Class Notes | 1990s

Hi, fellow ’96ers! Hope everyone is well! The notes are short but sweet this round. Let’s get to them.

Billy Kheel writes, “I just installed a 17-foot window display of felt quilts at Amoeba Music in Hollywood, inspired by Parliament Funkadelic’s 1994 Wesleyan Spring Fling performance. That Spring Fling was so legendary I thought it only appropriate to immortalize it in felt in the largest record store in the world. Amoeba let me do it because I was just on Making It with Nick Offerman and Amy Poehler (which you can still check out on NBC.com).”

Rallie Snowden’s son, Miguel, was born over the summer.

Anne Genereux is living in a rural mountain town in Montana, working as a therapist, and finishing her dissertation on healthy relationship education. 

Sara and Colby Evans are moving temporarily this spring and summer to Edinburgh, Scotland, along with their three children (Quinn, 10, Malcolm, 9, and Ruby, 7). They are excited to try someplace new for a while and will be returning to Austin in August.

Thanks for the updates! Keep them coming. 

Dara Federman | darasf@yahoo.com 

Dacque Tirado | dacquetirado@yahoo.com

Katy writes for this issue: As I compose this at the beginning of January, I am wanting to wish you all a Happy New Year; yet by the time you get this newsletter, we can all be saying happy spring (except for any of you in the southern hemisphere). We hope that 2019 has started well for all of you. I’m happy to share the news from your classmates; including, for the first-time—yay!—Josh Stevens; we are especially glad to hear from those of you who haven’t been in touch for a while.

Rob Armstrong writes: “Wylie and I and our 9-year-old twins moved back from London to New York. Now living in Greenwood, Brooklyn. I am still scribbling away for the Financial Times. Keen to hear from all ’95 and ’94 types who come through the city.” Welcome back to the States, Rob!

Chelsea Farley writes: “I live in the Hudson Valley of New York with my family (daughter Noah, partner Isaac, and our Alaskan Malamute, Lulu). I am the communications director at NYU Steinhardt’s Research Alliance for NYC Schools, where we are working to produce evidence that contributes to better, more equitable public schools in NYC and around the country.”

Ken Kwiatkowski writes: “I would like to announce the birth of our third son, Sebastian, on Dec. 23, with wife Anna.” Many congratulations, Ken! We hope your whole family is in good health and enjoying such a special time.

Michelle Limaj writes: “My son, Axel, and I visited Jeanne Bonner and Michael Cocca in their new home in Connecticut this fall and got to meet their gorgeous little boy. So proud of Jeanne, her beautiful family, and her award-winning work translating literature by visionary Italian authors. I’d heard her reporting on NPR and CNN, but creative writing and literature are where she clearly lives. So grateful for this lifelong friendship.”

Beth Price writes: “Greetings from Charleston, S.C.! I’m still working as a family medicine doctor at the joint Navy/Air Force base outside of Charleston. Kevin and my kids (David, 14, Madeline, 12, and Lily, 9) are growing up so fast . . . hard to believe that in a couple of years, we’ll be making the college tour rounds! This fall I completed my second competitive trail ride with my quarter horse, Chilli. We rode 35 miles over two days, and were judged on his fitness, our ability to maneuver trail obstacles, and my horsemanship skills. Exhausting, but great fun! Can’t wait to see everyone at Reunion next year!” We are all impressed, Beth!

Michele Gershberg, U.S. health editor at Reuters, wrote a touching and personal special report about her son Natan’s diagnosis with a slow-growing brain tumour. Read it here: https://reut.rs/2UkHAeO.

Josh Stevens writes: “Enjoying life in the Bay Area, going on 15 years in 2019 . . . working in health care tech and happy to connect and network any Wes alumni who come to Silicon Valley.”

Lastly, I, your humble secretary, can share news of my own next adventure—I have just begun an MBA program—part-time, largely distance education—based at the University of Warwick.

Keep sending us your news and updates—we love to hear from you!

