Kicking off the year will be a day of celebrations taking place in locations all over campus on January 10th.

Dartmouth will commemorate the 250th anniversary of its founding throughout 2019 with a slate of celebrations, academic and arts programming, and an unprecedented service opportunity for the entire global community. Activities for the sestercentennial anniversary will begin in January with the theme “Honoring Our Past, Inspiring Our Future.”

“This is an ideal time to reaffirm our liberal arts foundation, our tradition of world-changing research, our profound sense of place, and the unique Dartmouth spirit,” says President Philip J. Hanlon ’77. “As we reflect on our history of impact and influence, we will also look ahead to a bright future creating new generations of leaders.”

Cheryl Bascomb ’82, vice president for alumni relations, says, “There is much to celebrate, much to learn, and much to consider as we move into 2019. We’ve created many ways for the Dartmouth community to get involved. The anniversary is an opportunity for our global community to mark the enduring nature of our institution and to become inspired by—and participate in—where we’re going.”

The sestercentennial will be celebrated in a range of academic courses for students, at conferences and symposia, reunions and homecoming, and much more.

“Dartmouth’s 250th celebration bears the promise and challenge of a refounding moment in that it offers the entire Dartmouth fellowship the yearlong occasion to honor and learn from the best of what we are and have done and wholeheartedly embrace future possibilities for improving ourselves and the world,” says Donald Pease, the Geisel Third Century Professor in the Humanities, who is co-chairing the 250th celebration with Bascomb.

The 250th website will be updated frequently as activities and events are added to the anniversary celebration. The sestercentennial events are organized into six areas:

1. Celebrations (Including a kick-off event taking place in locations all over campus on January 10)
2. Learning and Ideas
3. Service
4. Arts
5. Exhibitions
6. Community Connections

Dartmouth Undying is the commemorative book telling the Dartmouth story through a collection of essays and photographs edited by David Shribman ’76, trustee emeritus and executive editor of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and writer Jim Collins ’84, a past editor of Yankee Magazine. The book may be ordered in advance of its publication.