Ivy League champions in football and hockey, accomplished doctors, politicians and business leaders, members of the Class of 1979 have returned to campus to celebrate their 25th reunion. Lasting from Wednesday to Sunday, the reunion includes an overnight at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, porch-to-porch cocktails on Rope Ferry Road, numerous lectures and panel discussions, and the 1974/1979 Golf Classic at the Hanover Country Club.
Class President William Mitchell expects the Class of '79 "to obliterate the Class of '78's record of 310 returning alumni" for a reunion, as 290 of the 920 members of the class who graduated 25 years ago have already registered for the event. More than 220 children will accompany their parents to the reunion, including 25 who are only two to five years old.
The Class of 1979 has already raised $2.5 million and hopes to reach its goal of $4 million in donations to the College for the reunion, said Mitchell, who is confident that the class will set the record for the highest median donor amount. The class has given $8 million to the College since its graduation.
The class has consistently demonstrated its spirit and unity by setting several impressive records at the College. During their freshman year, members of the class built the largest Homecoming bonfire in Dartmouth history at 100 tiers (regulations have since limited the size of the bonfire).
According to Mitchell, the '79s have the highest level of alumni participation, in terms of paying class dues and giving to the Dartmouth College Fund, of any class that has graduated since 1960 and last year set the record for the most individuals participating in an annual fund drive. The class has also won "Class of the Year" twice in the past six years.
"We are a class of whose strength has always been in our collective efforts, marked by our participation records with the College," he said.
Many members of the Class of '79 have gained prominence in their respective careers. A few of them include: John Hoeven, the governor of North Dakota and a close friend of President George W. Bush; Eugene "Buddy" Teevens, a former Dartmouth head football coach and the current head football coach at Stanford University; Dawn Hudson Beach, president of Pepsi-Cola North America; Kery Davis, a former point-guard on the Dartmouth men's basketball team and the current senior vice president of programming at HBO Sports, where he is in charge of boxing broadcasts; Peter Robinson, a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan; Dr. Gerry Cox, a staff physician for both President Bill Clinton and President Bush; and Dr. Charles Carr, the team doctor for Dartmouth sports.
Laurie Laidlaw Roulston, the class treasurer, stressed that most of her classmates have been successful without necessarily becoming "famous."
"You may not make the Wall Street Journal, but that doesn't mean that you haven't impacted those around you," Roulston said.
She also noted that Dartmouth offered her class "an excellent education that provided a strong foundation for future learning." Asked about the upcoming event, Roulston responded: "It's going to be a terrific reunion. My class always participates at a high level."
