1974

1974

Happy autumn, ’74s.

I hope you all enjoyed the foliage and were able to avoid most of the extreme weather. We had smog in New England from fires in Canada and one of the wettest summers on record.

Chris Pfaff attended a reunion of former baseball players and alumni at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Classmates Don Casey, Bob Whelan, Mike Draznik, Todd Tyler, Bruce Williamson, and Tim O’Connor were joined by’75s Kevin Kelley, Glenn Reed, Tom Snickenberger, and Mark Ditmar as well as ’76s Jay Josselyn, Jim Beattie, and Todd Morris and ’78 Charlie Denison.

Tom Csatari hosted a mini-reunion on October 7 in Hanover for the Yale-Dartmouth football game. I hope you made it.

Mike Thomas suggested reading a superb short article on the College’s Arts & Science webpage; “Fostering a More Racially Inclusive Rural America.” Please take a few minutes to check out this article by professor Emily Walton, our original advocate and cheerleader for the Health Equity Project.

“In this article she clearly articulates a subtle but really important truth about how the ‘others’ feel. Not only does she ‘talk the talk’ but (in this article) sets an example for others in clear and purposeful language. We are very fortunate to be in league with her and to be beneficiaries of her attention and support in so many ways.”

Rick Ranger responded to Dr. Walton’s article: “As someone who moved to a small town from the big city of Anchorage, Alaska, I have j ust a window crack of appreciating what it must be like to be a stranger of color in a place like upper New England. As a company town there was always that subtle distinction of whether you were one ofthe Alyeska employees or really from Valdez. The number of non-Alaska Native non-whites could be counted on two hands, but, yes, one spent one’s time realizing that they were ‘other.’ Obviously being white gave me a huge head start—but all I am saying is that I was never more a stranger than I was as another Alyeska hire in a small Alaskan town at the end of the road with a population of just more than 3,000.

“What fixed it for me was becoming the courtside voice ofthe Valdez High School. There was a long time when we were strangers—but everyone knew who we were. That’s way different than being a stranger in Long Beach [California] or Washington, DC. Professor Walton is really onto something—and what she is doing will really help people form community in the face of their differences. There is no other choice.”

We will be joining the class of 2024 at its ceremonial reception of their class rings on Tuesday evening, October 24. Please contact Phil Stebbins at p.stebs@gmail.com if you would like to participate in handing out these mementos and build on our efforts to forge a connection with the ’24s.

Don’t forget to save the date for our upcoming 50th reunion, June 6-9.

—Philip Stebbins, 17 Hardy Road, Londonderry, NH 03053; p.stebs@gmail.com