In Pursuit of Excellence

Dartmouth College Recognizes with Deep Appreciation the Extraordinary Achievements of the

CLASS OF 1966

2016 Class of the Year
Reunion Class of the Year

Along Route ’66, the Class of ’66 found nothing but success at every turn leading up to and during its 50th reunion. Among many accomplishments, record numbers of classmates attended the reunion free of charge, a pilot reunion giving program was implemented, and the Class of ’66 Bunkhouse at Moosilauke was dedicated.

The success of the 50th reunion can be attributed to three key factors: excellent organization and planning; innovation and “outside of the box” thinking; and strong collaboration and leadership.

Members of the Class of ’66 are planners. Class officers started early, capitalizing on budget surpluses, investing wisely, and developing a financial model for the event years in advance. For that foresight and thoughtful planning, classmates were rewarded with a “no fee” reunion and a class-record 271 classmates took advantage of the offer.

The Class devised new and creative ways to engage classmates. Reunion publicity began two years in advance, and the campaign peaked with a 400-page 50th reunion book – the first ever in color – shipped to classmates in March to drum up excitement for the event. It reinvisioned the dues program to invite classmates to round up from $66 to $100, enabling the class to continue to fund its class projects even in a major reunion year. Working with Advancement colleagues, the class obtained Board of Trustees’ approval to develop a pilot reunion giving program to recognize select College priorities as part of its 50th Reunion year giving. This resulted in a class giving record for the Dartmouth College Fund (DCF) of $1,349,348 and total recognized giving of $9,267,605.

To achieve such success, the Class of ’66 built a strong committee of collaborative and enthusiastic leaders. A reunion committee met quarterly in person, dividing up the work, organizing teams of affinity groups, fraternity captains, and club leaders to ensure maximum outreach to classmates, drawing a class-record 471 total attendees. Classmates’ spouses and widows were engaged through special DartMates programming. The committee enlisted the help of multiple class “photographers” who took photos each day and shared those photos on the class website. During work days at Moosilauke and with a DCF match challenge, ‘66ers demonstrated to the Class of 2016 what strong alumni leadership looks like.

Classmates enjoyed perfect planning and programming. While the weather was not so perfect, the reviews were outstanding, “You and your faithful associates did a stellar job over the past four days that we participated in the ’66 Reunion. Your attention to detail and concern for all of us was obvious from the first moment we arrived. The dedication of the bunkhouse was classic Dartmouth and the North. The weather was fitting and maybe even added to the significance of the occasion. We totally enjoyed the wide variety of lectures, tours, meals, concerts, meetings (both official and affinity) and rekindled old (and often neglected) friendships as well as made new and hopefully lasting friendships with our classmates.”

Dartmouth’s Class Officers Association Executive Board is honored to recognize the Class of 1966 as the 2016 Reunion Class of the Year.