The Class of 1976 can still clearly remember walking down the aisle at their own commencement.
“I can't believe we're the 50th Reunion class,” said Jack Brennan ’76. “We're too young for that.”
And yet, though it feels like no time has passed, their milestone Reunion arrived. More than 550 members of the Class of 1976 trekked to Hanover to partake in the festivities, setting a new record for the number of classmates attending a 50th Reunion.
Per tradition, the class enjoyed all the usual 50th Reunion activities—a class barbecue with the graduating seniors, a special recognition at commencement, and even the donning of straw hats emblazoned with their class year.
But the Class of 1976 is not like any other year. It makes Dartmouth history for two very special reasons. It is the first matriculated co-educational class, meaning it is the first time a class of women entered as freshmen to pursue a formal, four-year program of study. And it is also the year John G. Kemeny, the 13th president of Dartmouth, recommitted the College to its charter. In 1972, Kemeny began recruiting Native American students to fulfill Dartmouth’s founding intent. After this rededication, Native American students started attending Dartmouth College in numbers.
The Class of 1976 diversified Dartmouth, both reflecting on its 18th century origin and committing to right its past wrongs and bringing it into the 20th century by going coed, a landmark reached earlier by some peer institutions.
While Reunions weekend brought nothing but sunny skies, the ’76 alumnae did some reflecting on the sometimes-stormy ones they’d encountered in their time at Dartmouth. The women didn’t shy away from the difficulties they faced as undergraduates, whether it was being the only woman in a classroom or having a brick thrown through their dorm window. Instead of backing down, though, they forged ahead with a new sense of resilience, strength, and camaraderie.
I hope it becomes a truly inclusive environment, and it certainly feels a lot more like that today. But that's a never-ending journey.
And their male classmates learned a lot from their trials on campus, too.
“It actually taught me to be a feminist, because I thought about my classmates, my female classmates, who were just a third of our class and a ninth of the entire student body,” said Ber Ifill ’76. “You got there and what they went through and how strong they were, made me look at women in a quite different way. And so I have always been appreciative of what they taught me by their example.”
Guy Van Syckle agreed, saying, “The community is special mostly because the women here have made it great. And I married one!”
The Class of 1976, much like its very makeup, encouraged not only reflecting on the past but also looking forward to the future.
“I hope it becomes a truly inclusive environment, and it certainly feels a lot more like that today,” said Ann Fritz Hackett ’76. “But that's a never-ending journey.”
Gary Love ’76, who received an honorary degree this year alongside classmate Karen Evans ’76, expressed the same sentiment. “What I hope to see is a community that embraces all cultures, that understands how important diversity is, and that understands that in order to stay at the apex of education, we must move forward.”
At a special alumnae event, the women of the Class of ’76 passed on words of wisdom and their hopes and dreams for the women to come in the next 50 years at Dartmouth. Many of them reflected on the opportunities they had not seized, the classes they hadn’t taken, warning today’s women not to make those same mistakes.
“I just want to urge you to try everything,” said Carol Bemis ’76. “I mean, why not? Why would you not do it? And you know, as the first year of women, it was daunting. And I’ve got to say, as I look back, I missed some fun stuff because I didn't try it.”
“I mostly hope that they will take risks, and be strong, and support each other,” added Anne Johnson ’76. “That was the key thing about the women that we were in class with and it made all the difference.”
Amidst strolls down memory lane, the class dined on Baker Lawn for a classic lobster dinner, attended panel discussions and back to class session with their favorite professors, and enjoyed a special luncheon with trustees and another trailblazer, adopted classmate President Sian Leah Beilock ’76a.
In her speech to the class, President Beilock shared, “I was born in 1976, so when I learned that ’76 was the first class of women at Dartmouth and I would become the first woman president, it was truly as though the stars were aligning. To the women of ’76: I would not be standing here today without your courage and resolve. Thank you, for providing an incredible example for all of us who followed.”
And while they’d moved mountains at Dartmouth and changed the world in the years since, the classmates were happy just to be back together again—like every other Reunion class.
“Why do I come back?” Bert asked. “In part, to see how this place has changed, and it's changed radically over 50 years. But a lot of it is to sing the songs, and to raise the toast with my good buddies from long, long ago.”
To the women of ’76: I would not be standing here today without your courage and resolve. Thank you, for providing an incredible example for all of us who followed.”