<p>Has anyone received an invitation to have dinner with the president of Dickinson College at an alumni's house? If you did, did you go? My daughter received one and we will attend, but are curious about the event.
Thanks,</p>
<p>Anyone?..</p>
<p>We went to an event with him at a local hotel this summer in our midwestern city. Appetizers & drinks, then he gave a speech, then we mingled and talked. Maybe 20 people attended. A mixture of alumni, current students/parents, and students who just started this fall. The regional recruiter for Dickinson was there.</p>
<p>We went to something this past spring that was similar to the event intparent attended: food and drinks, people mingled, and then a talk by the president. We also met his wife. There were alumni, parents, accepted students, and I think a few prospective students/families. It was actually very enjoyable and informative.</p>
<p>Thank you! What impression of the college did you get from this event?</p>
<p>Well, my D already attends Dickinson, and is absolutely thriving there. We could not have made a better choice for her in combination of academics, clubs, and merit aid awarded. So I was already biased before attending the event </p>
<p>All that said, honestly, President Durden is not my favorite thing about Dickinson. He is a little quirky, and I found him a bit cold when I talked to him at the event. He also gave a talk to the parents on D’s first day on campus freshman year that I thought was a strange introduction for parents; it was the day after he had waded into the fray on the drinking age, and given statements to news organization that he thought it should be lowered to 18. So he spent a lot of his face time with the parents telling us why he thought that; not in response to questions, it was just clearly what was on his mind. But I did not find it to be a very reassuring topic when dropping D off…</p>
<p>Regarding the event this spring, D saw a couple of students she knew, and a new freshman she had been assigned to mentor and had not met before. We enjoyed talking with the regional Dickinson recruiter, too. And Darden’s speech that day was interesting (and appropriate ).</p>