CLASS OF 1998 | 2017 | ISSUE 3

Did anyone else catch our friend Kate Wetherhead’s opening skit on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in September? Drawing upon her Wesleyan English degree, she read a book on air. The book, The Emperor’s New Wall, served as witty commentary on President Trump’s promise to build a see-through wall at the Mexican border. I loved seeing our classmate on my television!

Also on television in September, Adam Abel’s organization, SkateQuilya was featured on NBC news. The organization is a youth empowerment program that uses skateboarding as a tool to teach art, community building, and leadership skills to Palestinian girls and boys in the West Bank.

In June, Joshua Stedman’s band, Brothers of Others (brothersofothers.com) released a new album, Space. Based in Miami, the band is described as “a trio of multi-instrumental artists…deeply influenced by the pioneers of blues, soul and rock.”

Lisa Ko’s debut novel, The Leavers, was longlisted for the National Book Award for fiction. The Leavers is the story of an 11-year-old whose mother, Polly, an undocumented Chinese immigrant, fails to return home one day from her job at a nail salon in Brooklyn—leaving the boy alone to navigate a new life as the adopted son of a well-meaning American couple in upstate New York.

I love to hear when my Wes friends are connecting with each other and making new memories together. Abby Posner shared with me that she, her husband Alan Rosen ’97, and their daughters spent time hiking in the White Mountains with Jill Kantrowitz Kunkel, her husband Greg ’95, and their sons over Labor Day weekend. As the families summited Mount Lafayette, they naturally trekked while singing “Guns and Ships” from Hamilton, making it a Wes outing through and through!

I don’t know about you, but I’m astonished that we will celebrate our 20th Reunion in May. I’m already looking forward to seeing all of you back on campus!

Marcus Chung | marcusbchung@gmail.com 

Jason Becton | jcxbecton@yahoo.com