College Bowl 1965

On September 17, 1965, a team of eight Dickinson students, coached by Professor Sanford J. Smoller and Harold R. Gillespie, traveled to New York to compete in the General Electric College Bowl, "the varsity sport of the mind," then broadcast on NBC television. They began a string of victories in five programs that saw the team retire undefeated, only the nineteenth team to do so of the 256 that had competed up to that point in the thirteen year history of the show. At the conclusion of the television program of October 24, 1965, in which they overwhelmed Adelphi University by a score of 285 to 170, the team was awarded a silver bowl and $10,500 in scholarships.

The first team members included the captain, George Williams, a senior English major from Chappaqua, New York; Norman Rothman, another senior and an history major from West Pittston, Pennsylvania; David Richman, senior English major from Philadelphia; and, from Carlisle, junior fine arts major Art Litoff. They were strongly supported by the second squad of Donald Richmond from Long Island, Elizabeth Wagner of Nanuet, New York, Reginald Templeton of Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and Mark Dischell from Margate, New Jersey.

The team outscored their opponents 1,350 to 715 in twenty matches, including practice matches in rehearsal; they won nineteen, losing only to Saint Francis University in a warm-up match. The contest on the air, of course, saw Dickinson even the record, earning their first win with a score of 260 to 165.