Class Notes | 1990s

Hi, Wes fam! Many new and long-lost names highlight this season’s edition of ’95 Notes. I personally have seen a number of you recently—highlighted by a June cookout at the Croton-on-Hudson home of Leila Goldmark. We were blessed by the presence of M.C. Campbell, who recently moved to Reston, Va., where she is neighbors with Bill Burton ’74. Also got a note from old friend Julia Lazarus; she and her husband, Steve, were delighted to share the birth of their daughter, Eleanor Lazarus Aurora Parman, in September.

Fall brings the paperback edition of Vanessa Grigoriadis’s nonfiction book, Blurred Lines: Rethinking Sex, Power, and Consent on Campus, which describes what she learned talking to students, administrators, and profs at Wesleyan (among other schools) about sexual assault and its aftermath. Vanessa answers many of the questions of sexual consent in national debate, and grapples with the future of the #MeToo movement.

Matt Duffy sends a quick update: “I am just starting my third year as superintendent of the West Contra Costa Unified School District, an urban school district of 30,000 students in the Bay Area. It’s been crazy but really good. We also welcomed a new baby, Luna, into the family last year, which has been an amazing experience for our whole family. I am still in touch with a number of Wes folks, including Malcolm Edwards, Randy and Brooke Jackson, and others. Shout out to the Wes family.”

Rachel Posner and Jody Kuh met up as new members of the Kings County (aka Brooklyn) Democratic Committee, as part of a campaign called #RepYourBlock launched by the New Kings Democrats to transform the Democratic Party from the grassroots up. They’ll be representing their neighbors in shaping the party, ensuring it is increasingly inclusive, transparent, and democratic.

Rafhia Foster writes from her hometown of Philadelphia: “I’m working at Girard College as the director of cultural competencies and admissions. I get to have a mini-reunion and see lots of Wes folks at the NAIS People of Color Conference each year. DJ VanVader ’96 was the DJ for the conference party last year. I felt like I was back at a ’90s-era Wes party. I have two sweet and energetic boys, 9 and 2, who keep me very, very busy. And the biggest update is that I reconnected with a lost love this spring and eloped in August. Lots of good changes! I would love to connect with anyone stopping through Philly!”

Daniel Greene curated a new exhibition, Americans and the Holocaust, which opened in April at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C. to mark its 25th anniversary. He’s also teaching history at Northwestern University and living in Evanston.

Rob Armstrong writes: “My wife, Wylie, and I moved back to Brooklyn this September after five years in London. Still writing about money for the Financial Times. Our twins are 9 and going to Brooklyn New School, which is some kind of hippie commune and a big change from British state schools, uniforms, and so on. Still hang out with Russell Agle all the time. Keen to hear from any other ’95ers in the big city.”

Up in Boston, Jason Wiser made comics for the Boston Globe and Franciscan Children’s Hospital and School to help four kids in longterm care envision themselves as superheroes. The comics and stories about these extraordinary kids can be found at bostonglobe.com.

This year, Jason celebrated the bat and bar mitzvahs of Rebecca Fried Weisberg’s [’97] daughter and Nicole Goldstein’s [’96] son.

Boston was also the site of a recent retirement party for Wes Dean of Admissions, Barbara-Jan Wilson, who specifically remarked upon the class of ’95 (her first class admitted at Wes). Katy McNeill, Jen Levine-Fried, Brendan Coughlin, Karsten Cash, and Amy Casher were some of the ’95ers at the event. Amy writes: “We represented our class and reminisced about our singing group connections (in Onomatopoeia and Ebony Singers) and work memories (Brendan and I were both hired by a small consulting start-up called Mainspring, after finishing our MBAs at Yale one year apart, and were acquired into IBM as part of their Strategy & Change group way back in 2001). What a treat to have the opportunity to catch up after all these years.”

Personally, Amy has been designing and making jewelry out of her studio in the SoWa Art + Design District for the past 10 years, living in Concord with her husband and two kids (ages 6 and 4), and recently traveled to San Francisco to link up with Foss 9 hallmates Davina Baum and Alissa Van Nort.

Thanks all of you for writing—keep on keepin’ us up to date!

