Dartmouth’s most exceptional characteristic—its dedication to undergraduate teaching—is not just of theoretical matter to me. Close association with a professor saved my college career from early failure. As a trustee, I will dedicate myself to insuring that the teaching tradition is maintained.
Arriving ill-prepared for Dartmouth from a small town public high school, I struggled to achieve a C- average in my first semester and even considered transferring. I was rescued academically and psychologically by my freshman English professor, John Hurd--a senior full professor--and his wife, who read German with me three evenings a week, and also convinced me I could succeed at Dartmouth.
It would never have happened at Harvard or another huge research university, where my freshman English class would have been a large lecture class and my personal contact, if any, would have been with a graduate student.
Inter-action between students and faculty has become much more collaborative in the half-century since I was a student. Many of today’s students are working with their professors actually solving the problems of the world, not just studying about them. That’s part of what makes Dartmouth the great institution it is. The student body and faculty also have become more diverse, a development I supported as a Daily D editor and have applauded as an alumnus.
Still, many aspects of College life that I valued as an undergraduate prevail—the opportunity for membership in fraternities (now also sororities and co-ed societies), the DOC, and wide options in sports, music and art. I will strive to sustain, expand and improve them. I’m confident that John Replogle ’88, who’s running for the other vacant alumni seat on the board, shares this vision.
