Author: Randi Alexandra Plake

The class of 2014 still continues to demonstrate talent. Take a look at some of the diverse and interesting things the members of the class are doing:

Ella Dawson has had two essays about sexuality and relationships published on ELLE.com, both as part of the larger conversation about #MeToo and consent.

Josh Krugman continues to perform nationally and internationally with Bread and Puppet Theater. On Josh’s recent travels with the company he has met Susan Katz ’88 in St. Petersburg, Zoë Toulouse ’16 in Paris, Sophie Becker ’16 in New York, Dan Schniedewind ’12 in Santa Cruz, Eppchez in Philadelphia, and Evan Weber in D.C. Contact Josh to bring the company to your city or school.

Andrew Cohen co-founded Impact24 PR to promote behind-the-camera talent. In his free time, he is searching for the best taco truck in LA.

Gigi Breland writes: “I purchased my first home in New Jersey and became engaged to my boyfriend in January. I am working in the very difficult field of social work and looking to branch out into a more creative field.”

Miche Aaron reports: “I just got accepted into Johns Hopkins University Earth and Planetary Sciences PhD program. I also started a position at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory as a researcher studying ways to transform acquired CRISM data sets into scientifically compelling derived data products by geometric data processing, radiative transfer, graph theory, numerical optimization, GIS, controlled and uncontrolled image mosaicking, and spectral/mineralogical analysis.

“My research I did while at NASA Langley Research Center was accepted for submission to be presented at the Planetary Science Informatics and Data Analytics international conference in St. Louis. I will present this research in April.”

On Jan. 8, Patrick Ortiz was sworn in as a career firefighter in his home town of Lakewood, N.J. He had previously been a volunteer there for over three years.

Nathaniel Elmer is living in Helsinki, Finland, designing and building a 70-seat theater using only Finnish wood construction techniques. He spends his free time in the sauna with a bottle of vodka.

Amy Lindland was promoted to director of sales at Indeed.com (“One of the youngest directors ever”). If anyone is interested in working there, reach out to her at alindland@indeed.com.

Mary Diaz | mcdiaz@wesleyan.edu

Our five-year Reunion is almost upon us and we can’t wait to catch up with our classmates on Foss Hill! Read on to hear what some of us have been up to:

Nicholas Orvis and Andrea Ruiz-Lopez met during their first few weeks at Wesleyan and have been together—romantically and usually geographically—ever since. This past fall, they finally got married in in the Catskills. They live in NYC now, where Andrea is a fourth-grade teacher and Nick commutes into New Jersey, where he’s the resident dramaturg at a small theater company. They will forever be grateful to the mandatory sexual harassment presentation at which they met. Go Wes!

When Marina Reza is not working at The Jed Foundation, a suicide prevention nonprofit geared towards college students, she’s practicing Angel Olsen covers and scouting spicy food with Anthony Portillo ’12. She has a few poems in the newest issue of Bone Bouquet. Zach Schonfeld met 30 goats in one day when he visited a goat farm in Vermont. He is a senior writer at Newsweek and has been getting super into Steely Dan lately for some reason. Syed Ali is attending the Master in Urban Planning program at Harvard University. He’s hoping to learn how to grow cities in a way in which everyone can access better health and wealth outcomes.

Brooklyn is busy. Croy Salinas can’t believe it’s been over two years since he brought home Maisey. Watching her grow into her skin is a joy and he is always amazed when she eats with her big bites. Will Davis is approaching the end of his quest to order a coffee from every coffee shop in the borough, and is reaching out to authorities to see if it can be counted as a world record. Sue Banks and Natalie Roubichaud ’14 have been taking pottery lessons, and while Natalie is enjoying superb bowls, Sue has moved on to other designs. Mark Popinchalk and Noah Masur ’15 have helped renovate a small local theater and were able to host a private viewing of Moana for their friends. James Walkup ’12, Chloe Reinhart ’14, and Sora Akiyoshi ’14 were seen with custom light bulbs. While dim, some were refreshing. Peter Horton is translating El Niño lyrics to Japanese.

