The Great Class of 1965

Meeting '06: Scholarship Fund

WELCOME TO OUR SITE

Class of ’65 Executive Committee Meeting
Scholarship Fund
Reporting From The July 10, 2006 Meeting
At Bill Webster's Home in Old Saybrook, CT
 
Present
Jim Griffiths, Bob Blake, Bob McConnaughey, John Sottile, Ken McGruther,
Bob Murphy, Jim Hamilton, Mike Gonnerman, Doug Leitch, Stu Keiller, Tucky Mays, Bill Webster, Hank Amon, Brian Porzak and Roger Hansen
 

dartmouth65officerssummermtg022_hank_x90x90_sharp.jpg
Hank Amon
Alumni Council
Past:  President.
Alumni Fund,
Newsletter
 

 

In 1998, the Class of 1965 established the Class of 1965 Scholarship Fund with the goal of raising annual contributions to the Fund of $25,000, based upon a fiscal year of June 30. 

The Scholarship Fund has operated on the basis that, for each $50,000 contributed to the Fund, the College would designate one Class of 1965 Scholar.  If it were able to achieve its goal, the Class of 1965 would ultimately have during each academic year four Class of 1965 Scholars, one in each Class. 

As of June 30, 2000, the Class had raised its initial $50,000 and the first Class of 1965 Scholar was named by the College.  At June 30, 2002 and June 30, 2004, the Class of 1965 had raised additional amounts of $50,000, respectively, thereby entitling the Class to three Class of 1965 Scholars. 

As of June 30, 2006, the Class of 1965 achieved its ultimate goal of raising $200,000 and will now be able to support four Class of 1965 Scholars. 

The Class of 1965 Scholars for the 2005/2006 year were Orinola A. Gbadebo-Smith ’06, Kale S. Bongers ’07 and Christopher A. Farmer ’08.

At its annual fall mini-reunion in Hanover, the Class of 1965 invites one of the Class of 1965 Scholars to attend its dinner on Saturday evening at Pierce’s Inn and to comment on his/her experiences at Dartmouth.

"Hank"

 

