The Rev. Dr. Nancy A.G. Vogele ’85

What do students tell you about their experiences at Tucker? 
They say these are places where they feel seen, loved, challenged, supported, and at home. One of our students said, “Everywhere else I’m just networking. When I come to Tucker, I can be me.” That’s a great compliment. 

Do people have misconceptions about Tucker? 
Well, one misconception is that you have to be religious to be a part of Tucker. That’s the furthest thing from the truth. One way to be involved is through our student religious programming, but that’s just one outward expression of students finding meaning and purpose. There’s a great book, The Awakened Brain by Columbia researcher Lisa Miller. She basically says we have two types of brain. They’re both important. One is the achieving brain. Everybody at Dartmouth has got that one down, but it can’t help you have a meaningful life. The awakened brain includes those moments of transcendence when your brain widens the view and therefore is open to the spiritual. That is where you find your North Star. 

Have the questions students ask themselves changed much? 
Very much so. I was here from 2013 to 2016, and then I came back at the end of 2021 to a community in deep grief because there had been four student deaths the year before, three by suicide, and the grief of Covid, the grief of loss of community, the grief of “Is our world ever going to be the same?” 

How does Tucker foster a feeling of community? 
I noticed when I came back that the first-years weren’t going to the bonfire to have fun. They were going to take a picture to put on Instagram. That can feel very hollow. I think students are hungry for real community—and now there’s the climate catastrophe, AI, questions of  “will I have a job,” and the turbulent political scene. You don’t have to pretend all that angst isn’t here, but there is value in finding something to undergird it and uphold it, make sense of it, help you cope with it. That is real community. 

How do the Tucker fellows help create that? 
At our “Finished the Week Fridays” with cake, they might ask, “How was your week?” If you had a crappy week, they’d expect you to be brave enough to say so. Tucker’s where people can be real, where they can be themselves, which is very freeing.