Class Notes | 2000s

I hope that all my fellow Wesleyaners and ’07ers are staying safe and healthy during this trying time. That said, we have a few updates from our class:

Doug Rubenstein is living in New Jersey with his wife and 5-year-old son, and he is expecting a daughter in August! He is working as a recruiter at PayPal and working nights with the NBA in the Replay Center. He also co-founded a business in April called CHIP Professionals, which is a service matching people with financial professionals of color. Finally, he is also a panelist on The Grapevine on YouTube (175k subscribers). He also tries to sleep sometimes, but that comes far and few between.

Karen Oelschlaeger has accepted a position as the dedicated prosecutor for the Windsor County Unit for Special Investigations in Vermont. She has worked in the Windsor County State’s Attorney’s Office since 2016, and this role is a great opportunity to put her Master of Social Work (MSW) to use while collaborating with a multi-disciplinary team to investigate and hold people accountable for crimes against children, sexual assault, and other serious crimes such as human trafficking.

After three great years getting to know the Wesleyan Club in London, Johanna Goetzel is returning stateside in January 2021 with a baby in tow! She looks forward to getting to know the Philly-area alums and other new parents.

Tess Amodeo-Vickery is living in Rome, Italy, and had the strange experience of living the COVID-19 crisis two weeks ahead of her friends back in the U.S. She’s putting her classical civilization major to good work, running  the boutique travel company Clam Tours (clamtours.com), which offers private, educational tours of Rome, Naples, and Florence for curious travelers looking to go off the beaten path and experience Italy like a true local (Tess leads many of these tours herself, along with her Italian husband, Giovanni). She is working on a new album of original music, which is slotted for release in 2021.

Brian Dilks-Brotman finally saw Hamilton! It toured in Philly, and he caught it there back in September. That was, of course, before the pandemic. He and his wife, Jacqueline, are hanging in there, working from home, and going on the occasional walk. He still works as a staff representative for Communications Workers of America, Local 1036, where they represent about 7,000 employees of the state of New Jersey.

Abby Huber is happily working as a freelance translator (German-English, Spanish-English) based out of Providence, R.I., specializing in public health and environment.

Megan Harrington | megan.kretz@gmail.com

Victoria Belyavsky Pinsky | victoriapinsky@gmail.com

Hello, Class of 2006! At the time of this writing, I know we’re all going through various stressors considering the current climate, so I hope these notes will be a good palate cleanser.

Since so many of us are stuck indoors, you should consider picking up some books written by our fellow classmates. Sam Han is the author of (Inter)Facing Death: Life in Global Uncertainty, a work that analyzes the nexus of death and digital culture in the contemporary moment in the context of recent developments in social, cultural, and political theory. The book analyzes diverse phenomena, including the mourning of celebrity deaths and online suicide pacts. Sam currently works as a senior lecturer at the School of the Social Sciences/Anthropology and Sociology at the University of Western Australia in Perth.

For another interesting read, seek out The Race Card: From Gaming Technologies to Model Minorities by Tara Fickle. This work discusses how gaming and game theory has played a role in our understanding of racial identity and marginalization. Tara is an assistant professor of English at the University of Oregon and an affiliated faculty in ethnic studies, the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, and the New Media and Culture Certificate program.

In January 2020, Jesse Young completed his master’s degree in international policy at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C. He works on climate change advocacy at the international nonprofit Oxfam America.

Daniel Dykes is very grateful for family as he quarantines with his parents and his sister’s family in Connecticut. He is working remotely as an investment funds associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s Manhattan office.

Jenevive Nykolak joined the faculty of California State University, Los Angeles, as an assistant professor of modern and contemporary art history this past fall. After a brief stint in San Francisco, she is very happy to be in LA!

Kristy Elliott graduated grad school from Sacred Heart University. She earned her master of education and certification simultaneously and now teaches computer science and technology.

