CLASS OF 2010 | 2015 | ISSUE 1
Greetings, Class of 2010: I hope you enjoy the following updates from our classmates:
Alice Goldsmith has started a floral design studio, Wild Vase, in LA. Check it out at wildvase.com.
Jessie Schiewe is in LA, a freelance journalist and photographer for a slew of publications like The San Francisco Chronicle, LAist, Miami New Times, The Oakland Tribune, Flaunt Magazine.
Caitlin McHugh earned an M.Ed. at Western Washington University in 2014, and moved to Moscow, Idaho, where she is the education coordinator for the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute. Caitlin manages grants that pay the institute to educate children on the diminishing aquifers from which their community draws its water: “Additionally, we have spearheaded a new winter family education series for the community that seeks to connect folks with the natural world and each other even when it’s cold outside. It’s been a lot of fun and really successful this far!”
Alice Maggio checks in from the beautiful Berkshires: “Over the past year my life has intertwined with many Wesleyan graduates, mostly in the realm of music. In March, Eli Hetko ’11 and his 5 Mile String band came to play at the Sheffield Contra Dance that I help to organize. This March, my friend Emily Troll—the girl most responsible for my love of contra—is coming from Somerville to play our dance. I’m excited to tell my fellow organizers that Emily wrote her thesis on contra dance fiddling at Wesleyan. At the beginning of this January I had the pleasure of hosting musicologist and singer Tim Eriksen M.A. ’93 and his Trio de Pumpkintown, who played a concert in my living room to an audience of 50 people. In June, Anna Roberts-Gevalt ’09 stopped by to play her second house concert here, and she will be back on March 17th with Elizabeth LaPrelle to put on a “crankies” show at our local little community hall in Sheffield. I remember Anna’s senior project well—it was the genesis of her current “crankies” project! I have now worked almost three years at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics as the local currency program director, where I’m in charge of BerkShares, a currency for the Berkshires that celebrates our region, supports our locally owned businesses, and serves as a tool for community-driven economic development. My path crossed with Jean Willoughby ’08 in California last January, and then she came to visit us in the Berkshires for a few days. She is doing really cool work at Rural Advancement Foundation International in North Carolina, managing their grants program for farmers. We wish she would come work for us! The two most surprising things that happened to me this year were a visit to Cuba and being interviewed by punk rocker Henry Rollins. Henry came to the Berkshires to learn about local currency for an episode of his show called 10 Things You Don’t Know About Money. I went to Cuba as part of a ‘new economy’ delegation organized by the Schumacher Center and Christopher Reynolds Foundation, to learn about Cuban organic agriculture and social enterprise.”
From Dan Heinrich Manuyag: “I wrapped up four years with the Admissions Office at Wes and landed 5,000 miles away at the Iolani School in Honolulu, as an associate director of college counseling. I had the good fortune of being welcomed by island locals Lindsay Kosasa ’13 and Lindsay Kukona ’07. The transition has been smooth and life couldn’t be better (especially in the winter). I certainly miss all my WesFriends and family dearly back on the mainland but am ready to host with awesome hikes, surf, mai tais, and sunsets to those who venture out here. Until then, I’m looking forward to our 5th Reunion this May!”
Dylan Marron wrote and directed The Human Symphony, a show that is currently running in NYC, entirely performed by randomly selected audience members via individual MP3 tracks that Dylan has recorded for them. Dylan is also going on a two-month tour of every state in the continental U.S. with Welcome to Night Vale, a podcast that he’s been working for since 2013. Finally, he got engaged to his boyfriend, Todd. Congrats from the Class of 2010!
Jess Brownfeld works on communications and event planning in the Psychiatry Department at Mount Sinai, and she teaches yoga in NYC. She is excited to be chair of the Reunion committee and hopes you will all return to campus in May!
Tara Kelton is lead editor at Brave New Films, making social justice short documentaries. “I am also getting married in March on Pi day (because this year is 3.14.15, and we are signing our marriage license at 9:26 a.m.)” Congratulations, Tara!
Tony Zosherafatain found his way back to NYC after moving back home to Boston for a bit. While in Boston, he got to hang with Elise Herrig and Franni Paley and also got to see Kait Halibozek and Paul Edwards ’09 the week before he departed. Tony is attending NYU to become a nurse practitioner, with a focus on trans-inclusive endocrinology. He’s also aiming to take more film classes and is directing and producing (with the help of Kait Halibozek) I Am the T: an FTM documentary, which chronicles the stories of trans men around the world. He wrapped up production of an I Am the T segment in Norway this November, which will be released for viewing this spring. Check out iamthetfilm.com.
Michael Keoni DeFranco “Things have been going well at Lua: We now have 30 employees and representatives in Boston, Chicago, and London We’re working with healthcare providers such as Kaiser Permanente, professional teams such as the Seattle Seahawks, and branches of the Department of Defense. We’ve also been donating our software to nonprofits such as the Special Olympics and Team Rubicon (a unit of first responders) and are launching with our first hotel chains, retail stores, and airlines, as well as expanding into Europe and Asia. I was featured on BloombergTV’s In the Loop, alongside Strauss Zelnick ’79, where we discussed Lua, the enterprise market and Wesleyan.
“Personally, I’ve been working with a taro root farm on Kauai to ship 60 lbs of poi, a staple food of Hawai’i, to NYC once a month to distribute to the Polynesian community out here. Over time, I am working to powder the root and help ship it into disaster zones as a simple and easily transportable form of nutrition, just add water!
“I am also on the greeting committee for the Hokule’a voyage, landing in NYC in July 2016. The Hokule’a is a four-year worldwide voyage in a Hawaiian outrigger, stopping in 60 ports around the world with a mission of “Malama Honua” or caring for the earth. The Hokule’a is sailing with no navigation equipment, traveling only by the stars.”
From a business trip in Mumbai, Johanne Lin shares that she has been happily working for a tech company going on three years now. Johanne’s territory includes India, Israel, and South African markets. She enjoys her job for the places it has taken her and may be headed to Israel in March. She hopes to connect with any alums living in Tel Aviv!
And Gina Yeomans anticipates graduating from Columbia Law in May, taking the bar in July, and starting a clerkship in New Haven, on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in August. “Also in August, I’m getting married to Nate Green ’09 with a little help from my bridesmaid, Cate Haring.” Congrats, Gina and Nate!
Finally, don’t forget that our 5th Reunion is around the corner! For more information, visit wesleyan.edu/rc. We hope to see everyone in May.
David Layne | dlayne@wesleyan.edu