Class Note 2002
Hello, ’02s! It was great to see so many of you at our reunion in June. Almost 200 ’02s showed up with their partners, spouses and children, living it up in the dorms like old times. Delicious dinners were catered both nights by Murphy’s. Two of our class historians, Lonnie Threatte and Brett Quimby, toasted us on the Bema, reminding us of what stays the same and what changes between graduation and today. We also elected a new class vice president, Eric Powers. Thanks to Jeff Hafner, Phil Mone, Kendra Quincy Knauf, Yelena Blackwell, Sarah Myers Pingree and the rest of the reunion committee for such an amazing time!
Our reunion co-chair Kendra filled me in on her recent career change: “The past couple of years have been full of change since I returned to graduate school in mental health counseling for a second master’s degree. I spent almost a year working for a local crisis team and now am a clinician at a therapeutic school for students ranging in age from 8 to 22. I love this new direction my career has taken and I find the work rewarding in many ways.”
A few weeks before she brought her new husband up to Dartmouth for reunion, J.T. Leaird married Joe Schiltz (Fordham ’04) on May 29 at the Allen Sheep Farm on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. J.T.’s bridal party included Kate (Knowles) Frankel, Cliff Campbell ’04 and Mark Orsini ’04 and the Big Green was well represented among the guests by Matt Frankel, Tucker (Ballard) and Dan Mahoney ’01, Emily Wood, Kate (Murphy) Voltz, Abigail Clark, Elizabeth Badger and John Nichols ’01, Christian ’05 and Rebecca (Ely) Weeks, Liz (Balanda) and Chris Baldwin, Katie Price, Kristin (Barlup) Toombs, Tori (Miner) Flaherty, Kate Siber, Merrielle Macleod, Karin Ljungquist, Allyson Terpsma and Jennifer Koch and Kate Cochrane. Joe and J.T. live in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, where J.T. manages four charter middle schools with Uncommon Schools and Joe works for the Boy Scouts of America.
Lastly, just after reunion I sadly learned that Alexander “Xander” Harrison passed away unexpectedly on June 17. Xander was a bold, brilliant and charismatic individual and he will be deeply missed by his family and friends. I encourage you to share any memories, photos or condolences for his family on his memorial website at memorialwebsites.legacy.com/Alexander_Harrison/homepage.aspx. A full obituary will appear on the DAM website.
Xander was one of my first friends at Dartmouth and his death comes as quite a shock. His passing and seeing everyone at reunion serve as a reminder that while Dartmouth is clearly a very special place, the best part of the Dartmouth experience is all the amazing people, such as Xander, with whom we shared our college years. With that in mind, I encourage you to keep in touch, though ’round the girdled earth we roam.
—Anne Cloudman, 315 West 99th St., Apt. 2D, New York, NY 10025; acloudman@gmail.com
