CLASS OF 2003 | 2015 | ISSUE 2
Last April, Nezia Azmi relocated to Honolulu where she now lives with her husband and recently began working as international and special programs coordinator in the Dean’s Office for the College of Education at the University of Hawai‘i-Manoa. Nezia and Paul enjoy days at the beach as well as ridiculously perfect mangoes and papayas on a regular basis.
Retse Johnson-Daniel is living in Atlanta with her husband, Alfred, and 4-year-old daughter, Ania Mari. She works as a special education and science teacher at Dutchtown High School, where she also co-sponsors Sisters of Virtue and coaches the swim team. Retse was awarded Teacher of the Year for the 2014–2015 school year and recently gave birth to her second daughter, Amya Irie, on Feb. 3.
Arcelie Reyes has begun working as a birth and postpartum doula in NYC. Having already helped a lot of parents and their breastfeeding babies as a La Leche League leader, Arcelie is excited to delve deeper into birth work. She and Evan Newell ’02 are looking forward to September, when their daughter, Phoenix, will join her big brother, Kingston, at school.
Rachel Morris was married to Samuel Bruce on May 17th. Many Wesleyan alumni spanning more than a decade of class years were in attendance. The couple continues to reside in New York City.
Geoffrey Hill completed his fellowship in interventional radiology at Thomas Jefferson University in June of 2014. He, his wife and two children moved to Saratoga Springs, where he is working for Adirondack Radiology and developing a new interventional oncology program at Glens Falls Hospital.
Emily Chenette welcomed a baby son, Avelino Hudson, on Aug. 14, 2014. She is still living in the Hartford area and is a social worker.
Jessie Rubin is living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, working at Yahoo on its event marketing team, and was planning to marry her fiancé, Darius Van Arman, in Brooklyn come August, with many Wesleyan friends in attendance.
Alison Criscitiello successfully completed Borderski (an all-women’s winter ski traverse of the Pamirs in Tajikistan)! She headed to the Canadian high Arctic for May to drill ice cores as part of a new project she is the principal investigator on.
Andrew and Betsy Fippinger welcomed their second child, Henry David Fippinger (Wesleyan class of 2037), into the world on June 3, 2015.
John A. Graham accepted a one year position as a post-doctoral associate at the Yale University Institute of Sacred Music. He would love to reconnect with alums in the area!
Dana Goldman lives in her hometown, Atlanta, with her husband and daughter. She started her own psychotherapy private practice this past year, Stone Cottage Counseling, treating kids, teens, and adults.
Rikkia Hunter Ben Yehudah is living in New Haven, Conn. She works at a large nonprofit organization as a clinical director. She is an expressive arts therapist and will receive her license to practice counseling this year. She is married and has three children. She also works with youth and the arts and hopes to develop an organization with her colleagues.
Meghan Kelly (now Kelly-Stallings) works as a policy analyst for the Seattle Public Library. She and her husband, Danny, welcomed their new addition, Amos, on Feb. 22. One of Amos’s favorite baby-sitters is Kristin Kyrka ’04.
Jill Benson lives in Asheville, N.C., and is pursuing a master’s degree in nurse-midwifery at East Carolina University. She and her husband, Brett, just welcomed a new addition to their family, a bouncing baby boy named Miles Rafael.
Ariana Mufson Dazet graduated from Simmons College with her MSW, specializing in perinatal social work, and will be starting off her new career at McLean Psychiatric Hospital. Her son, Desmond, is almost a year old.
This fall, Aaron Paige will begin his second year as a visiting assistant professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Denver.
After 11 years of teaching middle school humanities and developing curriculum, Liz Simmons is a doctoral candidate at Penn in the teaching, learning, and teacher education division.
In early June, 15 ladies gathered in Waterbury Vt., to celebrate Sonya Behnke. Participants included Erin Malone, Melissa Courtemanche, Julie Perlin, Catherine (Rodin) Faulk, Laura Pfeiffenberger, Dr. Sarabeth Broder-Fingert, Emily Berman, Martina McPherson ’04, Bernadette Doykos ’04, Meriel Darzen ’04, Jenna Flateman Posner ’04, Leila Bozorg ’04, and Lynn Leber ’06. They’re all excited to gather again on the Maine Coast in early August for the nuptials.
Matt Kushner and Lauren Edgar Kushner welcomed their first child, Marian Lois Kushner, on June 10th at 2:09 in the afternoon, weighing 7 lbs. and measuring 20 inches. Mom and baby are fine and all are home getting used to the beginnings of family life.
Kate Reder married Nadeem Sheikh on May 9, 2015. Ari Wolfe and Juliet Werner were in Kate’s bridal party. Ari and Peter Wilson-Tobin sang during the ceremony. Other Wesleyan friends were in attendance: Cara Zwerling-Moeller, Rigel Massaro, Joanna Shalleck-Klein ’04, Dan Moger, Jenny Gassman-Pines, Claire Kessler-Bradner, and Alex Krassner ’02. Kate and Nadeem live in London and invite alums passing through to reach out.