This article is featured in the 2026 Freshman Special Issue.
In just a few days, the Class of 2030 will gather for matriculation, the culmination of their orientation week at Dartmouth. At their pinning ceremony, they’ll be greeted by members of the Class of 1980 — per tradition, members of each 50-year reunion class attend both the matriculation and the Commencement ceremony of the graduating class.
To help forge a relationship with the ’30s, the ’80s put together a program called 30connect80 “with the goals of connection and developing an ongoing venture beginning with the ’30s as they join the Dartmouth community,” according to the Class of 1980’s website.
The Class of 1980 alumni councilor Cathy McGrath ’80, who represents the ’80s on the Dartmouth Class Council, said for alums such as herself, it’s important “to listen to what [students] would like” from their relationships with older alumni and “follow [their] lead.”
30connect80 co-chair Rich Akerboom ’80 said he and his classmates hope to connect “with the ’30s subject to their interests.”
“We’re interested in helping them out with, more practically, internships and job connections, but also just getting to know people,” Akerboom said.
That means building “something more substantial” with the incoming younger throughout their time at the College — not just at matriculation and Commencement.
“We’re not just going to show up at their commencement and kind of high five,” Akerboom said. “We’re looking to have something more.”
Class of 1980 co-president Frank Vecella ’80 said his class “is taking a very proactive role to be available to [the Class of 2030] as mentors” through the 30connect80 program.
“It’s always good to form relationships with people who have already trod where you’re about to tread,” Vecella said.
Vecella added that now that his class is “wiser,” he and many of his classmates have learned “some lessons” that they would “be more than happy to impart to any Class of [2030] members who care to listen.”
“We can serve as a great resource for incoming freshmen who aren’t sure what they want to do when they get out of college and how to prepare themselves during these next four years,” he added.
The 30connect80 web page lists different “milestones” Class of 2030’s time at the College, including events for admitted students in the spring, regional welcome events in the summer, their first Homecoming weekend and a sophomore summer event.
30connect80 committee member Ann Malenka ’80 said that at “a higher level,” the 30connect80 program will introduce the ’30s “to the special relationship that people have with Dartmouth, with their classmates and those lifelong friendships that they form.”
“We’ll be modeling that behavior because we’re all 50 years out and still friends and coming together for this initiative, and introducing them to that and to their lifelong relationship with Dartmouth,” Malenka said.
30connect80 committee member Kal Alston ’80 said that the program will be a “way of sharing experiences and perspectives” for both the first-year class and “soon to be” 50 year class.
“It is really a place that you can connect to in a myriad of ways over both your time in undergraduate school and beyond,” Alston said.
For example, alumni councilor McGrath, who lives in the Upper Valley, said one way she connects with the College is through following Dartmouth sports teams.
“You end up following a team and understanding the players, and maybe coming to campus or going to away games for a different sport,” McGrath said. “My colleagues and I really follow football, ice hockey and women’s soccer.”
Alston advised incoming students “that it’s okay to change your mind about what you do.” Alston, who went into Dartmouth thinking she’d be a government major but ended up majoring in drama, spent her career as a professor at the Syracuse University School of Education.
“You don’t have to decide on day one. No matter what anybody tells you, you do not have to decide your life at 17 or 18 or 19 or 20,” Alston said. “You should let yourself live, experiment… Everything I’ve done has added on to make the life that I have.”
Alston added that the College “was free enough” to explore a wide variety of people and subjects.
“The College is a place where the education is in the people and in the experience,” she added.
McGrath said her advice to incoming freshmen would be to “be bold and totally be yourself.”
“That’s how you build friendships is by being yourself and letting people know that you’re different in yourself, and they’ll be with you forever if they’re your true friends,” Alston said.
Eliza Dorton '29 is a reporter from Washington, D.C. and is studying English and public policy. Outside the classroom, she enjoys reading and going on walks.