Bo Bell | bobell.forreal@gmail.com 

Katy McNeill | mcneill40@gmail.com

Hello, Class of 1994. Welcome to the latest edition of the class notes. Kristen Woronoff, our class liaison in University Relations at Wesleyan, wanted me to mention the upcoming Reunion. It promises to be a great time to not only reconnect with old friends but to meet classmates that you never knew.

Chris Bartley directs the music program at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, teaching music history and conducting two choirs, including one that is partnering with his local symphony for a production of Carmina Burana at the end of April. Chris teaches indoor spin classes, plays poker, and is trying to get his new dog, Olive, to sit. He hosted Eric Hung ’96 and Leah Bartell ’95, who gave a violin-piano duo concert on his campus. They reminisced about learning to conduct from the late Melvin Strauss. Chris got together with Ben Mahnke at a Celtics-Bucks game in Boston.

Elizabeth Rand Ehrlich’s handmade kippot (yarmulke) business, Kids Kippot, has been growing tremendously. One of her creations was featured in the show, Items: Is Fashion Modern?, at the Museum of Modern Art.

Elizabeth attributes her success to the skills she learned at Wesleyan. Elizabeth had dinner with Elizabeth Toohey and Sam Schneider ’91 and enjoys talking with John Pollock when they can both carve out some time from their busy schedules.

Adam Handler welcomed a second daughter, Danielle Max, to join big sister Josephine Flora. He reconnected with David Niles, Joe Pirret, Steve Frail, Jonathan Bernstein Sidhu, and Sean Mazer. Adam is looking forward to seeing a lot of old friends at Reunion.

Steve Henn and Emily Johnson Henn live in Menlo Park, Calif., and are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. Their oldest daughter, a senior in high school, will attend Wesleyan. Steve left public radio to start a company, later acquired by Google, where he is eating more than his share of free food. Emily practices law at Covington & Burling. They hiked near Sausalito with Brooke Singer this summer. They are close with Andrea Seebaum ’92, who Emily says “models so well what life without kids could have looked like.” They enjoyed seeing Annelise Wunderlich and Jeff Kwan, and Sid Espinosa, whom Emily first met on the WOW trip. They visited with Scott Laton and family during an East Coast trip and are excited about Reunion.

John Lewis lives in Newton, Mass., with his wife, Suzanne, and three kids. He sees Jon Bender, Josh Protas, Tomer Rothschild, and Gabe Meil pretty regularly, as well as Sean Mazer and Aaron Yeater. John visited Julia Lazarus ’95 in Rhode Island and met her new baby daughter, Eleanor. John took a new job at Sound Physicians after 17 years at Athena Health, which has been a big change but good.

Julie Nersesian has retired after 20-plus years of teaching, primarily social studies middle school. She is leaving soon for Oaxaca, Mexico, to be a sunbird for the rest of January. She toasts all those engaged in education and action for social justice. “It is exhausting work but so important!”

Martin Reames and his family were relocated by his company, to Guadalajara, Mexico, for a year. He writes that “living in Mexico is quite different than visiting a week at a time” as “driving in Mexico is adventurous, and riding in a taxi is calm compared with negotiating other drivers’ unexpected maneuvers.” Martin’s 10-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, has attended a Spanish-English school since kindergarten, and speaks Spanish quite well, while he and wife Nicole are far from fluent. Nicole took a one-year sabbatical from work to focus on Spanish classes, yoga, and spending time with Elizabeth. They enjoy living in Mexico, especially the fantastic restaurants in Guadalajara; hiking in Copper Canyon in Chihuahua; and visiting the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Michoacán where they saw “countless millions of butterflies—it was truly magical.” They are sad that it’s been six months already and they’ll be headed back to Minneapolis in just half a year.

Aram Sinnreich’s third book, The Essential Guide to Intellectual Property, will be published by Yale Press this May.

Sondra Youdelman, in Brooklyn, joined the staff team of People’s Action (peoplesaction.org) as their national campaign director working on housing, health care, and climate issues.

