As we march toward our 50th reunion it is interesting to reflect on what we were doing 50 years ago. When we returned to Hanover for our sophomore year it seemed like there was change, often troubling change, on every hand. On the purely local level we found Hanover about to install its first traffic light and the Hopkins Center was completed and standing on the Green. The College said it was to fill a “cultural vacuum.” Some ’65s thought the opportunities presented were a godsend. Others did not even want to go inside to pick up their mail. 


While 416 students in Hanover pledged fraternities that fall, creating many lasting bonds, people were dying on the University of Mississippi campus. Gov. Ross Barnett defied a federal court order and continued to refuse James Meredith admission to the university. On October 1 troops quelled rioting in which two men were killed. President Kennedy federalized the Mississippi National Guard to prevent a clash between state and army troops. 


President Kennedy announced that the United States was imposing a “quarantine” on Cuba to stop the Soviets from “turning Cuba into an offensive military base capable of raining nuclear destruction on all the Americas.” Early on Monday, October 21, the NROTC secretary called every student in the unit. She alarmed them by saying that she needed to verify their personal information because the president wanted to call up all reserve forces to deal with the Cuban crisis. Only then did she say that she was just making sure that the ROTC members would not be affected and could stay in school. Everyone was nervous then but did not know for decades how close we came to nuclear war in those early days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The College published civil defense instructions and air raid procedures: ROTC students were to report to the gym, all other students were to return to their dorms and close exterior doors and windows. Faculty members were to dismiss classes and either return home or go (with families) to the lower corridor of Baker Library. After Premier Khrushchev announced that he would remove the missiles, the situation calmed down and we could focus on studies and football.


Headlines of The Daily Dartmouth on October 29 seemed to capture the major events of our world: “Threat to World Peace Reduced as Soviets Announce Withdrawal of Their Missile Bases in Cuba” ran alongside “Indian Eleven Blasts Crimson 24-6.” Coach Blackman had introduced his three-platoon system for a football team that was picked to finish third in the Ivy League. Several of our classmates served on the Tomahawks and the Savages. Cantey Davis, Pete Frederick, Dick Horton, Ed Keible, Jaan Lumi, Jack McLean, Dave Perinchief, Pete Sapione and Gary Wilson contributed to an outstanding team that captured everyone’s attention, winning all five of its games in September and October by an aggregate score of 129-9. 


Send me a note about what you have been doing.


—Tom Long, 1056 Leigh Mill Road, Great Falls, VA 22066; (703) 759-4255; tomlong@erols.com