Marlboro Memories
Just thumbing my way through the Spring 2018 Potash HillI feel so proud of the Marlboro community and what it has accomplished in its young life. I have a lot of incredibly good memories, and I think a number of alumni do too, but so few of us write back or celebrate them. What is it about the ’60s? Maybe I can stir something up with these notes from 1963–67. 

Town Meetings were successful: we passed the dog/cat ruling—no pets on campus except Fangio and Tippy; parietal hours were agreed upon—if you are going to do it, be respectful of your room mate; no smoking in the dining hall. 

Other memories: dance weekends— we had one even with the recent death of JFK; Pink God Dammit parties to celebrate spring; motorcycles on the iced fire pond; the poker and bridge games that seem to go on all week; homemade beer that exploded in one of the dormitories along with the pen of rabbits in a nearby room; Thanksgiving dinner with the Boydens; the first Wendell Cup ski race. 

Marlboro College taught me a lot and I have used these lessons well in my life. Be accountable, be responsible to your community. Give back as much as you have taken, or give more. Enjoy life to the fullest. 
—Jennie Tucker ’67  

PotashLove
What a beautiful and stirring issue of Potash Hill (Spring 2018). I was especially glad to read about Marlboro’s new faculty, who sound as though they quickly absorbed the spirit and promise of this unique place and education. Congratulations on such a good, informative, and aesthetically pleasing issue! 
—Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, former president 

Another great issue! It’s everything a magazine like this should be: plenty of substantive, well-written articles, great photos, focus on the people of the college and issues of interest to them. Congratulations. 
—Dick Saudek, chair of the board of trustees 

I so look forward to each issue of Potash Hilland other mailings from Marlboro. Thanks for another high-quality and informative issue. Although I canceled all magazines, catalogs, and newspapers to save on waste, I can’t bear to not have a printed copy of such a beautiful and meaningful publication. 
—Diana Piper, parent of Marty Piper ’20 

Climate of Change
Thank you for your note on the climate, and asking for more reflection from alumni. On our Leafhopper Farm (leafhopperfarm. com) in western Washington, we’ve just put in a 20,000-gallon cistern on the property—a temperate rainforest. Also, summer fires are getting redundant. Smoke was the worst in 2018. With record-breaking temperatures of 790F in Seattle in the last two days of winter, I’m sure we’ll be in for another above-normal summer this year too. For someone paying close attention to food security and global environmental failure, I worry we’re seeing a crash. Not only have we forgotten our seat belt, humanity insanely scrambles to slash the airbags. 
—Liz Crain ’05 

Claim to Fame
I’m a biologist, with a longtime interest in the history of modeling in ecology and population biology. I ran across Dan Toomey’s nice article on Robert MacArthur ’51 in the Summer 2013 issue of Potash Hill. Are you folks aware of the “legendary” meeting that occurred in 1964 (or so) in Marlboro? E. O. Wilson’s account of it in Naturalist has some details: attendees were himself, Richard Levins, Dick Lewontin, Robert MacArthur, and Egbert Leigh, and by Wilson’s account this meeting helped initiate much important research in population biology. So, Marlboro has a claim for playing an important role in the history of ecology. 
—Steve Orzack 

Empty Promise?
In the last issue of Potash Hill, President Kevin’s message was about the promise of Marlboro to have graduates able to write clearly, follow a big idea to completion, and live in a community. Some students do not know what it is to live in a community, as they are ostracized in a social climate that includes bullying and toxicity. My hope is that rather than “live in a community,” Marlboro instead focuses on creating true community as part of its future growth. 
—anonymous parent