Bo Bell | bobell.forreal@gmail.com 

Katy McNeill | mcneill40@gmail.com

Hello from Chicago! The summer flew by and school has started for my twin girls, Sarah and Norah, who are in fourth grade! I continue to practice law at Nixon Peabody LLP in Chicago. Just last week, Peter Chandler came to an event hosted by my firm in D.C. at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. It was a gorgeous locale and it was great to catch up with Peter, who works on Capitol Hill as the chief of staff to Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan. During the summer, Peter traveled to Europe with Lourdes Arista and other friends and said they had a fabulous time.

Robin Shane has been appointed to a full-time, tenure-track position as an assistant professor of theater at Rider University. Robin will be joining the faculty as the costume designer professor, teaching classes, designing shows, and running the costume shop. Her daughters, Cecily and Miranda, are now in ninth and sixth grade, respectively, and doing great.

Matt Solomon is practicing law in D.C., where he lives with his wife and two kids, and is still in close touch with Jon Liebson ’92, Gideon Stein, and Sul Lunat.

Jessica Sharzer wrote the movie, A Simple Favor, directed by Paul Feig that opened in theaters in September.

Jessica is also writing for the Apple reboot of Amazing Stories and raising her kids, Dante, 11, and Sasha, 8, in Los Angeles.

James Longley premiered a new feature documentary film at Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF! The movie is called Angels Are Made of Light, and it’s set in a school in Kabul. He spent three years in Afghanistan filming it.

Kika Stump has a new job in the office of institutional research at Bates College.

Karen Gaffney has been an English professor at Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey for 15 years. She published an accessible introduction to race and racism with tools for action called Dismantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox (Routledge, 2018).

Sasha Chanoff lives in Somerville, Mass., with his wife, Marni, and their two children, Hayden, 10, and Lailah, 8. RefugePoint, the organization he started in 2005 to find solutions for the most at-risk refugees, is growing. RefugePoint has main offices in Cambridge, Mass., Nairobi, and Geneva, and staff in about 25 countries around the world.

Matt Fraser has taught and studied languages and written books on education. His latest book, Critical Infrastructure for Children: The Astonishing Potential of New England Schools, asks and answers 165 questions on education.

Charlotte Castillo celebrated her 13th year working at Viacom Media Networks . . . and her first year in a new role as SVP, global franchise planning. Her role takes her around the world, where she sometimes bumps into fellow Wes folks! This summer, Charlotte had a fabulous girls’ trip to Grenada with Patria Rodriguez ’93, Cynthia Centeno ’93, and Lisette Nieves ’92.

Kate Gordon joined the firm Ridge-Lane Limited Partners as a partner in the sustainability practice. She is working on finishing a book on climate risk and “just transition” for communities dependent on fossil fuel extraction—coming out sometime in 2019 from Columbia University Press. Kate writes that her kids keep getting older—Julia started middle school this year and Jacob is in second grade.

This year is our 25th Reunion and I hope to see a lot of our classmates! In the meantime, please continue to send in updates, and if anyone finds themselves in Chicago, get in touch!

Samera Syeda Ludwig | ssludwig@nixonpeabody.com

Caissa Powell | cdp2000@hotmail.com 

Hi, classmates. We have some exciting news in this edition of the class notes. We have a graduation, a few publications, and general updates. Please keep sharing your news with us!

In May, Ethan Fenn graduated from Harvard Extension School with an A.L.M. in teaching mathematics.

Hadley Gustafson writes in, “Aloha and joyous greetings to all. I’m enjoying celebrating life and health in Hawaii. I manage my own photography, video, and design business in Honolulu. Recent projects of interest include photographing the fiery caldera on Big Island (mere weeks before the disastrous eruptions began), photo-documenting the sustainable agriculture (decolonializing and reindigenous) convergence for the University of Hawaii’s Sustainability Department, full-page photographs published in Yoga Hawaii Magazine, and documenting a Lifetime Vitality Award ceremony for original Hawaii 5-0 cast member, Al Harington. I also manage design and marketing communications for a delicious gluten-free bakery, and love dancing, music, and spending time with my family, friends, pet birds, and nature, especially the ocean and mountain-forest. In kuleana, hadleyg23@gmail.com.