In the fall, Mel McCrea will start work on her master’s degree in counseling psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is open to housing leads, odd jobs, and dating setups (women, nonbinary, and genderqueer) in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Alex Pfeiffer Reynolds successfully manages to stay connected with her classmates. She’s had happy hour Zoom calls with Adam Maxwell in Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Anthony Gray in Minneapolis, Minn.; Mike Walsh in Palm Springs; Morgan Blum in Boston; Matt Smith ’06, MALS ’11 and Reid Jewett Smith in Vermont; and Jordan Funt in Florida. These happy hours have helped them share many laughs and memories.

Alex Altman is celebrating the launch of her private therapy practice, Alex Altman Therapy LLC, in Bethesda, Maryland. Congratulations to Alex as she also celebrates her recent engagement to her fiancé, Nicholas Sherman.

Rachel Berger is living in Brooklyn with her husband, Ari Jankelowitz, and two children, Colin and Sadie. In October 2019, she became the director of nutrition at the NYC Department for the Aging.

Congratulations to Eleanor Rodriguez (formerly Eleanor Conger-Milnes), who had her son, Cosme Jeremias Rodriguez, on April 12. She and her husband, Jesus Rodriguez, are delighted with Cosme, who weighed an impressive 10 pounds, three ounces. She is eternally grateful to Emily Mulqueen, who has been an amazing support into motherhood.

Sophie Karp and Evan Katin-Borland, along with 3-year-old Lucy, welcomed Clara May Borland in January. Despite the current lockdown in Brooklyn, they are grateful to have their health and each other.

Emily Frost and Nick Bullard welcomed Phoebe Frost Bullard into the world in June 2019—perfect timing to join Wesleyan class of 2041 alongside Neva Peck, daughter of Shaine Truscott and Stacy Peck. Shaine currently works for the health care workers union SEIU in Seattle. Emily, Nick, Phoebe, and Phoebe’s older brother Henry (4 years old) moved to Concord, Mass. over the winter. Emily works as a producer for the podcast company Wondery. Nick continues to do strategy work for Deloitte.

Alexandra Loh is happy to have it all! In 2019, she and her husband welcomed baby Evelyn into the world. And in 2020, they purchased a beautiful house that they’ve made into a happy home.

I hope you are all staying safe and sane in these times!

Calvin Cato | catocals@gmail.com

Ben Shestakofsky and Isheh Beck welcomed baby Milo into their family in January. They will be moving to Philadelphia this summer. Ben teaches sociology at Penn, and Isheh will be opening a private practice in clinical psychology.

Cathy Pyenson and Jonathan McKinney ’04 gave birth to Hudson Avery McKinney in April! He has been sporting his Wesleyan onesie thanks to Molly Greenberg, and his first (distanced) visitors included Molly and Ellie Terry.

A week after local shelter-in-place orders went into effect, Alexander Rich became a partner at Carter Momsen PC, a five-attorney law firm located in Mendocino County, Calif. His practice focuses on estate planning and administration, as well as general civil litigation. Alexander has also been mentoring two boys in a program for students who will be the first in their families to go to college. After five years in the program, his boys are now on the verge of graduating from high school, though given the current state of the world, it is hard to say what their experience will be like this fall.

In May, Nathan Victoria became the inaugural executive director and CEO for the Society for Personality Assessment, a nonprofit focused on advancing the theory, research, and applied practice of personality assessment. Many thanks to his Wes colleagues Alexis May, and Amy ’07 and Kevin Egolf for their insight into making this leap outside of higher ed and student affairs!

Maggie and Eli Brown ’04 had their third baby, a boy, in June. They have a 6-year-old son, Sebastian, and a 3-year-old daughter, Simone, already. They live in Nyack, N.Y. Eli is an ER doctor in the local hospital, Nyack Montefiore. Maggie is an assistant principal at a K-2 elementary school in a nearby district. They send their love to all.

Katie Walsh is living and working in Highland Park, Los Angeles, where she is a film critic for the Tribune News Service and LA Times. She contributes to Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone, as well as other publications, and can be heard on KCRW’s Press Play, and on the Maximum Fun podcast, Switchblade Sisters. She also teaches a class, Practices of Writing About Film, at Chapman University in Orange County.

