To the Editor:
As a Dartmouth alumna returned to pursue an MD/PhD, I am struck by how Dartmouth with different faces remains the same, ever and never changing. Seven years ago this fall, I embarked on my D.O.C. trip and have since watched the fresh faces coming and going and their arrival is so predictable that it's comforting and disconcerting. I say disconcerting because I feel a tremendous claim to Dartmouth and I worry about my claim being diluted by so many others who come through these hallowed hills and walls not thinking of those who have gone before them. I ask that you think about those who have sat at your desks, slept in your rooms, and sweat on your fields. Think especially of those whom we have lost much too soon this summer.
One of those people is Juan Cisneros, a Dartmouth '99 who was ruthlessly murdered by terrorists in New York City on September 11. And what a sad, awful, incomprehensible loss to Dartmouth his death is. Juan was the type of person who would have been forever tied to Dartmouth, always visiting, always contributing and keeping in contact with his Dartmouth friends. While an undergraduate, Juan reassured me that I was surrounding myself with upstanding men. Dialogue, the seed of understanding and the source of so much of my personal growth at Dartmouth, was easy with Juan. He had an approachable way, a laugh like a hug, and a manner of comfort. I fully expected Juan to come to my wedding; I figured I would see him when I came back for reunions; I knew I would see him this Homecoming. Instead I watch the changing colors and faces, knowing Dartmouth is perceptibly emptier without him.
