Graduates Depart, Alumni Return

Graduates Depart, Alumni Return

CAMPUS

notes from around the green

COMMENCEMENT AND REUNIONS

The season of pomp and circumstance and reunions went off without a hitch. On June 11 President Phil Hanlon ’77 conferred 1,898 degrees in a ceremony held in warm weather softened by a light breeze. More than 12,000 people watched as speaker Jake Tapper ’91 advised the new graduates to “Be bold. Be smart. Be brave. Be true.” He also provided a few other tips: “Write thank-you notes. Be a big tipper. Remember birthdays. Floss. Don’t tweet, post to Instagram or email anything you wouldn’t feel comfortable seeing on the front page of The New York Times.” Hanlon told the graduates that the world needs “minds like yours.” He suggested they keep those minds open and said that the newest alumni share “a thirst to gather a diversity of perspectives.” The class of 2017 featured four valedictorians—Brian Chen from Hyde Park, New York, Yerin Yang from Seoul, South Korea, and Zhecheng Yao and Ran Zhuo, from Nanjing and Hangzhou, China. Hanlon also recognized nine honorary degree recipients, including Olympic runner Abbey D’Agostino T4.

Afterward, Tapper called his role for the day a “pretty incredible and humbling honor.” The ceremony also offered a welcome respite for the political correspondent. “Commencement was one of the emotionally warmest places I have ever been,” he noted, “especially in the midst of this contentious political season.”

As the traffic jams cleared later that afternoon, reunions shifted into high gear. More than 2,940 alumni returned to campus, setting a new attendance record. Reports from class secretaries can be found in the back of this issue, including an amusing and eclectic set of overheards from the class of 1992 and this thoughtful take from the class of 1977: “Something special occurred in Hanover. Everybody has a happy story to share. Most of us have scars though too, right beneath the surface. Life hasn’t been perfect. Call a classmate you haven’t seen in a while. Set aside some time. Work to get to the real deal. It will be worth the trouble.”

FAMILY AFFAIR

It’s unclear when and why Dartmouth classes started adopting members. But when the class of 1957 admitted its first woman, Ida Rotman, in June, the total number of adopted alumni rose to 239. (Rotman, 104, is the mother of Barry ’57 and grandmother of Alan ’85.) Here’s a breakdown of adoptees by class decade. (Numbers for the 1960s and 1970s were recently boosted by the adoption of female exchange students from that era.)

1920s 3 1970s 109 1930s 8 1980s 10 1940s 22 1990s 8 1950s 27 2000s 8 1960s 43 2010s 1 Source: Dartmouth Alumni Records

FROM THE ARCHIVES

David A. White ’50 and Warren Povey ’49 “left Hanover in a Model A Ford, reputedly held together by baling wire and adhesive tape, headed for Fairbanks, Alaska. While wheezing up the Alaska Highway, they crossed the trail of Elmer Harp, the College archaeologist, who was working in the area with the Andover-Harvard Yukon Expedition.”

-OUTING CLUB REPORT FROM THE NOVEMBER 1948 ISSUE OF DAM

RANKINGS

6 th The College made the list of "Top 10 Schools for Travel Lovers" by collegemagazine.com. Above, Dartmouth students tour Italy.)