In a three-day event that brought together over five decades of black alumni and students, the Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association met this past weekend for their biannual reunion. The reunion featured a variety of events, including performances by student groups and the unveiling of a specially-commissioned portrait of Professor Dr. Errol G. Hill, Dartmouth's first tenured black professor.
The BADA reunion weekend even brought together three generations of a Dartmouth legacy family, as Richard Fairley '55 and Ricki Fairley-Brown '78 journeyed to campus to join Amanda Brown '07.
The weekend's keynote speaker was motivational speaker Julianne Malveaux, a syndicated columnist whose work has appeared in USA Today, Black Issues in Higher Education, Ms. magazine, Essence magazine and the Progressive. College President James Wright also met with alumni in a reception and unveiled the portrait of Hill, who taught from 1968 to 1989, as well as addressing the alumni at a banquet on Saturday.
The reunion also featured Dartmouth's annual awards ceremony, "Young, Gifted & Black," during which black students received various awards. Organized by Bridgette Hylton '06, an academic and leadership award winner, and hosted by Hylton and Reginald Martin '04, Th '06, the ceremony featured 21 other awards in addition to academic honors awards. Recipients received kente cloths, traditional African woven cloths, to wear at commencement.
"I would say the event was a success," Hylton said. "All the seats are generally full and this year we were lucky to have the black alumni association members up for the weekend. It showcases a lot of people in the community."
Alumni also had an opportunity to watch numerous performances by student groups, such as shows by the Ujima dance troupe, the Gospel Choir and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity's step show. The SHEBA dance troupe also held its annual spring show, marking its 10-year anniversary on Sunday.
Other scheduled events included a BADA business meeting, executive committee meetings and dinner with the black caucus, along with more social activities such as a bid whist and spades tournament, sunrise workouts and a '70s old-school party at the Cutter Shabazz house.
BADA member Maurice Simmons '79 enjoyed the weekend and cited mingling with fellow alumni, especially those alumni with children now attending Dartmouth, as a highlight.
"There are quite a few alumni friends who have children here and it's very interesting to see how they're doing here and to compare it to my time here," Simmons said.
Simmons said he believes the administration does a good job of engaging the BADA.
"They have a listening ear, and that's a positive step," Simmons said. "I sense that there's a willingness and a desire to make Dartmouth the finest institution in the land."
Maria Higuery-Birgisson of Alumni Relations also noted that BADA has raised almost $1.5 million for the Campaign for the Dartmouth Experience, a campaign to develop Dartmouth's endowment. BADA contributions between July 1, 2002 and May 19, 2005 totaled $1,451,612.85, with a total of 890 donors and a participation rate of 39.6 percent for the organization.
In addition, the 557 BADA members have contributed $244,039.98 for the fiscal year 2005, with a 24.8 participation rate. BADA endows a scholarship fund that currently totals $27,686.66, and the organization hopes to bring the total up to the $50,000 level so that a qualified African American student may be named a BADA-Alexander Scholar on an annnual basis.
