As prosecutors and investigators remain tight-lipped, Dartmouth alumni around the country are struggling to come to terms with the tragic murders of Susanne and Half Zantop.
Annette Faubion '86, who learned about the double homicide inside the front cover of the Houston Chronicle, said she was "totally shocked" by the news.
"It made me sick to my stomach," she said. "I remember Dartmouth as a place where you could walk across the campus at two in the morning completely oblivious to any sort of danger."
John Ferdico '65 expressed similar disbelief, saying "It certainly doesn't remind me of the Hanover, N.H. I remember."
He said that he talked with the governor of Maine, Angus King '66, and that both of were "shocked" by the murders.
Yet without knowing any further details about how the crime was committed or what motivated the killer, Ferdico said he couldn't have much of a reaction beyond that of initial shock.
Other alumni agreed with the sentiment that a lack of information about the Zantops' deaths was effecting on their reaction to the tragedy.
"Obviously I'm shocked and horrified," Noah Phillips '00 said, but he said that because his knowledge about the situation surrounding the murders is incomplete, "my reaction isn't fully formed."
Bernard Sudikoff '53 said that he could not yet draw a conclusion as to the safety of Hanover or the College until he knows the circumstances of the crime, such as who the murderer is.
"Any murder is part disturbing of course," he said, adding that it is more of a shock because the victims were members of the Dartmouth community.
He said such a crime was unimaginable when he was at the College almost 50 years ago. "I can't imagine it happening now," he continued, "except that it has."
Sudikoff said that he first heard of the murders late Sunday evening, but that the details were "sketchy." "I was hoping it had nothing to do with Dartmouth," he said.
Now that he knows that College professors were the victims of the tragedy, he said he still hopes a student is not responsible for the crime.
Walter Jelliffe '46, a Hanover resident, said it was a "shame" that such a crime occurred in the town. "Things are happening in Hanover that haven't happened in a long time," he said.
Although it's "insane that it happened," Jelliffe claimed that he was not worried about his own safety and did not feel threatened by the murders.
The overriding emotion among those interviewed, of course, was disbelief and shock. For many, the fact that such a misfortune could touch such an apparently a tranquil place like Dartmouth has changed their perception of the College.
"One always looks at a place like Dartmouth as a very special place -- a haven for students and faculty," said William Diamond '74, expressing surprise that "something like this could happen in Hanover."
An event like the Zantops' deaths causes everyone to stop and think, he said. "The world is the world and this type of thing happens everywhere."
For Diamond, who in many ways saw the College as a "sanctuary," recent events have "considerably damaged" the sense of peace and safety he previously associated with the College, he said.