Shalini Shankar’s book, Beeline: What Spelling Bees Reveal about Generation Z’s New Path to Success, will be published in April with Basic Books. It is based on research she conducted over six years at the National Spelling Bee, with spellers and families.

So long for now. Send Samera and me your news, notes, and updates—we’d love to hear from you.

Samera Syeda Ludwig | samera.ludwig@gmail.com

Caissa Powell | cdp2000@hotmail.com 

Hi, everyone! I hope you are doing well. Today I’m remembering some of the amazing classes I had at Wesleyan. But I’m also thinking about the students who added such a special dynamic in and out of the classroom—that’s all of you. Since 1989, you’ve inspired me with your passion, intellectual curiosity, and generosity. Here are some updates.

Christopher Cowan writes: “My wife (Jessica) and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in December. I hosted two current Wesleyan students (Jack Wolf ’20 and Nathan Ehrlich ’19) in my lab at Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston, S.C.) for a summer research internship in 2018.”

Morgan Harting e-mails: “As I reflect on 2018, one the highlights was seeing so many classmates at our 25th Reunion. I was reminded of what a special connection we share, having spent such formative years together, and the fondness I will always feel even though so many years have now passed since our graduation.”

Nadya Karyo writes in, “I’ve worked the last 20 years at the bespoke creative recruitment firm, Wert&Co., have lived in three apartments in NYC over the last 25 years, and am married to the same person for 13! Guess I’m not big on change. I had a great time at our Reunion last summer with my husband, Jay Cheshes (Michigan ’93), who had a surprise mini-reunion of his own with his Columbia J-school classmate, Jon Chesto. Was sincerely missing Carlyn Henry Mandelbaum, whom I’d love to hear from! I’m also looking forward to another reunion this year as I plan my high school 30th with my dear friend, Jennifer White Karp.”

Paul Martin is a senior vice president and chief diversity officer at Sony Pictures, where he creates initiatives to “help create a culture that embraces and elevates the differences within our corporation and creative families.” Paul resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Laury, and his son, Aaron.

Stacy Olitsky emails: “I am living in the Philadelphia area. I am an associate professor at Saint Joseph’s University, where I research school-university partnerships and equity issues in STEM education and teach courses on social foundations and science methods for elementary school teachers. I love being back in a university environment with great students and colleagues, and I am glad I was influenced by the intellectual and social environment at Wesleyan. In my free time, I play banjo and record with several local bands, mostly accompanying singer-songwriters (Sarah and the Arrows, Kicking Down Doors, Meghan Cary with Analog Gypsies, The Cornerstones, and The Spiritual Window Shoppers). My daughters, ages 10 and 13, also love music and science, and the older one writes songs.”

Jodi Samuels writes about a vacation she took with spouse Evan, who completed four years at Intel, making him eligible for a four-week sabbatical. “We spent Christmas with my family in Austin and then left Sacramento on Dec. 27 with a destination of Sydney, Australia, where we celebrated New Year’s Eve at the famous Opera House with dinner, the opera gala, and two sets of fireworks. We left Sydney on Jan. 3 and spent three nights in Wellington, one of our favorite international cities. From there, we headed to Christchurch and began an eight-day independent tour of the South Island, starting with the TranzAlpine train journey from Christchurch to Greymouth and then lots of coach travel to get us to Franz Joseph (heli hike on the glacier), Queenstown (zip line and sheep station farm tour), Te Anau (Milford Sound cruise in the fjord), and Dunedin (Otago Peninsula wildlife cruise and tour). We’ll finish the tour in Christchurch and spend two nights there on our own before returning to the U.S. on Jan. 16. Then we’re home for a few days before the second part of the sabbatical adventure, which will take us back to Hawai’i for nine days, splitting time between the Big Island and Oahu.”

SuZanna Henshon | suzannahenshon@yahoo.com 

Sarah Estow | sarah_estow@hotmail.com

Greetings and salutations from D.C. It’s day 28 of the shut down. Hopefully the counter will have stopped counting by the time you read this, we’re still part of NATO, Adam Berinsky has recreated political discourse on Facebook, and the Phillies signed Bryce Harper. There’s my short wish list and here’s what I know about our class.

