History 10.04: Dartmouth Black Lives

Legacy: Building Bonds with Students

Karen M. Turner left her mark on Dartmouth's campus for generations and continues to be an active changemaker. A few years after graduating from Dartmouth College, Karen attended law school and later decided to pursue her passion for broadcasting and journalism. She has spent over thirty years at Temple University in the Klein College of Media and Communication, where she has helped support thousands of students in their exploration and spearheaded numerous diversity initiatives.

Aside from the increase in diversity, a major difference between Dartmouth in the 1970s and Dartmouth now is the connection between students and professors. Dartmouth is known for their initiatives to bring students and professors together and facilitating relationships either through the “Take Your Professor Out to a Meal," "Take Your Professor for Coffee," and having house professors. While she felt as though she did not have a relationship with her professors, she aimed to ensure that her students [at Temple University] felt like they were comfortable with her. She became the teacher that she wished she had and formed long lasting relationships with these students.

Professional Life Before Journalism & Broadcasting

Karen graduated from Dartmouth with an AB in Psychology and Urban Studies, however she still had a passion for broadcasting and journalism. The biased news coverage of the 1983 Chicago mayoral election [won by Harold Washington, who became the city's first Black mayor] prompted a major career shift for Karen. While she still maintianted an interest in politics, Karen wanted to combine her passion for politics with writing.

"I didn't find the law as satisfying as I thought I might, I'm glad I went through the experience, but I always had in the back of my mind journalism and then living in Chicago. And I worked on the Harold Washington campaign on one of his committees. I think it had something to do with energy. And I helped write a policy paper. It was — well, I need to go back to the library in Chicago and actually find the paper that I helped write ... I enjoyed writing and when I worked for the American Bar Association, I was able to do some writing, some articles, that kind of thing. But then when Harold Washington ran for mayor and I remember watching the news coverage and tears came to the eyes of someone who was on team Jane Byrne. I think she was in favor of, you know, one of the people who ran against him. And I thought to myself, I can't do any worse."