In Pursuit of Excellence 

Dartmouth College Recognizes with Deep Appreciation the Extraordinary Achievements of the

Class of 1979
2017 Class of the Year – 26 Years Out and Older

The Partycipatory Class™ of 1979 sets a gold standard for creative engagement and strong leadership. Led by a team of 21 exceptionally dedicated class volunteers, your tight-knit group of about a thousand classmates boasts consistently strong participation across all class activities, ranging from mini-reunions to communications, dues, and giving to the Dartmouth College Fund (DCF). Your outstanding results have all been achieved through diligent personal outreach, including to classmates who have traditionally been less engaged.

This past year, your strong mini-reunion program included a remarkable 25 events in 21 cities and attracted a total of 260 attendees. You also spent the past year planning your upcoming four-day 60th birthday bash, which will take place over Homecoming 2017. Your programming and comprehensive communications efforts are all purposefully set up to support classmate connections, and you’re already laying the groundwork for your next Reunion.

As Class President Mark Winkler noted, the Class’s long- and short-term goals are all “based upon a foundational passion and commitment to classmates and to Dartmouth.” Your class leadership sets high goals and standards for mini- (and major) reunions, dues and DCF participation, and community service, most notably through Dartmouth Partners in Community Service. Always thinking creatively to achieve the next level, you have expanded upon your “79 Club” to create a special “Trifecta Award” that stewards classmates who give to dues and DCF and make an additional contribution to your class project, Dartmouth Partners in Community Service.

Your 47.9 percent dues participation and 64.4 percent DCF participation are each the highest of any class in the 1970s or younger, and are among the very highest of any class. You have the most class meetings per year of any class (13), yet the quality of those meetings is evident in your comprehensive and efficient agendas.

Designing with data is always a Class Activities best practice, and your class has applied a metric-based approach to measuring class connectedness via giving history, mini-reunion participation, and class news contributions. You set goals to re-engage your 79 least-connected classmates through “Reconnect79,” through which a team of dedicated class volunteers focuses on relationship building rather than transactions.

For all your outstanding efforts to connect classmates to each other and the College, the Dartmouth Class Officers Association Executive Board is honored to recognize the Class of 1979 as a 2017 Class of the Year. We look forward to seeing you continue to creatively hone your well-oiled machine as you prepare for your 40th Reunion, which is now just 1,007 days away.