Class Notes | 2000s

The Class of 2007 has been busy making moves—both literally and figuratively. After many years in New York City, I recently traded in a city of 8 million for a small town of 1,900. I’m now living in Cambridge, N.Y. (a stone’s throw from the Vermont border), and welcome any and all visitors!

After two years in Montreal, Kathleen Day and her husband, Karl Otto, are back in Chicago, Kathleen’s home town. The couple has been living in and fixing up the house where Kathleen grew up, while she works as a development associate at an affordable housing development organization. Kathleen says, “Coming back to Chicago was not an easy decision (Québec has such a fantastic quality of life), but I wanted to go back to my roots and make an impact where I know it’s needed. In my professional life I work on the revitalization of neighborhoods through the development of quality affordable housing, and in my community I work with my neighbors on anti-violence and youth development actions.” Kathleen added that she had the pleasure of catching up with Liam McAlpine, Ben Sax, Janine Criscuolo, Mira Wijayanti, Brittany Speisman Kugler, and Alicia Dodds at Liam’s wedding to Sam Gulino in Beacon, N.Y., last fall.

In early June, Nicholaus Norvell rode his bike 545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles over the course of seven days. The ride’s purpose was to raise money for HIV/AIDS services as part of AIDS/Lifecycle. Nicholaus says, “I would love other ’07ers to join me in future years!”

Ian MacLeod recently spent some time with Alex Early and her husband, Alexis. The old friends had a great night out on the town in the Mission District of San Francisco. When he isn’t checking out San Francisco’s hot spots, Ian can be found working as a restoration ecologist for the California Department of Conservation, Office of Mine Reclamation.
This comes as no surprise, but the class of 2007 is one smart bunch. We have multiple graduations to celebrate, as well as a national TV appearance! Jessica Mack just finished an MA in history at Princeton and will be starting dissertation research for her PhD this summer in Mexico City.

Lauren Smith graduated from Berkeley Law and completed a fellowship at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, in the Office of the U.S. Chief Technology Officer.

Michael James (d.b.a. Scout James) is entering his second year in Juilliard’s drama division as an MFA candidate.

If you noticed a familiar face on the television this past winter, you weren’t imagining it. As of January 2015, Will Anderson became a repeat Jeopardy! champion. When he’s not searching for the Daily Double, Anderson serves as a senior policy adviser in Washington, D.C., for a House member from Georgia.

And last but certainly not least, Marlon Bishop won a Peabody Award for his 2014 investigation into gang violence and child migration in Honduras for the NPR program Latino USA. The episode was titled “Gangs, Murder, and Migration in Honduras.”

After nine straight years in New York City, Kevin Lohela and his wife moved to Providence, R.I., to open a school. He is the founding principal of Achievement First Iluminar Mayoral Academy, a public charter school. He’s quite happy to live closer to Isaac Hunnewell and Pat Garrity in Boston. Congratulations to Pat, who received his master’s degree in public policy this past spring from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Jesse Young just started working at the special envoy for climate change at the State Department in D.C., which is the office charged with trying to assemble a global agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions at a U.N. summit this December in Paris.
Gianna Sobol is a television writer; she has contributed to A&E’s The Returned and CBS’s Extant. She currently writes for a new Starz series called Counterpart. Definitely check it out!

Emily Frost and Nicholas Gerry-Bullard are loving life on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. Nick was promoted to manager in Deloitte’s strategy consulting division. Emily is in her third year as a reporter for the online news site DNAinfo, where she helped to launch a monthly newspaper and a new podcast you all should listen to.

Eric Sullivan is still living in New York City and is an associate editor at GQ Magazine. In Feb. 2015, he and Jeff Sharlet won a National Magazine Award for Reporting for a story called “Inside the Iron Closet” about the crackdown on gay culture in Russia.

Tal Beery recently worked as an associate producer on the film The Yes Men Are Revolting. The movie is about The Yes Men, a group that uses satirical performance art to make political statements. The movie played at the IFC Center in New York City in June and July of 2015.

Jose Marantes is living in Orlando, Fla., and works as the membership development director for the Florida Immigrant Coalition. He is a proud father of two toddlers, Sebastian and Dalia. In his free time, he is working on a social enterprise that brings English and Spanish learners into a dynamic community of practice called Fluente! It’s like Zumba, but for language learners.

Fazal Yameen was living in Ireland in early 2015 and working on CabEasy (a taxi-sharing app for college students) with Jon McKinney ’04. They were selected as one of 10 companies to be part of an accelerator run by SOSVentures and Carma Carpooling that focuses on transportation-related initiatives.

Rebecca Lipman graduated from Harvard Law School in May of 2015. She is clerking for a N.J. federal judge. Daniel Dykes also graduated from Harvard Law School in 2014; he works at the law office of Curtis Mallet-Prevost. He’s also still studying languages, now learning Italian.

Julia Kleinman is in Los Angeles, working at Walt Disney in the consumer products department. She recently finished her master’s degree in business administration at the Columbia Business School.