During the hand sanitizer shortage in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, Sivan Cotel ’05, MA ’06 coordinated a coalition of three distilleries, a kombucha company, and the University of Vermont Health Network (of which he is a board trustee) to produce thousands of gallons of hand sanitizer. Working with Vermont Governor Phil Scott’s office, the Health Network was able to distribute sanitizer to hospitals and first responders all around Vermont, New Hampshire, and Northern New York.

Todd and Adam Stone are excited to share that their web series Going Both Ways has received laurels from five different festivals and competitions! They are very proud of them and could not have created Going Both Ways without the support of their network (GoingBothWaysShow.com).

I have to share the sad news that one of our classmates, Andrew Stuerzel, passed away suddenly in April. Andrew worked at Wesleyan for 10 years in various positions in admission, the advancement office, and University Relations. It’s always heartbreaking to hear of a classmate who passed away too soon. Give your loved ones an extra hug today and let us support one another in whatever ways we can.

Marcella Winearls | marcellawinearls@gmail.com

Hi, everyone—We hope this round of class notes finds you safe and healthy during this challenging time. That said, we are happy to hear that ’04 continues to have positive updates to share. Some highlights include:

Ashley Elia Weller is living in Columbus, Ohio, and works part-time as a per diem veterinarian for the past year-and-a-half and loving it. She writes, “Since the pandemic hit, I have become a full-time stay-at-home mom to our 4-year-old and almost 2-year-old as a result of our daycare closing. Quarantine with two young kids has been nothing short of busy! We feel very fortunate to be home and safe and healthy. We are sending love and healthy wishes to all our Wes friends and family all over the country.”

Jessie Silbert tells us that two years ago she moved from New York where she was working as a fashion designer since graduation to Portland, Ore. “I will be receiving my master’s degree in sports product design from the University of Oregon this June (on Zoom)!”

Meanwhile, Michael Aylward tells his: “I’ve been living in San Francisco for almost seven years now, though it’s gone by fast. Working on partnerships at an internet security company (Cloudflare) in an exciting period of growth, and with a lovely culture. And working on climate and energy politics in my own time (as I used to do full-time). Looking forward to being able to see friends and Wes folks when we can all get together again.”

Also sharing some exciting news, Jenna Flateman Posner: “My family and I are still in the Philadelphia area. We just celebrated, on Zoom, the first birthday of our third son Ezra.” The celebration of Ezra is a special one, as Jenna and her wife, Saburah Flateman Posner, call him their “rainbow baby.” He joins his twin brothers, Judah and Levi. Saburah tells us: “Another thing that’s super special about Ezra’s birth is that I carried the twins (genetically mine), but Ezra, on the other hand, came from Jenna’s egg and I had the privilege of carrying him, as well!” Kudos to the happy, growing family!

On the work front, Jenna also tells us: “I’ve just passed the year mark as VP of digital for Snipes (snipesusa.com), a global streetwear company based in Europe expanding quickly to the U.S. While I’m managing a digital practice through this interesting retail climate, I’m also managing a construction crew through a house build. It’s been a rough process, but at least we’re staying busy, safe, and relatively sane through this pandemic. I hope all are well.”

Amy Meyerson was promoted to associate professor at the University of Southern California’s Writing Program. Her new novel, The Imperfects, was published on May 5 by HarperCollins/Park Row Books. She also welcomed her first son in October.

We also heard that Colin Bumby is joining Kramer Levin’s Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity practices as a partner in New York. He’s joining from McGuireWoods LLP, where he was a partner.

We’ve also learned that Florida business law firm, Berger Singerman, is pleased to announce that Andrew Zelman, partner and member of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Team, has been recognized as a 2019 South Florida Business Journal 40 Under 40 award honoree. He was presented with the award at a luncheon last August at Jungle Island in Miami.

That’s about it for this round. Wishing you all the best during this time.

