Comments by Student Assembly President Julia Hildreth '05, January 6, 2005

In closing, I would like to offer a few personal thoughts concerning the Dartmouth Community.  As someone who is nearing the end of my time as an undergraduate student, I have begun to reflect upon the essence of my Dartmouth experience – which moments and aspects of the past three and a half years will I carry with me and cherish for the rest of my life?

I, along with a few other students, received an invitation near the end of Winter Break to be part of the Dartmouth Tsunami Relief Committee as a representative of the undergraduate student body.  The first meeting of students, staff, admini9strators, and faculty members was held on this past Monday, the very first day most people were returning from break.  Collis 101 was filled with people from all areas of our community eagerly and earnestly committed to making a meaningful contribution to the areas of the world which has been afflicted.  Once the overarching plan was laid out, it was decided that a smaller committee should be convened to handle the details.  But when Dean Lord asked who would be willing to participate further and be a part of this smaller committee, almost everyone in the room offered their help.  The people who live and work in our community care so much, and our inability to easily form a smaller group of volunteers represents the extent of our community’s compassion. 

The very next evening, I had the pleasure of helping to organize a meeting for student leaders to come together and begin brainstorming plans for contribution to the relief effort at Dartmouth.  Not only was the room at the Tucker Foundation packed despite the short notice, but the students who attended had already spoken with their student organizations and made initial plans for more than a dozen events to benefit those impacted by the disastrous tsunamis.  This, too, showed me the character of our community and the abundance of our compassion.

When I leave Dartmouth, what will stand out forever in my mind is how fortunate I am to have been part of a community which can be described, first and foremost, as compassionate.  That is what I will miss when I leave Dartmouth, and that is why I have so much faith that our efforts as a community will make an impact. 

After you leave today, please do look over the flyers you received at the door.  It contains information concerning fundraising and other opportunities to get involved in the relief effort.  It also provides a list of locations where you can find a donation drop boxes around campus.  Thank you all for coming and being part of the first gathering of many to come designed to put our compassion for others into action.  Thank you.