Whether Elvis Presley was hitting music charts for the first time, the first hard drive was being created or Dwight D. Eisenhower was running for re-election against Adlai Stevenson, 1956 was year full of major events. At Keene State College, students were being surveyed on their thoughts regarding the national election, and KSC had just appointed a new campus official as well.
In the Oct. 24, 1956 edition of The Monadnock, the former name for The Equinox, the college had just filled a position that no longer exists today: a dean of men.
What is the role of a dean of men? According to the article in The Equinox, the dean of men served as the link between both the administration and male students. Also part of his role was to assist men in participating in group living, both in residential halls on campus and in other organizations.
The Men’s Advisory Board and the Inter-Fraternity Council were two representative organizations the dean of men encouraged male students to join and be a part of. Additionally, he was simply available to men if they needed “personal individual guidance.”
According to the article in The Equinox, “He handles such details as room assignments, jobs for students, disciplinary action, and all other details that assist in making every man’s stay at the college a successful one.”
To replace former Dean of Men Dwight D. Carle, Dean Barry was appointed in 1956 to serve the role at the time.
Differently, the presidential election of 1956 was in full swing, and a KSC student by the name of John B. Tucker surveyed students on campus in the weeks prior to the election regarding how they felt about the election and who they predicted would take the next presidential title.
Tucker stated, “The question for this time is based on an age of philosophy that everyone should be aware of the world around them. In broadening the scope of K.T.C. students’ world, I have moved to the national political scene, where a bitter battle is now being waged and the victor chosen on Tuesday, November 6, 1956.”
The question? “Will Adlai Stevenson or Dwight David Eisenhower win the presidential race, and briefly why?”
In the students he surveyed, 17 were in favor of Eisenhower, or “Ike,” winning the election, whereas two students would have rather Stevenson win. One student preferred professional golfer Ben Hogan, and, as Tucker stated in the article, “where’d he come from?”
At the end of it all, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower successfully was re-elected as President of the United States on Nov. 6, 1956.
Jessica Ricard can be contacted at jricard@ksc.keene.edu
