As I write I am sitting in the lobby of the Don CeSar Hotel in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida. It is pouring rain. Gale-force winds. Flooding. Tropical Storm Debby is bearing down. Can you say, “One more margarita please?” You may ask, “Why on earth are you on the Florida Gulf Coast in the middle of hurricane season?” Good question. The answer lies in an effort to give my child every opportunity to pursue the athletic dream by attending a college recruitment camp. But is it worth it? On this 40th anniversary of Title IX, I decided to explore some classmates’ perspectives on their collegiate athletic careers.


Rose Byron McSween says, “My athletic experience at Dartmouth, especially training with lacrosse coach Josie Harper, molded my character and taught me how to be a leader.” Rose continues, “I’ve lived in Greenwich Village in N.Y.C. for the past 20 years and work in education reform, most recently helping to lead a charter school in the South Bronx. I see John Gilstrap a lot and we celebrated his birthday together recently. I also stay in close touch with Denyse Maxwell, who works and lives in Canada. I had the pleasure of seeing Jon Bass and Jenkins Marshall at a lacrosse advisory board gathering in N.Y.C. recently.”


Fran O’Donohue,who attended the Dartmouth women’s lacrosse reunion with Rose, concurs, “Yes, the lacrosse reunion was lots of fun. The facilities the athletes have in Hanover now are amazing. The attention and training is so far beyond what we could have even dreamed about. The locker room alone looks like a professional team is housed there. At each person’s locker there is a small plaque with all the names of the previous players who wore that jersey number. Rose and I had names pretty close to the top on our plaques!” Fran adds, “I have been at Choate Rosemary Hall and have been coaching field hockey and lacrosse since graduation. I also teach chemistry and physics and am the freshman girls’ dean.”


Linda Tuck Isaacson adds, “I have positive thoughts about being an athlete during the first 10 years of women’s athletics at Dartmouth. Although our soccer field was sometimes used as a parking lot and our coach, though adored, had zero soccer experience (he was the head coach for boys lacrosse), it was a terrific experience. Looking back on it I realize that we provided the building blocks for what Dartmouth women’s soccer is now. We also loved the perks that came with being a varsity athlete, such as having our uniforms washed and getting special pre-game meals. A great camaraderie developed on this team, and some of these friendships will be everlasting. I went to Tanzania in March on a Dartmouth alumni trip with Carol Radack Lev, who I met the first day of soccer tryouts freshmen year. We did this to celebrate our 50th birthdays together and it was absolutely amazing!”


Lisa Ragen Ide notes, “Thirty years from my own Dartmouth ski team days I find that I cannot remember the specifics of race results but I have such strong friendships and distinct memories of funny stories. My own daughter Maisie, after a gap year, will start Dartmouth this fall in the class of ’16 and follow my footsteps (on alpine, though, not Nordic). My advice to her? Enjoy the time!” Lisa works as medical director of employee health at Fairview Health Services in Minneapolis, Minnesota, practicing occupational medicine. She married to Buddy Ide ’80 with three more children in tow. 


—Jan Gordon and Derek Chow, 132 Wildcat Lane, Boulder, CO 80304; (303) 448-1580; janandderek@comcast.net