Author: classnotes

Please write to your class secretary.

Hello and happy 2025 to the Class of 2001. Here are the latest and greatest updates from your fellow classmates.

Chietigj Bajpaee writes that at the end of 2023, he returned to his roots in the public policy field after spending over a decade in the private sector. Chietigj joined Chatham House, an international relations think tank as their senior fellow for South Asia, and he is currently working on his second book on the India–U.S. relationship. Chietigj welcomes any publishing advice!

After planning to be in Japan for two, maybe three years tops, Roger Smith recently celebrated 10 years in Japan! The first five years he contributed to the recovery of the northeastern Tohoku area post-tsunami. After that he had planned to return to the U.S. to restart his environmental career but transitioned to international work pressuring Japanese companies to do better on climate change and forest protection. Recently, Roger produced a feature documentary film about youth climate activists in Japan with director Yu Iwasaki called Michinoku Denki. It tells an intimate story of students working to help communities suffering from Japan’s energy policy as part of grassroots initiatives fighting for a cleaner and fairer future. Look for it at film festivals, and Roger welcomes any ideas for showings globally.

A little over a year ago, Rebecca Hume closed up her freelance design practice for nonprofits to take an in-house role leading design for Protect Democracy (co-founded and led by Ian Bassin ’98). It’s been—and continues to be—challenging work but also feels like the most meaningful thing she can be doing at this moment.

Mandy Sayle Rinzel is still living in Brooklyn (this is her 22nd year living on Eastern Parkway!) and teaching English language arts and English as a new language—but this school year she left the Bronx middle school where she had worked for the past seven years for a high school that is a block and a half from her house. But she doesn’t even get to “miss” being around middle schoolers, because she has two of them in her house. Stanley is in sixth grade and Julius, Mandy’s eighth grader, is about to make his off-Broadway debut in The Antiquities by Jordan Harrison at Playwrights Horizons. Mandy says it’s been pretty amazing to watch her kid fall in love with acting at the incredible NYC public school he attends (PPAS)—and for Mandy personally it’s gratifying that his first gig is in the kind of play she would have wanted to direct scenes from in Tim Raphael’s class at Wesleyan. Jay Golon and Bex Schwartz ’00 are coming to see it. If any other Wes folks go see the show, Mandy would love to hear from you!

Jenny Selgrath is living in Santa Barbara, where she has been for four and a half years. She works as a social-ecological scientist with the NOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation (and bonus, Jenny gets to work with Jai Ranganathan ’97!) Jenny works across California on ocean access and environmental justice, on deep-sea corals, and climate change. She is still dancing and spends a lot of time trying to wrangle her fixer-upper house and her dog into submission.

Jim Isler writes in to tell us he is so proud of his wife, Emily Barth Isler, as she continues to write and publish books for young adults and children. Jim and Emily will celebrate their 21st wedding anniversary this spring. Last year, Jim created and produced an award- winning series for PBS called Say What?! that explores the origins of animal idioms. Currently he is producing another series he created for PBS called Comedians vs. Animals where participants pretend to be experts on weird-but-true animals. Jim is always looking for great leads on comedians if people have ideas!

Aryn Sperandio recently began a new project management contract with SNDL, one of Canada’s leading public cannabis companies. After AI started affecting her writing consultancy, Aryn founded Doer Agency in 2024—a people-first project management company focused on getting things done. Although it feels unusual to step away from marketing, Aryn is learning a lot about manufacturing and operations at SNDL. Working in the controlled substances industry comes with challenges, but the unique challenges also keep things interesting.

Be well,

Aryn and Mara

Please write to your class secretaries.

Marnie Craycroft shares that her boys are now 15, 14, and 10—”how time flies!” The big news is her family’s move to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, over the summer. Marnie says they’re loving the mountain life and all it has to offer.

Julenne Mounts reflects on the events of the past year, sharing her gratitude for President Roth’s poignant letter to the Wesleyan community. His statement, “We must reject the cultivated ignorance that fans the flames of hatred,” has inspired her family’s new mission statement—and bumper sticker! Julenne is rediscovering her dream of creating immersive outdoor education programs as a way to counterbalance the growing dependency on technology.  

