Alumni Council

I am pleased to provide you with this update on recent Alumni Council activities. This is your Alumni Council. We represent the entire alumni body through councilors who have been selected by alumni to represent class years, geographic regions, affiliated groups, professional schools and other constituencies. Our mission is “to sustain a fully informed, representative and engaged exchange of information and sentiment between alumni and their College, and to enhance and inspire alumni involvement that furthers the mis- sion of the College.” And we are always happy to hear from you!

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the council, which was founded in 1913 by Ernest Martin Hopkins, classof 1901, who also served as its first president. For a century the Alumni Council has acted as an important communica- tion link between the College and her alumni. The communication, when it works best, is a two-way street. Councilors email their constituents to let them know what has been learned in sessions with College staff, administrators, trustees and students. At the same time, those councilors encourage alumni to write back and share any issues, comments or thoughts they might have. We know that 100 years ago the founders had high hopes for the impact the Alumni Council could have. After serving as both council president and president of Dartmouth College, Hopkins said, “If ever I’ve made a contribution to Dartmouth, it was in the founding of the Alumni Council.” In these last 100 years the mission has never wavered; it remains focused on enhancing and inspiring alumni involvement.

The Alumni Council meets twice a year in Hanover, and we had a substantive three-day gath- ering this past October. The highlight was Presi- dent Phil Hanlon’s first address to the council. He spoke with the councilors at length, answered a number of questions and joined us for a dinner. Another high point of the meeting was the first Alumni Awards gala. One of the most important things we do is to present the Dartmouth Alumni Award and Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award every year to volunteers who exemplify extraordinary levels of service to Dartmouth. Each year the recipients choose where they would like to receive the award, often at a reunion or a class meeting. However, this year for the first time we presented all of the awards to each of the winners during one terrific dinner reception attended by trustees, Presidents Phil Hanlon ’77 and James Wright ’55a, a number of past award winners and 12 former council presidents. I could not have been more proud to present the awards to R. Brad- ford Evans ’64, Donald Berlin ’54, Peter Frederick ’65, Kenneth Johansen ’60, Th’62, and two young alumni, E. Kristina Brock ’01, Th’02, and Jethro Rothe-Kushel ’03. During the weekend the councilors also spent time with a number of senior Dartmouth staff, including executive vice president and chief fi- nancial officer Rick Mills; senior vice president for advancement Bob Lasher ’88, chief investment officer Pam Peedin ’89, Tu’98; director of the cen- ter for professional development Roger Woolsey; dean of the College Charlotte Johnson; and vice president for alumni relations Martha Beattie ’76. We also got to interact with a number of trustees, including a Saturday morning session with Steve Mandel ’78 and Sherri Oberg ’82, Tu’86.

We are continually working to improve our communication with you, the alumni. Our goal is to send you some form of communication, usu- ally email, before and after every Alumni Council meeting. Please watch for and read these emails. We hope they will give you an informed update about what’s going on at Dartmouth. Also, please reply with any thoughts, comments, issues and ideas you may have. We read and respond to ev- erything you send.

The council meets again from May 15 to 17 and we look forward to receiving your feedback!

president, Dartmouth Alumni Council, 6068 Blunt Alumni Center, Ha- nover, NH 03755; markcdavis1@gmail.com