This article is featured in the 2023 Commencement & Reunions special issue.
To the Class of 2023,
Your four years at Dartmouth have been anything but ordinary. You’ve experienced the College in its pre-pandemic era, before being sent to your respective homes in the spring of your freshman year, and you have been here to welcome a new, post-pandemic Dartmouth. As the last class to ever experience Dartmouth before COVID-19, you had the responsibility of choosing which Dartmouth traditions to hold onto, and which new ones to offer. Your impact on this College is notable and cherished, and we congratulate you on your commencement.
This year’s Commencement and Reunions special issue revolves around the notion of legacy-building and examines the impact that our thoughts, words and actions have on the world. It aims to explore the special moments and events that have shaped Dartmouth’s history, and looks at how the experiences that we share with one another become our own personal legacies. The articles in this issue investigate how various personal legacies, such as that of football coach Buddy Teevens ’79 and President Phil Hanlon ’77, intertwine with the legacies of clubs and spaces around campus, including Greek life, Ledyard, the House of Lewan and comedy clubs, to form the collective identity of the College.
We also look to the past, as the Class of 1973 offers advice to the graduating Class of 2023, and a writer explores the most important news over the last four years. We offer investigations into Dartmouth’s divestments in fossil fuel industries, opinion pieces on campus culture and seniors’ final reflections to try to understand the intricacies of our legacy — both as an institution and as individuals.
And with that, we are reminded that the present moment will one day be our legacy, so let’s make it count. With each moment comes an opportunity to leave the world better than we have found it.
Congratulations, Class of 2023!
You have bright futures ahead of you.
Selin, Maia and Angus
