1936

The winner of this year's Class of 1936 Women's Award is Zola Bibi Mashariki '94. She was a sociology major with a drama minor, and her cumulative GPA was 3.44. She starts Harvard Law School this month. In addition to her fine academic record, Zola was very much involved in extra-curricular activities. Among other things, she was president of the Afro-American Society and of her sorority, and she was a member of the Committee on the First-Year Experience and was on the Senior Executive Committee. In the theater world Zola demonstrated unusual ability as an actress, dancer, director, and prize-winning playwright. She certainly meets the criteria for the 1936 Award by contributing "most significantly to the College through her depth of integrity and character, capacity for leadership, academic achievement, and commitment to the life of the community."

As you may know, last winter a survey of 1,200 alumni was conducted as a joint project of the Alumni Council and the College Administration. The purpose was to provide a measure of alumni attitudes and perceptions. The survey consisted of more than 80 questions and obviously cannot be reported in any depth in this column, but I might mention a few highlights. Of those surveyed 76 percent said their attitude toward Dartmouth is "positive" or "very positive;" 96 percent agree their years at Dartmouth were intellectually stimulating; and most would recommend Dartmouth to a qualified applicant. Eighty-one percent of alumni state they receive about the right amount of information concerning the College and 80 percent believe the College cares about alumni opinions. Ninety-eight percent of all alumni believe teaching excellence should be a high priority, and eighty-six percent consider maintaining faculty compensation "important" or "very important." Ninety percent of all alumni surveyed agree that Dartmouth deserves their strong financial support, and 74 percent express an interest in attending class reunions.

Relative to the last two items, it's nice to have the report from Bill Niss that' 36 exceeded its goal for this year's Alumni Fund. Let's start thinking about our 60th Reunion in 1996 and make it an affair to remember!

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