CLASS OF 1999 | 2016 | ISSUE 3
Kevin writes: Was glad to see several folks send in updates, including quite a few first-timers. Amelia Borofsky kicks us off with an offer that I hope someone takes her up on: “Wes folks are always welcome to come visit me in Hawai’i or Rarotonga! Mi casa es tu casa.” Amelia lives in Hawaii and the Cook Islands doing research, writing, and education projects. She has been working on a documentary called Homecoming: A Film About Pukapuka—check it out! “Am still in touch with many Wesleyan folks whom I love dearly and don’t get to see as often as I’d like.”
Massachusetts continues to have a strong pull on our class. Abbie Goldberg lives in beautiful Western Massachusetts with her husband, daughter, and gaggle of animals, and is an associate professor of psychology at Clark University, where she also directs the graduate program in clinical psychology. She is the editor of the forthcoming Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies, published by Sage—which contains a whopping 450 chapters on topics ranging from asexuality to Stonewall to sexual fluidity to leather culture. She is also a proud founding member of the Western Massachusetts chapter of Girls on the Run, a youth running and empowerment program, which kickstarted its first season in fall 2015. Sarah Sikowitz and her husband, Aaron, moved from Brooklyn to her hometown of Cambridge, Mass., in 2014. They’ve since grown to a family of four, welcoming Rose Elise in Feb. 2016. She joins her big brother, Emmett, who turned 3 in May. Peter Czerepak just moved to the ’burbs of Beantown (Winchester, specifically). He’s still cranking away at BCG, and is the rare consultant who does not travel much.
Russell Isaacson is living in NYC and advising brands on digital media investments for sovrn Holdings. He lives and works in SoHo.
Several first-timers shared big news: Hong Qu and his wife, Sharon, have been blessed with a baby boy, Tristan Qu, in May of 2015. They are expecting another boy in October this year. Hong is working in media and journalism as the CTO for Fusion.
Janel Davis, ordained into the ministry in Oct. 2014, now holds the office of “missionary,” and is “very excited about what lies in store for me!”
Sara Jaffe’s first novel, Dryland, was published by Tin House Books in 2015. She has been teaching creative writing at various institutions in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest—next year at the University of Oregon. Sara lives in Portland, Ore., with her partner and her 1-year-old son.
“The College of the Holy Cross recently promoted five faculty members, including Wesleyan University alumnus Joshua Congdon–Martin,” read the e-mail. Joshua is in the economics and accounting department and specializes in labor, public, and health economics, as well as applied econometrics. After Wes, he earned his MA and PhD from the University of Michigan. A recipient of the Bachelor (Ford) Summer Faculty Fellowship, his work has been featured in the Journal of Urban Economics, European Sports Management, and the Journal of Sports Economics. He has also refereed numerous articles, including “Love, Toil and Health Insurance: Why American Husbands Retire When They Do.” He has five works in progress, one of which is titled “Do Sporting Events Displace Crime? The Case of the Bulls and Chicago.” He has been a member of the Holy Cross faculty since 2009.
Our other Class Secretary, Darryl, has been busy! In May, he reconnected with Jason Fitzgerald, who lives in Astoria, Queens, with his wife Rachel Zack and their daughter, Lily. Given his extensive light and sound design experience that started at Wes, Jason founded Kelson Productions, which provides audiovisual and production management services for live events. During Memorial Day weekend, after eight years at Kenyon College in Ohio, Darryl moved back to New England to be director of admission at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. He joins Stephen Engel ’98, who is the chair of the politics department at Bates. As if moving and starting a new job weren’t enough for one summer, Darryl and his partner of 14 years, Bob Brown, finally married. The July 30th celebration was held in a 200-year-old barn at the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Columbus, Ohio. Wes folks in attendance included Kevin, John Raby, Josh and Liz Scarlett ’98, and Maurice Hill ’14.
Jeffrey Blumenthal was saddened to hear about the passing of Professor Emeritus Jon Barlow. He was one of the best teachers Jeff had at Wes. This spring we also lost Prince, who penned an anthem for our class…he can rest in peace knowing that we’ll always know how to party like it’s 1999 (even if we’re no long capable of doing that).
C. DARRYL UY | darryl.uy@gmail.com
KEVIN KUMLER | kevinkumler@gmail.com