Julenne also shares exciting news about her daughter, who, inspired by President Roth’s words, recently submitted her application to Wesleyan. “Fingers crossed for a future Wes alum!” Though the timing of reunions and homecomings is tricky with her kids still in school in Hawaii, Julenne hopes to visit campus more often if her daughter ends up on the East Coast.

This fall, Julenne enjoyed reconnecting with Alissa Farber and Arthur Baraf during a beautiful day in Boston. She sends a warm invitation to any ’99ers visiting Maui to stop by. Though the island is still recovering from the wildfires, Julenne assures us there’s no shortage of natural beauty and powerful landscapes to explore. “A hui hou!”

Kevin (writing this time) wishes he had more content to share in these notes . . . hope you all will take a moment to send in updates for the next set of notes, so we all have more to read next time around!

Hello fellow classmates,

Alan Schlechter wrote in to say that he and Tim Whyte went on a tour of Wesleyan this summer with Tim’s older daughter, Selma. The tour guide was an amazing example of what Wes can produce and very inspiring! Go Wes! 

Abe Forman-Greenwald’s feature documentary, Brother Orange, was acquired by Gravitas Ventures and is available for streaming. It’s a buddy comedy about an unlikely cross-cultural friendship that all began back in the halcyon days of 2015 with the mystery of a stolen iPhone. Congrats, Abe!

Peter Isbister continues to live in Decatur, Georgia, with his wife, Robyn Painter, and his three kids, Mira, Ezra and Eliot. Peter is currently the interim managing attorney for the Detained Team at the Atlanta office of Kids In Need of Defense, an immigration nonprofit representing unaccompanied minors. He took this position after the Southern Poverty Law Center, his prior employer, surprisingly eliminated their entire immigration division. Peter’s daughter and Dave Lubell’s daughter are both student teachers at the same Hebrew school, so Peter and Dave and their families see each other all the time. Peter is also still in touch with Amanda Jackson Miller ’98, his high school buddy. Amanda and her family continue to live in Santa Cruz, California. 

Finally, Kate (Dunton) Middleton’s father, John, wrote to thank everyone for so much support after losing her far too soon. He said that the wake was over four hours of a continuous line of people that went around the building, and I know there were many of our class at her memorial service mourning this loss. John said that the entire family is stunned not only by her death but by the way she affected so many people in so many different ways. She is deeply missed, and our thoughts are with Pat and the rest of her family.

Wishing all of you the best,

Abby

Great to hear from our classmates near and far! Let’s start with our faraway friends…

Saskia Herz Mower is working at a Girls’ Day School Trust school in London, as head of philanthropy and alumnae engagement. In this role she reconnected with fellow Wesleyan program in Paris alum, Mark Davis ’96, who isthe senior philanthropic officer and director of gift planning at Wesleyan. “En route to a conference I ran into fellow–UK resident, Monica White, associate professor of Russian and Slavonic studies at Nottingham University. Over the summer my daughter and I enjoyed reuniting in London with Jessica (Shea) Lehmann and her delightful family.”

Becky (Seamans) Egea also wrote from London: “Our children wear their school uniform every day, which certainly makes choosing their outfit easy! Our eldest and youngest (both boys) are each at different all-boys schools in central London. Meanwhile, our daughter is at an all-girls school in the countryside. Our children have all gotten used to walking on the left-hand side of the road as well as taking the Tube (subway) to school.”

From Laura Roberts in Red Hook (Hudson Valley, not Brooklyn): “I continue to work with students one-on-one, drive my 15-year-old around to soccer stuff, and travel when I can—but sometimes only as far as Connecticut. In fact, last night I stayed with Robin McClellan Woodworth in Connecticut. We went to see Taylor Tomlinson perform in Hartford. It was, as always, a treat to connect with my former ice hockey co-captain! I hosted Thanksgiving in Red Hook. I had the pleasure of having not one, but two Wes alums at my table: William Abbott ’99 and his husband, David Paige, and their two children; and Bo Bell ’95 and his two children. I cooked the turkey, my very first(!), according to a recipe sent from Kiersten Miller ’95, who is still in Rome. And, of course, I have the daily delight of having Mia Lobel right next door for walks and more. I am so grateful that Wesleyan is still a huge part of my life!”

