Hanover Madison Williams Vale

It is my sincere pleasure to present this Legacy Award to Hanover Vale.

I’m going to start at the core – at the heart of the matter: Han is truly one of the kindest, most compassionate, empathetic, caring, and effective leaders on campus. At Dartmouth we define true leadership as the ability to lead from the back of the room and the middle of the room, as well as from the front.

It’s about listening. It’s about seeing. It’s about hearing. It’s about connecting. In Han’s case, it’s also about feeding. And it’s about leaving the world - and all of the spaces in it that you occupy - a little better than you found it. Han is that person.

Whether it was from a bench in KAF, behind the scenes at House-wide community cooking challenges, in the basement of the Triangle House, LLC, the kitchen at Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, or the helm of Casque & Gauntlet, Han has broadened and created community.

She’s provided openings where previously there were none. She’s built bridges, helping to build important and - hopefully - lasting connections across houses, across offices, between academic departments. I say departments because not only is she an inter-community organizer, but she’s also an interdisciplinary, action-oriented scholar, as evidenced in Mellon Mayes funded experiential Honor’s Thesis, part of which she presented at the Oxford Symposium of Food and Cookery at St. Catherine’s.

Marrying her intellectual interests, her practical talents (Han is also a classically trained chef), and her deep commitment to creating places and spaces of welcome and of belonging, Han has fed many of us in this community. And, in so doing, has helped make this place, which all too often feels a little too far from where we came - feel a little bit more like home. Congratulations, Han - and thank you.