Senior Dana White's BlitzMail nickname could not be more accurate: "Born 2 Sing." White said she has been involved in a gospel choir "forever," or at least since she was four years old and growing up in Linden, New Jersey.
The Dartmouth Gospel Choir's May 28 performance will mark the culmination of White's two-year reign as director of the College's choir. The production, entitled "Speak to My Heart," will take place at 4 p.m. in Rollins Chapel.
White's influence on the choir should be readily apparent in her final production. The performance has been scheduled for Dartmouth's African-American Alumni Weekend, and accordingly the choir will sing many selections that have been favorites in previous years. The performance will include several a cappella numbers, and the choir is currently learning the Hallelujah chorus.
Gospel choir has always been a major part of White's life. Having sung in her church choir since she was four, joining Dartmouth's choir as a freshman seemed perfectly natural.
"If I had not done gospel choir at Dartmouth, my whole Dartmouth experience would not have been as meaningful," White explained. "There are days when things just don't go right, and the choir has really helped me out."
Outside of her involvement in the gospel choir, White's academic interests have shifted considerably since she came to Dartmouth four years ago. "I came here pre-med like everyone else," White said, but she will leave as an English Literature and Creative Writing major.
Professor William Cook, White's thesis advisor, has witnessed her transformation: "I first met Dana in my freshman seminar on humor and satire, a very appropriate setting, for Dana has become a force at Dartmouth because she has never lost the capacity to laugh at herself and at pomposity and foolishness wherever she finds them. Like every person of strong convictions and a fierce independence, she needs and is blessed with a sense of humor as well as a sharp and penetrating mind."
In the short term, White said, "I would like to stay in an academic environment and find a job in a college admissions office." White currently works in Dartmouth's admissions office.
However, White said she would eventually like to try her luck in the music industry. She would like to experiment in rhythm and blues, jazz and gospel, or perhaps a mix of those styles.
"I don't like a lot of the contemporary R and B stuff coming out," White said. "It seems to be less original [than the music of earlier eras]. Mainstream R and B is getting really shallow and everything is starting to sound the same."
Because of her dissatisfaction with the current R and B scene, White has found her musical tastes "reaching back" to the older styles perfected by such legends as Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and Earth, Wind and Fire.
White hopes to capture the spirit of these older artists in her own compositions someday. She hopes her songwriting will also reflect her commitment to issues and improving society. "I want to make changes," White said, "but I haven't found the right way yet."
While her immediate career path may seem uncertain, White knows how she will handle success.
"You can go out and have a $90,000 a year job, but if you do not give something back to your community, what you do doesn't mean anything. Don't forget where you came from and why you have what you have."