Ashleigh Corvi and Tori Redding are getting married this August in Newport, R.I.! Kelsey Muller will be joining them as a bridesmaid. Kristen Salustro is publishing her third novel and the closer to her sci-fi trilogy. She was promoted to senior writer on the creative team at her company. She writes all kinds of copy for their main enrollment tool along with entertaining, educational video scripts, and now knows way more about Medicare as a 27-year-old than she ever thought she would as a 65-year-old. Spoiler alert: Medicare is not fun. But she loves her job.

As always, thanks to my classmates for writing in. Can’t wait to see you all at R&C!

Laura Yim | Lyim@wesleyan.edu 

And just like that, we’ve entered into a new year. The days are long, but the years are short. Even in these short years, the class of 2012 is still foraging new adventures.

Andrew Dominguez is back in his hometown of Manila, Philippines. He plans to found a Wesleyan and NESCAC club in Manila. He hopes to bring the fun tradition of GOLD parties, NESCAC mixers, and Summer Send-offs to Manila (complete with free giveaways of buttons and flags and stickers, and pleas for donations to the alma mater). If anyone would like to help Andrew found the club, please reach out.

Just an ocean away from Andrew, Sarah Schorr is in graduate school at Cal State Los Angles. Upon graduation, Sarah will head off to D.C. to join her boyfriend.

Abaye Steinmetz-Silber is a work team leader at Gould Farm in the Berkshires.

Peter Frank and William Schragis live in Brooklyn. William is the national director for Barrell Bourbon and Peter is a co-founder of dev.to, an online community for programmers. John Snyder works at Vimeo in data analytics, and occasionally teaches at General Assembly. He also drums in a few Wes-originated music groups. Haley Baron received her master’s in food studies from NYU, focusing on sustainable food systems. Haley is joining the pineapple NY team, a collaborative community for women who care about food. John and Haley will be married in 2019.

Another Wesleyan couple who deserve a celebratory toast are Hannah Berkman and Luke Erickson. Hannah and Luke were married on Nov. 11 in Alexandria, Va. They were joined at the celebration by Casey Reed, Becky Baskin, Tom Oddo, Richard Leuchter, Matt Stinson, Sky Stallbaumer, Benjie Messinger-Barnes ’09, Jamie Sandra Messinger ’11, Julia Alschuler ’11, Lauren Goldstein ’11, Nick Scotto ’13, Alissa Santucci ’13, Justin Metz ’13, Ryan Sblendorio ’15, and Jane ’77 and Tim Klemmer ’77.

As for me, I will be ringing my own wedding bells with Derek Sellhausen (Skidmore ’12) next spring. Wishing the entire class of 2012 continued health and happiness.

Daisey Perez | deperez@wesleyan.edu

Hi, Class of 2011. Lots of updates to report!

Allie Diamond writes “I’m engaged and in my third year of my PhD in clinical psychology at Berkeley, studying future thinking in anxiety and depressive disorders using person-specific methodologies. And I’m loving living in the Bay Area!”

From Ilaria (Wolfe) O’Keefe: “We have three kids—6, 4, and 6 months—and I am in the middle of the first year of homeschooling with the oldest. I work as a doula and do singing projects on the side. This year will be a big one for us, as my husband finishes grad school and we figure out where to go next!”

After traveling in Greenland, Jared Gimbel presented at the 2017 Polyglot Conference in Reykjavik on using video games to learn languages. He has a YouTube channel with educational and comedic content. Kaverini: Nuuk Adventures, his first video game, is still in development, in addition to a smaller side project about Nauru.

Qianqian Lin writes, “Eli Fox-Epstein and I got married in 2016. Paul Linton officiated, and a few other Wes alumni from 2011 attended. We also closed on our first condo this past August and have been doing renovations galore! To help pay the mortgage, Robert Boutelle lives with us! In career news, I graduated from the MBA program at UCLA, where I was classmates again with Anjana Rimal.”

