Class of 1961

On February 27 Pete Bleyler, the producer and director of the class of ’61 mini-reunionsfor the past five-plus years, with three mini-reunions per year, completed his second mini-reunion program for the fiscal year ending June 30, with this again being a hybrid of live, on-campus and offsite Zoom meetings. Harris McKee, technical talent, and Maynard Wheeler, executive and administrative talent, again assisted Pete. Contributing was an interesting classmate panel comprised of Jim McElhinney and George Whitehead as well as classmate, graduate student, current student, and Dartmouth administrator panel sessions moderated by Matt Friedman, Hop Holmberg, Maynard Wheeler, and Oscar Arslanian. The subject matter, panelists, and moderators were all very good. Approximately 66 classmates and guests attended. As I mentioned in our last column, much is happening on and off campus and within and outside of the Ivy League. Issues have emerged, with most not yet resolved. This column will deal with the issue of giving preferential admissions treatment to qualified legacies vs. minorities, outstanding athletes, under-educated students, and students with learning disabilities, special disabilities, or special talents. It is nearly impossible to accommodate preferential treatment for all of these students while still admitting qualified applicants who do not fit neatly into such groups, especially for relatively smaller-sized institutions such as Dartmouth, the smallest in the Ivy League. Giving admission preference to qualified legacy applicants was recently endorsed effectively by Kathryn Arion ’11, who defended legacy admission to Dartmouth as long as the applicant was academically and otherwise qualified. In her letter to the editor (“Your Turn”) in the January/February issue of DAM, she stated that Dartmouth should encourage acceptance of qualified legacies as being important to the development of loyal and close-knit Dartmouth alumni. “That’s the beauty of legacies: We love Dartmouth even before we know what college is.” She developed that love from family members who attended Dartmouth and took her to Hanover to visit the College for graduations, reunions, and other Dartmouth events from the time she was a child. Apparently, it worked!

—Victor S. Rich, 94 Dove Hill Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030; (516) 446-3977; richwind13@gmail.com