1981

The hats were what struck me first: a pile of olive-colored baseball hats embroidered with pink "Ds" awaited me at registration. Never as an undergraduate could I have envisioned myself wearing a pink Dartmouth hat, but I love it! Clearly, we have come a long way as alumnae and as a college. This was no ordinary Dartmouth weekend, but an amazing celebration of more than 370 alumnae, from every coeducational class (1972-2007), who came together on the weekend of November 911 to share, reflect, learn and celebrate 35 Years of Coeducation at Dartmouth (See http://alumni.dartmouth.edu/default.aspx?id= 396 for photos, etc.). The weekend and its upcoming "sister" celebration on May 3 in San Francisco are the brainchild of our own Patsy Fisher, director of class activities at the College. Thanks, Patsy, for bringing us together for this fantastic event! (For information on the May event, please contact Patsy at patricia.fisher @dartmouth.edu.)

Ann Fritz Hackett '76, Dartmouth's first alumna trustee, welcomed us and reflected on the journey of coeducation at Dartmouth, from 324 undergraduates in the fall of 1972 to more than 17,000 alumnae today. She asked us to think of the weekend as "a beginning," a chance to think about how we as alumnae might work together to help each other through life's stages and also help solve larger problems in the world today. Following Ann's advice, throughout the weekend we shared our expertise at symposia on business, politics, humanitarian advocacy and creative pursuits. We shared our experiences managing the passages and transitions in our lives and pondered the legacy we will leave our children. We met the women who paved the way for us in the early years of coeducation and we met today's "daughters of Dartmouth"—including a number of classmates' daughters! Classmates were well-represented on a number of panels. Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, national chairperson, Women for Obama finance committee, spoke about her experiences in the political arena. Kirk Eveleth Arnold, former CEO of Keane Inc., talked about the parallels between her experience of change at Dartmouth and in the business world. Julie Stiles Matuschak shared a touching account of her successful battle with breast cancer.

Beyond the formal schedule we took time to listen to each other, to hear news of our families and talk about what's next for us careerwise. I learned that Debbie Wesselmann-Lopresti's new novel Captivity will be out (under "Debbie Lee Wesselmann") by the time you read this. I also caught up with other classmates, including Ellen Brout Lindsey, Pat Berry, Gail Chen, Charmaine Curtis, Lynne Hamel Gaudet, Lucy Irwin, Heather MacLeod, Betsy Slotnick Rubinstein, Lynn Peterson Read, Sue Reed, Ann Smolowe, Susan Weiss Spencer, Ann Putney Swire, Shelley Warren Wieler and Judy Yun. Whether we were panelists or observers, corporate executives, nonprofit advocates or soccer moms, whether we were classmates or recent grads, we realized that what mattered most was our love of Dartmouth and our common bond as alumnae. That bond was evident Saturday evening when a gym full of alumnae sang as one an emotional "Men/Women of Dartmouth."

Inspired by the events of the weekend, on Sunday morning I took a run on the trails by the river with Sue Spencer. I felt grateful for her company, especially in the last steep push up Freshman Hill, and equally grateful to my sister alumnae for their friendship, past and present. I look forward to the possibilities of what we might accomplish together in the future.

Joan Danziger Hechtman couldn't make it to the 35-year event, but recently shared the good news that her daughter Rachel has been accepted as a member of the class of 2012.1 hope to see both Joan and Rachel at the 40-year celebration!

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