Dina Kaplan writes, “Hi, Wes folk! I loved seeing everyone at Reunion, which was so, so amazing. I’m now hosting curated meditation retreats—yes, determined to make meditation social and fun. Let me know if you’re interested in joining and a big hug to the whole class!”

Andy Nordvall published an illustrated fantasy novel, Siren’s Song, and a web comic, My Roommate the Internet, which has over 10k followers. Andy is working on Smuggler’s Cove, which will be published in 2019.

Tim Olevsky e-mails, “What a great time at Reunion catching up with old friends, meeting new friends, and being amazed at all the great things the current students are doing. Wish we had Taiko drumming when we were there! Especially great to see my old debate partner, Kara McCarthy, and reminisce about the time we beat Ted Cruz.”

SuZanna Henshon | suzannahenshon@yahoo.com 

Sarah Estow | sarah_estow@hotmail.com

Greeting and salutations, Class of 1992. I begin these notes with some very sad news. Jim Kamm died suddenly on June 21. Many of our classmates wrote in to say how much they miss Jim, and we all do.

It’s just entering the fall months in Cambridge as I write this. Hope everyone had a great summer. I spent my summer vacation working at Facebook in Menlo Park, Calif., as a consultant on the newsfeed integrity team, working on undisclosable project, and eating lots of snacks. I spent a couple weeks of my time there staying with my undergrad advisors, Martha Crenshaw (who teaches at Stanford now) and Richard Boyd (who mainly golfs but takes time out to make a mean chili). It was great to see them.

While out west, I also saw Laura Hill and Marc Kuney ’91, as well as Sarah Tunik and her husband, Dan Oppenheimer ’89, who happened to be my frosh year biology TA. It was great catching up with everyone.

Also, on the West Coast is my old housemate, Simon Fulford. After a year of being employed by the State of Oregon, Simon realized that 26 years in the nonprofit sector was hard to shake. He was appointed executive director of Parrott Creek Child and Family Services in Oregon City, Ore., on Oct. 1.

Simon, Jonathan Pratt, and I had a fun weekend in Napa, Calif., in late June during my West Coast swing. Simon wrote, “The less said about that, the better!” Speaking of Jonathan, he’s back stateside after stints in Pakistan and China, working as the chief of staff to Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale.

Maurice Harris is living in Glenside, Pa., near Philly, working as associate director of affiliate support at Reconstructing Judaism, along with his wife Melissa Crabbe, and their children, Clarice (18) and Hunter (17). He is finishing up his third book, about a rabbi who lived close to 1,900 years ago named Joshua ben Hananiah and the ways in which he influenced Judaism.

Tamara O’Neil has entered a new phase of life, retiring from the Navy! Having moved in 2012 to Cabin John, Md., she took some time off to attend a women’s yoga and surf camp in Bali before accepting a job with the U.S. Postal Service as an ethics lawyer.

Teresa Van Hoy is now a professor of history at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. This past March, she launched at St. Mary’s University and Crystal City, Texas, a “Year of Remembrance,” focusing press and public attention on German-American internment during WWII. You can learn more about it here at tpr.org.

Jonathan Liebson was excited to see Joe Romano on a recent visit to Chicago. Jonathan lives in Brooklyn and regularly sees John Melnick (and kids), Rich Benjamin ’93, and Matt Solomon ’94, who lives in D.C. His writing has recently appeared in The Washington Post Book World, the Texas Observer, and Chicago Review of Books.

Cati Coe has a new book coming out in 2019 with NYU press, The New American Servitude: Political Belonging Among African Immigrant Home Care Workers.

Chris Chesak consults in the travel industry and is a travel writer.

And in closing, Byron King has issued a declaration, “I challenge our classmates on the East Coast (everywhere, actually) to do better with updates and with reaching out between Reunions. Get to it!”

Hear, hear! Paul and I would love to get your news!

Adam Berinsky | berinsky@mit.edu 

Paul Coviello | coviellop01@alum.darden.edu

In September, Sam Schneider launched the #CrossWithClams campaign, with graphics provided by Jamie Treworgy. While the hashtag never trended, the effort made a difference, and all are relieved to see the university abandon the rebranding of the logo.

Dan Mackta joined Qobuz as managing director. Qobuz, a Paris-based high-res music service with the reputation of great selection and high sound quality, launches in the U.S. in late 2018.

