Class Note 1961

The presidential search has ended and Dartmouth once again has a new president. We hope, as an alumnus of Dartmouth, he will be both a superb president and understand fully the significance of remaining in office for at least a 10-year term. Also, the importance of athletics at Dartmouth, both intercollegiate and intramural, has in the past few years apparently begun to receive substantial support from many sectors as both an important overall part of the student education and training process and as a good “investment” for the College on many levels. We hope this effort will be continued and perhaps even enhanced somewhat going forward.


Dick Noel has been bragging, and rightly so, that he shot better than his age (74) in golf a few months ago, with a round of 73 on a cold damp day in late October with Hurricane Sandy on the way. Along with this outstanding achievement, Dick has also been Senior Club Champion at the Brattleboro (Vermont) Country Club and also has three holes-in-one. This goes to show you the diversity of the members of our class—in retirement. Most of you who attended our 50th reunion clearly remember Dick as the stand-up comedian who performed his own material so well during the “Passages” session of our reunion.


Ted Tapper’sson Jake Tapper ’91 has become an outstanding news correspondent, commentator, author and TV interview personality. He is on the air often and is often on with other highly respected people from within his industry. For those of you who want the “formula” for your child or grandchild, contact Ted directly.


Alumni relations at the College has been offering webinars for Dartmouth class and club key volunteers to enhance the experience of being involved at the class or club levels. During this past November a one-hour countrywide webinar conference was offered, “Involving Wives and Widows in Class Programming,” targeted toward the pre-coeducation classes. Key participants in this program included Denny Denniston, our class president, and Nyla Arslanian, spouse of classmate Oscar Arslanian.I wasn’t able to attend the session, but I would guess that Nyla’s role was to assert how much she was already doing for the class and that her husband should begin to get more involved. If that were true, then maybe we should have entered her name above in bold ink, rather than his? Either way, we all know how much both of them have done for the class through the decades.


At our age we are now concerned with hoping that our grandchildren attend Dartmouth. In that respect, I would like to report that a grandson of Gerry Kaminsky, a classmate long involved on numerous levels, has been accepted into the class of 2017. I’m not sure who is more thrilled and excited, Tommy (the accepted applicant) or Gerry (the grandfather)!


Don’t forget to lock in your calendar for the class mini-reunion scheduled for Charleston, South Carolina, on April 14-17. Also, note that a portion of the function costs will be subsidized by the class; therefore, a great time plus a bargain.


—Victor S. Rich, 5 Red Ground Road, Old Westbury, NY 11568; victor.rich@rsmi.com