Sally Edmonds writes, “This year was a busy one for me. I married Sam Maritim ’10 and gave birth to our daughter Athena Cheboss Maritim in October. We are now living in New Haven, Conn.”

And from Todd Keats, “Adam Kaiser ’13 and I played for the New York St. Nicks Hockey Club against Tom Hartnett ’14 of the Jackson Hole Moose in Jackson, Wy. The St. Nick’s beat the Moose 4-3 and 6-3 on Friday and Saturday, respectively, in front of sellout crowds of 1,500. Brad Improta ’14 was in attendance, but was recovering from an injury. We enjoyed skiing at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and the nightlife at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar.”

Thanks for your contributions. It’s always nice to see what everyone is up to.

Allie Southam | asoutham@wesleyan.edu

Greetings, Class of 2010! I hope you enjoy the following updates from our classmates around the world:

Carla Becerra is getting married in September and moving to New Haven.

Abby Sedney is “happily living in Fraser, Colo., as a failed ski bum with my Springer Spaniel, Luna Tuna.” Abby was promoted to senior rental manager at Winter Park Resort, a part of the new Alterra Mountain Company.

Eli Bronner contributes the following on Michael Gittes, “who is going to be showing at the National Portrait Gallery in London this year, as part of the Michael Jackson show, On the Wall. Eli adds, “It’s a big deal to be included in the show, so it’s telling of how well Michael’s art career is going.” He partnered with Michael on several endeavors throughout the art world and said On the Wall was especially fun.

Sandie Weisberger “just relocated (with her fiancé and dog, Boone) to Copenhagen, Denmark, to start a job working as in-house counsel at Novo Nordisk.”

Jonna Humphries is now at Moog Music Inc., leading marketing for their annual music and technology festival, Moogfest. “We are behind the world’s most iconic synthesizers used by artists from Stevie Wonder to Hans Zimmer to Kanye West to Suzanne Ciani to Frank Ocean.” Jonna leads a dinner series called Women to Watch, sponsored by Google, that brings together women from various industries.

Christopher Coleman and Jessica Levin ’11 were married on Oct. 14 at the Woolverton Inn in Stockton, N.J. Their wedding party included Erik Holum, Nelson Norsworthy, Diego Bleifuss Prados, Haleigh Smith ’11, Lily Fesler ’11, Maryann Platt ’11, and Avinash Sridhar, who officiated the ceremony, along with a large contingent of Wes alumni who attended the wedding. Chris and Jess moved from LA to Chicago and are excited to start their next chapter!

Right after graduating from her master’s program at the Graduate Institute of Geneva, Melina Natalie Aguilar, returned to her hometown, Ponce, Puerto Rico, to assist in post-Hurricane Maria relief efforts. She co-founded a local nonprofit called Conexion Caribe to provide relief to those devastated by the natural disaster in the southern part of Puerto Rico. Melina has founded an enterprise to develop sustainable tourism experiences and exportation of locally made products from the south of Puerto Rico called Isla Caribe. More info can be found at islacaribe.co.

Jessie Schiewe “is launching an online publication dedicated to alternative journalism this spring. Called OK Whatever (okwhatever.org), the site focuses on weird and strange news events and stories, with an insouciant, silly bent. Be it paranormal, fantastical, controversial, or just downright bizarre, OK Whatever aims to cover it. We are accepting art and writing submissions. Email jessie@okwhatever.org.”

Lucas Hidalgo is engaged to Palmer Thornton and is a site coordinator of the 21st Century Community Learning Center Programs and youth advocate at the High School for Health Careers and Sciences in NYC.

Alice Maggio is back in school at Tufts University, in the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning program. She’s living in Medford, so let her know if you’re in the area and you want to go contra dancing, swing dancing, or Sacred Harp singing.