Brett Hardin serves as the head of the high school at Paideia School in Atlanta. His wife also works at the school as parent education coordinator and all three of their children attend the school (Alejandra, 12th, Carolina, seventh, and Russell, fifth), making it quite the family affair. Traditionally, Paideia has always had a strong link to Wesleyan and four graduates are current students.

Rajal Cohen writes with plenty to celebrate: she received tenure and is now an associate professor in the department of psychology and communication studies at the University of Idaho; and after 11 years with her partner, they married in 2017, just two years after marriage equality arrived in Idaho.

Rajal has also returned to backpacking, after a 30-year hiatus! In 2017 she explored the Seven Devils Mountains in the Hells Canyon Recreation Area, and this past summer, it was a trip to the Eagle Cap Wilderness in the Wallowa Mountains. “Scrambling up the Oregon Matterhorn was challenging—and coming down was harder—but it was worth it!”

Dana and Jeremy Sacks joined Nicki and Jim Miller on a trip to Glacier National Park, along with travel back to Portland via the Empire Builder. Jeremy reports, “There were still some glaciers to see.”

On July 14, 2018, in Brooklyn, Julia Fischer and Vincent Collazo married in the company of family and friends. “It was a wonderful, magical wedding, and we took a honeymoon to Croatia in August.”

George Irvine earned a PhD in urban affairs and public policy from the University of Delaware in May. “It is possible to work full-time, have a family, coach Little League baseball, and earn a PhD—though in hindsight I have no idea how I did it. My Wesleyan liberal arts education really helped me with the PhD’s epistemology seminar. It pays to know Dewey, Weber, Kant, and Hegel when you’re debating how we know what we know.”

Now living in Nashua, N.H., Michael Reinke runs the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter and spends time exploring his New England roots.

After a brief stint in Montréal with his family, Spencer “Kip” Boyer is back in D.C. with affiliations at the Brookings Institution, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy & Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania, and the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Look for Jeremy Arnold’s new book, Christmas in the Movies: 30 Classics to Celebrate the Season, published by Running Press and Turner Classic Movies. He also contributed to The Call of the Heart: John M. Stahl and Hollywood Melodrama, which traces the career of classic director John Stahl. Some of his recent commentary tracks can be heard on the Blu-rays of Raw Deal (1948), You Only Live Once (1937), and Ride Lonesome (1959). Look for him on TCM in December as a guest host, introducing Christmas movies with Ben Mankiewicz.

And more news in the world of books: Andrew Junker’s book, Making Activists in Global China, will be published by Cambridge University Press in February. Andy moved to Hong Kong in last January to take on the role of the Hong Kong director of the Yale-China Association.

I’m managing in the chaos of D.C., helped by taking time in other locations. In August, Andy and I spent a week exploring Odessa, and were joined by Maria Floyd Cohen and her sons on an amazing trip through history. From Odessa, I traveled to Warsaw, Poland, and presented at the International Association of Jewish Genealogists. When not wearing out another pair of shoes marching in protest, I continue to provide research to a variety of clients as they explore their families’ pasts.

Renée K. Carl | rcarl@wesleyan.edu

I’ve noticed a correlation between turning 50 and prolific writing. Lots of news this time around so heavy editing was required.

Victor Khodadad, is the cofounder of New Camerata Opera that just finished an extremely successful second season. The company’s seven co-founders (all active singers) make all decisions democratically and share all duties. The organization has three branches: NCO, for main stage productions; Camerata Piccola, for children’s operas; and CamerataWorks, for in-house video productions that include The Ives Project, which will be releasing videos of Charles Ives’ art songs on YouTube. Wesleyan Professor of Music Neely Bruce played on the recording of nine Charles Ives songs. Victor gave a Tedx Talk on innovation in the arts in December 2016.

Laurel Stegina is living in Deep River, Conn., and has been working at a planning consulting firm for almost 15 years. Laurel wears several hats, including environmental planner and senior project manager, specializing in NEPA and permitting. Laurel was promoted to assistant director of operations, with a focus on professional development of staff, mentoring, and career coaching. As an owner, she is involved with strategic planning and governance issues. “Although no longer part of the ’monkey wrench gang,’ I remain passionate about environmental and social justice issues.”

