including the Class of 2003, were encouraged to form their own trust, I am convinced that the payoff in financial terms for Dartmouth would be huge. Incidentally, the Class of 1954 at Yale, whose trust served as our model, will make a huge gift to Yale next year from their class trust.
Yet the College has not encouraged class trusts. I admit that class trusts are managed, in an investment sense, differently than College funds, and that differences over use of the proceeds can be an issue. But the class involvement and consequent fundraising experience more than offsets those difficulties. Many extra millions of dollars could be raised annually if class trusts were encouraged at Dartmouth.
The Dartmouth community is a wonderful one and one that my wife and I look forward to being part of when we soon become Hanover residents. But no great college or community can rest on its laurels -- change is inevitable and to be welcomed. Therefore, I urge the College administration to once again reconsider the re-introduction of the "Great Issues" course and to urge all classes, in the earliest years (or months!) after graduation to create class trusts for the benefit of Dartmouth College -- and therefore for the benefit of the whole community.
