Class Note 1982
Issue
Jan - Feb 2019
“And the 2018 Reunion Class of the Year is the great class of 1982.” Those words and the following shouts of joy made this year’s Class Officers Weekend (COW) especially sweet. The annual gathering of all class officers took place in Hanover at the end of September among beautiful fall weather. Danny Black led our contingent of class leaders, including Robin Shaffert, David Plekenpol, Matt Hoffman, Carol Davis, Betsy Leggat, Mike Berg, Jon Baker, Steve Berger and me. Our record-breaking 35th reunion attendance in June was a key factor in winning our sixth Class of the Year Award. We immediately texted Mary Thomson Renner and Cathy Judd-Stein, who were instrumental in leading us to this triumph.
David Plekenpol also won Treasurer of the Year—for the third time. And Ralph McDevitt, Sally McCoy, and Al Dotson won Gift Planning Chairs of the Year. It was an ’82 lovefest. But since we did not sweep every category, there is still more work to do….
It was extra-special that Cheryl Bascomb was there to welcome all alums back for COW—her first as vice president of alumni relations. And Alumni Council president Tee Lotson was in Hanover too. Ann Neumeyer was in town for her husband’s Dartmouth Medical School reunion. Philippa Guthrie, Laura Murray Dobbin, Vaune Dugan, Barb Power,and Sarah Melcher were in Hanover celebrating 40 years of women’s rugby at Dartmouth.
We had a meeting with members of the class of 1957 to discuss our new class project—the Class of 1982 Fund for Great Issues Innovation at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding. The fund will promote extracurricular and co-curricular activities that focus on identifying, analyzing, and solving the current and future great issues of the world; instill in Dartmouth students a desire to make a difference in the world through a deeper understanding of international issues; and rely on innovation and reflect grounding in the liberal arts. Dartmouth founded the Dickey Center in 1982 and our partnership with the class of 1957 was serendipitous, since at our first meeting we realized that most of the ’57s were 82 years old. Kudos to Robin Shaffert,Cathy Judd-Stein, and David Plekenpol for getting this project off the ground.
Finally, 2019 marks the 250th birthday of Dartmouth. There will be a series of events this coming year, culminating in Boston on December 13, which is the date when the College charter was issued in 1769. A kickoff event will be held in Hanover on January 10. Go to 250.dartmouth.edu for more information. In honor of Dartmouth’s sestercentennial, I will close this column with two questions for you. What is one thing that you imagine all Dartmouth graduates share with the four members of that first graduating class in 1771? And, if you had the chance to give founder Eleazar Wheelock a one-hour tour of the campus today, where would you take him?
Happy holidays and happy new year!
—David Eichman, 9004 Wonderland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046; dme4law@sbcglobal.net; Jennifer Chandler Hauge, 3506 Idaho Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016; jchandlerhauge@gmail.com
David Plekenpol also won Treasurer of the Year—for the third time. And Ralph McDevitt, Sally McCoy, and Al Dotson won Gift Planning Chairs of the Year. It was an ’82 lovefest. But since we did not sweep every category, there is still more work to do….
It was extra-special that Cheryl Bascomb was there to welcome all alums back for COW—her first as vice president of alumni relations. And Alumni Council president Tee Lotson was in Hanover too. Ann Neumeyer was in town for her husband’s Dartmouth Medical School reunion. Philippa Guthrie, Laura Murray Dobbin, Vaune Dugan, Barb Power,and Sarah Melcher were in Hanover celebrating 40 years of women’s rugby at Dartmouth.
We had a meeting with members of the class of 1957 to discuss our new class project—the Class of 1982 Fund for Great Issues Innovation at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding. The fund will promote extracurricular and co-curricular activities that focus on identifying, analyzing, and solving the current and future great issues of the world; instill in Dartmouth students a desire to make a difference in the world through a deeper understanding of international issues; and rely on innovation and reflect grounding in the liberal arts. Dartmouth founded the Dickey Center in 1982 and our partnership with the class of 1957 was serendipitous, since at our first meeting we realized that most of the ’57s were 82 years old. Kudos to Robin Shaffert,Cathy Judd-Stein, and David Plekenpol for getting this project off the ground.
Finally, 2019 marks the 250th birthday of Dartmouth. There will be a series of events this coming year, culminating in Boston on December 13, which is the date when the College charter was issued in 1769. A kickoff event will be held in Hanover on January 10. Go to 250.dartmouth.edu for more information. In honor of Dartmouth’s sestercentennial, I will close this column with two questions for you. What is one thing that you imagine all Dartmouth graduates share with the four members of that first graduating class in 1771? And, if you had the chance to give founder Eleazar Wheelock a one-hour tour of the campus today, where would you take him?
Happy holidays and happy new year!
—David Eichman, 9004 Wonderland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046; dme4law@sbcglobal.net; Jennifer Chandler Hauge, 3506 Idaho Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016; jchandlerhauge@gmail.com