After 13 years working for Framingham, Mass., public schools as a counselor (with Sarah Guernsey ’92, Gina Capodilupo ’03, and Cora Jeyadame ’96), Tim Hintz started with Brookline Public Schools this fall. Tim celebrated turning 50 with some local friends, including Amy Robins and Denise Casper. Tim has been cleaning out his childhood home near Chicago, where he had dinner with Andy Griffin, his wife, Catherine, and their daughters, Lulu and Meg. He “found some true treasures, including the Wesleyan pencils given to me by Andrea Morse ’89 when I was accepted (they still work) and an original Wes sweatshirt with the tags from Atticus still on (still fits!).” Tim discovered that his 8th grade diploma was signed by the class of ’55 secretary, Donald Braverman ’55. Tim has twin 15-year-old sons and a 10-year-old daughter.

Persis Howe moved from “dark and cold London to sunny California” to work for the City of San Francisco on their digital services. “My kids love Berkeley, especially having green, blue, and purple hair, and no school uniforms” and Persis is “enjoying not being the loud American always. I’ve already managed to meet a few Wes folks in the Bay Area, but would love to find more! On the downside, my husband is not enjoying the constant changes to U.S. immigration rules.”

Peter Gravin writes, “I know many of us, including me, are celebrating our 50th birthdays this year. Yikes. So, I asked myself, what’s the best way to avoid entering into a mid-life crisis? A baby!” Peter and his wife, Ramona, welcomed Arlo Benjamin Gravin in January and “couldn’t be more pleased with him.” Peter has already been asked (including by an OR doctor!) if Arlo is his grandson, and is “prepared for a sharp increase in those questions as he gets older. It’s totally worth it, though.” Peter is finding parenthood a “great way to keep feeling young and energetic!” He sends congratulations to Kok Chong, who also had a baby last year, and asks if there are any other new parents among us.

On the subject of parents/grandparents, Jeffrey Needelman wrote on his 50th birthday to share the birth of his second grandchild, Nola Afia Asantiwaa Ansuh. Jeffrey reminded me that when his grandson was born over two years ago, I commented that he was the first grandparent I knew of in our class. That’s still the case, but here’s my official request for any other grandparents to please come forward.

Finally, Dr. Debbie Gahr writes about NYC alumni celebrating collective 50th birthdays at her place. Despite their advanced ages, they had a fabulous time! The strong Gingerbread showing included Debbie, Schuyler Allen-Kalb, Nina Grekin, Ed Brown, and Kate Hardin. “To make it a Gingerbread coast-to-coast celebration we FaceTimed Todd Thorner in California (Eric Greene, we need your number!).”

Debbie loved catching up with Carolyn Clark and Dave Patterson, Iriss Shimony, Andrew Siff, Susan Wong, Stephanie Donohue Pilla, Eugenie Kim, and Kati Koerner. There were guest appearances from nearby classes, including Elaine Perlman ’89 and her husband Len Bernstein, Lauren Levy ’91, Marni Pedorella ’91, Melissa Sobel ’91, Becky Rumayor ’91, Lilli Link ’89 and Jay Rosenberg ’83, Mike Santoli ’92, Ellen Friedman Bender ’82 and Sam Bender ’82, and Melissa Resnick P’20 who brought her daughter, Emily Koh ’20.

Debbie’s three children, Rebecca (16), David (13), and Ricky (10), “are all super happy and enjoying their respective tap dance, tennis, and baseball endeavors.” Debbie “appreciated hearing from all the folks who almost made it to this shindig and sent their good wishes.” Debbie’s husband, Roy Pomerantz, enjoyed the party too. Debbie is trying to get him to admit that Wesleyan is way cooler than Columbia.

Vanessa Montag Brosgol | vanessa.brosgol@yahoo.com

Hi all. I hope everyone has been enjoying the summer. Here’s what we have:

I’ve started to lose count, but our class certainly seems to have a growing number of Wes parents in our midst. Joining the club are Alexis Neaman Roberts and Chris Roberts ’89 who are very excited that they will be on campus more frequently for the next four years—visiting their daughter Beatrix ’22!

