There are some students you read about all the time at Dartmouth. But there are many whose accomplishments are just as meaningful, but who remain behind the scenes.
Here are some Dartmouth graduates who, in just four years, changed Dartmouth. From making the campus a safer place for women to making the woods a safer place for outdoorsmen, these graduates have in turn made the College a better place.
Matt Fulton '96
Anyone who has skied at the Dartmouth Skiway in the past four years has probably seen Matt Fulton '96.
A professional emergency medical technician, Fulton revolutionized Dartmouth's ski patrol and founded the Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team, the only search and rescue team in this area.
When Fulton and Lon Setnik '98, another EMT, learned there was no rescue team for lost skiers and hikers, they decided to do something about it. Now the wilderness response team has more than 30 trained members.
When someone goes into the woods and does not come back out, the Vermont State Police or the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game calls Fulton's team to come help look.
Peter Hasenkamp '98, a member of the team, said Fulton was vital to the team's initial success.
"He started it up, he got the team rolling, he got people interested," Hasenkamp said.
In addition to his duties as captain of the wilderness response team, Fulton was also in charge of Dartmouth's student ski patrol, which is responsible for overseeing all aspects of safety for the skiway's guests. Ski patrollers are responsible for preventing emergencies and performing first aid and evacuation when accidents happen.
Fulton, who was named Outstanding Part-Time Patroller by the New Hampshire Ski Patrol this winter, spent 260 hours at the skiway this winter, Hasenkamp said.
Former Dartmouth Outing Club Safety Chair Sandy Maruszak '96 said the ski patrol was essentially a club when Fulton came to Dartmouth.
"He took a club that was not very strong and made it into a really powerful organization," she said. She said student patrollers are required to spend more hours on the slope than ever before. This winter Dartmouth patrollers were required to spend 50 hours on the snow.
Fulton, who plans to apply to school to become a paramedic, also improved the quality of patrollers, Hasenkamp said.
"Matt made a large change in the quality and caliber of patrollers," he said. "He made sure they aren't just college kids, but EMTs and professional responders."
Ski Patrol Advisor John Koiter said Fulton has been "instrumental in upgrading the level of emergency care we offer to the skiing public."
"He took the ski patrol from where it was accepting all applicants to being selective, where you have to apply," Koiter said.
Koiter said Fulton is a fantastic skier and fantastic with the sled used to evacuate patients. Fulton even bought the patrol a new sled using his own money.
"When you get hurt and you know you have to trust someone, trust Matt," Koiter said. "If you are the guy with the broken leg, all of a sudden this becomes very important."
Brad Parks '96
Every Monday students pick up free copies of The Sports Weekly at the Hopkins Center and Thayer Hall. But few realize the publication is only two years old and the brainchild of a single person.
Brad Parks '96, who started publishing the newspaper his junior fall, said the idea occurred to him when he was a freshman.
"I thought of what I'd have to do, and I thought it would never work," he said.
Now the newspaper is so successful it has purchased a computer, an expensive laser printer, an extra-large monitor and a fax machine.
Parks said the Sports Weekly is paid for by advertising and mailed subscriptions to parents and alumni. But Parks said the paper is more than a business. It is also an opportunity for students to learn.
"I've learned a lot over the past two years," Parks said. "There is no better way to get to know newspapering than to start your own paper."
Parks is no stranger to the newspaper business. He has covered Ivy League football for the New York Times, worked for The Dartmouth, interned with the Boston Globe and will be writing for the Washington Post this summer.
"I am definitely going into journalism in some respect," he said.
Camille Powell '97, the newspaper's new editor, said the things Parks did by himself were "incredible."
"In the beginning he did it all," she said. "Now I am editor and I barely have time for that."
Amy Henry '97, the advertising manager for the Sports Weekly, said Parks started out by doing it all.
"He was wearing all the hats," she said. "He was writing and editing, he did distribution and he got ads."
Jake Halpern '99, who began writing for the Sports Weekly in the fall, said he and other writers are "in complete disbelief at how many things [Parks] had to do on his own to start this paper."
"It is amazing how much respect he has gotten for the paper in the last two years," Halpern said.
Halpern said Parks has always been around to answer questions.
"He really wants to pass on his knowledge of sportswriting," Halpern said.
Henry said Parks is a wonderful editor.
"He has a very keen perspective on what to put in the paper and what people want to hear about," she said.
Shilyh Warren '96
Anyone who follows women's issues on campus has probably heard of Shilyh Warren '96.
As the intern at the Women's Resource Center and a co-founder of Intersections, an academic journal of feminist thought, Warren is one of the most vocal feminists on campus.
"I have tried to shake things up," Warren said.
Intersections, which is funded by a Hewlett grant and was founded her junior year with Cassie Ehrenberg '96, publishes students' and professors' papers exploring feminist issues, Warren said. She said the journal's second issue came out this spring.
Acting coordinator of the Sexual Assault Awareness Program Liza Veto, who met Warren through the Rape Education Action Committee, Intersections and the planning of Sexual Assault and Awareness Week, said the journal has filled a void.
"It looks like a really professional academic journal," she said. Veto said Ehrenberg and Warren "filled a really big hole by creating it."
Women's Resource Center director Giavanna Munafo said Warren has "helped to create a community where men and women can better relate to each other."
Warren, a women's studies major, is part of REACT and a former member of Students against the Abuse of Food and Exercise.
Ehrenberg said Warren practices what she preaches.
"She is a feminist in her day-to-day living," Ehrenberg said. "She lives by her principles."
"She is constantly aware of what is going on around her," Ehrenberg said.
In addition to living by her philosophy, Warren tries to spread it.
Warren "has always been able to say the things that need to be said that others are afraid to say," Veto said.
"She's always willing to put herself on the line and make pretty strong statements," Veto said.
Munafo said Warren's personality helped her gained the support of diverse groups for feminist causes.
"One thing that is really wonderful about her is that she is a very optimistic and happy person," Munafo said. "That is useful when dealing with these sorts of issues."
John Peoples '96
As the only member of his class to help found Amarna undergraduate society, John Peoples '96 helped make the house successful.
Peoples, a history major who plans to go to medical school, said a few members of the Class of 1994 approached him when he was a freshman. They wanted to talk about creating more social options on campus.
The following fall they got together and drafted Amarna's constitution.
Jenny Ellis '96, a member of Amarna, called Peoples "an outspoken leader in the house."
"He asserted his ideas of equity and diversity," she said.
Former Amarna President Greg Obenshain '96 said Peoples "stuck through with Amarna and made it work."
"In Amarna, what he really did was bring a lot of humor and personality to the group as a whole," Obenshain said.
Former Amarna President John Strayer '96 said Peoples' enthusiasm and support for social options helped make Amarna successful.
"He was also really important as an advocate for the social side of Amarna," Strayer said.
Peoples "has also been good at articulating the wider vision of Amarna," he said. "That is, thinking long-term and never losing sight of Amarna's need to interact with the rest of campus."
Obenshain said Peoples helped create a strong membership in Amarna among the Class of 1996.
Peoples still defends Amarna and its purpose.
Peoples said one of the things that makes Amarna different from other social organizations is that anyone can join.
"I'd feel badly saying someone can't join my organization," Peoples said.
Because both men and women belong to Amarna, it fosters "an atmosphere of mutual respect," he said.
