First person

President Wright is running late. Again. Here is the trouble: Every alumni event seems to spill over its allotted time. A huge circle of people surrounds not Jim Wright, but Susan, his wife, and she is unable to leave. That's happened everywhere the two have gone. Susan Wright's already-large following is growing larger, according to Nels Armstrong '71, Dartmouth's director of alumni relations, as others meet her for the first time. "Alumni come out to hear what the president has to say," says Armstrong. "But over and over again we are finding something else. Young alumni are turning out in record numbers because they want to see Susan."

Here's what everybody knows: President James Wright is marriedto Susan DeBevoise Wright.

Their wedding took place in Emily Dickinson's Amherst home, where Susan's mother was the resident curator for 18 years. Jim and Susan got dirt under their fingernails digging up suckers from Emily's lilac shrubs and transplanting them to their Etna, New Hampshire, home. The transplants are at home again, now at Webster Avenue. The symbolic nature of her favorite flora's journey is not lost on Susan Wright. "One life fades into another," she says with a smile. "We bring our past with us—it helps us—everywhere we go."

The lilacs look right at home on the back lawn of the president'shome. They help make Susan feel at home, too. "I never longed to live in a mansion like this," she says. "But this is an incredible house. And Timothy Rub, director of the Hood Museum, has been most generous in helping us decorate with borrowed works of art. Still, using our family furniture and our special things is important." Hanging among the Hood treasures are renditions of the Wright's Etna home painted by Peter Gish '49, the artist who rendered Jim Wright's Dartmouth portrait. "These paintings were my anniversary gift from Jim, and he gave them to me on our last night in Etna," says Susan. "They mean the world to me."

Here's what everybody says: Susan Wright is wonderful.

Everybody means it, too. Dartmouth students from the past 25 years whom Susan has helped along their way could form a loyal army. In her various positions in the dean's office and Career and Employment Services, she has mentored many through to successful fellowships, graduate schools, and careers. Those students haven't forgotten her help.

When Susan travels on presidential junkets (Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and Washington, D.C., last fall alone) she encounters her former students at each stop. "In San Francisco one of the students I had advised came to see me and gave me a photograph of her husband and child. It means so much to me that I was able to help her once and she remembers-she cares. These are the layers that I find everywhere I go. The functions are important to me because I care about these people."

Here's what the record shows: Susan Wrighthas worked for Dartmouth since 1978.

It used to be nine to five-ish. Not anymore. "In all the jobs I've had at Dartmouth I've never worked harder than this," Susan says, smiling. "We are constantly either hosting or attending an official function. We try to have one day off a week. As the president's spouse, there are all of the obvious expectations for me, but I have an even greater sense of obligation. I've been a part of the College for so long. I know these students. Now that my role has changed, I am committed to using it to benefit them."

president's house where students can discuss their research projects or other concerns with faculty and senior administrators. She makes sure the administration takes input from students very seriously.

Scott Jacobs '99 found himself invited to the president's house twice last fall. "There is a general understanding on campus that student issues are being taken very seriously," he says. "The administration's responsiveness to students has been impressive. I think Susan Wright's influence is evident.

Here's the bottom line: Susan Wright'sDartmouth credentials make her aplayer.

She contributes skills and knowledge that will help make this presidency a unique partnership. She and President Wright were together at a student event in November when someone caught Susan's eye. She nudged her husband said, "That's an important student leader. You should go and talk with him." This is a small example of the kind of value she adds. When the president is able to access that kind of information, his interaction with the student body becomes more meaningful.

Here's what nobody knows: What do we call her? She's been Class Dean Wright, Associate Director Wright. She has clearly held her own at the College for some time now. She has had an accomplished career. Now she represents Dartmouth at nightly dinners, official gatherings, and alumni functions. How should she be introduced? She laughs. "First Lady seems dated, doesn't it? My friend Skip Sturman '70 suggested First Person..." She laughs again. "I like the sound of that. And all that it implies."

The Dartmouthstudents Susanhas advisedover the past 25years could forma loyal army.

Playwright HEATHER McCUTCHEN is writer-in-residence inWesley an University's drama department.