Chelsea Sprayregen is the CEO and co-founder of an early stage social enterprise, Pie for Providers (formerly known as Provide). They are using technology to help child care providers build stronger businesses. She launched the company while an MBA candidate at Chicago Booth, where she just graduated.

Gavin Brennan contributes a brief reminder that “the Philadelphia Eagles are Super Bowl Champions!” Gavin may try to slide this note into each column through January 2019.

Finally, nine years after meeting on the lawn of 105 Cross, Jess Brownfeld and Eric Spierer tied the knot in November. Fellow Cardinals in attendance include Matt Nestler, Dan Bloom, Sam Decock, Hilary Burke Chan, AJ Chan ’11, Elana Metsch-Ampel ’12, Gianna Palmer, Cara Weinberger, and Vin Broderick ’75.

That’s all for this issue! As always, feel free to pass along your life updates anytime.

David Layne | dlayne@wesleyan.edu

Hi, fellow ’09ers. Hope everyone is well in the new year. We’ve gathered some notes from your classmates below:

Jess Eliot Myhre celebrated the first birthday of her baby, Monk Eliot Ousley, on Jan. 22. He’s fat, happy, and a genius.

Sophie Reagan lives in D.C. with her husband and dog. She works at Deloitte “trying to help the government one well-aligned PowerPoint deck at a time. We capped off a great summer of Wes weddings, celebrating Sophia Dumaine, Jodie Rubenstein, and Stephanie Pfeiffer ’08.”

Avital Fischer is a resident in pediatrics at Duke in Durham, N.C.

Joe Newman is now senior legal counsel at Ubisoft. He writes, “Anyone looking for a video game contact in the Bay Area can drop me a line!”

Brittany Delany writes, “Cheers to 2018! Resolutions: Build dance pieces. Connect with creatives through my work at La Quinta Arts Foundation and California Desert Arts Council. Sarah Ashkin ’11 and I performed a new duet for The New Feminist Gaze, an art show co-curated by Simeon Den Gallery and Wyld Womx.

Finally, former football teammates Spencer Platt and Peter Overman both welcomed baby boys in December, Nolan Platt and Ollie Overman. “Hopefully someday they will lift together.”

Alejandro Alvarado | ale.alvarado12@gmail.com

Stephanie Pfeiffer and Michael Stinetorf had so much fun celebrating their marriage vows with multigenerational Wes friends and family in Montana in July 2017, including Steve Pfeiffer ’69, Vic Pfeiffer ’71, Jil Zilligen ’90 and Chris Schedler ’90, Victoria Metz ’99, Emily Pfeiffer-Russell ’05, Alex Pfeiffer Reynolds ’06, Reinhardt Schuhmann ’06 and Sage Norman, Katie Fabac, Rosina Belcourt, Kate Zyskowski, Rachel Firestone, Jessica Jones, Liat Olenick, Jordyn Lexton, Sarah Meier-Zimbler, Sophie Reagan ’09, Kaya Ceci ’13, and Andrew Pfeiffer ’13!

Caroline Raclin writes, “2017 was a crazy year! I’ve been managing emergency health programs in Yemen, Iraq, and South Sudan with the International Rescue Committee. I also moved my ’home base’ to Stuttgart, Germany, so if anyone is ever traveling around southern Germany, let me know!”

Louis Langlois and Peter Mitchell James went fishing on the San Joaquin delta outside of San Francisco four days before Christmas. They didn’t catch anything. Lucas Carrico ’09, Michael Walker, Daisy Holman ’07, Ramona Holman-Walker (future class of ’25), Josh Ente and Eddie Klein attended Louis Langlois’ Annual Hanukah Latke Party in San Francisco. Mike started a grease fire, and Eddie took part in his first music jam session accompanied by Lucas on the tenor sax.

Karla Hargrave is working with soundscape ecologist Bernie Krause to expand the worldwide network of soundscape ecologists who contribute hard data to wilderness conservation efforts and to strengthen society’s awareness of the importance of the sounds of the natural world. She completed solo pilot expeditions in Chile’s Patagonia and Colombia’s Amazon Rainforest to establish sites for ongoing studies.

