1965

As the time for our 25 th Reunion approaches, I believe our class should examine what we expect to find when we return to Hanover. I am not speaking of campus buildings or trees or even distant memories. I believe the reunion offers to each of us an opportunity to learn from our collective past. A few days spent with the class of'65 in June can mean some- thing for the present as well as perhaps for the rest of our lives.

Jack Hearney and Rick Mahoney, our reunion co-chairmen, have selected "The Roads Taken" as the theme for celebrating the events that have happened since 1965. The reunion committee has developed a schedule that should appeal to the diverse interests of our class, families, and friends. Jack says, "The four days should be more engaging than ever before. The roads we have taken seem to keep getting longer and, from reading the material Jack Heidbrink has been collecting for our reunion book, more and more interesting. The program will give us the opportunity to discuss the past and even debate the present in very provocative ways. I'm confident we'll learn something and have our share of fun along the way."

Dave Weber, educational chairman, says, "We are hoping the reunion will have room for both nostalgia for the sixties and stimulating thought for the nineties." Dave is putting together a series of seminars on the subjects: "Seven Ways to Heal the Planet Earth," "Men and WomenChanging Relationships in the Nineties," "Sons of Fathers, Fathers Ourselves," and "Ethical Issues in the Life of a '65." He is still looking for ideas or volunteers and would welcome your thoughts at 603/772-4311.

For my own part, I have found recent Dartmouth class gatherings to provide the closest thing I will ever know to a "support group." I am with classmates who were chosen by the same admissions office, were shaped by many of the same Hanover experiences, and nave lived through a quarter century of problems and efforts that are extremely similar to mine. It no longer seems to matter whether these classmates were members of a particular fraternity or on the squash team or in ROTC or even flunked out junior year. The differences that existed in the past are now mostly forgotten; the similarities in our lives are what seem important. Those who once provided my strongest competition now give me a rare opportunity to learn about myself.

Not everyone, of course, shares my view of reunions. Page Smith '40, noted author and historian, recently reported in his syndicated newspaper column that he had no plans for returning to his 50th Dartmouth reunion. Mr. Smith said, "I am out of sorts with reunions ... I believe they help to perpetuate many of the least attractive aspects of the modern institution of higher learning (as well as presenting an unflattering picture of older Americans to younger Americans) ... They seem to me to be essentially a time for old men to drink too much and behave like schoolboys, or worse ... It appears never to have occurred to the planners of reunions that the lives of returning graduates might have some meaning and potency."

I strongly disagree with Mr. Smith and would say to anyone in our class who has never attended such an event, "A Dartmouth reunion is just not that way." I look forward to June 14—17 as a relaxed period that can be whatever I want it to be. In my case, this exactly matches Page Smith's goal of a time "designed to lift our spirits and enlarge our lives." I encourage every member of our class to return to Hanover. I expect to learn even more from each other than we did 25 years ago.

See you there.

3610 Oriole Drive, Colum-bus, IN 47203

DARTMOUTH '65 25th REUNION Roads Taken