Class Note 1979
Issue
September-October 2023
Steve Dorvee, who is eyeing retirement, is still active on the board of the Children’s Development Academy (CDA), which provides early childhood education to children of the working poor. The CDA has been closely aligned for more than five decades with Zion Baptist, the church Julian Schmoke has rejoined since his return to Atlanta from D.C. Steve and Julian are looking forward to working together to benefit both organizations. Aside from volunteering for the CDA, Steve still practices law and collects Southern folk art. His daughter works for the Centers for Disease Control and has been selected for its rapid response team, which can be deployed anywhere in the world on a moment’s notice. Steve’s son, Russell, graduated from Stetson last year and is now working for the Orlando City Soccer Club.
Julian still works for the U.S. Department of Education. At Zion Baptist he serves as first chair on the trustee board and will be the executive director of the Dr. Frank Lewis Legacy Foundation, which focuses on improving the quality of life of families, advocacy for those in need, and improving preschool to 16 educational outcomes. Moreover, Julian is a grandfather to a little boy who will surely grow up to be handsome, smart and, we hope, a Dartmouth student!
Michael Wilkinson married in August 2022 and moved into “preferment” (not retirement) as of January 1. He and his wife, Porsha, have been traveling far and wide, including to Bora-Bora, Costa Rica, Riviera Maya, and Jamaica. As if that were not enough, Porsha published a book and they are remodeling their condo. Michael’s daughter, Danielle, is finishing up her first novel while being recognized as having one of the top blog sites for authors. Not to be outdone, daughter Gabrielle is doing amazing work through her podcast Dear God, I’m Sad, which focuses on the intersection between spirituality and mental health.
Glenn Colville is enjoying retirement. His son is a software engineer at Toyota (involved with storing vehicle identification numbers). Glenn proudly announced his daughter’s acceptance to a residency in pediatrics at Emory University Hospital. (Secretary’s Note: My own pediatrician, Dr. Leila D. Denmark, my role model for my pediatrics career, lived purposefully for 114 years. As Emory’s first pediatric resident back in the 1920s, she had ICUs full of patients with pertussis and was instrumental in the development of the first vaccine against that deadly disease.)
My thanks go to Steve Dorvee for helping me with this column by supplying content about attendees at the ’79 mini-reunion held last spring in Atlanta.
Being an Atlanta native myself and having attended Emory University School of Medicine after Dartmouth, I feel a kinship to these classmates. Thus, I end this column with a quote from W.E.B. DuBois when he was a professor at Atlanta University, established in 1865, the nation’s first institution to award graduate degrees to Black students: “The true college will ever have one goal, not to earn meat but to know the end and aim of life that meat nourishes.”
—Janie Simms Hamner, 7327 Centenary Ave., Dallas, TX 75225; jshandkids@aol.com
Julian still works for the U.S. Department of Education. At Zion Baptist he serves as first chair on the trustee board and will be the executive director of the Dr. Frank Lewis Legacy Foundation, which focuses on improving the quality of life of families, advocacy for those in need, and improving preschool to 16 educational outcomes. Moreover, Julian is a grandfather to a little boy who will surely grow up to be handsome, smart and, we hope, a Dartmouth student!
Michael Wilkinson married in August 2022 and moved into “preferment” (not retirement) as of January 1. He and his wife, Porsha, have been traveling far and wide, including to Bora-Bora, Costa Rica, Riviera Maya, and Jamaica. As if that were not enough, Porsha published a book and they are remodeling their condo. Michael’s daughter, Danielle, is finishing up her first novel while being recognized as having one of the top blog sites for authors. Not to be outdone, daughter Gabrielle is doing amazing work through her podcast Dear God, I’m Sad, which focuses on the intersection between spirituality and mental health.
Glenn Colville is enjoying retirement. His son is a software engineer at Toyota (involved with storing vehicle identification numbers). Glenn proudly announced his daughter’s acceptance to a residency in pediatrics at Emory University Hospital. (Secretary’s Note: My own pediatrician, Dr. Leila D. Denmark, my role model for my pediatrics career, lived purposefully for 114 years. As Emory’s first pediatric resident back in the 1920s, she had ICUs full of patients with pertussis and was instrumental in the development of the first vaccine against that deadly disease.)
My thanks go to Steve Dorvee for helping me with this column by supplying content about attendees at the ’79 mini-reunion held last spring in Atlanta.
Being an Atlanta native myself and having attended Emory University School of Medicine after Dartmouth, I feel a kinship to these classmates. Thus, I end this column with a quote from W.E.B. DuBois when he was a professor at Atlanta University, established in 1865, the nation’s first institution to award graduate degrees to Black students: “The true college will ever have one goal, not to earn meat but to know the end and aim of life that meat nourishes.”
—Janie Simms Hamner, 7327 Centenary Ave., Dallas, TX 75225; jshandkids@aol.com