CLASS OF 1999 | 2021–2022 | WINTER ISSUE
In 2019, Davis Thompson-Moss opened Crown Heights Healing, a community yoga, reiki and sound healing studio in Brooklyn. After the pandemic hit, it became a Zoom space for people to meditate, do yoga and stay connected, open to all people, all levels. Much to his joy, Wesleyan friends come through regularly: Chris Coyle, Jake Kheel, Kabir Sen, Phil Frank, Allegra Jones, Josh Harris, Daniel Lawren, Rachel Ostrow, Miriti Murungi, Danny Forster, Keith Witty ’01. If you’re seeking a physical or meditation practice, reach out at davistmoss@gmail.com.
Although Tara Cohen and her family relocated from the Bay Area to southeast Michigan more than five years ago, it still feels new in many ways. One of her all-time favorite things in Michigan is the wild black raspberry season in their backyard; the gorgeous pinks and purples mark the beginning of summer. There’s never a dull moment at their house with two energetic kiddos (a rising first grader and a preschooler) and their elderly dog and cat. Tara works for the county’s Community & Economic Development Department where she manages the CDBG program for affordable housing and public infrastructure improvement projects. In November 2020, her spouse was elected as Clerk of the Township, so she’s also getting a taste for being married to an elected official, something no one trains you for 🙂 If anyone is passing through the Ann Arbor area, please say hello!
Katie Redwine has been having an inappropriate amount of fun these days. She has the pleasure of meeting new people every week performing autism assessments virtually and loves the cognitive rigor and emotional depth of those experiences. In her other waking hours, she’s fascinated watching her 12-year-old son navigate adolescence and her 10-year-old son fling himself headlong into every new situation. Both boys earned their black belts in tae kwon do this spring. Katie and her husband have tackled many home projects, and can now do so with harmony, which everyone who’s gone through the renovation process knows is a feat in itself! Her family has been hosting outdoor bashes during COVID and they’re traveling again, complete with surf lessons in Sayulita. Plus, Katie was told by several folks that she can now speak Spanish like a 6 year old, which makes her inordinately proud.
Chad Bartell and his wife Julie took a two-week trip to the Galapagos Islands in May and saw wildlife both above sea level and below. After a COVID-related downsizing at his company of nearly 10 years where he was in-house counsel, Chad now practices business law with a small firm in downtown Madison, Wisconsin. He performs regularly in the summer with the steel drum band he founded in 2016. He and Julie have two boys, 11 and 13.
Rachel Ostrow showed new paintings at Planthouse Gallery in NYC this fall. The opening was on October 28th.
Leander Dolphin was elected co-managing partner of Shipman & Goodwin LLP. She previously served on the firm’s Management Committee. She continues to practice law as a member of and partner in School Law Practice Group and has dedicated her career to advising educational institutions and organizations.
Erik Rueter gave a webinar about diversity, equity and inclusion for Project Management Institute that has almost five thousand viewers (live plus on demand). He also guest lectured about structural racism in oncology care for Mattitiyahu Zimbler’s ’01 classes on prejudice at Boston College and at Emerson. His paper on strategies to address racism in oncology care is in review and will hopefully be published in Oncology Nursing Journal.
Rachel Afi Quinn earned tenure at University of Houston where she was promoted to associate professor in the Comparative Cultural Studies Department and the Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program. Her first book Being La Dominicana: Race and Identity in the Visual Culture of Santo Domingo was published with University of Illinois Press in late July. Rachel and her partner Eesha Pandit have been building the social justice South Asian feminist community South Asian Youth in Houston Unite and coordinated their fifth annual summer institute for South Asian youth in Texas this year.
As for your class secretaries, it was a summer of reconnecting and change! Kevin and his family escaped from their house in New Jersey and spent the summer on Sebago Lake in Maine. He caught up with Darryl in Freeport and visited Professor Emeritus Richard Miller, who hasn’t lost a beat of his sharp wit. In September, Kevin started a new gig at Virta Health, working on reversing Type 2 diabetes. Meanwhile, Darryl and his husband traveled to New Jersey and Ohio to see family who they hadn’t seen for nearly two years.
May the new year be full of good health and wonderful surprises! Hope to hear from you in 2022!