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A SALUTARY INFLUENCE Early in 1976 a group of trustees, faculty, and administrators met on the campus to discuss the academic quality of the College and its prospects. By that time the dean had assembled additional information, included some pertaining to the performance of Gettysburg seniors on certain national tests. The evidence presented convinced the group that during the preceding fifteen or twenty years there had been no important change in the scores these students had earned on the Graduate Record Examination, Medical College Admissions Test, or the National Teachers' Examination. Since there was no way to measure the large majority of Gettysburg alumni, who did not pursue graduate or professional study, against some national norm, the dean observed, "a systematic means of measuring the influence of Gettysburg College is not available."177 Each of the four Middle States teams since 1954 concluded, admittedly on the basis of a brief visit to the campus, that the College was a place where sound teaching and learning were occurring. "Gettysburg is a solid place," declared the 1973 team. "It doesn't take long for a visitor to note many strengths," There have been many faculty since 1945 who have agreed that most of its instruction was of high quality, but who nevertheless have insisted that it could and should have been better. Faculty meeting minutes and other sources testify to their belief that the College was not sufficiently successful in preserving through a year the enthusiasm which most freshmen brought with them in the fall and in moderating or eliminating what was often called the sophomore slump. They agreed that the administration and faculty were somehow abdicating their responsibility to render the fraternites at least a neutral factor in the educational life of the College, if they could not be made into a positive one. They were certain that the faculty were not doing enough to elicit the very best from the superior students.178 Between 1945 and 1985 there were many alumni interested enough in their alma mater to share with faculty members and with much more severe. Many of the highest-ranking Gettysburg students in departments from which most premedical candidates usually came were now entering other fields. The number of seniors in the 1980-1985 classes seeking premedical committee recommendations averaged seven. 177Leonard I. Holder, '"Academic Quality' Is Theme of College Colloquium," GCB (July 1976), pp. 5-11. "While records of acceptance of Gettysburg students at law schools are not complete," the dean stated, "our record in recent years has been excellent." Of 131 seniors in the 1978-1985 classes applying to law schools, 114 gained acceptance to at least one. 178 As the admission requirements and the academic program became more demanding, some alumni accused the administration and faculty of turning Gettysburg into another Haverford or Swarthmore. One of the questions which several trustees asked Arnold Hanson soon after his arrival was whether this was his intention. While many faculty regarded the College's being placed in a class with Haverford and Swarthmore as a distinct compliment, they would have been content being charged with turning the College into a better Gettysburg. 89