Tony Schloss is in NYC. He wrote, “Juno Shaye ’98 and I live and work with three children and together are launching a fairly innovative family comedy act.”

Andrew Frishman wrote: “My wife/partner, Leigh Needleman ’96, and I are still loving living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where our kids are in sixth and ninth grade; it was lovely to run into Christian Housh and his wife/partner, Tassia, at back-to-school night at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School, where all of our kids are thriving. Our family gets together regularly with Laura Warren ’98 and her husband/partner, Alan, and their kids who live just a few blocks from us—our kids are similar ages and love hanging out and they’ve started playing squash together!

“Leigh, now in her fourth year as executive director of the Rowland Institute, recently coordinated the move of the Rowland Institute to the main Harvard Campus. I was out in the San Francisco Bay Area in the fall and got to have a delightful lunch and ‘walk ’n’ talk’ with Alex Jermyn; his architecture firm, Alexander Jermyn Architecture, is doing great (https://www.aj-a.co/). I was at a conference in Baltimore in the fall and serendipitously ran into Jenny Schmidt ’98. We wound up on the same flight to Denver—sounds like she and her family are doing great in Boulder! And she’s doing powerful work as a co-founder of Ravenyard Group (https://ravenyard.com/). The conference that Jenny and I [re]connected at was The Well, put on by New Profit. One of the senior leaders (managing partner) there is Shawn Dove ’84, whom I got to catch up with briefly. Another recent professional connection: I met Cat Lum ’12 last year through a youth-driven social capital community of practice that we’re a part of. She’s doing very cool work as senior director of partnerships and strategy at NxU  (https://www.nxueducation.org/). My most frequent Wesleyan social media connection is probably Rob Mathews ’96, who I ‘see’ running with admirable frequency and distance on Strava. Jamie Pagliaro ’98 is doing very cool work as executive vice president and chief learning officer at RethinkFirst (https://www.rethinkfirst.com/team-experts/jamie-pagliaro/), and also making beautiful music with The BARD Band, which recently released an album https://www.thebardband.com/about.”

Dr. Leah Ayanna (Brown) Johnson is still living in the New York/New Jersey area. She wrote, “I completed my PhD in organizational leadership in 2023. I work as a leader in the higher education sector. I am finally releasing my fourth book that deals with faith and intersectionality this spring.” Her new book is called Faith and Transformation Friday: A Faith Workbook.

Jess had the pleasure of reconnecting with her former ice hockey teammate, Kira (Markiewicz) Fabrizio, her husband, Dan Fabrizio ’96, and their two children in September at Middlebury College Family Weekend in Middlebury, Vermont. Kira and Jess were delighted to catch up after not having seen each other since 1997—now their sons are living in the same freshman dorm!

Thanks for your updates, everyone!

Sasha and Jess

1996er fam: I hope this finds you all well in the New Year—so many cool goals for the year.  Until then, must get through these winter temps in the DMV. Light at the end of the tunnel, as I have much anticipated trip to Portugal (Lisbon and Cascais) and Spain (Merida, Sevilla, Grenada, Cordoba, Madrid, and Barcelona) this March.

Lots of good news comes in from our classmates from both near and far!

Danny Atwood had a great season this year as Santa Claus, working about 30 gigs—from home visits to the San Diego Pride Parade in July, to a bunch of marketing videos for the Tipsy Elves.

Rallie Snowden (formerly Rallie Nepveux) writes in that she and Anne Brockelman are planning to meet up in D.C. with their families in tow. She hopes Amber Gay will join them.

Shereem Herndon-Brown has a new book coming out this summer. After the success of The Black Family’s Guide to College Admissions: A Conversation About Education, Parenting and Race, he is excited to announce Power College Admission Essays: A Guide to Telling Your Story. It’s a perfect book for many of us who have teenagers who are thinking about Wesleyan and other not-so-awesome colleges!