Grant Brenner coauthored Relationship Sanity: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Relationships, released in October. The book is a sequel to his earlier book IRRELATIONSHIP: How We Use Dysfunctional Relationships to Hide from Intimacy that came out in 2015.

Jonathan Soros supports diversity at Wesleyan: Col. Bob Cassidy (U.S. Army) has been shaking things up on campus with the Retiring Military Office Teaching Fellowship that Jonathan created.

Carola McGiffert joined Whittle School & Studios as vice president for government stakeholder engagement, joining Sidra Smith, Nick Dirks ’72, Betsey Schmidt ’89, Alan Smith ’90, and Nila Ravi ’18. Whittle is creating the first global modern school serving pre-K through 12th graders and will ultimately have 30 campuses around the world. The first two campuses in D.C. and Shenzhen open in September with New York, London, Shanghai, Paris, and Mumbai not far behind.

James Wilton made a long-overdue return to Wesleyan in November during a business trip. James lives in Waxhaw, N.C., with Tracy, his wife of 20 years, and their three children, Jack, 18, Carley, 15, and Lola, 13. He is closing in on his four-year anniversary as a national account manager with Collabera.

Laura Ruderman was named CEO of the Technology Alliance, a statewide, nonprofit organization of leaders from Washington state’s technology-based businesses and research institutions. Technology Alliance is focused on the creation of high-wage jobs and economic prosperity. She writes, “Going into an office every day is a huge change after being a consultant of various types for the last 14 years, but I am loving it.”

Darcy Dennett finished a fun and quirky episode of This is Life with Lisa Ling on identical twins that will air in the fall. She worked with David Shadrack Smith’s company Part2Pictures on the project. She is trying to get her second independent feature called WILD: Of Wolves and Wildness off the ground.

Tembi Locke has a book being published by Simon and Schuster in May entitled From Scratch, A Memoir of Love, Sicily and Finding Home.

Susan Kleinman lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her two awesome kids, ages 14 and 9. In January, she celebrated the eighth anniversary as CEO of her consulting firm, Wallis Consulting LLC (skwallis.com). Her company provides fundraising guidance, coaching, and grant writing services to a wide array of nonprofits.

Last but not least, Simon Fulford was named executive director of Parrott Creek Child and Family Services, a nonprofit with 50 years of serving youth and families involved in the justice and welfare systems.

Adam Berinsky | berinsky@mit.edu 

Paul Coviello | coviellop01@alum.darden.edu

Class of 1990 Scholarship
Bryden Auer ’21, Lake Oswego, OR

Edward Ungvarsky received the Bill Geimer Award from the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse of Washington and Lee School of Law for his almost 10 years of service and successful outcomes as a dedicated capital defender. Ed’s string of successes was capped by the October 2018 unanimous life sentence verdict for his client in a county whose prosecutor had never before failed to obtain a death sentence in 50 years in office. Ed has mentored Melanie Berman ’17, Patricia Merlino ’18, Anna Oakes ’17, Maria Rodriguez-Castro ’19, and William Dempsey ’19. It was a class at Wesleyan that led Ed to this line of work, so he feels indebted to Wesleyan both professionally and for his wife, Olivia Smith ’91.

Jennifer Palmer and her husband attended the fabulous 50th birthday party of Jennifer’s Gingerbread housemate, Schuyler Allen-Kalb in New York. “It was amazing to reconnect with friends including—but not limited to—Liz Pelcyger, Letitia Pinero, and Majora Carter. The party, of course, was a blast, complete with a photo/gif booth & John Hughes movies projected in the bar/dance area of the venue.”

Page Fortna, the Harold Brown Professor in the department of political science at Columbia University, is spending a sabbatical year with her family in Sri Lanka. She is living in Colombo, conducting research on the recent civil war, and “exploring this fascinating, chaotic, and beautiful country.”

