By Catherine Kane ’26

Dalton Greene ’22 is a Class Agent and a member of the Young Grand Society. He is currently pursuing a PhD in English at the University of Maryland after completing a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Greece last year.

What do you do in your role as a Class Agent?

As a fairly recent alum, it’s about rallying folks to the cause around Give to Macalester Days. I think for the younger alumni, there is some nostalgia around the spring semester, graduation, and how many years it’s been already. I’ve found it’s a really good way to reconnect with people.

What calls you to give and volunteer with Macalester?

It’s rooted in my life experience: I come from a small, working-class community in West Virginia and going to college was not a given for me. Coming to Macalester was a whole new world for me and truly opened so many doors—I wouldn’t have had the Fulbright experience or gone to graduate school without it. For me, it’s a way of giving back both to the institution that helped propel me, but also I think about students like myself, for whom the financial support Macalester is able to offer is really lifechanging. That speaks to me.

What does being a member of the Young Grand Society mean to you?

For me, it’s about the monthly, ongoing show of commitment and putting my money where my mouth is. I do believe that Macalester is doing good things in the world for students, and supporting that work in a concrete, material way feels meaningful. Being able to designate money towards financial aid aligns with my gratitude for the institution. The $17 a month is affordable, even on a graduate student’s razor-thin budget.

May 17 2024

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