Jenina Nuñez | jenina.nunez@outlook.com

Meeghan Whooley Ward | meeghan.w.ward@gmail.com

Jacob A. Bennett recently earned his PhD in higher education leadership and policy studies from the University of New Hampshire. The next steps are unclear given the uncertainty at most colleges and universities these days, but Jacob and his wife, Charlotte, are happily awaiting the arrival of their third daughter due to join big sisters Eloise (4) and Ruby (2) in September.

George Obulutsa is still going strong in Nairobi, Kenya, where he is working as a journalist for Thomson Reuters News.

Larisa Buck is a hospitalist in San Antonio at UT Health. Her husband, Shannon, is a dermatologist and Mohs surgeon in the U.S. Air Force. Last fall, Larisa finally took Shannon to see Wesleyan, which was fun to see after all these years and was a little different than his alma mater—the United States Air Force Academy! The best part of the trip was catching up with great friends and fellow Wesleyan alumni Christopher and Austin Walsh, Rob Mitchell ’06, and Katy and Robbie Botta ’05.

Christopher Walsh and Austin Horne Walsh welcomed a baby girl, Cora Belle Walsh, on May Day! Cora was born on her late grandfather’s birthday, bringing lots of happiness to everyone amidst the pandemic.

Bayard Templeton is finishing his 17th year of teaching, having spent the last 13 years teaching middle school history and health and wellness, as well as coaching at Germantown Academy in the Philadelphia suburbs. He has served as the head advisor for three different classes as they cycle through the middle school. He was featured as part of the cover story in the spring 2020 issue of Teaching Tolerance magazine about utilizing young adult versions of history texts in middle school classrooms.

John Graham and family are weathering pandemic times in Tbilisi, Georgia. The cultural-tourism sector has collapsed in the short term, so John is focused on promoting unique private tour opportunities in the Caucasus and Ethiopia regions beginning in 2021. Meanwhile, he spends more time with two growing kids and with his academic publishing projects.

Ryan Garbalosa was elected as the chief of medicine for Tuomey Hospital in Sumter, S.C.  He was also named the Best Cardiologist in Sumter County for 2020 in the annual Best of Sumter awards hosted by the Sumter Item, recognizing professionals in the area. He continues to serve as the medical director of the cardiac rehabilitation and echocardiography departments at McLeod Clarendon Hospital.

Amy Tannenbaum Gottlieb | atannenbaum@wesleyan.edu

Hey, everybody! I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe during these challenging times. If there’s a silver lining to the pandemic, it’s that we’re able to share more time with our loved ones and spend more time introspectively looking within. Our collective resolute spirit is inspiring to see.

I recently came across an article that my old hallmate Larrison Campbell wrote in Vanity Fair, where she talks about breaking out her mother’s old Junior League cookbooks during quarantine, discovering a time capsule to the past and a guidepost for the pandemic. And I recently caught up with Jenny He, pre-pandemic, as we attended the Frieze Art Fair in Los Angeles together. This year Jenny moved to Los Angeles and took a position as the exhibitions curator at the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures after being the touring filmmaker and artist for Tim Burton’s international exhibitions for the past 10 years.

Congratulations are in store for a few of our classmates. Rachael Slivka gave birth to her first child on Sept. 14, 2019; she and her husband, Joel Schectman, named their son Ori. They live in Washington, D.C., where Rachael works as an emergency physician at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. And Blake Walsh married Shannon McCabe on Sept. 1, 2019, in Buffalo, N.Y. Joining them for a raucous weekend celebration were Kevin MacDermott, Shawn Lemerise and his wife, Reka Salgunan ’01, Taylor Green and Rachel Peters, John Geehreng and Jen Guarnieri, Adam Cayton-Holland, John Lawler, Padraig Hughes ’03, and Chuck Ptak MALS ’05.

Jocelyn Greene has been creating content around theater games and social-emotional learning for parents and schools through Child’s Play in Action. Jocelyn lives in Brooklyn with her actor husband, Glenn Fleshler, and their 8-year-old son.