Alissa Pines Deitz gives the update “still living in Austin, Texas, with my husband and two teenage boys.” She mentions she actually got a snow day down there! She is a dyslexia interventionist in the Austin public schools and absolutely loves teaching kids to read. “Isn’t it fun to be 50? Many of us celebrated our 50th birthdays this past year. Two observations I have about being 50: I need my readers all the time, and raising teenagers sucks! Outside of that 50 is pretty rad. We went to Colorado this winter for some skiing and met up with Steve Pockross ’94 and Sean O’Connor. Was great to catch up with them and meet their lovely families.”

Mike Stabile was recently in Washington, D.C., as part of coalition taking Texas attorney general Ken Paxton to court; Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton was heard before the U.S. Supreme Court on January 15. He notes he has been doing free speech and sex work advocacy for the past decade or so and has connected with a number of alums in the space, including Tristan Taormino ’93 and Ella Dawson ’14. “With the fight getting tougher, am looking to connect with more alums and allies.”

Stacey Samuel sends in news that while she “continues to produce podcasts, docuseries for TV, she’s added teaching at Georgetown University’s journalism school to her to-do list.” She feels it’s her way of giving back to the next generation of journalists.

Vivek Asija reaches out from Pleasanton, California, where he moved to after 15 years in San Francisco and seven years in Oakland. He says, “It’s a bucolic suburb and I swore I would never end up in such a place, but truth be told, I love it.  It’s great for families and my two little girls (seven) and (10). I have worked in B2B software product marketing in Silicon Valley for the last couple of decades. I am now running my own marketing services and podcast production company (www.productmarketingpartners.com), and I host an Indian cooking show as a passion project (https://open.substack.com/pub/easyindianfood).” Vivek creates custom videos of Indian dishes and has dedicated them to his friends, including Kyle Maple. You can read more about Vivek at www.vivekasija.com.

Katy writes: Hi, Class of ’95. Thanks for writing (including first timers!) with news exciting, ordinary, and sad. Reminder that May 22–25 is our 30th Reunion! Registration should now be open—join us if you can!

First, the very sad news of the death of a classmate, Michelle (Willis) Gosselin. Born in Vermont, after Wesleyan Michelle earned a master’s in IT from Drexel and spent her career living and working in New Hampshire. She was very active in her town of Weare, helping with PTA events, dance programs, and sports activities. She loved to read, take walks, spend time with her family, and especially to be at the ocean. She is survived by her husband, Kevin, their two children, Kaitlyn and Ben, her parents, Fred and Betsy Willis, her brother, Matthew, and extended family. Some of our Wes classmates attended the funeral in December, and Michelle will be greatly missed by all who knew her.       

Channing Kelly writes: “I remain in Albuquerque, New Mexico, running my boutique real estate firm and raising my almost-teenage twin boys as a ‘single mother by choice.’ Occasionally I see fellow New Mexicans Sarita Nair and Esme Finlay ’96, and also have seen Greg Kunkel and his wife, Jill ’98, David Goodman and his wife, Tanya, Margaret Drew, Erica Walters ’94, Jessica Peterson, and Sarah Tarrant Madden ’96. Wesleyan connections are a big part of my life, and I received significant financial aid, so this year I’m issuing a challenge to support the current generation. I’ve pledged to match $1,000 gifts from any classmate who has never donated at that level (up to a maximum of 15). Please join me in giving back this year and reach out to me at channing@idakelly.com. See you in May!”

Max Brummel writes: “My wife and I have been living the good life in Minnesota for the past 18 years and have kept very busy raising our son and daughter. This past summer, my son played in the world’s largest youth soccer tournament in Gothenburg, and we enjoyed a few weeks in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany.”

