A Toolbox as Big as a Truck
If you attended the 75th Anniversary celebration at Cardigan in 2023, you might have noticed an alumnus in attendance wearing a vintage Cardigan letter jacket. That would be trustee Dan Zinsmeyer, Class of 1983.
“I wasn’t the biggest kid and I didn’t always make varsity, but I was captain of JV football,” Dan recalls. “And my mom was smart enough to buy the jacket two sizes too large. She always said, ‘You’ll grow into it.’” His mother’s foresight has meant that Dan has been able to wear the jacket for decades; it’s just one item in what Dan has come to see as his Cardigan toolbox.
“The toolbox I created at Cardigan has been with me my whole life,” he continues. “And that toolbox is as big as a truck. It’s got people in it. And community. I learned every angle of diplomacy at Cardigan and important study habits. There are also pearls of wisdom that I received from various teachers. For me, Cardigan is where it all came together.”
Dan came to Cardigan from a day school in the Midwest where he had never experienced a teacher who truly cared, nor was interested in his growth as a student. “I saw a different breed of teachers at Cardigan than I’d ever seen before,” he says. “Cardigan helped me get my stuff together academically and really let me find myself as a student.”
In addition to embracing his athletic and academic commitments, Dan used the clubs period to further feed his curiosity—starting a unicycling club, a remote-control club, and a scuba club. “No one ever said no,” he recalls. “There were so many adults that put themselves out there for the kids, and that made you unafraid to fail.” He went on to attend Tabor Academy and the University of Southern California. His professional career has included stints in the snowboard industry and large-scale printing.
One thing Dan has added to his toolbox since his graduation from Cardigan is philanthropy. “We didn’t do a lot of community outreach back then,” he says, “but I know it is now a part of living at Cardigan. I love that the school is announcing clothing drives and food drives for the Upper Valley. That philanthropic culture is something that we really need to instill at a young age. These kids are going to be decision makers, and if they’re able to make decisions that go beyond themselves, their households, their families and into the community, then I think that’s a plus and much needed in today’s world.”
Dan’s own philanthropic interests have focused on adolescent mental health, the environment, and diversity, equity, and inclusion causes. At Cardigan he joined the board of trustees in 2022 and has served on the Governance and Development Committees. Dan has also created a scholarship: “Every year there’s going to be an opportunity for someone to be at Cardigan who deserves to be there, but for one reason alone isn’t able to attend. Breaking down that financial barrier means the benefits of Cardigan, the toolbox that they will get, will allow them to fix anything in life moving forward.”
“It’s the perpetuity of it,” continues Dan, who intends to include Cardigan in his estate plans. “This is an investment that isn’t being spent, so it tags along with the school forever; it’s a beauty mark that goes with the school.” Like a well-made jacket, its value won’t depreciate over time. Instead it pays forward, establishing a philanthropic culture that gives back to the next generation but also adds more gear to that toolbox. We might even need a bigger box.