History 10.04: Dartmouth Black Lives

Shortly after graduating Mr. Love went on to attend Northwestern University, where he obtained an MBA and began a successful financial career on Wall Street. However, his career did not distract him from his goal of recruiting more students of color to Dartmouth. Mr. Love had friends among the admissions staff, and he was able to agitate for developing a more diverse community. Karl Furstenberg, the Director of Admissions, and Lorna J. Hunter, the Director of Minority Admissions, were two staff members whom Mr. Love challenged to find a solution.  

Although he encountered hesitancy at first due to the college’s conservative environment, Mr. Love realized that Dartmouth’s most notable tradition is excellence. He believed a diverse community would contribute to this tradition. Mr. Love presented the idea of flying students from Kenwood Academy to Dartmouth so that they could experience the institution before applying to colleges. The admissions office agreed, and Mr. Love returned to Kenwood Academy to speak with Joyce Brown, who was the Senior Guidance Counselor at Kenwood for many years.  

Mr. Love asked Joyce Brown to create a list of ten to fifteen of the brightest students that Kenwood had to offer. Joyce was able to create a list of twelve students, and Mr. Love personally flew them all to visit Dartmouth. Of the twelve, every student who applied to Dartmouth was accepted, and four of them matriculated the following year. The admissions officers were stunned by Mr. Love’s success, and they asked him to continue the project. By the third year, the program was being referred to as “Gary’s Kids,” and the admissions officers were eager for Mr. Love to expand it beyond Kenwood.  

Mr. Love began flying students from cities across the country, including Atlanta, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. The program grew quickly -- from twelve, to fifty students, to over one hundred students last year. Also known as “Dartmouth Bound," the program has been running since 1991. When I asked in the interview, “Would you say that’s one of your biggest accomplishments?” Mr. Love passionately replied, “Without question!” 

Beginning in 1985, Mr. Love also served four years as the President of the Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association. Unfortunately, in 1989, his dear childhood friend, Duane Gibbs ‘76, was tragically killed in a car accident. Mr. Love and two of his former classmates, William “Billy” Rice ‘76 and Reginald Thomas ‘75, decided to donate funds to the college to establish a book fund. The fund was named “The Duane Gibbs Book Fund” in memory of their friend. Rice’s name was added following his death in 2016, and the fund is now known as “The Duane Gibbs ‘76 and William Rice ‘76 Book Fund.” The sole purpose of the fund is to acquire for the library titles and resources by Black authors. Today, it has become the college’s largest fund for the acquisition of publications by authors of color.