Class Note 1990

Here is the second set of responses to my question, “How did your freshman roommate(s) or freshman hallway or freshman dorm affect the path of your next three years at Dartmouth?” Rebecca Baggett: “I remember talking with my freshman-year roommate Joan Slattery the summer before freshman year. She was from New York and I think she was a bit astounded that she had been paired with someone from Alabama. She became my best friend and my roommate for my remaining years at Dartmouth and we are still close today.” Scott Reed: “I spent my freshman year in the basement of Lord. One night my roommate Brett Cartwright convinced me to stop studying and we headed over to Fraternity Row. To this day I keep in touch with my Gamma Delt brothers more than I do with my own ’rents.” Sarah Stearns: “I lived in French Hall in the River Cluster. I can still recall my roommate Sarah Jacobson coming back from 7 a.m. Russian drill and taunting me with how cold it was outside, and Marcus Weiss studying standing up with the window open (so as not to fall asleep) and that I had ‘brothers’ (something I’d never had before college) in Mike Keller and Tom Warren.” Kristin Jacobson: “My freshman hallmate Karen Pike became my best friend. We joined the same sorority, where we met Liz Amlicke Bahrenburg and Kelin Pickard Colberg, and lived together whenever we could at Dartmouth. After college we lived in D.C. at the same time, then we all lived (and Karen and I still do) in the San Francisco Bay Area. We were in each other’s weddings, had kids around the same times and still get together regularly. And it all started on the fourth floor of Topliff freshman year.” Tim Cleary: “The person I married, Laura Jackson, was on my freshman hallway and was one of the first people I met at Dartmouth. And my freshman trip partner, Derek Symer, remains my best friend to this day.” Tom Parker: “Upperclassmen across the hall convinced me to join U Lodge. Individuals in my freshman group showed me how damn smart people can be. And Ron Phillips showed me how fast someone can throw a snowball.” Jessica Riordan Hanson: “The guy across the hall, Max Hanson, has been my husband for more than 20 years. Maybe I should send a thank you note to the housing office!” Alan Ellis: “The Lodge’s relative isolation and small size made it easy to get to know a lot of my neighbors and engendered a sense of community. My freshman roommate was Dan Crosby. I learned that despite our differences, we could find common ground and enjoy some experiences together (such as going running and jumping off the bridge into the Connecticut River), and I learned about discipline and responsibility by being around him. We also had different academic interests, which broadened my horizons. I’m sure that our year together affected the way I viewed the rest of my life at Dartmouth.” John Stouffer: “I just came across a great picture of me and my freshman roommates Darwin Brown and Tom Stone. We lived in North Fayerweather in a two-room triple, which was entirely too small for us, but we made it work out. Freshman year was exciting, scary, thrilling and fun. It was a world of self-discovery and realization and these guys were my friends through it all. We took different paths at Dartmouth, but I remember we always stopped to catch up whenever we saw each other in the library, on the Green or in the dining hall.”


—Rob Crawford, 47 Black Oak Road, Weston, MA 02493; robertlcrawford@yahoo.com; Walter Palmer, 87 South St., Rockport, MA 01966; palmerwalter@mac.com