Alicia Collen Zeidan | acollen@wesleyan.edu

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Hello classmates! Megan (Kretz) Harrington here to give you the latest news. From career advancements to new family additions, we’ve been busy.

Kara Schnoes writes, “Kim Davies recently married a great guy named Jesse Blitzstein. The wedding was held in Philadelphia last September. And Julia Mergendoller had her first little one, Aviv Gilbyrd, in November.”

Cortney (Tetrault) Duncan welcomed a baby boy, Blake Alexander Duncan, on Nov. 27. She is still working at the Kent School.

Kathleen Day shares news of more potential alumni. She had a daughter, Natalie, born in 2016. She is a project manager for Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc., a nonprofit affordable housing developer based. She writes, “I am enormously fortunate that my partner takes care of our daughter full-time.”

Kathleen adds, “We caught up with Janine (Criscuolo) and Ben Sax and their adorable daughter Zoë over the summer during their visit from Los Angeles. Liam McAlpine and his husband, Sam Gulino, also visited from Philadelphia.”

Matthew Brownstein writes, “I live in NYC with my wife, Hillary, and my 1¹/₂ year old son, Felix. I taught for eight years in middle and high school levels and now I am in the world of administration. I am an assistant principal at an elementary school in Queens. Yvonne Berkel ’90 is a wonderful teacher at my school.”

Laura Catana lives in Havana, Cuba, and is the label manager at Havana’s first independent urban music label, Guampara Music. She is also opening an Afrocuban house of music and culture, a space to help connect foreign travelers with the local music and arts scene in Havana. Look out for Guampara 165, opening in summer 2018! She also works in tourism in Havana, so feel free to find her and ask for some travel help if you’re planning to head to the island soon!

Matthew Gregory and wife Lena moved to Boston after living in the Bay Area. They are expecting their first child, a boy, in April.

Victoria (Santoro) Mair married William Mair on Oct. 28 in Somerville, Mass. A strong Wesleyan contingent was present for the nuptials! Additionally, Victoria was recently voted a shareholder at her law firm.

Jesse Nasta has some exciting career news to report, saying, “I completed my PhD in history at Northwestern University last summer. This year, I am a visiting assistant professor of African American Studies at Wesleyan. I would always be very happy to see any classmates who are passing through campus.”

Meanwhile, Ian MacLeod organized his own mini-reunion over this summer. He reports, “I married Jennifer Brownfield on July 15 in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park in California. Tim Radcliff, Piotr Brzezinski, and Alex Early were in attendance. We all had a great time!”

And finally, Scout James reports that he will be performing in his final show at Juilliard—Waiting for Godot—before he graduates with an MFA in May.

Please keep sending your updates, career news, and life events to us.

Megan Harrington | wesleyan007@gmail.com

Victoria Belyavsky Pinsky | victoriapinsky@gmail.com

Amelia Geggel passed away in April 2016 after a long battle with cancer. Her family has established the Amelia Geggel Environmental Scholarship in her memory. At Wesleyan, Amelia was a religion major. During her junior year, she studied abroad in Chile and she graduated with honors a year later.

Amelia was hearing impaired from birth, yet this never stopped her from pursuing her passions. She discovered her love for animals and the environment at an early age and, by the fifth grade, was a “moral vegetarian.” At the age of 26, she was diagnosed with sarcoma, but still she persisted. In the following six years, she got married (to a carnivore who shared her dry sense of humor), completed a master’s degree in public health, and worked full-time as an environmentalist.

The Amelia Geggel Environmental Scholarship will exist in perpetuity in Amelia’s memory to provide financial aid for students, with demonstrated financial need who are interested in environmental science or environmental studies. If you’d like to contribute to this fund, please go to give.wesleyan.edu and indicate that you would like to give to the Amelia Geggel Environmental Scholarship.

Calvin Cato | catocals@gmail.com