Jack Walsh writes: “Thirty years in a blink of an eye. For the past 20, I’ve been practicing law in Dallas, Texas, raising three kids with my wife, Kathleen. My oldest daughter, Ali, just graduated from college, while my middle kid is looking to attend college in Germany. My youngest son, Brady, aims to attend high school at Portsmouth Abbey in Rhode Island. Hope he gets in because it will mean more time returning to my home state. Still miss the four seasons of New England and Boston sports radio.”

Seth Kaufman writes: “Last year marked my 25th as a lawyer for the federal government in D.C. and fifth with our dog, Canelo. This year Roberta and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary. I had great times with some of my favorite Wesleyan people in 2024: Michael “Mo” Ouyang ’96 and his wife, Zoe, and Ethan de Seife. Both times my 16-year-old daughter and I went to Mets home games [and] Eric Lane met us. Recently, my daughter and I took a tour of Wesleyan on a perfect October morning. Looking forward to seeing people at the reunion!”

Jen Levine-Fried writes: “My boring update is that I am nearing three years with the International Institute of New England as its controller and have really enjoyed my time here. We work with refugees and immigrants, resettling them across Massachusetts and New Hampshire. My exciting update is that my son, Jonah, was accepted to Wes and will be enrolling in the Class of ’29! He had an overnight visit with Laurel Williams Wise’s son, Will, as his host, and that really sealed the deal for him. I’m looking forward to experiencing Wesleyan in this entirely new role!”

Masha Raskolnikov writes: “Last fall I returned to Wes as an external examiner for the College of Letters Junior Comps. The new COL library houses our bound senior theses, which is a little terrifying, but no professors from when we were undergrads remain. In other news, my twins are 12 and becoming scary tweens, and I continue to teach as an associate professor in the English department at Cornell University.”

Brandon Patton writes: “Kick-starting a board game about mushrooms called Caps & Stems this spring! After years as a musician, I pivoted to tabletop games. Would love to connect with any Wes alums in the Seattle area (where I moved in 2020). I’ve reconnected with Michael Roufa ’96 and Eric Fox ’98. Let me know if you can think of anyone. I’ve stayed in touch with Emily Halderman and Michael Ouyang ’96 and recently saw Morgan Fahey.”

Lara Tupper writes: “Thrilled to report that my speculative/literary novel, At the Center, in which paper shortages make books taboo, will be published by Regal House Publishing in the spring of 2027.”

See you at the reunion in May!

Hello, all! I hope that this message finds you well. I pray that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a great start to the New Year.

Sasha Chanoff writes, “RefugePoint is a dream come true—it’s the organization I founded 20 years ago to find life-changing solutions for refugees around the world. I loved seeing many of you at our 30th Reunion. Dan Lennon and I drove there together and sang Spirits songs on the car ride. My wife, Marni Chanoff—a psychiatrist providing ketamine-assisted therapy—and I live in Somerville, Massachusetts, where our two kids are in high school.”

Matthew Fraser shared, “I continue to write with the Salem House Press and have two books with social security themes. The first, Ideas for America: Let the Sun In,has a chapter about securing and maximizing social security; and the second, Critical Infrastructure for Children: The Astonishing Potential of New England Schools, has a few points on the education side of maximizing the program.” Matthew is diligently working to get this information out and hopes to have his books available in public libraries to allow greater access. He writes, “This is the best way I could think of to contribute and honor our class. I hope to hear from classmates soon.”

A member of Wesleyan Athletics shared, “During Homecoming last November, more than three dozen of John Griffin’s family, friends, and former teammates gathered to dedicate a tree in his name by Jackson Field. John was a member of the men’s lacrosse and football teams, as well as a DKE brother. He passed away in March 2020 and is remembered as being very kind and gentle despite his large size and physical way of competing. John would always say, ‘It’s a great day to be a Cardinal.’”

Jonathan Kirsch writes that he “directs the University of Minnesota’s Mobile Health program, bringing care to underserved communities. You can watch the recently made documentary, We Are Here: Lowering Barriers with Mobile Health, on the school’s website https://z.umn.edu/weareheredoc.”

