30 years is not that long...Dartmouth does that to you.

I just returned from my 30th college reunion. That means it was 30 years ago this month that I graduated from college. My alma mater, Dartmouth, is located in beautiful Hanover, New Hampshire, right on the Vermont border. Reunions are held for our class - the class of 1978 - very five years so this is the sixth time since we all graduated that we gathered in Hanover to...well, read on.

Laurel and I began our time at this reunion on Weds. 6/11 by spending the night in the Ravine Lodge at Mt. Moosilauke.

This lodge was built by members of the Dartmouth Outing Club, a club at Dartmouth focused on hiking, camping, canoeing, kayaking, etc. It has been around forever and maintains this rustic lodge as well as the portion of the Appalachian Trail that runs right through Dartmouth's campus (and more.)



We hiked up Mt. Moosilauke - a 7.6 mile round trip - on Thursday 6/12 with a small group of '78s (Lex Bond Bundschuh, Doug Wildes, and Paul Conklin; Dave Hov and Fred Siekert hiked later that morning.) This was my first time back to the Ravine Lodge and Mt. Moosilauke since September 1974 - my freshman year at Dartmouth. Like most freshman even to this day, my time at Dartmouth began with a hiking trip that ended at Mt. Moosilauke and the Ravine Lodge. It has not changed at all in 34 years.

It’s fun to think back to my freshman trip in the Fall of 1974. I saw several of the people on that trip this past weekend at Dartmouth. Of my closest friends in life, a majority came from my Dartmouth years. In fact, when I think of the friends I made during my four years at Dartmouth, followed by all the weddings, the raising our families, the pursuits of our lives, etc. and then realize that the bonds we formed in Hanover have not only lasted 34+ years but appear to be on their way to lasting a lifetime, I am truly amazed. Dartmouth does that somehow.

It was a hard days day (and night)

I recently spent the day with my college friend, Bill Petit, about whom I wrote in my very first post on this blog (see below, July 30, 2007 post). Bill has endured nine months of hell on earth since the unfathomable tragedy that befell he and his family on July 23, 2007. Bill is a hero to me. He gets up each day and finds a way to make it through. He is not yet OK...or as he says it: he has "ok days and horrible nights."

It is hard. Very, very hard. Yet on a warm spring day in march, in San Antonio the day of the NCAA men's basketball championship game between Kansas and Memphis, Bill took time out to be with me. We talked. We shared. We reminisced. We laughed. We cried. He may have thought of it as me spending time with him. Before I got there, so did I. But when I left, and looking back on it, it really was Bill spending time with me. It was hard for Bill. A hard days day. But he graciously and unselfishly poured out his heart that day to me.

I still think about that day. Every day.

Dartmouth Class of 1978 - An Amazing Group of Men and Women

President James Wright made the following remarks during his Tenth Annual Report to the General Faculty this week:

"And I am delighted to be able to announce today that the Class of 1978 Reunion Giving Committee, made up of Bill Daniel, Elissa VonHeill Hylton, Steve Mandel, and Barbara Dau Southwell, has committed to meeting two goals by the time of their 30th reunion next June. Now we need to understand that the Class of '78 broke all previous reunion records in 2003 when they raised over $14 million for their 25th reunion. They have agreed to do this again! They have committed to raise the $40 million necessary to name the College's new Life Sciences building and contribute at least $3 million in unrestricted gifts supporting the student experience. This current commitment raises the bar for class gifts to an unbelievable height. I am so pleased that we will be able to name the Life Sciences building for the Class of 1978."

I am thrilled. It really is astounding that this group of men and women has had such financial success and yet remains as generous and committed to giving back to Dartmouth at the same time. It is a honor to be a part of such a group.