Hello, classmates. An important message from head class agent Jim Beattie. Before we get into the specifics let’s stipulate, with bias worn on our sleeves, that our class is the College’s most significant in the second half of the 20th century. Jim’s report is a call to action around that legacy—and these notes should reach you as you make year-end donation decisions. Our fundraising numbers are not great, especially as we look toward our 50th. Compared to all classes in the 1970s and 1980s, we’re at or near the bottom of most categories, including dollar goal, total dollars raised, and participation. We did meet our goal of 40 1769 Society members, but that doesn’t rank us very well either. Our total Bartlett Tower Society members does put us No. 1 among our peer classes. Jim says: “Our class has some challenges going into our 50th reunion but also opportunities for all of us to remember the impact that Dartmouth has had on our lives, professionally and personally, and to plan to give back. Martha and I are assembling a team of class agents who will reach out to as many folks as we can during the next three years to build momentum for June 2026. With opportunities to spread your reunion gift across a few years, we hope to break some more records as we did at our 30th reunion, when we had a participation rate of more than 60 percent, which was a record at that time!” Participation is the easiest category to boost quickly, so maybe we can start there. Also, huge thanks to our gift planning chair, Steffi Valar, who built on the foundation started by her predecessor, Brewer Doran.

Most of us were not government majors, but surely many remember professor Roger Masters. He died last summer in Hanover, and it’s worth your time to google him. As an early riser and resident of Psi U, I often saw him ride his bike up the big hill from Norwich, Vermont, his long Lincolnesque beard leading and his two Dalmatians trotting beside him. He was the quintessential College professor for me: iconoclastic and individualistic and setting an example that the world need not force you into a proscribed or pre-ordained role.

If you didn’t see it, it’s worth sharing part of admissions dean Lee Coffin’s statement in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Harvard and UNC affirmative-action case: “Dartmouth remains unwavering in its ‘fundamental commitment to building a diverse and welcoming community of faculty, students, and staff, as articulated in our core values.’ Those words were shared by Sian Leah Beilock, the new president of Dartmouth, in her message to the College community.…That fundamental principle endures.” He continued: “That means we will continue to consider someone’s academic achievements as well as academic passions and curiosity. We will value a student’s accomplishments inside as well as outside the classroom, and we will note evidence of challenges someone may have overcome. Creativity, leadership, an impulse toward collaboration, independence, determination, and kindness, among many other attributes that shape a person’s narrative and identity, all ‘count.’ ” As the first class where these principles found traction with the admission of women, his affirmation rings true today. Please don’t be bashful and send news of yourself or your classmates to steve@stevebellcommunications.com. You may send longer accounts and pictures to Jim Burns for his much-anticipated newsletter. Ciao for now.

—Steve Bell, 15 Harbour Pointe, Buffalo, NY 14202; steve@stevebellcommunications.com