Alex Horwitz is tucked in the woods of Upstate New York, where he’s building a big stick house with his two boys. A few months ago, just before lockdown set in, Alex directed a Bon Jovi music video at Abbey Road Studios, featuring no-longer-Prince Harry. It was supposed to be step one of a larger documentary project with the band, but the pandemic put that on the back burner for now. Until then, his family is just hunkered down, staying safe, and getting ready for whatever is next.

And for others, it was time to move on from their jobs:

After a brief—but fun—stint working at an Amazon warehouse, Ryan Akers-Engstrand is a homemaker in David, Calif., with his wife, who is two years away from completing a neurology residency, and their two boys, one of whom is completing his kindergarten residency in June, and the other who is turning 4 in September. Ryan got the chance to have a virtual reunion in April with all of his senior year housemates—Nate Andrade, Chris Lynch, and Pete Rosenblatt. Ryan said, “It was sweet.”

Eric Donelan left the U.S. Department of State and moved to Seoul, Korea, in January with his family. Eric is currently the director of physical security for Coupang, the largest e-commerce company in Korea. They are settling well and “wish the whole Wesleyan community, students and alumni, good health during these trying times.”

I haven’t posted a note about myself in a while—I left the Viacom corporate world working for Paramount Network at the beginning of 2019 and joined forces with former Ryot Film co-founder Bryn Mooser to build XTR, a new documentary studio in LA. In our first year, we produced and co-financed over 20 documentary features, including four films in competition at Sundance 2020 (one of which—Blood Nose, Empty Pockets—was also produced by another Wesleyan alumni producer, Michael Gottwald ’06, one film at SXSW and two films at Tribeca (both festivals were sadly sidelined due to the pandemic). Our SXSW film—You Cannot Kill David Arquette—was picked up by Neon and will be released on VOD (and hopefully theatrically as well, depending upon COVID) in August. We are also about to announce a major sports doc with a huge Michael Jordan-level athlete. In addition, we’re working on several documentary series and podcasts. It’s been really fun building a new business and hopefully, a new brand within the nonfiction space.

Class of 2002, please keep the notes coming!

Justin Lacob | justinlacob@gmail.com

Hello 2001, in the midst of weird and crazy times, class notes must go on.

Woody Fu dropped a quick line to tell us he is in the movie Lucky Grandma. Check out this comedy when you can!

It was so nice to hear from Jennifer Selgrath, who is living in San Francisco and working as a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station. Jenny looks at historical changes in the biodiversity of Monterey Bay and spends a lot of time in that area, too. On the Wesleyan front, she got to catch up with Alexis Brooks when she was visiting from Washington, D.C. She ran into Megan Richards and Celeste Fowles Nguyen at the Wesleyan Hamilton event in San Francisco. On the life adventure front, Jenny has been studying dancehall and traveled to Jamaica for New Year’s to dance with a bunch of artists there, which she admits was pretty rad. Ahh, travel, remember that?

Stay well, everyone, and stay connected no matter what.

Mara Voukydis | maravee@gmail.com

Aryn Sperando | arynsperandio@yahoo.com

Hi, Class of 2009. Some exciting notes to share on your classmates as we enter the new decade:

Bryan Wieland writes: “My wife, Nicole, and I welcomed the newest future Cardinal to our family, Cameron Wieland. He was born Sept. 18.”

Justin LaSelva and Sarah Yost married in Hawaii in December. Wonderful Wesfolk Jeffrey Kaplan and Laura Rubin attended the traditional Hawaiian ceremony, which took place on an off-grid mountainside coffee plantation. Justin, who has been living in Austin since 2011, works in information security at The University of Texas at Austin; Sarah is a senior product marketing manager with National Instruments. The two recently built a house and share it with their adorable Havanese, Seymour. Outside of work, Justin produces a weekly radio show on the cooperatively owned and operated KOOP 91.7 FM.

Annie Paladino began a barbell-coaching business last year. Paladino Strength is body-positive, identity-affirming, and no-nonsense, helping folks of all ages, genders, and sizes become strong and capable. She enjoys working with beginners and those who are new to fitness, as well as anyone who has felt intimidated or unwelcome in traditional fitness spaces. She coaches private sessions and group classes in Seattle, as well as offering online coaching for folks around the world. Find her at paladinostrength.com.

