Daniel Senn LaFar, Jr. '57
(Awarded 2012)

Davidson's Statement of Purpose charges us to prepare our students for "lives of leadership and service." Anyone looking for an example of Davidson's success in that endeavor need look no further than Daniel Senn LaFar, Jr. '57.

The son and nephew of Davidson alumni, Dan LaFar, Jr. was a history major, a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa and Phi Beta Kappa honor societies, and of the Eumenean Literary Society. He won the James Baker Woods III Award for Outstanding Senior ROTC Cadet. A student leader from the start, he was elected president of the student body for senior year.

Dan has continued to serve the college in many ways, beginning as an assistant director in the Office of Alumni Relations after graduation. Then, on to Harvard Business School he went-and Davidson went with him. Within a week of his arrival in Boston, he sent a letter back to staff friends on campus, writing, "I miss all of you there, and the enjoyable days we had.... I think of you all often."

Dan has "thought of Davidson often" ever since, and for that we are grateful! His student achievements were prelude to successful leadership of his family's textiles firm, as well as his service in the arenas of civic engagement and religious life. Active in the professional and community life of Gastonia, he also served as president of the American Yarn Spinners Association. He has served as a church elder, deacon, Presbytery trustee and a trustee of Union Theological Seminary in Virginia.

Through it all, Dan has held Davidson close. He has served on our Board of Visitors, as a Class Chair for the Annual Fund, as president of the Alumni Association, as a corporate fundraising volunteer, and as a member of the Parents Council. He was vice-chair for fundraising for the Baker Sports Complex and was the Annual Fund national chairman during the Campaign for Davidson. During his time as a trustee, he served as vice-chair of the Admission and Financial Aid Committee.

More significant than any of his countless contributions to alma mater, in the model of his father Daniel Senn LaFar, Sr., Class of 1931, Dan and his wife Joyce entrusted to Davidson their son Daniel, Class of 1990. This family legacy is honored in the Dan LaFar Scholarship, established "for scholarship assistance, either need- or merit-based, as proving most helpful to Davidson College and its students at any time."

For your steadfast loyalty to alma mater through a career and a lifetime of leadership and service; for your humility and grace in sharing your time, talent and treasure with alma mater; and for the generous spirit of good cheer and fellowship you bring to the Class of 1957 and to Davidson College overall, the Alumni Association is proud to present you, Daniel Senn LaFar '57, its Alumni Service Award on the occasion of your 55th Reunion, October 6, 2012.