Dartmouth CAGOW
2015 Award Large Club of the Year: Dartmouth Club of the Midwest

"Building a robust network" should be the motto of the Dartmouth Club of the Midwest, led by club President Nadine Parris '06. The club leaders and members are inexhaustible in their recruitment, proactively identifying new members and engaging alumni at every event they host. They also challenge every volunteer to identify a successor, thereby ensuring new and continuous leadership.

The Club of the Midwest has maintained its signature programs year after year. This is the best-read club of all thanks to its well-attended monthly book club gathering. This is one of the few clubs that collaborates with District Enrollment Directors to deliver a T-shirt to each local student admitted to the College.

Over the past few years the club leadership has built diversity into their programming and their efforts have paid off and have attracted diverse alumni from a number of generations and cities. They hosted several arts programs, an event with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, a climbing event for young alumni, and an ice skating party to hone skills learned on Occom Pond. Members also attended "88 Voices," a play about local native history that is often ignored in history books. The club's Dartmouth Alumni Day of Service project extended its reach beyond the Midwest by partnering with Books for Africa, an organization that supports literacy and education. As the beneficiaries of a privileged Dartmouth education, club members were excited to support an organization aimed at spreading education across the globe.

As its reach continues to grow locally and globally, the Dartmouth Club of the Midwest creatively expands beyond its limits to make its Dartmouth network strong.