CLASS OF 1991 | 2014 | ISSUE 3

Newsmaker: Robin Delman Ekiss ’91

Newsmaker: Robin Delman Ekiss ’91 Robin Delman Ekiss ’91 received one of only six 2007 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Awards. The foundation selects women who demonstrate excellence and promise at the beginning of their writing careers. Ekiss, whose poems have appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, Ploughshares, and Triquarterly, is finishing her first book of poetry, The Mansion of Happiness.

Robin Delman Ekiss ’91 received one of only six 2007 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Awards. The foundation selects women who demonstrate excellence and promise at the beginning of their writing careers. Ekiss, whose poems have appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, Ploughshares, and Triquarterly, is finishing her first book of poetry, The Mansion of Happiness.

Newsmaker: Daniel B. Prieto ’91

Newsmaker: Daniel B. Prieto ’91 Daniel B. Prieto ’91, an adjunct senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, is the author of the newly released CFR report, War About Terror: Civil Liberties and National Security After 9/11. The report addresses a range of issues—from Guantanamo to warantless wiretapping—and how to maintain America¹s longstanding democratic traditions while protecting it from real and serious threats. To download a copy, go to www.cfr.org/war_about_terror. Prieto, who worked for over two years on the politically-charged project, earned his Wesleyan degree in the College of Social Studies and his master’s from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Daniel B. Prieto ’91, an adjunct senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, is the author of the newly released CFR report, War About Terror: Civil Liberties and National Security After 9/11. The report addresses a range of issues—from Guantanamo to warantless wiretapping—and how to maintain America¹s longstanding democratic traditions while protecting it from real and serious threats. To download a copy, go to www.cfr.org/war_about_terror. Prieto, who worked for over two years on the politically-charged project, earned his Wesleyan degree in the College of Social Studies and his master’s from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Newsmaker: Catherine Rob Rogers ’91

Newsmaker: Catherine Rob Rogers ’91 Catherine Rob Rogers ’91, a Laramie County, Wyo., Circuit Court Magistrate and a private practice attorney, was appointed to the First Judicial District Court by Gov. Dave Freudenthal last September. In a Wyoming Tribune Eagle article, Freudenthal praised her, saying, “Her reputation for honesty and ethics is of the highest order. What makes her uniquely qualified is that the Circuit Court is really the people’s court, and she has a great people sense about her.” A sociology major as an undergraduate, she earned a JD from the University of Wyoming College of Law and was admitted to the Wyoming State Bar in 1998. “I am humbled by the Governor’s confidence in me, and I will do my best to serve the judiciary and the people of Laramie County with fairness, courtesy and a commitment to equal justice,” Rogers said. She is married to Kevin Ohlson ’90.

Catherine Rob Rogers ’91, a Laramie County, Wyo., Circuit Court Magistrate and a private practice attorney, was appointed to the First Judicial District Court by Gov. Dave Freudenthal last September. In a Wyoming Tribune Eagle article, Freudenthal praised her, saying, “Her reputation for honesty and ethics is of the highest order. What makes her uniquely qualified is that the Circuit Court is really the people’s court, and she has a great people sense about her.” A sociology major as an undergraduate, she earned a JD from the University of Wyoming College of Law and was admitted to the Wyoming State Bar in 1998. “I am humbled by the Governor’s confidence in me, and I will do my best to serve the judiciary and the people of Laramie County with fairness, courtesy and a commitment to equal justice,” Rogers said. She is married to Kevin Ohlson ’90.

Newsmaker: Stephen K. Friedman ’91

Newsmaker: Stephen K. Friedman ’91 Stephen K. Friedman ’91 has been promoted to president of MTV. Since the fall of 2008, he has been general manager, and he will now oversee MTV, MTV2, mtvU, MTV.com, MTV Hits and MTV Jams. During Friedman’s tenure, MTV has had five consecutive quarters of growth, and launched such successful shows as Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant, Life as Liz, and the upcoming Teen Wolf. He joined MTV in 1998 and started MTV’s strategic partnerships and public affairs department. As general manager, he launched mtvU, the channel dedicated to college students, in 2004, and helped shape the channel’s Emmy Award-winning Sudan campaign to protest genocide in Darfur. In announcing his promotion, The Los Angeles Times writes: “Over the years, [Friedman] has been instrumental in many of MTV’s social and political causes. ... He was deeply involved in MTV’s award-winning ‘Fight for Your Rights’ campaign and its ‘Choose or Lose’ political drive.” Before joining MTV, Friedman was director for the PEN American Center, an international writers’ human rights organization. At Wesleyan, he majored in the College of Letters.

Stephen K. Friedman ’91 has been promoted to president of MTV. Since the fall of 2008, he has been general manager, and he will now oversee MTV, MTV2, mtvU, MTV.com, MTV Hits and MTV Jams. During Friedman’s tenure, MTV has had five consecutive quarters of growth, and launched such successful shows as Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant, Life as Liz, and the upcoming Teen Wolf. He joined MTV in 1998 and started MTV’s strategic partnerships and public affairs department. As general manager, he launched mtvU, the channel dedicated to college students, in 2004, and helped shape the channel’s Emmy Award-winning Sudan campaign to protest genocide in Darfur. In announcing his promotion, The Los Angeles Times writes: “Over the years, [Friedman] has been instrumental in many of MTV’s social and political causes. … He was deeply involved in MTV’s award-winning ‘Fight for Your Rights’ campaign and its ‘Choose or Lose’ political drive.” Before joining MTV, Friedman was director for the PEN American Center, an international writers’ human rights organization. At Wesleyan, he majored in the College of Letters.

Beth Haney is now operations director for Free Bikes 4 Kidz, a Minnesota nonprofit that cleans,  refurbishes, and gives away gently used bikes to kids—5,000 bikes in 2013! If you live in the Twin Cities and have mad bike repair skills, or are good at cleaning and shining, Beth would love you to help out. Free Bikes 4 Kidz is also working on expanding to other cities across the US. Details are at fb4k.org.

Drew Marrochello has been appointed director of athletics at Boston University, where he has worked since 2005. According to BU Today, “Athletically, my goal is for BU to be viewed as the best non-football-playing Division I school in the nation.” 

Meanwhile, I’ve had a crazy, busy, and challenging couple of months working as a researcher for the second season of the PBS production Genealogy Road Show, uncovering family histories and mysteries in St. Louis, New Orleans, and Philadelphia. Shows will air in early 2015.

And that’s it! Write me with your news.

Renée K. Carl | rcarl@wesleyan.edu

Intern at the Wesleyan Office of Communications for Spring and Summer 2015. Currently working towards meeting the requirements for an Economics and Government dual major. A Wesleyan Posse Veteran.