In Aug. 2015, Mike Dacey completed a PhD in philosophy, neuroscience, and psychology at Washington University in St. Louis in the summer of this year. He is now teaching philosophy at Washington University, so feel free to say hi to him and debate Kant.
Karolina Ogrodnik is in her second year as an intern in pediatrics at Baystate Medical Center, part of Tufts University School of Medicine. She is thinking of specializing in pediatric endocrinology.

Sophie Karp and Evan Katin-Borland are still living in Brooklyn and couldn’t be more delighted. In May 2015, Sophie completed her PhD in counseling psychology from Fordham University.

Congratulations to Nate Baumgart who wed Jessica Maclean in July 2015! Wes alum in attendance include Kevin Budner, Rob Weinstock, and Shannon Flaherty. Nate and Jessica are taking a trip around the world starting in December and then moving out of Chicago.

Celia Reddick completed her master’s in international education policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in the spring of this year, and will be continuing in the doctoral program. She recently married Alain Uwumugambi, whom she met while working with Partners In Health in Rwanda. Alain is doing his medical residency at Boston Medical Center. Congrats!

Congratulations to Bettina Schlegel, who married Phil Amidon ’05 in Oct. 2014, and are coming up on their one-year anniversary! Many Wes alum were in attendance, too many to list, but all of them important.

Saad Handoo had the pleasure of getting married to his dream lady, Mariam Qureshi, in Washington D.C., in Aug. 2014. He works in the revenue management group at United Airlines. On your next trip in Chicago, go visit him in the Willis Tower or find him aimlessly wandering the streets of Wicker Park.

Joel M. Bhuiyan married Susie Cheung in Nov. of 2014 and they just had their reception in June of 2015. He is working as the community engagement coordinator at NYC Smoke-Free at Public Health Solutions.

In July 2015, Anna Pinkert married Stef Fisher in Cambridge, Mass. Michelle Atwood ’05 was the maid of honor and Rachel Schreiber ’05 was a bridesmaid. The couple live in Jamaica Plain, Mass., with their cat Tenzing.

On June 27, John Wesley married Liza Cantor in Fayetteville, N.Y. They were elated to celebrate their union the day after the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic marriage equality decision and incorporated the victory into their ceremony. John is a legal aid lawyer in Syracuse and Liza is a fourth-year medical student and aspiring pediatrician. Wes alums in attendance include Willie Gould, Paul Max McElfresh, Craig Thomas, Lydia Blanchard, Dana Taussig and Chloe Safier, Will Leuchter-Mindel ’07, Ben Levinger ’07 and of course John’s father Jack Wesley ’70. John hopes to revive his band “The Band Cover band Band” (which features Willie, Ari Brand, Chris Carmody, Greg Donahue ’07, Jake Lewis ’07, and Jesse Galdston) at the 10th Reunion!

Emily Dreyfuss is expecting her first child with husband Seth Shipman ’05. Baby Dreyfuss Shipman will be born in Oct. 2015, and the family plans to dress him entirely in hand-me-downs from the ’80s, so if you see a tiny breakdancer crawling around campus next Reunion, say hey. Emily is the news and opinion editor at WIRED Magazine, and she has been trying to resist the urge to publish only op-eds about family-leave rights.

On May 17, Ilana Davis Sharpe and her husband Dan Sharpe welcomed a baby boy named Gabriel. Gabriel joins big sister Lorelei and the family couldn’t be happier.

Nina Eichacker and Johann Patlak are planning to stay in the Boston area for at least two more years while Johann finishes his residency at Beth Israel and starts a fellowship in ICU care. They are also celebrating the birth of a baby girl! Her name is Josephine Patlak Eichacker, and she has been making the social rounds, having met Emily Levy, Adina Bricklin, and Emily Jacobs-Palmer already.

Erin Glaser and her husband recently celebrated the first birthday of their daughter Ivy Marian Glaser, who was born July 12, 2014. Erin still coaches volleyball at Hamilton and this past season her team made it to NESCAC playoffs for the first time in program history. Congratulations!

Last April, Nezia Azmi relocated to Honolulu where she now lives with her husband and recently began working as international and special programs coordinator in the Dean’s Office for the College of Education at the University of Hawai‘i-Manoa. Nezia and Paul enjoy days at the beach as well as ridiculously perfect mangoes and papayas on a regular basis.

Retse Johnson-Daniel is living in Atlanta with her husband, Alfred, and 4-year-old daughter, Ania Mari. She works as a special education and science teacher at Dutchtown High School, where she also co-sponsors Sisters of Virtue and coaches the swim team. Retse was awarded Teacher of the Year for the 2014–2015 school year and recently gave birth to her second daughter, Amya Irie, on Feb. 3.

Arcelie Reyes has begun working as a birth and postpartum doula in NYC. Having already helped a lot of parents and their breastfeeding babies as a La Leche League leader, Arcelie is excited to delve deeper into birth work. She and Evan Newell ’02 are looking forward to September, when their daughter, Phoenix, will join her big brother, Kingston, at school.

Rachel Morris was married to Samuel Bruce on May 17th. Many Wesleyan alumni spanning more than a decade of class years were in attendance. The couple continues to reside in New York City.

