CLASS OF 2001 | 2021–2022 | WINTER ISSUE
Thanks for writing in, everybody.
Kyle Judge is currently working in the music business as an executive and manager of such notable acts who are signed to major record labels such as Young Devyn (4th & B’way/ Island Records), Souly Had (Island Records), Dru Oliver (Grammy-nominated vocal producer and platinum-selling songwriter) and Lyrique J (platinum-selling songwriter on Chris Brown’s Indigo album). You can find them all on Instagram. He is also the executive producer of a project by Young Devyn released this summer on 4th & B’way / Island Records.
Raymond Kuo has joined the RAND Corporation as a political scientist, continuing his research on security issues in Asia.
From Andrea Donnelly: “Last I wrote, I’d started a spiritual healing business, We Are Here 2 Remember, which has taken off like a rocketship in the past few months. I am primarily doing spiritual mentorship for founders and CEOs.” She was recently featured on Yahoo, Halle Berry’s new site rē-spin, and podcasts including Chakra Girl Radio and Hello Universe. By the time this is published, a two-part interview with Ali Levine, former Bravo Reality Star, about her work will be released on her podcast Everything with Ali Levine. “My talk with Ali is beyond a dream come true. I was an American Studies major and this feels like the perfect mash-up of my intellectual + spiritual curiosity and forevergreen love of pop culture. If anyone wants to learn more about my work you can email me at andrea@wearehere2remember.com or www.wearehere2remember.com.”
From Jenny Selgrath: “Last year I started a position at the NOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary where I do research focusing on the intersection of coastal communities and ocean ecosystems. As a result my pup and I moved to Santa Barbara, which has been a sweet place to be for COVID. Lots of road biking, outdoor yoga, and my first West African Dance class since Wesleyan—this time at the beach.
Don Kim moved to Century City and hopes there are some Wes folks in the area!
Amy Larkin Gelbach is living in Richmond, Virginia, and will be teaching life skills to 6th–8th graders at Brookland Middle School this year.
Karen Gross enjoyed emceeing our virtual 20th Class Reunion, seeing familiar faces, and connecting candidly about life in pandemic times. She recently launched a new podcast called She Rocked It, dedicated to raising the volume on women’s voices (and a clear continuation of her Womanist House days). You can tune in on podcast platforms, YouTube, and at www.sherockedit.com. Karen is also still running her speechwriting and communications consulting company. She currently serves as the speechwriter for one of the nation’s most influential public health leaders.
Lisa Kagan recently released a book of poetry and art entitled Coming Home to Myself. Spanning a decade of growth and change, this book honors the importance of following your inner compass through exploring nine essential elements of the human experience: courage, passion, patience, grace, faith, resilience, wonder, gratitude, and renewal. Serving as an intimate companion for navigating life’s passages, this collection is an ode to the kindness and generosity that the world desperately needs and the power of turning that caring towards ourselves. You can purchase your copy here:
https://familyheirloomarts.com/products/coming-home-to-myself-poetry-and-art-by-lisa-kagan/
From Brenna Cothran: “I’m happily surrounded by Wes alums wherever I go (not that I’ve been going anywhere this past year). Alice Jankell ’83 and her family live down the hall from my family’s apartment. I’ve been working at the Whitney Museum of American Art as an exhibitions registrar for the past 5 1/2 years, where I collaborate often with Lauren (Tehan) DiLoreto ’97. I’m co-class parent for my son Max’s first grade class along with Georgia (Silvera) Seamans ’98 (I also have a daughter, Sammy, who is about to finish fifth grade). When travel is possible, trips to my hometown mean that I get to see my sister Rallie (Nepveux) Snowden ’96. And of course, long walks with my dog while wearing my (now-20-year-old) Wesleyan sweatshirt have led to many random connections with fellow alums on the sidewalks and in the parks of NYC.
My beloved housemates of 51 Fountain are still going strong! Isaac Eddy was awarded tenure and a promotion to associate professor at Northern Vermont University–Johnson where he is the chair of the Performing Arts Department. He is also on the committee to merge all Vermont State College System campuses to ensure they all remain open and continue to provide affordable liberal arts education to rural Vermonters. He directed an original performance, The Monument, devised by an ensemble of NVU students, which won a national Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival “Citizen Artist” award during the Spring ‘21 semester. One highlight of this difficult year was zooming Wes 2001 artists into his classes including Kate Purdy and Woody Fu.
I also need to admit something to you, dear reader. I didn’t intend to miss the online Reunion and certainly didn’t intend to omit telling you about it. I actually didn’t know about it. Is an email hiding in one of the many confounding layers of purgatory known as spam quarantine (such a charming name prior to 2020)? Probably. Would I have attended and then missed your actual faces and daydreamed/Zoomdreamed of walking all the way up Foss Hill with you instead? Definitely.