1985

1985

1982-1987

Writing this column as our shut-in spring evolves into essentially a stayin-place summer (and who knows what next?) is an attempt to provide some element of “normal” during these unprecedented times. So let me begin with a shout-out to our class webmaster, Jeff Weitzman, for his creative redesign of our website (www.dartmouth85.com). The site incorporates links to our Shades of Green class newsletter, cleverly curated by Lisa Sweeney Herrington and Margaret Warram Marder—be sure to read the spring 2020 edition that includes stories about classmates who have chosen a career in religion, either as clergy or staff, including Bo Beatty, Claudia Broeker Egger, Ellen Jennings, Blaine Richard, and Greg Somerville. The website also contains an entertaining visual of our Hollywood Squares way of staying connected while remaining socially distant—check outthe Zoom call screenshots.

Our site is an easy way to review updates on important initiatives, such as our class project, co-chaired by Veronica Jenkins and Pamela Ponce-Johnson. We are teaming up with Dartmouth Partners in Community Service to provide scholarship aid and mentoring to current undergraduates pursuing social impact internships. Ann Schonfield was a winter 2020 mentor, and currently serving as our class mentors (albeit remotely connecting with their mentees) are Sue Finegan and Ted Meisel. Anyone interested in participating in this program, please reach out to either Veronica (jenkinsvnj@gmail. com) or Pam (poncejoh@yahoo.com).

Ourwebsite also highlights “in memoriam” news of classmates. It is with profound sadness that I share the most recent news of the passing of Sarah Snyder Morris at her home in Salem, Oregon, on May 15, after a courageous battle with metastatic breast cancer. Sarah is survived by her loving husband of nearly 20 years, Russ Morris, her mother, three sisters, and seven nieces and nephews.

Believe it or not, efforts on planning our 35th class reunion are well underway with the guidance of our reunion chair, Beth Parish. We are cautiously optimistic that this cluster reunion will take place in Hanover from June 17-21,2021. Anyone eager to chair the committee on evening entertainment, please let your interest be known via the centralized email: reunion@dartmouth85. com. And the reunion committee is interested in hearing from you about what you want to do, see, and hear when we gather next year so please take a moment to complete this short survey (www. dartmouth85.com/35-reunion-interest-survey).

In the face of the ongoing global health pandemic, national protests addressing systemic racism and an overdue overhaul of policing, fallout from the economic shutdown, and associated future uncertainty for so many, it is easy to despair. Rather, perhaps we will seize this moment to face these challenges, no longer looking through a prism of individual fear and excuses, but with a focused lens of collective opportunity. We are all learning and adjusting, and we hope you are staying healthy and safe. May your voice be heard, your actions be constructive, and we will be part of the solution toward making a difference.

All the best to all of you!

—Leslie A. Davis Dahl, 83PeckslandRoad Greenwich, CT 06831; (203) 552-0070; dahlleslie@yahoo.com; John MacManus, 188 Ringwood Road, Rosemont, PA 19010; (610) 525-4541; slamyong@aol.com