It was also great to hear from Ruben “Bengy” Ballesteros, who remains a staff attorney at Legal Aid in the Baltimore area, specializing in juvenile and foster care cases. Joy Challenger Slaughter moved to Alexandria, Va., and would love to connect with some Wesfolk soon!

Writing to our class notes for the first time is Graham Guest, who has a bunch of great news. First, in 2016, Graham’s philosophical novel, Winter Park, was published by Atmosphere Press. Second, in 2017, Moses Guest, Graham’s band, put out its seventh album, Light. Finally, in 2018, Definition, a work of Graham’s in the philosophy of lexicology, was published by Floating Records Press.

Carol Booth was awarded the Helen Diller Family Award for Excellence in Jewish Education in their Informal Education category.

Carol help started the Jewish Baby Network in the San Francisco Bay Area. The award is for her work with Jewish Baby Network. The award includes $2,500 for Jewish Baby Network and $10,000 for Carol. “The goal of Jewish Baby Network is to bring together Jewish community organizations and funders to create programs for parents with babies and toddlers. The focus is on community building and connection. We add over 100 member families each year and now have two chapters in the Bay Area, and we will add one more chapter in 2019. The award is very exciting for me personally and also for Jewish Baby Network. It recognizes the need for Jewish organizations to create supportive programs for families with babies and toddlers. I love the work, especially since I get to hold and play with lots of babies!”

Carol’s son, Josh, is still enjoying Seattle, and her daughter, Naomi, just finished her first year at Barnard College. Her youngest is finishing her junior year of high school. “I am trying to convince her to apply to Wes, but we will see.” David Booth ’91 is the rabbi at Congregation Kol Emeth in Palo Alto. “The congregation is in the middle of rebuilding its entire facility, so currently the synagogue site is a large hole in the ground. The new building should be completed by January. In the meantime, we are truly wandering Jews having services and events all over the community. We leave soon for a four-week vacation to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, which I think will be enough adventures to last us through the year!”

Kate Hardin, in Boston, has taken on a new focus at work, leading a couple of projects on low-carbon transportation, looking specifically at the impact of electric vehicles and ride hailing on global oil demand. Kate and her family are gearing up for summer with their 13-year-old headed to camp in western Massachusetts for a month, and their 10-year-old taking sailing lessons on the Charles. Kate has been in touch with Debbie Gahr, whom she saw when she was in New York recently to see Dear Evan Hanson. “I also wanted to say thanks to Wes for the excellent article in the alumni mag on the book, Blood Sugar—it’s on the reading list!”

Finally, we have Mark Cooper as another first-time class notes contributor. Mark is a professor at the University of South Carolina, and has a new coauthored book coming out in August that might interest folks: Media U: How the Need to Win Audiences Has Shaped Higher Education (Columbia UP). Mark and his coauthor, John Marx, also blog about higher education issues at coopermarx.net.

That’s all for now. Please send news for the next issue!

Vanessa Montag Brosgol | vanessa.brosgol@yahoo.com

 

Well, it’s hard to believe another Reunion has come and gone! We had a great turnout and I’ll just go ahead and speak for everyone . . . a super fun time. Hope to see even more of you at the next one! Here are the latest updates from some of our classmates:

Diego von Vacano writes, “I just saw Pete O’Brien in Kiev, where he’s been living for almost 20 years working in the wind energy sector. I am teaching at Yale this year in political science.”

Paul Arberman writes, “After 20 years living in Israel, my wife and I, with three kids in tow, moved to the U.S. I found a rabbinical position at Temple Beth David in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Never expected to live in Florida, but I’m enjoying the work, warm weather, and the chance to vote here in the next elections. Love reading the notes on classmates and happy to hear from anyone in the South Florida area!”

Dana Wishengrad is happily never married, living with her 17-year-old daughter and (editor’s note: wicked cute!) dog in New Jersey, and finding a cure to cancer.

Also curing cancer, Jessica Kirshner writes, “I live in NYC with my husband, Dan Sommers, and our two kids: 7-year-old daughter, Rebecca, and 5-year-old son, Evan. I have been leading a team of scientists at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals developing cancer therapies for over 10 years. We love living in NYC, but I miss my friends Bay Area friends, Darcie Luce and Danielle Mahones, and Elisa Freeling in London.”