Daphne Schmon writes: “I am approaching my fifth year living in London and will be going into production on my debut narrative feature film this March. The Eye is a very personal project, a psychological thriller co-written with close friend Emily Carlton, and set on the Greek island where my mom is from. This spring will also mark the third edition of our Breaking Through The Lens initiative, connecting female directors to film financiers at the Cannes Film Festival (breakingthroughthelens.com).”

Sofia Warner and Eric Weiskott welcomed their daughter, Lili, into the world in August.

Katie Hanna got married to Will Cerbone on Aug. 17, in Cold Spring, N.Y. Bridesmaids included Madeline Trimble, Lauren Barth, and Joan Bosco. Eyal Bar-David and Jia Yee also attended.

Lastly, former tennis stars Matthew O’Connell and Ania Prenata are teaming up in doubles play versus a new opponent, their daughter Natalie Halina O’Connell, born on Jan. 4, 2020. This match will certainly end with a score of Love-Love.

Thanks for sending in notes and please keep them coming!

Alejandro Alvarado | ale.alvarado12@gmail.com

Since graduating from Wesleyan, Kyra Beckmann has been living in Los Angeles, amassing marketing expertise and enjoying the sunshine. She joined Sephora a year ago as the director of content production and is active in the evolving content landscape.

Lyz Nardo Levy writes, “We are counting down in the Levy household—we will welcome baby girl #2 in early March. My daughter Mila (13 months) will be promoted to the role of Big Sister and my husband, who always dreamed of being surrounded by women, will get his wish (just maybe not the way he intended).”

Kate Krems graduated from George Washington Law in May, gave birth to her second child, Adela, in June, and somehow managed to pass the Bar in July. She works for Zuckerman Law, a small firm specializing in employment and whistleblower law in the D.C.-metro area and takes time to practice and teach yoga when she can.

Emma Komlos-Hrobsky writes, “2019 was a year of wild and weird pleasures in writing for me. In June, with support from the Elizabeth George Foundation, I made a trip to CERN, the international particle research center outside Geneva, to research a novel. It was nothing short of life-changing to see such wonders as the Compact Muon Solenoid that detected the Higgs boson and to interview women particle physicists about their work. In September, The Colony—a performance piece about sisterhood and the eusocial behavior of army ants—premiered at UConn; it was a treat to co-write it with my friend Anna Lindemann and to imagine what an ant aria might sound like. Otherwise, I am living in New York City with my longtime boyfriend Matt and hoping for more particle physics and bugs in 2020.”

Amanda Sim is happy to announce the launch of a new design studio, Working Hard. Working Hard is a design consultancy that creates visual experiences and design solutions with a special focus on taking on projects for social good. In tandem, Working Hard has also created a line of desk organization products—the first product set just went live in January. Check it out at work-work-work.com.

Alicia Collen Zeidan | acollen@wesleyan.edu

Happy New Year, Class of 2007! Megan here to keep you posted on what’s new. Exciting news: Maude Bass-Krueger curated an exhibition in NYC with an accompanying book published by Yale University Press. Maude adds that the book was “designed by the fab Irma Boom to boot!” The expo got rave reviews from Roberta Smith at the New York Times.

Wedding bells continue to ring: Eric Altneau reports that Ben Byers was married to Loretta Douglas on Sept. 1, 2019.

David Scardella and Jaime Wendel are living in Pembroke, Mass., with their two sons Tyler (17-months) and Andrew (3). David owns a dental practice in Duxbury, Mass., and Jaime is a manager of donor relations and events at Crossroads for Kids, a Duxbury nonprofit.

Finally, Jane Charles-Voltaire is a lawyer working with the International Association of Women Judges. She and her husband Paul currently live in Santiago, Chile, and will be moving to Madrid, Spain, this summer.

As always, please keep sending us any and all updates!

Megan Harrington | megan.kretz@gmail.com

Victoria Belyavsky Pinsky | victoriapinsky@gmail.com