James Longley shared, “In 2024 I finished filming a documentary feature in Afghanistan, working with Academy Award–winner Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions. I lived and worked in Afghanistan under Taliban rule for two years to complete production, giving me a deep view into the social and political dynamics at play in Afghanistan following the departure of NATO forces.” 

David Niles writes, “After a great 30th Reunion, a few ’94ers carried the momentum to Homecoming where Steve Frail reprised his role as ‘Class Dad,’ providing sweet and savory pastries.” Well, that is all for now.  Keep sharing your news and memories!!

Thanks to everyone who wrote in this time around. It was great to hear some new voices, so I’d encourage anyone who has even a shred of news to share to send it in the future!

Abigail Lorber writes, “I am the grants manager with Dogwood Health Trust, a major funder for western North Carolina. I am grateful that my work has allowed me to help with the response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. It was a bit surreal to take a trip to Europe five days after the storm, but I especially enjoyed having a mini-Wes reunion with Andrea Spertus Lemon in Utrecht, in the Netherlands.”

Diego von Vacano is in Washington, D.C., this year, at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, finishing a book on lithium and critical minerals in Latin America for Oxford University Press.

Sylvia Rowe writes, “After 17 years of working in global health for the Clinton Health Access Initiative, I left the nonprofit world. I have returned to my roots in corporate law and taken on a role as a mentor to young lawyers at Davis Polk. I’m happy to no longer be traveling on long international trips and to being more present, for the last two years, with our daughter before she goes to college. If you work near Grand Central in NYC give me a shout!”

Lisa Rothman has turned her passion project into her full-time focus. She founded StopFamilyConflict.com where she helps parents who’ve tried a million things but can’t stop the same fights from happening. They’re sick of being pushovers or police officers (sometimes both on the same day). Her approach turns each fight into a chance for deeper connection and a more trusting relationship, without compromising on anything that’s important to them or their kids.

Hadley Gustafson writes, “I earned a scholarship to study in-person in January with luminary Sam Abell through the Los Angeles Center for Photography (LACP.) The three-day workshop [was] called Sharpening Your Photographic Vision. You can read more about it here. 

I am also continuing to work as a photographer documenting LA cinema events.”

Darcie Luce wrote in with news that Jessica Kirshner was recently promoted to vice president of oncology research at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Tarrytown, New York, where she has worked for over 16 years. She recently represented Regeneron at the Global Alliance for Women’s Health workshop, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. Elisa Freeling lives in London, where she earned a postgraduate certificate in education at St. Mary’s University and trained as a religious studies teacher several years ago. She is now head of divinity at the West London Free School, in Hammersmith, and teaches religion, philosophy, and ethics.

Tuula Fai writes, “I can share that I’ve moved to Sedona, Arizona, and am loving it! I left high-tech after 30 years and founded my own real estate investment firm and am loving that too! I’m still distance swimming (laps), which I’ve been doing since they opened the Freeman Athletic Center in ’91.”

Greg Pasternack is leading a team of 30 folks from universities, local governments, and nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay Area on a project to help unsheltered people living along streams cope with climate vulnerability [due] to extreme wind-rain events and flash floods, while also seeking to restore ecological functionality to encampment sites. If any Wes folks in the area work on these issues, he’d love to hear from you. He met Wes alum Minona Heaviland ’99 and toured one of the Sonoma County regional parks she helps manage, so now they are developing proposals to solve problems with gullies. Greg reports, “She’s fantastic at her job, so it’s great to learn about other Wes alum in the Bay Area working on environmental solutions.”

Mike Kammen writes, “My life is very good. I went into my family business back in 1993 and pretty much have not looked back. The one constant is change—that is for sure! I’m still married to my awesome wife, Amy (23 years married). My son, Jackson, is a sophomore at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, [and] he is a catcher on the baseball team. My daughter, Dylann, is a senior at Immaculate Heart Academy and waiting to hear back from colleges for next year.”

Karina Eileraas Karakus recently published a book with her daughter, Annelise, called Chasing Spirits. The book explores issues of suicide, teen mental health and social media use after the tragic loss of her teenager during the pandemic. 

Thanks, everyone, and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2025!