Susan Chun had a great time at the 25th Reunion. She brought her 8-year-old son to experience campus, as her wonderful time at Wesleyan will be a part of their ongoing conversations about education, opportunities, and choices. She said it was great to chat with all that she could—and to any and all, keep in touch (susan.chun@gmail.com).

Kirsten Cole writes, “I live in Brooklyn with my spouse, David, and our two kids, Max and Zeke. I’m a professor of early childhood education at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, which, most days, is my dream job. We’re active at Brooklyn Quaker Meeting where we see Morgan Harting and his family. We also see a lot of Jesse Hendrich ’94 as our kids attend the same beloved public school. Finally, though our street in Crown Heights is only one block long, it includes several Wes grads, including our immediate neighbor, Charlotte Hunter ’85 and, until recently, Doris Barry ’84 across the street.”

John Michael Sakalowsky is still racing bikes and writing, living in Newton, Mass., with his wife, son, dog, and many, many bikes. He is the VP of product and design at a Cambridge, Mass., life-science tech startup. He reports that people are always a bit surprised that he majored in English and French literature at Wesleyan.

Andrew Hazlett (andrew.hazlett@gmail.com) writes, “I live in Baltimore with my wife, Geetanjali Chander, who works on HIV and substance use interventions as a physician-researcher at Johns Hopkins. Our daughter Piya (11) is a voracious reader of books, a feminist, and an avid consumer of political news. Wesleyan ’29? After Wesleyan I worked for the Manhattan Institute, a free market think tank in New York, and at the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington. Since then, I’ve been a stay-at-home dad and I’ve worked in the nonprofit and social innovation community in Baltimore. I just finished my MFA in creative nonfiction at Goucher College. Now I’m at a crossroads. What I learned and experienced at Wesleyan has framed and influenced my whole life. If you ever want to talk, about our frosh year in particular, send me an e-mail. I’m finally writing about it.”

I’m sorry to have to report the death of Jon-Sam Frank this past September. Sam was a resident of Bay Shore, N.Y., at the time of passing. I know he is greatly missed by his friends and family.

SuZanna Henshon | suzannahenshon@yahoo.com 

Sarah Estow | sarah_estow@hotmail.com

Hello from Rahway, N.J. After 11 years, Rahway still sounds weird to this native New Yorker. I work in Tribeca, so my daily commute is sometimes a reminder of why I left the city but still gives me ample opportunity to visit and immerse myself in diverse culture. After 18 years in legal and compliance, I decided to return to school and work towards my masters’ in adult education.

Aram Sinnreich has been elected chair of the communication studies division at American University, and his third book, A People’s Guide to Intellectual Property, will be published by Yale Press in early 2019.

Sondra Youdelman is based in NYC, and has left Community Voices Heard (cvhaction.org) after 16 years to spend the last year fighting back against Trump with the Peoples Climate Movement (peoplesclimate.org). She’s now settling in to a new role at People’s Action (peoplesaction.org) working to build the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas, to win change through issue campaigns and elections.

Sigrid Schmalzer and Winston Close ’89 live with their two kids, Ferdinand, 10, and Winston “Narri” Anarres, 5, in Northampton, Mass. Winston has taken up barefoot running and creates websites for antiwar, prison-abolition, and other noble causes; Sigrid is active in the resurgence of Science for the People and has published her first children’s book, Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean: Remembering Chinese Scientist Pu Zhelong’s Work for Sustainable Farming.

Tonya Ward Singer is traveling around the U.S. and Canada helping educators break down barriers to equal opportunity and elevate language and literacy learning in K-12 schools. Connect with Tonya at tonyasinger.com and check out her new book, EL Excellence Every Day: The Flip-to Guide to Differentiate Academic Literacy. The book is dedicated to a family in Mexico City that she has not seen since 1993; however, she is bringing her family to Mexico City to meet them soon. She plans to surprise the family with the dedication and gift them the book. Since learning that her New England ancestors were enslavers, she’s been on a path to unpack American history of white privilege and white silence via her own family tree.

