CW: What's the biggest challenge facing the College?
SCO: Dartmouth is a wonderful place. I go back to campus frequently and have a broad range of involvement so I see firsthand Dartmouth's challenges, its areas for improvements, and its great strengths. Dartmouth continues to provide a rich and vibrant environment for outstanding students. It has a wonderful story to tell, but we need to do a better job of telling it. Most people can't visit the campus regularly so we need to think of other ways to communicate effectively. The biggest challenge is a combination of alumni relations and public relations issues.
[I've been an active alumna pretty much since the day I graduated. I spent the first 10 years primarily fundraising. I was a class agent, then head of leadership giving for my class, and reunion, and then head agent for my class's 10th reunion. At that reunion, I was asked to serve on the Alumni Council representing my class, which I did for three years before becoming president of the Alumni Council. I've been serving on the Board at the Tuck School for the last 10 years as well as on the Board of Advisors for Tuck's Research Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship.
This experience gives me a 25-year perspective on issues facing Dartmouth. There's evidence from the most recent voting on the Constitution, as well as the election of petition candidates, that there are big concerns among alumni about where Dartmouth stands and the direction it's going. Many of these, I think, are valid concerns of people who care deeply about Dartmouth. Others are based on a lack of accurate information. When people graduate, they move away from Hanover and aren't as closely connected to the facts as those of us who are actively involved as volunteers. We need to make sure our story gets out so people have accurate information about the College.]
CW: What's Dartmouth's competitive advantage?
SCO: One of Dartmouth's advantages is its location and its size, which fosters an extraordinary community. People develop a special connection with each other because of their common experiences in this community. Thought-leading professors readily interact with students, our athletics programs are an important part of the learning outside the classroom, and fraternities and sororities are strong contributors to the social fabric of the College. The Board should focus on enhancing the key elements which create our unique community, because it is a key competitive advantage.
CW: How can the Board leverage Dartmouth's strengths?
SCO: If we focus on investing and innovating in the areas where we're unique, Dartmouth will be even greater 100 years from now than it is today.
CW: What would be the most attractive thing about returning to Dartmouth as a Trustee?
SCO: Dartmouth has been at the heart of all of my happiness and successes in life. I'm a beneficiary of this education and this great community of alumni, so to build on what's great about Dartmouth for future generations would be an incredible privilege and responsibility.
[CW: What kind of a student were you at Dartmouth?
SCO: I was very involved and active. I was a history major and was active in the performing arts—in the glee club, and the Winter Carnival production of "HMS Pinafore." I was a member of the sorority KKG (Kappa Kappa Gamma), and was also a member of Fire and Skoal and Phoenix Senior Societies. I worked in the Alumni Relations Office and was an alumni intern. I had a wonderful experience at Dartmouth.]
[CW: As you look back, is there anything you wish you could do differently?
SCO: Yes, Dartmouth is such a rich place with so many opportunities, that as much as I tried to get involved with different things, there were always more opportunities. You can't do everything. I enjoyed going back to Tuck for two years to get my MBA, not only because it put me back in Hanover, but it also enabled me to push some of my academic interests. As a 26-year-old at the time with more maturity, I found that I was able to tap into more of my intellectual interests.
There were also a lot of cross-functional opportunities to pursue at Dartmouth that I didn't pursue as an undergraduate but did as a graduate student. For example, I was interested in medicine, and I was able to get internships at Dartmouth Medical School. There were also incredible opportunities at Tuck to work with entrepreneurs and executives.]
[CW: What would you in particular bring to the Board to address that challenge?
SCO: As an entrepreneur, I'm a creative and independent thinker. I also have proven fundraising skills and broad alumni relationships. Dartmouth is a wonderful place but staying in the lead requires significant financial investment. Our key competitors, particularly Princeton and Brown which share our strategy of an undergraduate focus, have much bigger endowments than Dartmouth. A strong endowment is critical to Dartmouth's continued excellence for future generations. I've raised over $350 million for my biotechnology company and would enjoy channeling these skills in a new direction by helping to increase Dartmouth's financial strength through fundraising. I've also personally donated to the Dartmouth College Fund every year since I've graduated which is very important when asking others for money.
