CLASS OF 1994 | 2017 | ISSUE 1
Welcome to the latest edition of the class notes. As I (Caissa) write to you (in mid-January), the weather in NYC area continues to vacillate between imitating spring and then suddenly dropping to Arctic temps.
Ethan Hollander is teaching political science at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind. He says, “I loved learning at a liberal arts college, and figured there’d be nothing better than actually teaching at one.” His book just came out, Hegemony and the Holocaust: State Power and Jewish Survival in Occupied Europe, and he explained that “there aren’t many political scientists who approach historical topics like the Holocaust, but with my CSS background, the interdisciplinary approach came naturally.” He and his wife, an economist, who also works at Wabash, live in a beautiful house that is walking distance from work, along with their pet snake named George Michael.
Lin (Zhong) ter Horst is still on Maui, working on her fruit confections. Lin and her husband started Maui Fruit Jewels when they moved from China to Maui. It was a finalist for Best Product and Startup of the Year awards in 2016 from the Hawaii Food Manufacturers Association.
Jesse Hendrich is the PTO co-president for his kids’ public school in Brooklyn (PS 9) and is excited to be doing race and racism awareness workshops for staff, parents, and kids this coming month. The school has become a regular setting for affordable housing workshops on a monthly basis in an effort to preserve diversity and equity in the school and neighborhood. Jesse has been in touch with a few ’94 alums: Jonah Ross, Mark Ladov (who lives down the street), Scott Rosenberg (check out his podcast, the History Channeler), Aaron Passell, Nicole Davis, and many more here in Brooklyn. “Also, I am friends with many younger Wesleyanites like Scott Dvorin ’00 and Carolyn Cryer ’01, who are active parents in the PTO.”
Kristy Scanlan serves as co-president of the non-profit organization, Women in Animation (womeninanimation.org) in her spare time. In the past three years, membership has grown to 1,500 members. Her day job is VP of business development for the animation and games group at Technicolor in Hollywood.
Michelle Harris Silbert enjoyed returning to work after a 10-year break raising her daughters. She has made a career shift from social work into career and life coaching. She especially enjoys coaching women in transition, and college students with ADD/ADHD, and find this work both creative and rewarding. Her company is called Ignite Your Sparks! Holistic Career Coaching. Michelle is based in Acton, Mass., but also works by phone and virtually.
Larry Sidney shared big news that he and his wife Kerstin are pregnant with their first baby, due in March. He writes, “Can’t wait to be a dad!” He is competing for the Israeli National Skeleton Team, spending the winter traveling to bobsled tracks around the world, typically training for three days, and then racing for two. Larry is hoping to crack the top 100 in the world this year, with a shot at the Olympics next year. He reconnected with his best friend from Wesleyan, Kristin Gross. “It turns out that she is on the West Coast like me, and doing quite well. After 20-plus years, it’s great to have my Wes friend back!”
Matthew C. Solomon left government service after 15 years at the Department of Justice and the SEC to join the law firm Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton’s D.C. office as a partner. While he is sad to leave the government, he is excited for the opportunity to practice law at a terrific firm.
Ken Barnett is proud to be performing off-Broadway this spring in The Light Years, a sharp, original, and moving new play by The Debate Society, at Playwrights’ Horizons.
So long for now. Looking forward to hearing more from you all. Send Samera and me your news, notes and updates—we’d love to hear from you.
Samera Syeda Ludwig | ssludwig@nixonpeabody.com
Caissa Powell | cdp2000@hotmail.com