Carole Trone is warding off middle-age by throwing “herself into new worlds: a new virtual college-access nonprofit started by college students called Fair Opportunity Project, and working out of a new co-working space for entrepreneurs in Madison, Wis.”

John Collins is teaching in the global studies department at St. Lawrence University, directing Weave News, an independent media platform focusing on underreported stories and making 80s-influenced indie rock with Bee Children.

Elizabeth Friedman Haybron wrote to update that her husband, Dan Haybron, with the completion of his Templeton Happiness project, has been selected as the inaugural Theodore R. Vitali C.P. Chair of Philosophy at Saint Louis University. “This is quite an honor for Dan and is even that much more special since Ted, the former chair of the SLU Philosophy department for 28 years, pledged his own savings to make the chair possible. We continue to live in St. Louis, with our 3 kids, all of whom have graduations this year—Sarah from high school and William and Michael from middle school.”

Sharene Azimi and her husband moved last fall from the Philadelphia area to the small town of Bernardsville, N.J., so that he could take a job at Verizon’s HQ. Sharene continues to do communications consulting for nonprofit organizations around the country, in between taking care of their 7 and 4 year old boys. “We are on a very slow train line to Manhattan, but it’s basically country here. Wes folk driving by on Route 78 or I-287 are welcome to stop in for a visit!”

James Rosenblatt writes in with big changes in his household.  “We are officially empty nesters with our youngest heading off to SMU last fall. Our oldest is engaged to be married, & we are clearly moving to a new phase in our lives.  The practice of law continues to be a full-time occupation with our office moving into a new building last June and the hiring of our eighth attorney.”

Bill Sherman has been in Seattle since 1999, where he heads up an environmental protection division of the state attorney general’s office, prosecuting big polluters and, lately, suing the Federal government to stop rollbacks of environmental laws. He gets outside to bike and hike a lot and last summer led a group of 26 conservationists, including his boss, the attorney general, on a 20-mile backpack trip on the Washington coast. Bill’s wife, Holly, teaches anthropology at the University of Washington. Their older son is a first year at Whitman College & younger son is a 10th grader. “I run into Wesleyan people all over Seattle, including Julie Shapiro ’77, Roger and Sarah Townsend ’90, and Tara Urs ’98. Last summer, we got to host Carolyn Clark and David Patterson’s daughter Bridget while she was interning at the UW, which came with a bonus visit by Carolyn!”

Rose Duhan is living in Delmar, N.Y., near Albany, also home of Wes alumni Brion Winston ’97 and Melanie Schoen ’97 and just got to see an amazing production of The Count: A Musical written, composed and performed by Brion with David Hollander, and also starring their daughter, Willa. Rose is running a small non-profit that advocates for community health centers: championing primary care for underserved in New York State. Rose “has the honor and privilege to work closely with Harold Iselin ’77, in my work.”

Victor Khodadad recently directed Kamala Shankaram’s opera Enchantress, based on the life of Ada Lovelace, for New Camerata Opera. The performance took place at The Flea Theater in New York City in December. Coming up, Victor will be singing the role of The Male Chorus in Benjamin Britten’s powerful opera The Rape of Lucretia which will take place in May at The Flea Theater. Camerata Piccola, the branch of New Camerata Opera that produces children’s opera, has been very active having debuted their newest offering, Rumpelstiltskin, as well as performing Peter Rabbit with the Montclair Orchestra which was conducted by it’s music director David Chan, concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. More information about the upcoming season is available at www.newcamerataopera.org.

JR Rhodes: “My highlights for 2018 were getting commissioned to create songs for Alice Walker and Nikki Giovanni and performing for them both at two separate events at Benaroya Hall here in Seattle, Washington. The song I wrote for Alice Walker was based on a piece from her new book, Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart. The song is titled “Ancestors Never Sleep” after one of her pieces in the new book. The song I wrote for Nikki Giovanni was based on a piece from her new book, A Good Cry. The song is titled “The Fly on the Wall” after one of her pieces in the new book.

