If you did not hear Conan O’Brien’s Commencement address to the class of 2011 in Hanover this past June (or hear about it or view it on YouTube), you must have been hiding under a very large rock. While I applaud the College on the entire list of honorary degree recipients, snagging Conan to deliver the address was a coup de force and certainly one that the 2011 graduates will remember for a long time. After all, despite having attended the wrong college—“a small, local commuter school, a pulsating sore on a muddy elbow of the Charles River,” Conan is a 1985 graduate, which sort of makes him an honorary classmate of ours, given his honorary degree. Isn’t it hard to believe that college graduation speakers these days are actually contemporaries of ours? Are we really that old that we are now perceived to actually hold some insight about the world? (If you ask any of my kids, the answer to that one is a resounding, “No!”) 


Setting aside his young age, Conan’s gifted combination of comedic irreverence (“Your insecurity is so great, Dartmouth, that you don’t even think you deserve a real podium.”) and astute observations (“you, Dartmouth, are the cool, sexually confident, lacrosse-playing younger sibling who knows how to throw a party and looks good in a down vest.”) were pure entertainment to all. Check it out. I’m not sure Conan ever got his Gore-tex gloves, but do you suppose they actually make a fleece thong? 


In the midst of these graduation festivities, it was easy to get caught up and reflect back on our own Commencement more than 26 years ago. Do you remember: 1) who spoke at our commencement ceremony? 2) who were among our student speakers on Class Day in the Bema? 3) who was our class valedictorian? Any recall on these queries? No? Well, the answers are: 1) Beverly Sills (and she really was both relevant and entertaining, may she rest in peace); 2) Adam Seessel and Valerie Hartman Levy (Adam is director of research with Martin Capital Management in Indiana and Valerie resides in Atlanta, lobbying tirelessly for gun control legislation); 3) Brian Barnes (we had only one valedictorian back in those days; current whereabouts unknown). 


I am only revealing this memorable trivia out of lack of classmate news. Wish I had some to share but it has been slim pickings lately. But never one to give up on a class column, I will carry on. More musings….


So if recent school year-ends complete with commencement speakers encouraging the next generation to make a difference in the world have given you pause to reflect upon your time spent at Dartmouth, do read the 2011 Class Day speech by Charles Wheelan ’88 titled: “Six Things No Commencement Speaker Has Ever Said.” I hope it is still accessible on the Dartmouth website (www.dartmouth.edu/~commence/speeches/2011/wheelan.html). But, just in case, here are the CliffsNotes: Your time in fraternity basements was well spent; some of your worst days lie ahead; don’t make the world worse; marry someone smarter than you are; it’s all borrowed time; I have no idea what the future will bring. Even if you cannot read the full text of Charles’ speech, reflect on this youngster’s wisdom imparted to college graduates (most of whom have not even been alive as long as we have been out of college)—and be grateful that, in more ways than we sometimes appreciate, our time on the Hanover Plain was worth every single second! 


All the best to all of you!


—Leslie A. Davis Dahl, 83 Pecksland Road Greenwich, CT 06831; (203) 552-0070; dahlleslie@yahoo.com; John MacManus, 188 Ringwood Road, Rosemont, PA 19010; (610) 525-4541; slampong@aol.com