Class Note 1961
Issue
November-December 2020
The projected rains for today have arrived and my golf game was canceled. The day is dreary and once again overwhelmed by the direct and indirect effects of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Adding to all of this is the anxiety of the upcoming election in early November for the president and vice president of the United States. By the time that you read this article, the elections, I hope, will be over and the country will have one less issue with which to be consumed. Through all of this, however, the class of 1961 has moved forward with resiliency, flexibility, cooperation, and togetherness, regardless of political allegiances. As a result, the class achieved a success that could serve as a model for today’s federal government.
The class completed the year ended June 30 successfully, probably more so than most other classes. We easily exceeded our class dollar goal for the Dartmouth College Fund (DCF) and easily exceeded our class DCF participation goal, achieving an outstanding 78.1-percent classmate participation, the highest of any class, reunion or non-reunion. As a result, the class again won the John R. Mason 1915 Award. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, our highly anticipated class mini-reunion scheduled for March in San Diego had to be canceled. However, we instead held a virtual online class meeting and by mail vote, proxy vote, and voice vote were able, after three years of work, to approve an amended ’61 class constitution that, among other things, overwhelmingly endorsed the informal adoption of all classmate spouses and widows as participating members of our class. Our class’ ongoing communication efforts remained outstanding: periodic newsletters; regular online notices and extensive classmate obits; class columns for each bimonthly issue of DAM; detailed minutes of all monthly class officer and executive committee teleconference meetings; periodic letters to classmates from our class president; periodic telephone calls and email communications to classmates, spouses, and widows; and live in-person or virtual mini-reunion meetings, as determined by Covid-19.
Although all of the aforementioned can be attributable to the class officers and executive committee members as a group, numerous individual members of that group, and the members of the class of 1961, the most important key to our success is attributable to the leadership provided by our current class president, Don O’Neill.
—Victor S. Rich,94 Dove Hill Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030; (516) 446-3977; richwind13@gmail.com
The class completed the year ended June 30 successfully, probably more so than most other classes. We easily exceeded our class dollar goal for the Dartmouth College Fund (DCF) and easily exceeded our class DCF participation goal, achieving an outstanding 78.1-percent classmate participation, the highest of any class, reunion or non-reunion. As a result, the class again won the John R. Mason 1915 Award. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, our highly anticipated class mini-reunion scheduled for March in San Diego had to be canceled. However, we instead held a virtual online class meeting and by mail vote, proxy vote, and voice vote were able, after three years of work, to approve an amended ’61 class constitution that, among other things, overwhelmingly endorsed the informal adoption of all classmate spouses and widows as participating members of our class. Our class’ ongoing communication efforts remained outstanding: periodic newsletters; regular online notices and extensive classmate obits; class columns for each bimonthly issue of DAM; detailed minutes of all monthly class officer and executive committee teleconference meetings; periodic letters to classmates from our class president; periodic telephone calls and email communications to classmates, spouses, and widows; and live in-person or virtual mini-reunion meetings, as determined by Covid-19.
Although all of the aforementioned can be attributable to the class officers and executive committee members as a group, numerous individual members of that group, and the members of the class of 1961, the most important key to our success is attributable to the leadership provided by our current class president, Don O’Neill.
—Victor S. Rich,94 Dove Hill Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030; (516) 446-3977; richwind13@gmail.com