Maya Angelou to present keynote address as Dartmouth's Tucker Foundation celebrates fifty years of service April 12-14

Posted 04/10/02

When John Sloan Dickey, Dartmouth's 12th president, established the William Jewett Tucker Foundation in 1951, he said it should further "the moral and spiritual work and influence of Dartmouth College." April 12-14 the foundation will celebrate half a century of doing just that, with addresses by noted speakers, panel discussions, workshops and other activities.

Keynoting the event will be literary artist and civil rights activist Dr. Maya Angelou, who will speak in Spaulding Auditorium on Friday, April 12, at 4 p.m. Though all tickets for seating in Spaulding are already taken, the event will be broadcast simultaneously via closed-circuit TV in Moore Theater and 105 Dartmouth Hall. Those interested in attending this or any other of the weekend's multitude of events should call the Tucker Foundation at (603) 646-3350 or visit www.dartmouth.edu/~tucker.

The weekend will also include presentation of the Lester B. Granger Award for distinguished service work by Dartmouth alumni to Charles F. Dey, a member of the class of 1952, and Edward B. Marks, a member of the class of 1932.

"For more than 50 years, the Tucker Foundation has worked to enhance the role of service, civic engagement, and spiritual reflection in students' lives," said President James Wright. "It is more important now than ever to celebrate its contribution to this campus and the world, and to look forward to the foundation's future as a vital and vibrant part of the Dartmouth community."

In its early years, the Tucker Foundation -- named for the last of Dartmouth's preacher-presidents, who served from 1893-1909 -- served mainly as the hub for many religious organizations on campus, providing space for meetings and supporting an array of multidenominational services.

Through the College chaplaincy, the Tucker Foundation continues its support for spiritual life on campus today. Twenty religious groups, representing Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Baha'i, and Eastern Orthodox faiths, hold regular meetings and count hundreds of Dartmouth students among their members. The foundation also sponsors the yearly interfaith baccalaureate service during commencement weekend.

Within a decade of its founding, the Tucker Foundation had broadened its scope to send Dartmouth graduates and, later, Dartmouth students to serve in communities in the United States and around the world. The first of these programs, in 1962, sent four Dartmouth graduates to Hong Kong to teach for two years at Chung Chi College. In 1964, the renowned program A Better Chance (ABC) began at Dartmouth, with 54 students teaching precollegiate classes in East Harlem. The venture was so successful that it spread to four other Ivy League schools and to colleges across the nation. Later, Tucker internships brought students to seven sites, including Jersey City, N.J., where they served as high school educators and community volunteers. Over the course of 15 years, more than 1,000 Dartmouth students served as interns in Jersey City alone.

Today the Tucker Foundation continues the tradition of serving communities and individuals through its fellowship program. Dozens of students serve in schools, homeless shelters, public health clinics, and environmental advocacy organizations. Multiple alternative spring break projects bring students to places as diverse as Georgia and Jamaica to participate in community service projects. The Cross-Cultural Education and Service Projects Initiative began this winter in Siuna, Nicaragua, and will continue this summer with a trip to Sopotskin, Belarus, allowing Dartmouth students to both serve and develop a greater understanding of other cultures.

Serving closer to home has also long been important to the Tucker Foundation. Project Buddy, a precursor to the Big Brother/Big Sister programs, began operating in 1967. In the 1970s, the Shared Experience program brought Dartmouth students to work with many Upper Valley service organizations and blossomed into a variety of local community service groups, many of which still operate today. The Foundation currently maintains nearly two dozen student-run projects covering a range of issues, such as health care, education, hunger, children's welfare, and homelessness. More than 1,000 students each year are involved, providing 45,000 hours of community service.

In addition to its past and present accomplishments, the Tucker Foundation continues to move forward on a variety of new fronts designed to engage and energize a new generation of service-minded young people. The program of Cross-Cultural Education and Service Projects, a new Social Justice Lectureship Series, which brings to campus nationally prominent figures who champion social justice causes, and a new program of Tucker Civic Internships where students participate in service and leadership training, are just three examples.

"We are immensely proud of what the Tucker Foundation does and has done for Dartmouth and the world," said Stuart Lord, the Virginia Rice Kelsey Dean of the Tucker Foundation and Associate Provost. "But at the same time we are looking forward to what it can do. We're continually redefining and re-imagining ourselves to reach out to more and more of the Dartmouth community. In many ways, the present is the past here. Where we keep our eyes focused is the future."

Reporters and Editors: Maya Angelou's keynote address for the Tucker Foundation's 50th Anniversary Celebration (4 p.m. Friday, April 12 in Spaulding Auditorium) will be open to news coverage, but a number of restrictions will be in effect: No video or audio recording of any kind will be allowed or provided. Still photography will be allowed only during the first five minutes of the address and must be done without flash. Photographers must stay in the side aisles of Spaulding Auditorium. Angelou will not be available for interviews. Media interested in attending should contact Roland Adams at (603) 646-3661.