Perceived by many to be a "radical idea" during its conception, the Rockefeller Center, now two decades old, has become a pillar of Dartmouth's reputation in the world outside Hanover.
Celebrations are underway as Rocky -- officially called the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences -- commemorates its 20th anniversary this year.
Rocky, which was dedicated in September 1983, is marking the occasion with a series of programs on the theme "Civic Responsibility: Personal Action-Public Impact."
Rocky's current director, government professor Linda Fowler, has served since July of 1995 and has in the past year declared her intentions to leave the position. Before becoming the fourth director of the Rockefeller Center, Fowler taught at the Maxwell School of Public Affairs and Citizenship at Syracuse University.
She has worked both in Congress and with the Environmental Protection Agency.
"My first objective when I got here in '95 was to build the student side [of Rocky]. When I arrived, there was one student organization," Fowler said. "My theory is that these organizations exist and are able to survive because students feel a need for them in the community."
"Another part of my mission was to create social spaces where students have fun talking about important questions," she added.
Indeed, Rocky in 2004 often clamors with noise into the evening, as students meet for volunteer dinner discussion groups to discuss politics, foreign policy and legal affairs.
Guest speakers ranging from state legislators to presidential hopefuls have also entered Rocky's doors with regularity, with the center becoming one of New England's hubs for political attention every four years.
Rocky hosted this year's "Every Woman Counts" Democratic Presidential Forum Jan. 25 with presidential candidates Howard Dean, Joe Lieberman and Dennis Kucinich. Other distinguished guests to the Rockefeller Center have included Sandra Day O'Connor, Robert Reich '68, George Mitchell, William Kristol, Rudy Giuliani and Robert McNamara.
Of the Center's mission, Fowler said that under her direction Rocky has become "much more oriented towards undergraduates."
"It is my hope that the undergraduate programs continue not only to flourish but to expand," Fowler said, adding that the current generation of college students is the "most engaged in community activities of any generation since the Cold War," but that the same group is also the most politically disengaged. She pointed to the Rockefeller Center as an outlet for such political participation.
Many student organizations are associated with the Rockefeller Center. The Daniel Webster Legal Society, Women in Politics, the First Year Forum and the Dartmouth College Undergraduate Journal of Law are Rocky affiliates.
This academic year's celebratory series "Civic Responsibility: Personal Action-Public Impact" has featured author and political satirist P.J. O'Rourke and senior political strategist Donna Brazile, a lecture series on democracy in the Middle East with speaker Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan and Supreme Court Justice Steven Breyer.
Rocky is also undergoing an "ambitious effort to raise money to underwrite an array of programs to further students in developing interest and building careers in areas of public service," Fowler said. "Students who want to do other things should be supported. And of course my own belief is that a critical part of that is training for citizenship."
Rocky is also planning to have a major speaker on campus this spring, but Fowler declined to give a name.
Upcoming events at Rocky include Monday's lecture on "Piety and Public Policy" by Reason magazine editor Cathy Young and Tuesday's "Memory and the Monument after 9/11: Deliberations at Ground Zero" by James Young, a juror on the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition panel.
a novel idea
The Rockefeller Center was the brainchild of Dartmouth's 13th president, John Kemeny, who proposed the idea in 1979. The proposition was then considered radical; interdisciplinary studies and public policy programs were novel concepts at the time.
Rockefeller's namesake, Nelson Rockefeller '30, graduated from Dartmouth with a bachelor's degree in economics.
Rockefeller served as Trustee of the College from 1942 to 1952 and helped establish the Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts. He was later elected governor of New York and served four terms in office.
Rockefeller also served as vice president under Gerald Ford. His death in 1979 prompted his family to consider donating a monument to the College.
The Rockefeller family agreed that a building dedicated to economics, social science and public affairs would be a fitting memorial to a person dedicated to public service.
When Rockefeller was at the College, he was nicknamed "Rocky" his freshman year. He played varsity soccer, was an executive member of Cabin and Trial and was a member of the senior society Casque and Gauntlet.
Rockefeller graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was one of five participants in the very first Senior Fellows program.
While at Dartmouth, Rockefeller tried to avoid the public eye. According to a biography, he had to duck out of sight when photographers started taking pictures at a Dartmouth-Army soccer game.
He told his coach Tom Dent, "If we get our picture in the paper, father cuts our allowance."
Once at a Hanover restaurant, Rockefeller tried cashing a $2 check signed by his father. The manager refused to accept it, saying, "I've had students try to cash checks signed by Christopher Columbus and Jesus Christ, but never one by John D. Rockefeller, Jr."
Lo Yi Chan '54 of the Prentice and Chan firm in New York City designed the building that bears Rockefeller's name. The iron top was designed and constructed by Dimitri Gerakaris '69, and serves as a snow guard as well as a decoration on the portico.
Among other things, the Rockefeller Center endeavors to develop undergraduates' potential for leadership, support high quality research on policy-related topics and foster campus dialogue about policy issues, according to its mission statement.
Rocky's website describes itself as "a catalyst for public policy research and education and prepares students for lives of leadership and service in a diverse and globally interdependent world."
Rocky also offers a public policy minor and sponsors a Dartmouth-Oxford exchange program for undergraduate students. In addition, it hosts a Leadership Fellows Program for undergraduates.
