“Remember, in the years ahead, you are not alone. It is the special quality of the Dartmouth family that in times of need, we will rally behind its members. Use your very, very considerable talents to make this a more compassionate world for all of us….For all mankind is your brother, and you are your brother’s [and sister’s!] keeper.” Inspired by this charge to our class by President John Kemeny at our graduation, along with compassionate networks created by our fellow Dartmouth classes, Chris Morrison, Anne Scott-Putney and Polly Duncan Collum are spearheading an initiative called Compassio ’81, to create a group of volunteers to support classmates who are undergoing challenging life events, such as a serious illness for themselves or in their family. Chris writes, “The mission of Compassio ’81 is to connect classmates who are seeking advice about something outside of their knowledge area with those more knowledgeable and to help set up support groups around issues our classmates are concerned about.” He and the Compassio ’81 team encourage all classmates to consider getting involved to share their talents and experience in support of fellow ’81s. Take a look at the ’81 class web page and click on “Compassio ’81” for more information. Give a rouse indeed!

Kinetics matter. Philip J. Gibbs left the corporate world and joined the New York City Fire Department from 1990 to 2010. He drew similarities between the purposeful life of firefighting and his experience at Dartmouth, stating in a recent DAM article that both experiences made him feel “comfortable, happy, part of something good. I’ve always felt the two are much more similar than they would seem.”

We may have to engage song writers to come up with a rendition of “As the backs go tearing by” for the Big Green hockey team since their leader Bob Gaudet recently reached the 300 wins at Dartmouth mark. The team talent level and esprit de corps continues to impress. Well done, Coach!

To the dismay of many of our era, there appears to be a need to resurrect passion for snow sculpture construction on campus. A Winter Carnival sculpture did appear this season, but aficionados such as our own Mitchell Arion have continued the construction of significant oeuvres for many years after graduation. Our nature, our tradition, our fellowship.

I understand how consumed with life’s demands and challenges we all are, but consider a reset and reach out to others, including your class secretaries and other members of the class, perhaps also via the Compassio ’81 route.

—Emil Miskovsky, 520 Seneca St., Suite 312, Utica, NY, 13502; (802) 345-9861; emilmiskovsky@gmail.com; Veronica Wessels, 224 Buena Vista Road, Rockcliffe, ON K1M0V7, Canada; (613) 864-4491; vcwessels@rogers.com