Class Note 1974
Issue
November-December 2025
Class Note 1974. Time for a shoutout to the team that inspired us to surpass our $300,000 and 40-percent-participation Dartmouth College Fund goals back in June. As a result, we received the Class of 1979 Award for Best Post-Reunion Retention Rate. Thanks to head class agent Tom Guidi and treasurer Peter DeNatale, who led the charge with a team including Duncan Todd, Bob Whalen, Chris Pfaff, Rosalyn Meyer, Holger Liepmann, Greg Pulis, Steve Severson, Jerry Bowe, Frank Dooley, Mike Draznik, Dick Spellman, Christine Nicholson, and to all who contributed to the DCF.
September marked the start of our third cohort of Health Equity scholars. Generous contributions from our class and others continue to fund six to 10 undergraduate research interns supporting a broad range of health equity research for three academic terms. Thanks to all who have made this life-changing experience possible.
Come January, another milestone: Sociology department chair and professor Jason Houle will facilitate a winter term course, Sociology 92, a community-based research practicum for sociology majors wishing to complete a capstone project. The course description explains, “In this capstone course, we will work together as a class to answer a research question that helps a community partner address key social problems in the Upper Valley and offer solutions to these problems.” The research question asks why there are disparities in health and mortality outcomes in the class of 1974. This deeper dive into our (and perhaps other) class data will begin to get us closer to why our Black classmates are dying at a rate 2.3 times greater than other classmates. Members of the ’74 Mortality Disparity Working Group will attend the first class meeting in January and continue to be engaged throughout the term.
I’ve heard crickets from all y’all to my request about a reading share, so I offer another of mine. On the top of my 2026 must-read list: The Afterlife of Malcolm X, An Outcast Turned Icon’s Enduring Impact on America by Mark Whitaker. Le’ me hear from you if you’ve read it or have a suggestion.
—Bill Geiger, 7521 Sheffingdell Drive, Charlotte, NC 28226; (847) 322-5920;1974damnotes@gmail.com
September marked the start of our third cohort of Health Equity scholars. Generous contributions from our class and others continue to fund six to 10 undergraduate research interns supporting a broad range of health equity research for three academic terms. Thanks to all who have made this life-changing experience possible.
Come January, another milestone: Sociology department chair and professor Jason Houle will facilitate a winter term course, Sociology 92, a community-based research practicum for sociology majors wishing to complete a capstone project. The course description explains, “In this capstone course, we will work together as a class to answer a research question that helps a community partner address key social problems in the Upper Valley and offer solutions to these problems.” The research question asks why there are disparities in health and mortality outcomes in the class of 1974. This deeper dive into our (and perhaps other) class data will begin to get us closer to why our Black classmates are dying at a rate 2.3 times greater than other classmates. Members of the ’74 Mortality Disparity Working Group will attend the first class meeting in January and continue to be engaged throughout the term.
I’ve heard crickets from all y’all to my request about a reading share, so I offer another of mine. On the top of my 2026 must-read list: The Afterlife of Malcolm X, An Outcast Turned Icon’s Enduring Impact on America by Mark Whitaker. Le’ me hear from you if you’ve read it or have a suggestion.
—Bill Geiger, 7521 Sheffingdell Drive, Charlotte, NC 28226; (847) 322-5920;1974damnotes@gmail.com