CLASS OF 2013 | 2017 | ISSUE 2
The Class of 2013 is one year away from our Fifth Reunion and we’re feeling the feels. Read on to see what we’ve been up to in 2017!
In March, Evan Weber was recognized by Grist as one of 50 emerging green leaders to watch for his work with U.S. Climate Plan, the organization he and Matt Lichtash started at Wesleyan. In April, U.S. Climate Plan re-branded as Sunrise, and is building a movement of young people to make climate action an urgent political priority, with an eye on a major intervention in the 2018 midterm elections.
Janet Cushey launched a private English review service for Korean corporations called Patch English in January and works as an event manager for Shoptalk.
Ben Smith is script supervising on film and commercial sets and has finished his third original screenplay. He’s now looking to get his sci-fi comedy podcast off the ground floor once he finds some good improv actors. Any Wes composers, sound designers, or funny people should hit this dude up at basmith@wesleyan.edu.
Bennett Kirschner has assumed the role of kennel manager at Pan-American Life Insurance firm in New Orleans. Whether he’s providing dogs for the hunt, or simply intimidating debtors, Bennett takes pride in the quality of his service.
Zach Schonfeld lives in Brooklyn with Ella Dawson ’14 and a 1956 grundig tube radio he inherited from his 99-year old great-grandma. He had a brief cameo in a Real Housewives of New York City episode about a dog wedding.
After meeting on their first day of freshman orientation, JD Dieterich and Danielle Springer were married on May 27. They celebrated the occasion with many Wesleyan friends including Jeff Giocondi, Emma Caccamo, Lex Johnson, and Elizabeth Rudy, who were in the wedding party. JD is now an MD, having graduated from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and Danielle is an assistant editor at Penguin Random House. Congrats to both of them!
Aditi Kini just premiered a music video titled “Park Slope” for OHYUNG ’10 with co-director Hanna Edizel ’14, cinematographer Neo Sora ’14, and actor Stephen Acerra ’12. This is on the heels of Inherited Trauma, the exhibit Aditi curated at Local Project for the Long Island City Arts Open Festival featuring Wesleyan artists Hanna Edizel ’14, Hira Jafri, Zain Alam, and Vikrant Sunderlal Chandel ’15. Performers included Rob Rusli ’10, Matt Chilton ’16, Deren Ertas ’16, and Cameron Couch. Get in touch with her if you want to collaborate!
Bryce Hollingsworth quit the oil business. In Europe now!
David Shimomura started a new job with the University of Chicago in alumni relations and development. At the end of May, he put on their largest alumni event, Alumni Weekend, along with the rest of their amazing planning team.
Prince Emenalo earned his MPH from Georgia State University School of Public Health, where he with a concentration in health management and policy.
Melody Oliphant is finishing up a fellowship at Yale School of Medicine in the Child Study Center, and eagerly counting down the days until the Class of 2013 is reunited in Middletown for Reunion.
Gabriel Urbina created a radio drama podcast called Wolf 359 in 2014, which was one of the finalists for this year’s Webby Awards, an award for excellence on the Internet. Their show is nominated in the Digital Audio Drama category. What really makes this a Wes triumph is that the show is a 100 percent Wes production. Wolf 359 is co-produced by Zach Valenti ’12, who is also the lead actor and is co-written by Sarah Shachat ’12. The cast is rounded out by Emma Sherr-Ziarko ’11, Michaela Swee ’12, Cecilia Lynn-Jacobs ’11, Zach Libresco, Noah Masur ’15, and Michelle Agresti ’14. On the technical side, their original music is composed by Alan Rodi ’12, and their audio recording is done by Jared Paul ’11 and James Schoen ’05. They even did an apprenticeship with current student Claire Shaffer ’18!
Danielle Craig says, “Hey, what’s up? Hello,” to all her fellow 2013ers. She saw some of them to celebrate JD and Danielle’s nuptials over Memorial Day weekend. Danielle just returned from two months of solo backpacking through Southeast Asia and will start law school at UC, Berkeley, in August. So long to the NYC-Wesleyan crew, it has been a stellar four years. If you live in the Bay, let her know!
Michael Robinson and Lia Monti were married in Pittsburgh, Pa., on June 3, surrounded by countless members of their Wes family. This marks the second generation of Robinson men finding true love at Wes—Mike’s parents Dennis Robinson ’79 and Anne Robinson ’81 met in 1978. Yes, the Beta sweetheart and Wesleyan fight songs were sung, and yes, Buddy wore a bowtie.
Thank you to all my classmates who wrote in, and best wishes to everyone!
Laura Yim | Lyim@wesleyan.edu