Tag: 2000

Categories Class Notes, Class Notes | 2000sPosted on

CLASS OF 2000 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE

After recently completing his degree from Fordham University Gabelli School of Business, Marvin Thomas has left admissions from his alma mater Xavier High School in NYC and is now the director of business development of the Corporate Work Study Program at Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York.

Matt Rahaim has been teaching Hindustani music, relational improvisation, and practices of listening at the University of Minnesota, most recently in the new Creative Studies Program. His new book, Ways of Voice: Vocal Striving and Moral Contestation in North India and Beyond, was published in the Music/Culture series at Wesleyan University Press in fall 2021. He and his wife Jenna are spending as much time as possible in and on lakes, frozen and liquid.

Bryan Rowe lives in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with his wife Asia and two sons, Jacob (7) and Oscar (4).  “I would love to hear from any classmates in the area!”

Eden Robins writes, “My first novel, When Franny Stands Up (Sourcebooks Landmark), is coming out November 1st! I call it ‘my funny book about trauma,’ and my editor calls it ‘a queer Marvelous Mrs. Maisel where the jokes are magic.’”

Ali Haider says, “After working in western Massachusetts for 10 years, I have taken a position at New York Presbyterian/Cornell—Queens, where I will continue working as an interventional and structural cardiologist. My wife Uruj Kamal Haider ’09 and I have a 17- month-old baby, Parisa Haider, and a second girl coming in December. We are excited to be moving back to New York and closer to our family.”

Trace Peterson completed her job as the NEH postdoctoral fellow in poetics at Emory University this past spring, and she has moved back to Connecticut, where she currently works as a visiting assistant professor of English at the UConn Storrs campus. This year Trace’s small-press publishing company, EOAGH Books, also won the National Jewish Book Award in Poetry for The Book of Anna, a title by trans writer Joy Ladin. An interview about the prize-winning book with Trace and Joy appeared in a recent article in Forbes magazine and is probably the first time poetry has ever appeared in Forbes.

Mandy Snyder writes, “I lead groups online for self-discovery and emotional intelligence using somatic approaches at mandysnyder.com. I am relocating to western Massachusetts, near Greenfield, should anyone live nearby, let me know!”

Bakley Smith says, “Hi, I moved to Atlanta, Georgia (actually Decatur), in 2021, after more than 20 years in NYC. My wife and I had our second child last year, and things are generally going quite well. Saw Josh Ostrow while in New York recently, and stay in touch with Justin Belin, Nick Kurian, and others. Missed our 20-year Reunion but looking forward to 25 in a few more years.”

Claudia Cruz writes, “During the pandemic I was co-managing editor of a team of reporters that won a national 2021 Murrow Award for our bilingual COVID-19 coverage during 2020. Also, I will finally join the ranks of published Wesleyan authors with the forthcoming academic chapter, “Race, Colorism and Policing in Latinx Communities: Getting the Story,” for a first-of-its-kind journalism textbook about covering Latinos in the U.S. and around the world. It will be published by Routledge in late April 2022.”

Our collective thoughts and prayers are with Greg Amis. His wife, Karen Ferreira Amis, died of cancer last November. Obituary is at https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/karen-amis-obituary?pid=200709776.

Categories Class Notes, Class Notes | 2000sPosted on

CLASS OF 2000 | 2022 | SPRING ISSUE

Trace Peterson is currently the 2021–2022 NEH postdoctoral fellow in poetics at the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, Emory University. A trans woman scholar and poet, this year she also co-organized, with two other trans scholars, the first-ever Working Group in Trans Studies at the MLA Conference, which featured nine participants. Her new publications this year include a chapter for the SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies, a chapter in the forthcoming Wiley Blackwell Companion to American Poetry, and new poems in Michigan Quarterly Review.

Categories Class Notes | 2000sPosted on

CLASS OF 2000 | 2021 | ISSUE 1

Allison Larson and her husband Ron welcomed their second child, Erin Madden, in July. She joins big sister Victoria Lee.  Evans Anyanwu writes “Happy to report that I was interviewed by Angela Yee ’97, Charlamagne tha God and DJ Envy on The Breakfast Club, to discuss a mental health app, U; Good? that I co-founded with a friend. You can find the interview on YouTube.”

     Kori Reesee would like to share, “The recent opening of my restaurant, Roc N Ramen, located in the Little Italy section of the Bronx (606 E 187th St., Bronx, NY 10458). Roc N Ramen is a casual eatery serving authentic Japanese ramen with a Caribbean twist. Our motto is Asian Bowl, Caribbean Soul.”

     Theresa Trinder published a children’s book, There Is a Rainbow, inspired by the rainbows made by children all over the world during COVID-19 lockdowns. Called “the perfect pandemic book” by School Library Journal, it’s a testament to our kids’ resilience and hope for a future that’s more safe, kind, and just. From Chronicle Books, illustrated by Grant Snider.

    Calvin P. Warner writes, “The past year has been challenging, but the little things have a habit of rolling along, oblivious to the mayhem wreaked by larger events. Our son Jesse was born March 2020, just as the lockdown started here in Ohio. I finished my fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine in Columbus in September, and we moved back to Cleveland later that month. I’m now working in my first attending physician job at University Hospitals in Cleveland, mostly doing inpatient palliative consults with a smattering of outpatient. Though the transitions have been tough amidst the pandemic, there is a lot of light in the darkness for us.  Hope everyone is doing well and staying safe, and I hope to see you in person in the not-too-distant future. If ever you’re in NE Ohio, look me up.”

     Melissa Stevens and Rob Debbane welcomed their third son Nico this past summer. After 10 years as head of Camron US, a communications agency focused on design and architecture, Sarah Natkins has been made global head of design.

         Ku Yoo writes “I left my private practice to join a client as its general counsel. The company is in the fitness/retail/childcare space. I am temporarily in Phoenix, Arizona for the job (still mostly working from the apartment), missing all the weather back east, and trying to go on outdoor hikes on weekends.”

Categories Class Notes | 2000sPosted on

CLASS OF 2000 | 2020 | ISSUE 1

Can you believe it’s been 20 years since we graduated from Wesleyan?

Bakley Smith writes “Since I last checked in, I got married in 2013 and live in Brooklyn with my wife and our 3-year-old daughter. After a few years in very entrepreneurial projects (with, um, limited success), I began working for a small investment bank here in NYC that focuses on better-for-you food and drink products. I’m still in touch with and good friends with members of the Class of ’00 and will be more so as a class agent this year.”

Claudia Cruz accepted the position of director of internships and experiential learning at the Reynolds School of Journalism of the University of Nevada in Reno. This means that after nine years of living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area she’s headed to the Reno-Tahoe community. She’d love to connect with Cardinals in the area or with those just passing through.

Last but not least, Shawn Green, in Western Massachusetts, is working for Sunpower, helping homeowners convert to solar power.

Avery Esdaile | wesleyan2000@gmail.com