ALMA MATTERS

Alums on Capitol Hill remember their time at the College on the Hill.

REP. CHARLIE BASS ’74, R-N.H.

“four years is a long time to be in Hanover. The scope and breadth of the learning experience was vast. I learned an enormous amount about the world and about academics, but i didn’t realize it until I’d left.”

REP. MICHAEL CAPUANO’73, D-MASS.

“Dartmouth made me a progressive. I came from my own working-class urban area: Nobody was supposed to go to college, everybody was supposed to work. Most of the kids who went there had no clue what a tough life was like. None whatsoever. They thought they did, because they only had one maid and, you know, four cars in the family.”

REP. JOHN CARNEY’78, D-DEL.

“When i was being recruited for football by Tubby Raymond, head coach at the University of Delaware, he said to me: ‘if you want to be big in Delaware, you’ll go to the University of Delaware.’ i told that story to one of the Dartmouth alumni who was helping recruit me. He said, ‘Well, you know, if you want to be big anywhere in the country, you’ll go to Dartmouth.’”

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND’88, D-N.Y.

“i found that Dartmouth really fostered debate. it didn’t tell you what position to have on any given issue, but it really fostered that individual growth by each student to not only form opinions, but then be comfortable to advocate your views.”

SEN. JOHN HOEVEN’79, R-N.D.

“Talk about geographic oddity. How many North Dakota kids went to Dartmouth? For me it was a chance to meet people from all over, not only all over the country, but other countries as well.”

SEN. ROB PORTMAN’78, R-OHIO

“I took full advantage of the Dartmouth Plan and I always had to work when I wasn’t there. I worked for my congressman when I was a sophomore. I never would’ve ended up in Congress, probably, without having that exposure. i didn’t know anybody in politics…so my exposure to Dartmouth and all these different people, particularly East Coast people, was a great eye-opening experience for