The space for graduate students and postdocs at 4, Currier Place sometimes creeps under the radar for the Guarini community, located next to the DEN space and at the opposite end of campus where most graduate programs are housed in the life sciences building. However, on the occasion of celebrating Dartmouth’s 250th anniversary, distance did nothing to deter a crowd of about 100 students, faculty, and staff from gathering to enjoy and celebrate with the community.
The January 10 25th Celebration Kick-off was hosted simultaneously at several locations on campus, including the Top of the Hop, Collis Center, and the main event was held in the foyer of the Baker-Berry library where remarks by key speakers were streamed live to each of the locations.
Co-chair of the 250th commemoration and vice president for alumni affairs, Cheryl Bascomb ’82, opened the evening and spoke of the many opportunities to celebrate throughout the year. Programming includes Greenlighting Day, January 12, when several monuments around the world, including Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, the Empire State Building, New York City, New York, and Torre Interbank, Lim, Peru were lit green to celebrate the anniversary. Throughout the year, the College will be promoting The Call to Serve, a service initiative to bring the entire Dartmouth community together in service, aiming for a goal of 250,000 combined volunteer hours.
Donald Pease, the Ted and Helen Geisel Third Century Professor in the Humanities, who co-chairs the commemoration, lauded the efforts of administrators at the College who worked to make the celebration a success, and also spoke in general terms, praising the work of all staff on campus to support the mission of the liberal arts education. Pease’s remarks, and the welcome speech from President Phillip J. Hanlon ’77, were streamed to all 9 events hosted around campus, all of which were open to the public.
At the Guarini event, Graduate Student Council President Katharine von Herrmann opened the evening, sharing a wonderful memory of her childhood: sitting as a child listening to her family talk about Dartmouth, convincing her from a very young age to Go Green! “Growing up I knew Dartmouth as a community of people who often sat on my grandparents’ porch sipping cocktails out of glasses etched with a green D, explaining to any child who would listen that their blood ran green. Which to a small kid interested in science was quite confusing,” she joked. “As I grew older, I learned that Dartmouth community and values I was so familiar are the product of a very special school located in a small town in New Hampshire.”
Guarini Dean and Rodgers Professor in Chemistry, Jon Kull ’88, who closed the event, acknowledged the contributions the graduate community makes to the Dartmouth community. With reference to recent events in Psychological and Brain Sciences department, Kull praised the initiative students in the GSC had taken in developing trainings for all faculty, students, and staff to ensure that everyone in the community is treated with respect and dignity. “I’m excited to work with the Graduate Student Council, the Postdoc Association, and with all of you, on ideas and initiatives to make the environment and culture here at Dartmouth safe, inclusive, and supportive for everyone,” he noted. “And I’m optimistic that, working together we can tackle these challenges as we lead Dartmouth into the next 250 years.”
The event ended with the beautiful voice of singer Tyné Freeman' 17, MALS ’19 while attendees continued to mingle as they enjoyed the food and drinks, helped themselves to 250th celebration logo memorabilia, and had fun at the pop-up photo booth.
For more information about exciting events planned for the 250th commemoration, please visit the Dartmouth 250 website.