1953

Is it Gun Control or An Abridgment of Individual Rights? J. Warren Cassidy, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the National Rifle Association (NRA) stands at the center of this highly politicized storm. Warren, who will actively participate in our 35th Reunion, began his career in an orthodox manner marriage and the marines after Dartmouth. He worked briefly for Scott Paper before returning to his native Lynn, Mass., and his father's insurance agency. He became active in the community: Boy Scouts, Little League, United Fund, YMCA, bank boards, and the Salem Country Club. Spouse Joan was a tenured teacher. A summer home was built in the White Mountains. Hunting and shooting became a hobby and with that a life membership in the NRA. Politics entered his life, serving a term as mayor of Lynn. Then came an event which had a profound effect on his life: Warren led the fight to defeat a state referendum that would have resulted in the confiscation of privately-owned handguns an effort which won his election to the NRA board of directors in 1978. He served until 1982 and then was persuaded to go to Washington, first as the executive director for legislation and politics and, in 1986, to his present position. Warren and Joan have three daughters and two sons. Four are out of college Dartmouth, Colby, Maine Maritime, Boston U., one is a junior at William and Mary. Joan is teaching at a private school near their present home in Fairfax, Va. Warren travels widely, speaking to the 3,000,000 members of the NRA. He still hunts, shoots, and plays golf and still owns the White Mountain summer and eventual retirement home.

Remember when as "pea green freshmen" 1953 pushed back at the Vigilantes? Noel A. "Chad" Day was in the middle of the charge. And so it has been for these many years. Chad now lives in San Francisco, and is engaged in many activities on the very forefront of social activism. He was a founding partner and now is president of a group of four companies that research, conduct policy analysis and demographic studies," and also prepare consulting recommendations, training aids, and media productions related to some aspect of public or social policy-such items as curriculum for drug-abuse counselors and law-enforcement officials, a risk assessment for AIDS, an interactive video aimed at suicide-prone teen-agers, and material promoting tourism in California. Chad's path to this position in 1966 was equally diverse, including jobs as a musician, high school teacher, social worker, and camp administrator. It also included being a director of settlement houses in the black community and an activist in the civil rights, and peace movement. The path is diverse but it is also prolific. In addition to the four companies that he now manages, he is on the board of eight other organizations, including the Tucker Foundation at Dartmouth. He travels extensively around the world to serve clients. Divorced and remarried, he has five children, the youngest being three. Spouse Christine, a practicing psychologist, was born in the U.S. of Swiss parents, and thus has dual citizenship. Chad paints, writes, gardens, and canoes on the Russian River where they have a weekend home. This column has not the space to capture all Chad does, so you'll hear more at reunion where he will speak.

With reunion coming up, class leadership is due to change. Paul Paganucci is heading a committee composed of former class presidents. Send any nominations to him.

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