Through my 25 year involvement with Dartmouth, I am friends with, have worked with, and can relate to a wide variety of constituents among alumni. I'm married to a Dartmouth graduate, Curt Oberg '78. He was captain of the football team and coached the freshman team right after he graduated. He was president of the Friends of Dartmouth Football and is now one of the assistant coaches helping Buddy Teevens '79 turn the football program around. We touch a lot of people in terms of understanding the pulse of how alumni are feeling, what their concerns and issues are, and the extent to which their attitudes about Dartmouth are driven by accurate information. We're out there spreading the good word and will continue to do so.]
[CW: What distinguishes Dartmouth?
SCO: A handful of things come together to make Dartmouth great and unique. One is that we have a focus on balancing great teaching and great research. When we forget who we are, we shift either too much towards research and become a second-rate Harvard or we shift too much towards teaching and become a second-rate Middlebury or Williams. When we get it just right, and we find the equilibrium, we have something unique and truly great.
Right now we're at a point in our history where we have that equilibrium, as evidenced by the fact that student satisfaction is 96 percent in their classroom experience, faculty are well respected scholars, and students are working with faculty on over 1,000 independent study projects.
We need to focus on what makes Dartmouth a great academic institution in combination with what makes it a unique community. As important as the academic programs are, a lot of the learning takes place outside the classroom.
There are four elements that contribute to that community. One is well-rounded students. Dartmouth students today are smart, enthusiastic, they're critical thinkers, they're fun, they're passionate about Dartmouth, and they're involved.
Sense of place is another element. Our campus is breathtakingly beautiful. It struck me when I was in Hanover in January, meeting with a group of student leaders, and I asked all of them what made them choose Dartmouth. They're all smart and they had lots of choices. Most said that when they walked on to the campus for their visit they just knew. Something similar happened to me 30 years ago. I remember seeing the campus for the first time and thinking I had to go here. So I think continuing to invest in what makes this campus beautiful is crucial. The building going on now fits in nicely with these traditions.
Strong fraternities and sororities also contribute to our sense of community. They're places for building friendships and doing community service. Obviously, when you put together a group of 18 to 22 year-olds in a large group, there's going to be some behavior that isn't always perfect, but that's true inside fraternities and outside fraternities. I think overall, the fraternities and sororities are great contributors.
Finally, our strong athletics programs have an important part in contributing to the learning that goes on outside the classroom, while drawing Dartmouth people together as a community. All of these strengths are the kinds of things that the Board should be focusing on.]
[CW: In the context of the Trustee election, what question would you like to ask and then answer yourself?
SCO: Right now we're in a unique time where there are a lot of difficult issues facing the Board. Some of these issues are intellectually stimulating and fun and others are not fun—they are the source of great conflict, negative emotions, and when the tough decisions will be made not everyone will be happy and some will be angry. When these difficult, controversial, interpersonal and group dynamic issues arise, it's the level of passionate commitment to Dartmouth that determines how the various Board members will deal with them. So the question I'd like to be asked as a Trustee candidate is: As a volunteer, unpaid Trustee how can we be assured that you will not avoid the tough issues? Will you be willing to make the personal sacrifices required to make the tough decisions that are important to securing Dartmouth's excellence for future generations? Or will you be politically correct and try to avoid controversy even when it's clear that Dartmouth's best interests would be served by dealing with the issue head on? What's the evidence of your commitment and passion for Dartmouth?
My answer is—Evidence of my passion for Dartmouth can be seen through my actions, not just my words—25 years of volunteer participation, involvement with campus activities, and financial contribution. This is a place that I love, that I feel incredibly indebted to, and as a result I'll be motivated to deal with whatever challenges may face the Board. I have learned the importance of passion and commitment as an entrepreneur and CEO where I've had to make many tough decisions, which were personally very difficult, but which were critical to ensure the company would survive and thrive on its mission to develop a new drug for heart disease. My passion for Dartmouth will be a source of strength for me to deal with whatever tough issues come before the Board.]
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