CLASS OF 2002 | 2015 | ISSUE 1
Oh, how I miss spring at Wesleyan, when the crisp air warmed up just enough to welcome all students to Foss Hill for the afternoon. But wherever we are in the world, we will always have these wonderful memories to remind us of our youth. Which brings me to my little bundle of great news—on Jan. 4, my wife Melanie gave birth to our baby daughter, Scarlett Lucy Lacob. Mom and baby are doing great!
Congratulations also to Dina Levi. Her wife gave birth to their daughter, Ezra Robbins Levi, in January. The couple resides in Chicago and Dina is the director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at an independent school.
Lots of moving for our classmates… After three years living abroad, Josh Dankoff moved to Boston with his wife, 3-year-old daughter, and 3-month-old son. He welcomes connections with Wesleyan folk living in the city. Jesse Lava moved back to his hometown of Chicago after three years in Los Angeles. He is now director of legislative affairs at the Chicago Department of Public Health, where he works to pass laws to make residents healthier. Sara Miller, her husband, and 11-month-old son have moved to Bucks County, Pa. And Dani Rotstein moved to Palma, Mallorca, in Spain—where he used to live when he spent his junior year abroad and first fell in love with the country. He moved there to take a full-time line producer position for Palma Pictures, a production services company.
Out on the East Coast, Jody Avirgan left WNYC radio (the NPR station in New York City) after seven years and is now at ESPN’s FiveThirtyEight where he will be hosting and developing podcasts—talking sports, politics, culture, and more. He also hosts a live comedy/storytelling show called Ask Roulette and welcomes anyone to attend his regular gigs in NYC and beyond. Sarabeth Broder-Fingert started a new job as an assistant professor in the division of general pediatrics at Boston Medical Center. Katherine Gajewski lives in Philadelphia, where she serves as the city’s director of sustainability. She married Benjamin Warrington last summer in a Quaker wedding ceremony. Sallome Hralima says that “the last six months have been a blast!” She was on the 2014 CUSP Conference stage sharing about the design of the Dream Director, the Creative Mornings’ stage, talking about the Audacity of Purpose, and was featured on Travel Noire, sharing about her first time abroad and the impact it had on her. This summer, she will be hitched to Ibrahim Greenidge, an architect, in Brooklyn, N.Y.
On March 31, Una LaMarche’s comic essay collection, Unabrow, was published by Plume Books. From Penguin Books website: “As a girl, Una LaMarche was as smart as she was awkward. She was blessed with a precocious intellect, a love of all things pop culture, and eyebrows bushier than Frida Kahlo’s. Adversity made her stronger…and funnier. In Unabrow, Una shares the cringe-inducing lessons she’s learned from a life as a late bloomer, including the seven deadly sins of DIY bangs, how not to make your own jorts, and how to handle pregnancy, plucking, and the rites of passage during which your own body is your worst frenemy.”
Jennifer Lauder: “The last year has been full of incredible transitions, both planned and unexpected, for me and my family. I left my job as a teacher after almost a decade in progressive classrooms and started working as a consultant for schools and educational programs, mentoring teachers, designing and developing curriculum, and supporting students and families. At the same time, my husband, Chad Dean, and I launched a digital media company, WRK Group Media; we produce a review and lifestyle site, weekendreviewkit.com, and are shopping a book about the landscape of legal cannabis in the US and the changing public perception of cannabis consumption. We’re also engaged in an evolving homeschooling/unschooling practice with our 7-year-old daughter that we document at thelotusschool.blogspot.com; we hope to move the whole show to the Pacific Northwest in the springtime.”
Tiffany Williamson Kelly lives in Philly with her husband, Shawn, and daughter, Eva, 2. Tiffany is associate admission director at The Agnes Irwin School with Wigs Frank (Prof. Anne Greene’s brother). Shawn is also in education: head of school at St. Peter’s School in Center City. “If you’re an alum of either school, please stay in touch.”
And lastly, Tarsah Dale continues to reside in Austin, Texas, although she’s still not sure about identifying herself as a Texan despite six years of residency. However, she did become the co-owner and managing director of Inspire Behavior Therapy, a small business serving children and adults with developmental disabilities and challenging behaviors, so she’ll probably have several more years to adapt to her adopted state. And Jamie Wong continues to run Vayable, the travel start-up she founded in 2011, which connects travelers to locals for unique experiences. She’s writing a book, playing soccer, and splitting her time between New York, LA, and San Francisco.
Keep those class notes coming!
JUSTIN LACOB | justinlacob@gmail.com