1987

1987

Welcome to my first column as your new class secretary! I’m very excited about hearing from you and sharing your news.

I was thrilled when my Alpha Theta brother and class reunion chair Tim Parker reached out to me about a year ago and asked me to join the 35th reunion committee. That role led to another, as a member of our class social justice task force, headed up by Tim, which was formed to identify specific tools and tangible ways for members of our class to combat inequality and racism while promoting social justice. Through a series of active discussion sessions, I have learned atremendous amount from my fellow task force members Tim, Julie (Park) Hubble, Peter Murane, Beth Papp, Scott Rusert, Holly Silvestri. and Regina Speed-Bost. We are now working on ways to broaden our impact and get more of our class involved in these important discussions.

Speaking of reunion, our virtual 35th reunion took place during the weekend of June 17-20. More than 150 people registered to attend the reunion and the various events had enthusiastic participation. The class-specific programing started off with a warm greeting on Friday night from Tim and our class president Tracey SalmonSmith. This was followed by a Zoom dance party that was also attended by ’85s and ’86s. Partiers were dazzled by the impressive musical knowledge and sharp dance moves of Regina, Nathan Gilliatt, Andrea Hayes-Jordan, and Vic and Leslie (Collins) Trautwein, among many others.

On Saturday we listened to ’87 TED talks featuring thoughtful and engaging presentations from Julie, Andrew McAllister, Pat Quinton, and Scott Taylor. The TED talks were followed by our inaugural classwide social justice task force event, a social justice listening session, which began with a short film based on the book The Color of Law. This was followed by a conversation between Scott and Tim about how we can communicate in a way that fosters peace, justice, and respect. The day wrapped up with a virtual cocktail hour and the chance to mingle and chat casually.

As part of the reunion weekend the class nominating committee, chaired by Bob Charles, presented its slate of nominees for the upcoming period from 2021-27. Subsequently elected by a vote of our class were Tracey, who will continue serving as our president; along with Brendan Connell and Tim, who were elected co-vice presidents; and Evan Azriliant, who was elected treasurer.

As fun as the virtual reunion was, the reunion committee is already planning our next event, which will be an in-person “off the Green” reunion in Chicago on September 15-18, 2022. Make sure to save the date!

Finally, I am very sad to report the passing of a beloved classmate, Michael McGinn. Atribute to Mike appeared in the September issue of our class newsletter, which is posted on the class web page.

Send me news! Please share your joys and successes and also your challenges and “growth experiences.”

1985-1989

—Lisa Snyder, 430 Ward St., New tori, MA, 02459; dartmouth87classnews@gmail.com

Lisa Snyder