Dartmouth students can't wait to start using the new van.

Tucker has its first mini-van, thanks to the class of '51. This incredibly valuable gift is making an enormous difference in the outreach capacity and effectiveness of our programs at Tucker. Sparkling, Dartmouth Green in color and emblazoned with "The Spirit of '51" logo on its door, the brand new 2000 Ford Windstar made its debut this winter. The van was not pristine long. That is because "The Spirit of '51" reported for duty immediately and was unceremoniously launched into hard service in the snow and slush of the Upper Valley.

At 8:00 o'clock on Tuesday mornings, and again that same afternoon that week, the van fills with Dartmouth students going all the way to Bradford, Vt., where they meet with young girls at the Oxbow Middle School to engage in activities and discussion around issues of life and goal planning, preparedness for higher education, leadership development for women and general "challenge" activities.

At other times, the Spirit of '51 finds itself stuffed to the gills with Neighborhood L.E.A.D. (Leadership Encouragement and Development) volunteers on their way to Romano Circle public housing development and to the "Big Kids" mentoring program there. Many merry times are had on the road in the '51 van, as well as many deeply thoughtful conversations about the engagement of civic values, issues of conscience and spiritual growth.

"The Spirit" is a gift of the Class of '51, the executive committee of which has been following the progress of Tucker Foundation programs for quite some time. Bob Hustek, Class of '51 Project Contact, has been a supporter of Tucker community service activities for years, both personally and through the auspices of his class. Bob helped facilitate the idea of a collaboration between the class and Tucker. To our delight, class President Henry Nachman Jr. also rallied to Tucker's cause. Last spring, at an executive meeting of the Class, both Bob Hustek and Jan Tarjan talked about the past connections between Tucker and '51 and the ongoing and future needs of the Foundation. Class President Henry Nachman and others on the Executive Committee recognized what a contribution the gift of a van would be to total program strength at Tucker, and got right behind the idea. Working with members of the Tucker Foundation staff, the class and Tucker made the van a reality.

The "Spirit of '51" was celebrated by students and alums during the Dartmouth Night festivities this Fall. As the van has made its way into the center of our programs, student appreciation has been obvious. "The van is 'phat'!!" (translation: very cool) wrote Jorge Miranda '01, a project chairperson in the L.E.A.D. program.

The rest of Tucker could not agree more. Thank you, Thank you class of '51!