Class Note 1957
Issue
July-August 2021
Remember the magic of “’57 Out!” The beginning of the civil rights era, the referendum to eliminate discrimination from national fraternities, and that special moment in our class history when Delta Upsilons Tom Macy, Shelly Kjellenberg, Tom Herlihy, Bob Caldwell, and Ted Jennings forced the implementation of the referendum years before it was legally to take effect—a moment memorialized by Mike Lasser in thismagazine back in 2011.
No wonder classmates continue to struggle with the Frank Wilderson ’78 interview in the November/December issue of DAM. Skip Traynham asked us to understand that Wilderson’s time was very different from ours. Basketball Hall of Famer and former executive director of the Rhode Island human rights commission Gene Booth agrees, saying he’s “proud to report a more positive picture of race relations back in our day. Coach Doggie Julian started me sophomore year along with Dick Fairley ’55. No other Ivy had two Black players on their roster. Harvard, Brown, Penn, and Princeton didn’t have any.” Gene went on to mention enduring friendships with Coach Julian and classmates Gary Gilson, Dick Handy, Mike Matzkin, Howie Silby, and Bob Towbin.
Former Alumni Council member and Black Alumni Dartmouth Association (BADA) founder Garvey Clarke says, “I cannot recall a single negative experience during my time in Hanover,” then adds with a chuckle, “and that includes Boston adventures with Phil Lippincott. In fact, the student referendum and my vote on the Alumni Council to support President Kemeny’s banning of the American Indian symbol confirmed forever that Dartmouth was the right decision for me.”
Dartmouth’s need for help in the 1970s surprised Gene and Garvey, who returned to Hanover to instill the spirit of hope they remembered as undergraduates. They formed BADA and, with Kemeny’s support, created an organization to reverse the atmosphere and attitudes expressed in Wilderson’s article.
Sadly, pushbacks continue. Today’s reality is George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, and Dartmouth naming a senior diversity officer and celebrating Black Legacy Month—it’s clearly time to make some “good trouble.” Mary Oliver asked us what we are going to do with our one precious life in this broken world. If only in your heart, “’57 Out!”
—John W. Cusick, 105 Island Plantation Terrace, Vero Beach, FL 32963; (772) 231-1248; johnwcusick @aol.com
No wonder classmates continue to struggle with the Frank Wilderson ’78 interview in the November/December issue of DAM. Skip Traynham asked us to understand that Wilderson’s time was very different from ours. Basketball Hall of Famer and former executive director of the Rhode Island human rights commission Gene Booth agrees, saying he’s “proud to report a more positive picture of race relations back in our day. Coach Doggie Julian started me sophomore year along with Dick Fairley ’55. No other Ivy had two Black players on their roster. Harvard, Brown, Penn, and Princeton didn’t have any.” Gene went on to mention enduring friendships with Coach Julian and classmates Gary Gilson, Dick Handy, Mike Matzkin, Howie Silby, and Bob Towbin.
Former Alumni Council member and Black Alumni Dartmouth Association (BADA) founder Garvey Clarke says, “I cannot recall a single negative experience during my time in Hanover,” then adds with a chuckle, “and that includes Boston adventures with Phil Lippincott. In fact, the student referendum and my vote on the Alumni Council to support President Kemeny’s banning of the American Indian symbol confirmed forever that Dartmouth was the right decision for me.”
Dartmouth’s need for help in the 1970s surprised Gene and Garvey, who returned to Hanover to instill the spirit of hope they remembered as undergraduates. They formed BADA and, with Kemeny’s support, created an organization to reverse the atmosphere and attitudes expressed in Wilderson’s article.
Sadly, pushbacks continue. Today’s reality is George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, and Dartmouth naming a senior diversity officer and celebrating Black Legacy Month—it’s clearly time to make some “good trouble.” Mary Oliver asked us what we are going to do with our one precious life in this broken world. If only in your heart, “’57 Out!”
—John W. Cusick, 105 Island Plantation Terrace, Vero Beach, FL 32963; (772) 231-1248; johnwcusick @aol.com