CLASS OF 1994 | 2018 | ISSUE 3
Hello from Chicago! The summer flew by and school has started for my twin girls, Sarah and Norah, who are in fourth grade! I continue to practice law at Nixon Peabody LLP in Chicago. Just last week, Peter Chandler came to an event hosted by my firm in D.C. at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. It was a gorgeous locale and it was great to catch up with Peter, who works on Capitol Hill as the chief of staff to Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan. During the summer, Peter traveled to Europe with Lourdes Arista and other friends and said they had a fabulous time.
Robin Shane has been appointed to a full-time, tenure-track position as an assistant professor of theater at Rider University. Robin will be joining the faculty as the costume designer professor, teaching classes, designing shows, and running the costume shop. Her daughters, Cecily and Miranda, are now in ninth and sixth grade, respectively, and doing great.
Matt Solomon is practicing law in D.C., where he lives with his wife and two kids, and is still in close touch with Jon Liebson ’92, Gideon Stein, and Sul Lunat.
Jessica Sharzer wrote the movie, A Simple Favor, directed by Paul Feig that opened in theaters in September.
Jessica is also writing for the Apple reboot of Amazing Stories and raising her kids, Dante, 11, and Sasha, 8, in Los Angeles.
James Longley premiered a new feature documentary film at Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF! The movie is called Angels Are Made of Light, and it’s set in a school in Kabul. He spent three years in Afghanistan filming it.
Kika Stump has a new job in the office of institutional research at Bates College.
Karen Gaffney has been an English professor at Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey for 15 years. She published an accessible introduction to race and racism with tools for action called Dismantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox (Routledge, 2018).
Sasha Chanoff lives in Somerville, Mass., with his wife, Marni, and their two children, Hayden, 10, and Lailah, 8. RefugePoint, the organization he started in 2005 to find solutions for the most at-risk refugees, is growing. RefugePoint has main offices in Cambridge, Mass., Nairobi, and Geneva, and staff in about 25 countries around the world.
Matt Fraser has taught and studied languages and written books on education. His latest book, Critical Infrastructure for Children: The Astonishing Potential of New England Schools, asks and answers 165 questions on education.
Charlotte Castillo celebrated her 13th year working at Viacom Media Networks . . . and her first year in a new role as SVP, global franchise planning. Her role takes her around the world, where she sometimes bumps into fellow Wes folks! This summer, Charlotte had a fabulous girls’ trip to Grenada with Patria Rodriguez ’93, Cynthia Centeno ’93, and Lisette Nieves ’92.
Kate Gordon joined the firm Ridge-Lane Limited Partners as a partner in the sustainability practice. She is working on finishing a book on climate risk and “just transition” for communities dependent on fossil fuel extraction—coming out sometime in 2019 from Columbia University Press. Kate writes that her kids keep getting older—Julia started middle school this year and Jacob is in second grade.
This year is our 25th Reunion and I hope to see a lot of our classmates! In the meantime, please continue to send in updates, and if anyone finds themselves in Chicago, get in touch!
Samera Syeda Ludwig | ssludwig@nixonpeabody.com
Caissa Powell | cdp2000@hotmail.com