Dartmouth Alumni Council
May 18-20, 2006 Meeting
Hanover, New Hampshire
 
To:  Members of the Classes of 1965 and 1966:
As your representative on the Alumni Council, I attended the 192nd meeting of the Dartmouth College Alumni Council on May 18-20, 2006 in Hanover.
Association of Alumni Constitution
The highlight of the meeting was the unanimous vote of the Alumni Council to adopt the proposed new constitution for the Association of Alumni, as recommended and presented by the Alumni Governance Task Force (AGTF), chaired by Joe Stevenson, Class of 1957.  As many of you know, the AGTF was commissioned by the presidents of the Alumni Council and the Association of Alumni in February, 2004.  The AGTF was asked to address the deficiencies of the current alumni governance system and to produce a single unifying constitution for the Council and the Association.  The proposed Alumni Association constitution seeks to invigorate Dartmouth alumni governance and strengthen the traditional partnership between Dartmouth and her alumni. 
Under the proposed constitution, the voice of alumni will be strengthened by (a) an innovative Alumni Liaison Board with a direct, meaningful relationship with the Board of Trustees, (b) a widely representative Alumni Assembly of approximately 125 members (which will take the place of the Alumni Council and where each Class up to the 50th reunion will have its own representative) and (c) a trustee nomination process that encourages two-candidate elections (with one-person, one-vote balloting), making it easier to be a petition candidate and substantially leveling the playing field for all as regards campaigning.  The proposed constitution is the result of debate and compromise over a two-year period by the AGTF,  which comprises nine members, several of whom have been publicly at odds over the past five years but have now found unanimity in drafting and agreeing upon this proposed document.
The proposed Alumni Association constitution will be distributed to all 66,500 Dartmouth alumni beginning in mid-June, and an alumni wide vote to adopt the constitution will be commenced in September.  A two-thirds vote of alumni voting by mail and other appropriate means will be required to enact the new constitution.  All members of the Classes of 1965 and 1966 are urged to read the proposed constitution and related documents when they are received and to cast their votes.  If anyone has any questions regarding the proposed constitution, I would certainly be pleased to try to answer them. 
Dartmouth Student Body
The 192nd meeting of the Alumni Council witnessed much greater involvement among Councillors and the student body at Dartmouth.  In addition to a lobster dinner held with the Class of 2006 in Leverone Field House on Thursday evening (at which members of the senior class and Councillors sat with each other at numerous tables for eight), students also joined Councillors for lunch on Friday at the Hanover Inn and participated in small-group discussions on various topics.  Further, Councillors were, for the first time, offered an opportunity to attend undergraduate classes and to witness first hand today’s students (and professors) in action.
Athletics Committee
As a member of the Athletics Committee of the Alumni Council, I attended a meeting on Friday morning at which Athletic Director, Josie Harper, Assistant Athletic Director, Bob Ceplikas, and various members of their respective staffs were present.  The meeting was held in the renovated Alumni Gym (the renovations are nearing completion and are quite spectacular; the new fitness center is truly state-of-the-art).  Josie, as she does every six months, provided an overview of the state of Dartmouth athletics including not only varsity sports but also club and intramural sports.  She reported that Dartmouth coaches were “generally pleased” with the admission level of recruited student athletes in the Class of 2010 and indicated that the Athletic and Admissions Departments had worked much more closely this past year in the review process.  Bob Ceplikas then described all of the new athletic facilities being constructed, including Varsity House behind the east stands at the football field and the new artificial turf football field that will be installed for the 2006 season. 
The Committee discussion focused primarily on the state of club sports which now comprise 26 different clubs (many of which have achieved national prominence) and involve some 900 students.  There is a demand for the College to recognize additional club sports (for example, women’s lacrosse and women’s soccer have filed applications) but budgetary and space limitations prevent any additional recognition at this time.  The Committee was presented with a Student Assembly Report entitled “Club Sports at Dartmouth” which lamented the lack of facilities and College funding available for club sports at Dartmouth.  I would note that, when junior varsity and freshman teams were eliminated some years ago, club sports saw an immediate growth in interest and activity.  After much discussion and comments from the student representatives at its meeting, the Athletics Committee unanimously adopted a resolution calling upon the College, as a top priority, to install at least one new artificial turf field near Sachem Field which would be available primarily for club and intramural sports. 
Alumni Survey
During a plenary session of the Alumni Council, it was revealed that the Communications Committee is working on an alumni survey which will hopefully be undertaken next year.  This survey of all Dartmouth alumni will be the first attempt in a number of years to measure Alumni sentiment on a host of issues.
Class of 2010
At the Saturday luncheon, Karl Furstenberg, Director of Admissions, reported on the enrollment of the Class of 2010.  This past year Dartmouth received 13,937 applications, a record, surpassing the 12,756 applications received for the Class of 2009.  Of those who applied, 2,149 were admitted and 1,083 will matriculate.  The Class of 2010 will be 48.5% male and 51.5% female, the highest female level in the past five years.  Roughly two-thirds of the new Class come from public schools and one-third from private schools.  The geographic distribution is consistent with past years, with 6.6% of the students being classified as “international”.  Approximately 30% of the incoming class are students of color, with Asian American being the largest single group (13.7%).  Fully one-third were valevictorians and approximately 92% were in the top 10% of their respective high school classes.  Finally, of note, 11% (119 students) of the Class of 2010 are legacies.
Kate Aiken’92
At Friday’s dinner, Kate Aiken, Class of 1992 and daughter of Jim Aiken, Class of 1965, was presented with the “Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award” by the President of the Alumni Council.  Jim and his wife were on hand to witness the presentation.  Congratulations to Kate!
I wish everyone an excellent summer and would be pleased to hear from you regarding any matters concerning Dartmouth (camon@whitecase.com).  The next meeting of the Alumni Council (and perhaps last, if the new constitution is adopted) will take place in Hanover on November 30 - December 2, 2006.
Hank Amon, Class of 1965