College hosts LSC dedication

By Isobel Markham

Published on Monday, November 7, 2011

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Over 200 individuals — including former College President James Wright, Gov. John Lynch, D-N.H., and 175 members of the Class of 1978 — attended the dedication ceremony for the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center on Saturday morning. College President Jim Yong Kim also spoke at the event, which took place in the Arvo J. Oopik ’78 Auditorium and featured speeches and ceremonial activities streamed live in two overflow classrooms.

The dedication ceremony was the first time many of the members of the Class of 1978, who donated $40 million to fund the building, saw the new facilities, Biology department chair Thomas Jack, who spoke at the ceremony, said. The total cost of the LSC was approximately $90 million.

Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael Mastanduno opened proceedings by praising the “loyalty, leadership and generosity of Dartmouth’s Class of 1978.”

“What you have done for us is truly a game-changer,” he said.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees Stephen Mandel ’78, who was on campus over the weekend for the Board’s termly meeting, then officially acknowledged the LSC on behalf of his class, prompting a standing ovation.

The donation was “simply another way” for the Class of 1978 to thank the College for all the opportunities it has afforded its students over the years, he said.

Following Mandel’s address, audience members watched a 13-minute video about the LSC and the research that students and faculty members are currently working on in the new building. Kim then thanked the members of the Class of 1978.

“The building is a clear indication of how far we’ve come since the Class of 1978 arrived on campus in the Fall of 1974,” he said, adding that the building is a physical location where “ideas can go to have sex” and conceive of even greater plans.

Kim also welcomed the widow and daughters of Arvo Oopik ’78, an Indian Health Service cardiologist who died alongside two of his colleagues in a 1994 airplane crash, and William Petit ’78, whose wife and two daughters were murdered during a 2007 Connecticut home invasion.

Lynch, who spoke after Kim, praised Dartmouth as a “first-class, world-renowned place of learning.”

“Education is the key to our success as a state and to our success as a nation,” he said.

Jack focused on the ways in which sustainability and energy efficiency guided the construction of the LSC and are representative of the College’s greater commitment to a “greener campus and a greener world” during his speech at the ceremony.

Provost Carol Folt, an adopted member of the Class of 1978, delivered the ceremony’s final speech. Folt, who formerly taught in the biology department, said the LSC’s advancement of “science without walls” and “hands-on learning” provides the campus with a new model for interdisciplinary and intergenerational collaboration. The building is “pretty much completed” with only “a few things still to take care of,” such as changes to the settings of the automated lighting system, Jack said. Although several minor adjustments that need to be implemented in the upcoming months, there have been no major issues with the new building, according to Jack.

The College met its Sept. 1 goal date for full occupancy of the LSC, as all professors and staff members scheduled to move into the building relocated by the end of August. The biology department occupies the majority of the building, and various chemistry and anthropology professors also have offices in the LSC.

While the energy-saving equipment and automatic temperature control for the building have been working well so far, the LSC has not yet faced the test of winter.

“We’ll see how well it works as it gets colder,” biology professor Mary Lou Guerinot said in an interview with The Dartmouth.

The College has saved $31,000 in lighting fees since May and recycled 178,000 gallons of water from the building’s rain gardens, biology professor C. Robertson McClung said as he led a tour group for members of the Class of 1978 and their families.

Before the official dedication ceremony began at 10:30 a.m., guests were invited to tour the LSC with faculty members to see the results of their donations first-hand. McClung explained the technological possibilities afforded by the building’s teaching facilities during his tour.

“They wanted the building to force us to change the way we teach,” he said.

All classrooms in the LSC are equipped with moveable desks and chairs, as well as multiple television screens, which students can plug their laptops into and use for presentations. The technological improvements, along with the new communal spaces in which students and staff can congregate, have been well received by students, Jack said.

“It’s pretty flattering to see the spaces get used,” he said.

Members of the Class of 1978 interviewed by The Dartmouth expressed excitement regarding the many opportunities offered by the new LSC. Bill Wechsler ’78 said the LSC “sets a very high standard” and that he “can’t imagine a more attractive facility.”

“It does a marvelous job of integrating teaching and student-faculty interactions,” he said.

Lisa Kaeser ’78 said she was so impressed by the new facility that she sent a text message to her daughter immediately following the ceremony telling her that she must apply to Dartmouth.

The dedication ceremony was planned by a committee which met periodically since Summer term to prepare for the day’s events, according to Jack.