“Both performances were life changing events. I got to meet two of my heroines and they both really enjoyed the songs I created inspired by their works. Nikki smiled and said she really enjoyed the song. Alice smiled waiting for me with open arms backstage after my performance to thank me. It was an incredible gift share the music and to thank my heroes and heroines face to face, eye to eye.”

Vanessa Montag Brosgol | vanessa.brosgol@yahoo.com

Mike Hakim lives in Malibu with three kids—Skyler, Lexi, and new arrival, Charleston! He is working to expand real estate investments across the U.S., specifically within opportunity zones, transit corridors, and near schools in underserved communities. He wants to congratulate the Division III lacrosse champs under John Raba and Frantz Williams on his promotion as the new vice president for university relations. Mike is going to dearly miss the one and only Barbara-Jan Wilson but was able to celebrate her in Beverly Hills over the summer at a Wes event.

Li Yu and his wife, Tamara, were in Australia between Christmas and New Year. They went to Canberra to visit Kim-Marie Spence ’00, who is finishing her PhD at the Australian National University and will be publishing her dissertation on the impact of reggae and k-pop on economic development in Jamaica and South Korea.

Katherine Goldberg is now a dual professional veterinarian and social worker, after passing her LMSW board exam in July. She is utilizing her DVM and LMSW to address human-animal relationships in veterinary environments and attend to serious illness and eldercare of both people and animals. Her recent publications include book chapters: “Considerations in Counseling Veterinarians: Addressing Suffering in Those Who Care For Animals”, “Issues in Serious Illness and End of Life Care,” and “Following the Loss of a Companion Animal: Aftercare and Pet Loss Support” in Clinician’s Guide to Treating Companion Animal Issues; “Euthanasia Considerations” in Textbook of Small Animal Emergency Medicine, First Edition, and “Veterinary Hospice and Palliative Care: A Primer for Mental Health Professionals,” in Pet Loss, Grief, and Therapeutic Interventions: Navigating the Human-Animal Bond (in press). She is editor of the forthcoming issue of Veterinary Clinics of North America, Small Animal Practice: Advances in Palliative Medicine, which is the first such volume within the veterinary literature.

Leander Dolphin still enjoys practicing law and was elected to the management committee at her firm Shipman & Goodwin this year.

Zack Becker published his first novel, a private detective thriller set in Houston. Gun Shy is available in paperback on Amazon and e-book pretty much everywhere.

Dan Young is living in the vibrant immigrant community of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. His wife, Liz, a native to the area, left a career in research science to become a science teacher at a local high school. Meanwhile Dan keeps busy as a freelance radio journalist covering politics and environmental issues. They spend a lot of their free time at Brighton Beach.

Abby Levine and Caddie Hastings were lucky enough to be in attendance to celebrate Dave Mahony’s wedding to a wonderful woman. Dave and his wife, Jennifer, live in the Bay Area, where they curate Chai Sessions, an evening of stories, songs, and tea aimed at fostering a sense of community.

Janel Davis is really grateful and proud for completing her master’s in marriage and family therapy from Southern Connecticut State University. She looks forward to seeing everyone at Reunion!

Kevin and I also look forward to seeing everyone at Reunion! Until then, be awesome, be well, and be in touch.

C. Darryl Uy | darryl.uy@gmail.com

Kevin Kumler | kevinkumler@gmail.com

Hi, fellow ’98ers. I missed you all at Reunion but from all accounts it seems like it was quite a good time. The following are the notes from our class.

Anya Fernald was included in Inc.’s “The Female Founders 100”—women entrepreneurs that Inc. has been most intrigued by in the past year, whose smarts are rattling industries far and wide. Within this group Anya was named one of the “17 Female Founders Built Brands That Started Movements.”

Anya is co-founder and CEO of Belcampo Meat Co. which started as a vertically integrated, certified organic, and animal welfare-approved farm and butchery in Northern California. Belcampo now runs seven restaurants, a burgeoning e-commerce site, and wholesale businesses, along with a hospitality arm that includes meat camps, where wellness-minded participants learn to butcher and cook meat. Anya is working on expansions that will include a box-subscription service for meat, bone broth, and jerky and a new restaurant and butcher shop that will open soon in NYC.

