Dartmouth
A Harvard graduate and former president of the University of lowa officially assumed the presidency of Dartmouth College last Sunday.
At the inaugural ceremony, five-year president David T. McLaughlin handed over the ritual symbols of the Dartmouth presidency to James O. Freedman '57, in accordance with school tradition, said Lisa M. Baker, news editor of The Dartmouth.
Freedman received the college charter, the silver Flude Medal--to be worn on special occasions and the historic Wheelock Bowl, a large silver bowl first given the school by the royal governor of New Hampshire, Baker said.
A New Hampshire native, Freedman had been president at lowa since 1982. A graduate of Yale Law School, he taught law at the University of Pennsylvania--where he also spent one year as dean--for 18 years.
Freedman's predecessor, McLaughlin, received mixed reviews during his five-year tenure. Although he spearheaded efforts to increase the college endowment, renovate older dorms, and build additional dormitories and a $17.5 million sports complex, McLaughlin has been criticized for his handling of campus activism.
When conservative students last year razed a shantytown constructed by student divestment activists, critics on both sides of the issue charged that McLaughlin failed to take definitive action or mete out just punishments. Three years ago, he was also criticized for overriding a faculty vote against reinstating the campus ROTC program.
Freedman took no official stand on pro-divestment and anti-CIA activism on the lowa campus, an editor of The Daily Iowan told The Crimson earlier this year. He has received praise for backing innovative educational programs, including the development of an intensive language training program for teachers.
Summer in Hanover
Becoming president of a college in the summer may sound like an easy job--no students, no classes, no shantytowns. Just sit back and get a tan. But Freedman arrives at a campus people by at least 1000 Dartmouth juniors-to-be. Virtually every member of the class of 1989 is on campus for what students call their "sophomore summer."
Dartmouth, because it runs on a year-round session, requires rising juniors to attend classes during the summer. In return, students are expected to spend one term of their choice away from school.