This week, the College suffered a painful loss. Torin Tucker ’15 died Saturday while competing in a cross-country ski race in Craftsbury, Vt. His death is incomprehensible, but our community’s response has been one of warmth, support and reflection.
We at The Dartmouth have the good fortune of cohabiting Robinson Hall with the ski team. Although otherwise disconnected, our communities interact each day by virtue of this space: a held door, a shared smile, a coinciding run to Collis. In the week since Torin’s death, we have seen the profound impact that his passing has had on friends and teammates. We bear witness to their grief, and we express solidarity in mourning his loss.
Dartmouth is a small community comprised of even smaller sub-communities. The beauty of this campus — and its greatest strength, particularly in times of crisis or tragedy — is the way that these smaller circles interact, overlap and connect.
There are many ways to react to a tragedy and equally many to write about one. Various clichés abound for expressing grief after a loss. We as an editorial board have struggled to express our thoughts, but we wanted to show our support nonetheless.
Students, faculty and staff share the weight of this loss. In turn, we must support each other during this time. Though you may not have known or even met Torin, he was integral to this community, as we all are. We belong to more than just an academic institution located in rural New Hampshire. We share family, friends, dreams, ambitions, experiences. We share our time at the College. We share this space.
It is easy to lose ourselves in the daily minutia of our lives. This tragedy strikes us at one of the busiest times of the term, in the midst of midterms and as Winter Carnival begins.
We urge the student body to slow down. Support one another. Be grateful.
As members of The Dartmouth, we extend our love and support to Torin’s family, our neighbors downstairs, the community and all those who knew him.
