Tuition
. Beginning in the fall of 1969, tuition was increased from $1,900 to $2,100. Enrollment
reached a new high of 2,606, including graduate students, an increase of 84 from 1967;
undergraduate enrollment stood at 2,389.
New PhD Programs
. Clarkson's Board of Trustees approved the addition of a doctoral
program in engineering science and in mathematics, the fourth and fifth PhD programs at
Clarkson, joining those in chemical engineering, chemistry, and physics.
Stolen Portrait
. On February 28, three RIT students stole the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George
Washington from Lewis House, but returned it three days later once they learned that its value
made them subject to prosecution on a Class D felony. (See 1951)
Kid with the Sneaker
. During graduation rehearsal on Saturday morning, the College
marshall, Prof. Robert John McGill, uttered his annual warning to the seniors that they had to
wear dark socks and black shoes for the ceremony on the next day, or they would not be
allowed to march in the procession. That news caused a problem for one of the seniors, Roger
Dilmore.
During the last few days of Senior Week, Roger had cut his foot so badly while
swimming in the Raquette River that the bandaged cut made it impossible for him to wear a
black oxford or loafer. He vowed that he was going to march in the procession, and be handed
his degree by President Graham. And march he did.
Being an ingenious EE, he wore a sneaker over his bandage, and then spray-painted
black the offensive white canvas sneaker. He hobbled up to the stage, hopped up the stairs, was
handed the diploma, and then hobbled back to his seat. That disguised sneaker had been created
two days earlier when Roger had been forced to improvise some formal foot covering so he
could attend the Senior Ball at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. (See "Champagne
Train," p. 404)
Paul Hyde Killed
. A sophomore chemical engineering major, Paul Hyde, was fatally injured at
the United States Military Academy at West Point when he skied into an army snow-vehicle, a
Weasel. Coming down a steep incline into an almost blind turn, Paul was unable to stop or to
swerve before crashing into the Weasel crossing the ski trail a few feet ahead of him. He died a
few hours later of bruises to the brain and brain stem.
TEP
. The brothers of Lambda Phi Epsilon were notified that they had been granted colony
status by Tau Epsilon Phi, a national social fraternity begun at Columbia University in 1910 in
protest to the discriminatory practices of the other fraternities. At an installation ceremony at
the Sunset Lodge in February, Erwin Cooper, its international president, and several other
national officers, accompanied members of the RPI chapter to recognize Clarkson's chapter
officially.
In April, the local chapter bought from Dr. William Gill, chairman of the chemical
engineering department, the Fitzgerald mansion on outer Sisson Street, two miles from
downtown Potsdam. Large enough to accommodate 36 members, this house had been built in
1892 by the Sisson family on a hill overlooking the Raquette River.
