Those who attended Commencement this past June probably noticed the dramatic demographic differences between our class and the class of 2014 not only in gender (zero women in 1964; 561 in 2014), but also in race and nationality. Our class had relatively few racial or ethnic minorities and had 17 foreign students from 13 different countries. In contrast, minorities constitute 37 percent of the 2014 class, which includes 90 international students from 43 countries. 


Illustrating this diversity and demonstrating how small our world has become are the experiences of Howard Soroos, who, as part of our class project to connect with the class of 2014 organized by Huntley Whitacre, interviewed Oladipupo “Dipo” Fasawe (Nigeria), Miriam Kilimo (Kenya) and Kwame Ohene-Adu (Ghana). 


Recently, Howard provided an update: “Since I had taught in a Nigerian secondary school as a Peace Corps volunteer for two years after graduation, I could easily relate to these students’ educational experiences when I talked with them for the first time by phone while they were still in Africa. Then, at the beginning of their senior year, I asked how they had adapted from the British style of education in Africa to the American style at Dartmouth. All three liked Dartmouth because here they have had the freedom to explore various fields of study and then ‘follow their passion’ when settling on a major.


“Last March my wife and I met professor Ayo Coly from the African studies department on a Dartmouth alumni travel trip to southern Africa. She was very surprised when I asked if she knew Miriam, Dipo and Kwame. She said that Miriam and Dipo were among her best students, but she hadn’t met Kwame.


“During our 50th reunion my wife and I lunched with Kwame and Dipo, but Miriam was busy. We learned Kwame was staying in Hanover to work in a startup company with a Thayer School professor, Dipo was going to take a job with a company in South Africa and Miriam, a Rhodes Scholar, will study in England for two years. All three have done very well.


“My Dartmouth-African connections expanded even further at Commencement. As our class marched toward the Green we passed the Ph.D. candidates. First in line was a young woman, Marie Onakomaiya, with an African stole over her robe. I shouted over to her and learned she was from Nigeria. After the ceremony I went over to introduce myself. Her parents, particularly her mother, who had come all the way from Nigeria, were amazed that a perfect stranger from the Dartmouth community would greet them in Yoruba. Marie and I were able to reconnect here in Washington, D.C., when I took her to visit Mount Vernon.


“Ephriam Aniebona, the lone African in the class of 1964, had originally encouraged me to accept my Peace Corps assignment to Nigeria. Now, 50 years later, I was privileged to be able, in turn, to welcome these students from Africa.”


—Harvey Tettlebaum, 56295 Little Moniteau Road, California, MO 65018; (573) 761-1107; dartsecy64@gmail.com