Joshua Stedman writes: “My band, Brothers of Others, had an exciting time over the Wesleyan Reunion and Commencement weekend. First, we were honored to play at our class’s 20th. The next day we performed with The Voice’s brand new champion, Brynn Cartelli. And the following day we sang the National Anthem a cappella in front of 40,000 at Fenway Park on Memorial Day Weekend.”

Nathan Eddy passed his viva for a PhD in Hebrew Bible. He still uses the Bible he bought for Religion 201 with Jeremy Zwelling, complete with Hebrew words he wrote down from that class.

Lynn Chen is directing her first feature film, I Will Make You Mine, which she also wrote, is producing, and starring in. She’s cast John Newman in it too. You can find out more at IWillMakeYouMine.com.

Amy Barnes writes: “My big news in 2018 is that I launched my own investment advisory and financial planning firm, Firebrand Wealth Management, with a focus on planning for women. I also had my second child, a baby boy, born in May. I am living in Seattle with my partner.”

Peter Isbister lives in Decatur, Ga., with his wife, Robyn, and their three kids, Mira, Ezra, and Lucia. Occasionally he sees Rachel Wellborn, who lives in Atlanta. Peter is enjoying his new job at the Southern Poverty Law Center, where he works in the Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative. This past summer Peter worked with summer intern Agnes Baik ’09.

After over a decade of handling class notes, Marcus Chung has retired. I want to thank Marcus for taking this on for all of these years and for his dedication to the university and our class. We are looking for new people to help take on our class notes. If you have the time and interest, please contact me.

Jason Becton | jcxbecton@yahoo.com

Thanks for your updates, Class of 1997!

60 Minutes producer Alexandra Poolos has been nominated for an Emmy for her most recent story, a profile of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Alexandra, we’re so proud of you!

It was great to hear from Monica Santana Rosen, who wrote in to share, “It’s hard to believe, but my husband and I celebrated 21 years since the day we first met, which was just after Wesleyan graduation. We have three kids, two boys and a girl, ages 14, 10, and 6. I’m running my own consulting firm and just about to celebrate two years in business.”

Min and Alejandro Santandrea launched a new shoe brand, SantM, and had the launch party during New York Fashion Week in the former studio/home of Jean-Michele Basquiat that was owned by Andy Warhol. “We had a great Wes turn out. Thy Pham flew in from Seattle to help us. Shelby Stokes, Soraya Kernizan, Susan Lee, Susan Ha, and Josh White ’84 were there. Rebecca, the daughter of Professor Emeritus John Paoletti, represented the Paolettis. Also, received a great support from Christian Housh and his wife, Tassia Thomas, Tyler Moriguchi ’95, Michele Lau, Lauren Wolfe, Charlson Choi, and Maggie Suniewick.” Check them out at santm.co (we totally did!) And, because it’s such a small world . . . turns out Min’s kids and Sasha’s kids go to the same elementary school in NYC. And we are having coffee as soon as she’s back from Italy (ah, the shoes!).

We have exciting news from Matt Mulvey and his wife, Katie Sacksteder. They welcomed another boy, Finn Mulvey, into the world in June 2017. Katie and Matt sold their company, BeneVir Biopharm, Inc., to Janssen Pharmaceuticals (Johnson & Johnson) in July of this year, which made headlines in the hot field of cancer immunotherapy. They will remain at the helm of the company for the foreseeable future and are excited about all of the resources available at Janssen to accelerate the development of their innovative cancer treatments. But, they are most happy about being able to spend more time with their kids now that they don’t have to raise capital anymore. Congratulations, Matt and Katie! And good luck with your work discovering new therapies to fight cancer—how amazing!

Your class co-secretaries have an update. We got to spend the day together in July in NYC. Sasha and her son (age 7) and Jess and her two youngest sons (ages 9 and 6) went to lunch at Russ & Daughters at the Jewish Museum and then to the American Museum of Natural History. We lucked out on the unusually cool weather that came right after a quick summer storm. Roaming around the city together felt magical. And we cannot wait till the next Wes Reunion with all of you (mere seconds away, in 2022)! Until then, send us your photos and updates.

