People from New York City talk fast, walk fast and like to get things done fast, according to Marene Jennings, '98. As president of the Afro-American Society, chair of the Tucker Foundation's English as a Second Language program, 1998 class representative to the alumni council, member of Palaeopitus and intern to the treasurer's office, Jennings certainly has lots of energy.
Jennings, a double major in economics and Latin American and Caribbean studies, came to Dartmouth from Horace Mann high school, the largest independent high school in New York City. In high school, Jennings said she was involved in an organization comparable to a combination of AAm and La Alianza Latina.
An upperclassman friend nominated her as the freshman representative for AAm, and Jennings accepted the position.
"I felt that if I wanted change to happen, I would have to become involved in it," she said.
Since she joined the executive committee as a freshman, she has moved through the AAm ranks. In her freshman year, she said, the organization was "a little too insular."
The members of the executive committee knew each other well, but she said felt it was necessary to reach out to more African Americans in the Dartmouth community. She wanted change within the group and in the community, making events more inclusive.
She said she felt that students at Dartmouth were becoming stuck in their own social circles, rather than making efforts to "branch out" and to meet different kinds of people.
This year she has accomplished what she had hoped for in her freshman year, Jennings said. Through more discussions and dialogue about issues of diversity between organizations, she said an important first step has been taken toward more interaction between student groups.
Coming from an urban background, Jennings said she found it odd to encounter people who were not used to dealing with diversity. She said some students from rural areas have difficulties expanding their social outlets and changing their perspective to become more open and willing to meet different people.
In the ESL program, Jennings, who is fluent in Spanish, helps match students in the Lebanon school district with tutors from Dartmouth and recruits new volunteers.
Despite her large time commitment to non-academic activities, Jennings said her work and her classes have always come first.
"I'm here to work. I've never left my extra-curricular activities affect my academics," she said.
She admitted her social life has become severely restricted through her involvement in campus organizations, but added that she "gets so much out of meeting so may different kinds of people that the benefits are equal to or even outweigh the drawbacks."
"Sometimes you wish you could just be a random Joe," Jennings said about having so much responsibility and so little spare time. But she said she does not regret her commitment to the AAm.
"My Dartmouth experience wouldn't have been what it was without that," she said.
Since last summer, she said her social circle has expanded, to include friends from all over the world. Her group of friends is not only characterized by racial diversity, like in high school, but also by religious, socioeconomic and geographic differences, she said.
Jennings said she chose to come to Dartmouth because she hoped she would get to know her professors and wanting to "explore something different at a small school in the northeast." She was also impressed by Dartmouth's strong economics department and its unique Latin-American program.
She added that although she is excited about working at a management consulting firm in Boston next year, she is sad to leave Dartmouth. She will miss her friends, she said, and the professors and administrators to whom she has grown close.
"Some of the administrators are incredible role models. They work hard to make our student experience positive," she said.
In addition, Jennings said, none of the people she has met who attend other schools share as strong a sense of bonding with their alma mater as Dartmouth students do.
"I feel that I can call it my Dartmouth, even though it may not be the same as your Dartmouth."
"Marene is extremely energetic. She makes everyone around her enthusiastic," said Karin Lewis '98, who met Jennings last summer and will be her roommate in Boston next year.
Lewis described Jennings as "vibrant and a good listener." "People are just really happy to be around her. She's great," she said.
