The 50 for 50 Storytelling Project

It's been six months since we were together in Hanover celebrating the 50th anniversary of coeducation.And to keep the celebratory ball rolling, we have two new episodes of the 50 for 50 podcast—featuring interviews with 14 Dartmouth women. In part two, you'll hear from: Valerie Hartman ’85Lindley Shultz ’87Heid Erdrich ’86Crystal Crawford ’87Anne Schader ’87Rachel Bogardus Drew ’98Alexandra (Xander) Meise ’01Courtney Hall ’02   

It's been six months since we were together in Hanover celebrating the 50th anniversary of coeducation.And to keep the celebratory ball rolling, we have two new episodes of the 50 for 50 podcast—featuring interviews with 14 Dartmouth women. In part one, you'll hear from: Kimberly Marable ’05Joan Marable ’76Amy Cammann Cholnoky ’77Ann Bagamery ’78Annie Kuster ’78 Milla Anderson ’19

Growing up in the village of Igiugig in the Bristol Bay region of southwestern Alaska, home to about 70 tribal members, Salmon was always the only student in her grade. She spent happy days at the feet of elders, soaking up language and traditions. Now, drawing on her many-faceted Dartmouth experience, she's documenting the history of her Native community and leading it into the future. As tribal council president, Salmon is helping to launch eco-friendly tribal businesses. She’s also fostering language restoration and overseeing the construction of a cultural center. “We're breaking the mold in every direction as a tribe, and it's so fascinating,” Salmon tells host Jennifer Avellino '89. “Dartmouth set me up for a lifetime, including serving as president of an entire nation. It is the smallest, probably, in the world, but at least it can serve as a model for possibilities.” 

"Gender, race, and Native American inclusion—they were all issues that we struggled with on campus in the mid to late 1980s, in part because the scars from the battles of the past hadn't yet healed."As a writer and editor at The Dartmouth, Boykin reported on campus protests, among other wide-ranging topics. And while attending Harvard Law School, he became "an accidental activist." He later worked for presidential nominee Michael Dukakis and President Bill Clinton. Boykin is now a well-known national political commentator, TV and film producer, and a New York Times bestselling author.

Selassie Atadika ’98 has two lifelong passions: world travel and food.   She honed in on those passions at Dartmouth, majoring in geography modified with environmental studies—while always maintaining her lifelong love of food. After graduation, she became a globe-trotting, internationally acclaimed chef renowned for her plant-based African recipes.  And spending a decade working for the United Nations, she became what she calls a "food ambassador."   A founding member of Trio Toque, the first nomadic restaurant in Dakar, Senegal, Selassie went on to launch Midunu (which means, in Ewe, "let's eat”), a nomadic dining concept featuring what she calls New African Cuisine. When Covid temporarily closed the restaurant doors, she launched an offshoot, Midunu Chocolates. For Atadika, sustainably grown foods packed with bold flavors and exotic spices tells the story of an entire continent.   

Less than a decade after graduating from Dartmouth, where she majored in sociology and played on the varsity softball and baseball club teams, Bianca Smith joined the Red Sox as a minor league coach—the first Black woman in history to reach that goal. But Smith refuses to see herself as a trailblazer, insisting that she's just doing what her parents, also Dartmouth grads, advised. "Find what you're passionate about, what makes you wake up in the morning," they told her. So, after earning a dual degree in law and sports management from Case Western University, Smith interned for the Texas Rangers, and ended up becoming a role model for other Black women aspiring to high-level sports jobs. "But this is just the tip of the iceberg," she tells host Jennifer Avellino '89. "I still feel I haven't done enough."     

The most recent graduate in our series, Olivia Goodwin came to Dartmouth as a pole vaulter, joined the women's track and field team, and majored in sociology. Goodwin, who uses they-them pronouns, found many ways to help other students feel affirmed and accepted as they explored their gender and sexuality. Serving in leadership roles in the Office of Pluralism and Leadership, the Student Wellness Center, the Dartmouth Outing Club, and the Pride Committee, Goodwin wrote a thesis about how LGBTQ students navigated social issues during the pandemic. Sexuality, Goodwin tells host Jennifer Avellino ’89, "is one of those issues a lot of people don't feel equipped to navigate. The fear of messing up prevents people from trying or getting started with growing their knowledge about it, so I wanted to give students something to make that journey just a little bit more straightforward." They're currently earning an MPH from the Yale School of Public Health, studying transgender population health with a focus on non-binary individuals. 

Carmen Lopez '97 Growing up in the Navajo Nation, Carmen Lopez had never heard of the Ivy League when she became spellbound by a guest speaker at her high school: Dr. Lori Arviso Alvord, Dartmouth Class of 1979, the first female Navajo surgeon.    Arriving on campus in 1997, Lopez quickly involved herself in Native American Studies and joined the growing effort by Indigenous students to battle stereotypical language and imagery. After graduating, she earned a master's degree, becoming a teacher. Later, she became director of Harvard's Native American Program. Back home in the Southwest, she now directs New Mexico-based College Horizons, which supports the college and graduate school goals of Native American students.    

When Victoria Li first left New York City to attend Dartmouth, she felt a little lost. She missed her close-knit Asian-American family and their bustling restaurant. Inspired by her family’s love of food, she found comfort , serving falafel sandwiches from a campus food truck, founding a club that hosted food tastings on campus, and even washing dishes in the dining hall. Following graduation, Li landed in hospitality , but then took a different path to become Learning & Development Manager at L.E.K. Consulting. She co-chairs Mosaic@LEK, an employer resource group for individuals who identify as racial and ethnic minorities. She started a podcast recounting her experiences attending Bronx Science, a well-known school in New York City  and she's a contestant in Miss Chinese Chicago. Li traces fascinating twists and turns in her rising  career.

Ricki Fairley thought she would never live to see her youngest daughter graduate. But she made it to that 2014 commencement and is still very much alive—and saving lives, as well. About a decade ago, Fairley was diagnosed with a lethal form of breast cancer that is particularly common among Black women. Yet they tend to be excluded from experimental drug trials that could improve their chances of survival. Fairley put her seasoned marketing and public relations skills to work, educating drug makers and helping her wide network of Black "breasties" combat the disease. In addition to sharing her inspiring story, Fairley reflects on the golden anniversary of Black Alumni at Dartmouth Association, which was founded, among others, by her late father, Richard Fairley, Class of 1955.   

As Dartmouth College celebrates three milestone anniversaries, we meet acclaimed visual artist Mateo Romero, Class of 1989. Raised in Berkeley, California, Mateo is a member of the Cochiti Pueblo tribe and now lives and works in New Mexico.Romero belongs to a large family of accomplished painters, photographers, and ceramists who are preserving, documenting, and celebrating Indigenous culture—as well as depicting the landscapes to which Native Americans feel spiritually connected. Romero talks with his friend and classmate, podcast host Jennifer Avellino, about what has most profoundly influenced and emboldened his work as it has evolved.