Jessica Shea Lehmann | jessica.lehmann@gmail.com

Sasha Lewis Reisen | alewisreisen@gmail.com

Dacque Tirado talks to Shereem Brown often, as they live near each other in Montgomery County in Maryland. He teaches high school in the Bethesda area and looks forward to reconnecting with the Wesleyan Washington, D.C., Alumni Club this fall.

Jullia Chowdhury Quazi has been busy helping her son acclimate to college coursework. At 9 years old, Kairan Quazi is among the youngest college students in the country. He is earning his A.A. degree in mathematics and chemistry at a college in the SF Bay Area, and has his sights set on transferring to a four-year college in a couple of years. Hello, Wesleyan?

Daniela Louisa Bell moved with her husband and 10-year-old daughter to Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico. It was time to get back to her Mexican roots and for her daughter to learn the language and explore her heritage more, meet a million tías and primos (aunts and cousins). And frankly, to eat a lot of amazing food (Oaxaca is a culinary/gastronomic superstar within Mexico . . . and therefore the world, too!). If any Wes folks find themselves contemplating coming to southern Mexico to Oaxaca—look her up! They’d love to show you around this amazing place.

Jayme L. Peta, PhD saw Dana Schneider and Elizabeth Wilson ’95 in New York. Jayme is starting a new position as the assistant director of the office of professional development at Palo Alto University. She said, “I’m so excited to be headed back into higher education.”

Flo Stueck was inducted into the 2018 Wes Athletics Hall of Fame. Flo was the most prolific scorer in Wesleyan women’s soccer history and holds almost every scoring record—most goals in a career (49), season (16), and game (4; tied with two others), and most points in a career (115) and season (37). A captain her senior season, Flo concluded her career with several accolades. She was named to the 1995 NEWISA Senior Bowl, was a Division III All-New England selection, was named the 1994 MVP of the ECAC Championships, was selected to the NEWISA All-Star Team, and earned an All-Star selection by NSCAA/Umbro. Flo was also a member of the 1994 women’s soccer team that was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016. Flo co-authored a chapter called “Well-Being: Bisexuality and Mental and Physical Health” in the textbook Bisexuality: Theories, Research, and Recommendations for The Invisible Sexuality (2018, Springer Publishing Company).

Stacey Samuel lives in D.C. where she is a supervising editor at NPR, helping to run the newsroom. She remains best friends with Kristen Worrell and Christianne Rennke Phillips and speaks to both daily.

Nina Erlich-Williams got together with Cora (Stubbs-Dame) Jeyadame in April in Southern California. They spent a leisurely day that included margaritas at lunch, shoe shopping, and a visit with her wife and their adorable kiddos on the beach. In July, Dara Federman and Nina went to San Francisco to visit with Hilary Hoeber, her husband, and their adorable baby girl. Nina enjoys life in Corvallis, Ore., with her husband and two boys. They’re just wrapping up another glorious summer that involved a lot of fresh produce from the garden and canning things like salsa, jams, and pickles. She and her husband, Sev, run a small PR firm that primarily serves nonprofits. If any Wes folks are passing through Corvallis, let her know!

Jesse Wegman lives with his wife, Kyra, and their two daughters, Sami and Natalya, in Wesleyan-stone Brooklyn. In the apartment directly above them, by chance, were Amani Willett ’97 and Ali Kalis, and their sons Satchel and Kai—although they sadly moved north to Massachusetts in the summer.

Jesse is on the editorial board of the New York Times, where he’s spent the past five-plus years writing editorials about the Supreme Court and national legal affairs. He will be taking a leave after the midterms to write a book calling for the end of the electoral college and adoption of a national popular vote for president, which will be published in early 2020, just in time to make a lot of people either happy or angry.

Dara Federman | darasf@yahoo.com 

Dacque Tirado | dacquetirado@yahoo.com