George Chang has relocated, along with his wife and two kids, from New York to San Francisco to join Voleon Capital Management as general counsel and chief compliance officer. Voleon is a technology and investment firm that uses machine learning techniques to generate investment forecasts. He’s looking forward to getting to know Wes alumni in the area.

Jesse Hendrich practices psychotherapy and has opened a new office in midtown Manhattan. As a community organizer, he has been working on issues of traffic and street safety, affordable housing, and public education reform in his neighborhood of Prospect Heights, Brooklyn (with neighbors Scott Dvorin ’00, Christophe Hille ’96, and Carolyn Cryer ’01). He spends time with Mark Ladov, who lives in the neighborhood and works for the New York state attorney general’s office, and Aaron Passell, who is a professor of urban studies at both Barnard and Columbia. He sees Nicole Davis quite a bit, as she is also a psychotherapist, who practices in Manhattan and Kirsten Cole ’93 as their children go to school together. He and Kirsten do a lot of volunteer and community organizing work together. He also writes that Scott Rosenberg and his wife just had their first child; and Jonah Ross is studying to be a psychotherapist.

Samera Syeda Ludwig | ssludwig@nixonpeabody.com

Caissa Powell | cdp2000@hotmail.com 

 

Katy writes for this issue: I’m very glad to share news from a nice bunch of our classmates. David Aaron writes: “I graduated in May from the Brown University Executive Master in Cybersecurity program. They gave me a nice award too, the Brown Master’s Award for Professional Excellence.”

Jeanne Bonner writes: “I’m the winner of the 2018 PEN Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature for an Italian novel I’ve begun translating (and hope to publish)—a dream I’ve had since majoring in Italian at Wesleyan! It was an incredible thrill to win the award from such a prestigious organization, which, in addition to supporting the written word, safeguards free speech all over the world. An excerpt of my translation is available at pen.org/from-a-walk-in-the-shadows. I’m teaching Italian at UConn part-time, working as an editor part-time at CNN (where I worked in Atlanta as a contractor before moving—back!—to Connecticut last year), and raising my little boy, Leo, whose curiosity and passion for learning could position him well for the Wes Class of 2034.”

Cheryl Mejia’s ups at the moment are her family life and her job, while the downs are catching up on retirement savings and not bicycling lately. She speaks regularly with Amy Hundley, Lisa McQueen, and Son Tran, the latter who is purported to be moving to Canada in the upcoming year.

Nathalie Pérez-Cino writes: “Even though we’ve lived in Worcester, Mass., for 17 years this is the first time my family vacationed in the Berkshires. Must be the New Yorker in me! Now that our youngest has joined her siblings at Worcester Academy, we are finally on the same school schedule again. Giovanni is 15, Isabella is 13, and Christiana is 11. I still can’t believe we now have two kids in high school! It’s been a great year full of new beginnings and emerging talents for our kids. And, not to be outdone by them, I am learning to play the guitar. Three of us ran our first 5K in May and I am proud to say the youngest, Christiana, bested her parents!”

Carrie Fischer Turner, in NYC, writes: “I’m really psyched to announce that Nite Haus’s second album, Saturation, is being released on June 1! We plan on playing a few shows in the city over the summer, and I am just really proud that I have kept my drive to make music intact as I head into my dotage. I’m still in regular contact with one of my best friends from Wesleyan, Brett Aristegui. He lives outside Pittsburgh with his wife and two daughters.”

Matvei Yankelevich writes: “I’m a founding member of the collectively-run, nonprofit Ugly Duckling Presse (UDP). We’re celebrating 25 years since UDP’s inception as a zine (The Ugly Duckling) at the Russian House at Wesleyan. We publish poetry, translation, essays, performance texts, and books by artists. I teach translation at Columbia University’s MFA and I’m on the writing faculty at the MFA at Bard College. My most recent book of poems, Some Worlds for Dr. Vogt, was published by Black Square Editions. My novella-in-fragments, Boris by the Sea, was republished in a new edition by Octopus Books. I had dinner with Simone White ’93. She’s been the program director for the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church for a while. She’ll be teaching at the University of Pennsylvania next year. We just published her new book of poems and a long essay—Dear Angel of Death—at UDP.”

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

Bo Bell | bobell.forreal@gmail.com 

Katy McNeill | mcneill40@gmail.com