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Michelle Sweetser '99: Dartmouth Young Alumni Award Recipient, 2007-08


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Michelle Sweetser '99 received the
Dartmouth Young Alumni Distinguished
Service Award from Andrea Lordan '86,
a member of the Alumni Council's Young
Alumni Award Committee, during her
class reunion, June 14, 2008.


Michelle Sweetser '99,, upon your graduation from high school in Sycamore, Ohio, you yearned for adventure and selected Dartmouth after receiving a college booklet from relatives in New Hampshire.Placing much faith in the booklet, you viewed campus for the first time when your family dropped you off freshman fall.Although initially disappointed that we didn't have enough gothic buildings, which you had envisioned beforehand, you quickly adapted and Dartmouth became a "home away from home" for you.

Immersing yourself in campus activities, you enjoyed serving as an undergraduate advisor in Hinman dormitory; writing profiles for The Dartmouth; playing trumpet in the Marching Band; and participating in the Green Key Society and the Older & Wiser program. Majoring in anthropology led you to a presidential research project with Professor Deborah Nichols.This, and a Dartmouth Alumni Magazine internship conducting factual and photo research in the archives, revealed a true enjoyment in work with primary sources.This would lay the foundation for your career path.

While performing with the band, there was more than music in the air, as you began dating the drummer, Ben Sweetser, your sophomore year.A true soul mate, you and Ben were married a few weeks following your graduation and settled in Hanover.

The Dartmouth Alumni Relations Office knows a good thing when they see it, and they quickly encouraged you to join their ranks working in the alumni leadership unit and then as assistant director for young alumni activities and affiliated groups.Your love of archives, however, was calling and in 2000 you and Ben relocated to the University of Michigan where you received a Masters in Science in Information with a specialization in Archives and Records Management.Accepting a position at Marquette University, you currently work as an archivist in the field that you love.

Of course, your second career since graduation has been as lead "Dartmouth Volunteer".Your extraordinary list of Dartmouth alumni activities includes serving your class as president and newsletter editor while also supporting class reunions as reunion chair, treasurer and reunion giving committee member.In addition, you were selected president of the Class Newsletter Editors Association; served on the Dartmouth Alumni Council; chaired the Alumni Organizations Committee; interviewed prospective students; and assisted the fundraising effort as a participation agent.Has it really only been nine years since you graduated?

You are quick to point out that this was only possible due to the support of Ben and your family.In fact, you attribute your success at Dartmouth to the strong foundation your parents, David and Becky Gregg, provided and the lessons they taught you about commitment.American novelist, Hermann Melville, once said, "We cannot live for ourselves alone.Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results."Michelle, you have created thousands of connections between you, your friends, your family, and your fellow classmates sitting here this evening.In recognition of your dedication to your community, family and Dartmouth College, we honor you this evening with the Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award.

Rick Silverman, MD '81
President
Dartmouth Alumni Council
June 14, 2008