Geoffrey Hill completed his fellowship in interventional radiology at Thomas Jefferson University in June of 2014. He, his wife and two children moved to Saratoga Springs, where he is working for Adirondack Radiology and developing a new interventional oncology program at Glens Falls Hospital.

Emily Chenette welcomed a baby son, Avelino Hudson, on Aug. 14, 2014. She is still living in the Hartford area and is a social worker.

Jessie Rubin is living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, working at Yahoo on its event marketing team, and was planning to marry her fiancé, Darius Van Arman, in Brooklyn come August, with many Wesleyan friends in attendance.

Alison Criscitiello successfully completed Borderski (an all-women’s winter ski traverse of the Pamirs in Tajikistan)! She headed to the Canadian high Arctic for May to drill ice cores as part of a new project she is the principal investigator on.

Andrew and Betsy Fippinger welcomed their second child, Henry David Fippinger (Wesleyan class of 2037), into the world on June 3, 2015.

John A. Graham accepted a one year position as a post-doctoral associate at the Yale University Institute of Sacred Music. He would love to reconnect with alums in the area!

Dana Goldman lives in her hometown, Atlanta, with her husband and daughter. She started her own psychotherapy private practice this past year, Stone Cottage Counseling, treating kids, teens, and adults.

Rikkia Hunter Ben Yehudah is living in New Haven, Conn. She works at a large nonprofit organization as a clinical director. She is an expressive arts therapist and will receive her license to practice counseling this year. She is married and has three children. She also works with youth and the arts and hopes to develop an organization with her colleagues.

Meghan Kelly (now Kelly-Stallings) works as a policy analyst for the Seattle Public Library. She and her husband, Danny, welcomed their new addition, Amos, on Feb. 22. One of Amos’s favorite baby-sitters is Kristin Kyrka ’04.

Jill Benson lives in Asheville, N.C., and is pursuing a master’s degree in nurse-midwifery at East Carolina University. She and her husband, Brett, just welcomed a new addition to their family, a bouncing baby boy named Miles Rafael.

Ariana Mufson Dazet graduated from Simmons College with her MSW, specializing in perinatal social work, and will be starting off her new career at McLean Psychiatric Hospital. Her son, Desmond, is almost a year old.

This fall, Aaron Paige will begin his second year as a visiting assistant professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Denver.

After 11 years of teaching middle school humanities and developing curriculum, Liz Simmons is a doctoral candidate at Penn in the teaching, learning, and teacher education division.

In early June, 15 ladies gathered in Waterbury Vt., to celebrate Sonya Behnke. Participants included Erin Malone, Melissa Courtemanche, Julie Perlin, Catherine (Rodin) Faulk, Laura Pfeiffenberger, Dr. Sarabeth Broder-Fingert, Emily Berman, Martina McPherson ’04, Bernadette Doykos ’04, Meriel Darzen ’04, Jenna Flateman Posner ’04, Leila Bozorg ’04, and Lynn Leber ’06. They’re all excited to gather again on the Maine Coast in early August for the nuptials.

Matt Kushner and Lauren Edgar Kushner welcomed their first child, Marian Lois Kushner, on June 10th at 2:09 in the afternoon, weighing 7 lbs. and measuring 20 inches. Mom and baby are fine and all are home getting used to the beginnings of family life.

Kate Reder married Nadeem Sheikh on May 9, 2015. Ari Wolfe and Juliet Werner were in Kate’s bridal party. Ari and Peter Wilson-Tobin sang during the ceremony. Other Wesleyan friends were in attendance: Cara Zwerling-Moeller, Rigel Massaro, Joanna Shalleck-Klein ’04, Dan Moger, Jenny Gassman-Pines, Claire Kessler-Bradner, and Alex Krassner ’02. Kate and Nadeem live in London and invite alums passing through to reach out.

Michael Homolka writes, “I am living in New York City and have recently switched careers from book production at Simon & Schuster to the New York City Teaching Fellows program. I have also had a collection of poetry, titled Antiquity, accepted and it is forthcoming in 2016 from Sarabande Books.”

Elizabeth Savage and her husband of nearly five years, Michael Schopf, are expecting their second child in October. They live in Portland, Ore. Elizabeth is an attorney whose practice focuses on civil litigation.

Ben Spatz’s book, What a Body Can Do: Technique as Knowledge, Practice as Research, was published by Routledge in March. The acknowledgments mention Pedro Alejandro, Cheryl Cutler, and Hope Weissman. He and his partner, Michelle Goldsmith, also welcomed their first child that month as well.

Speaking of babies, in addition to her continued success as a NYC wedding photographer, Sarah Tew is building a body of personal work on home birth, so if any of you pregnant New Yorkers out there are interested in participating, check out her website and get in touch.

Again, re: babies: had an awesome stay with a pregnant Mary Robertson in Brooklyn. She and her husband, Josh, were expecting a baby boy in July.

On a still related note, Don Kim and his wife are expecting their first child in December.
Lauren Royce lives in NYC with her husband and two daughters, who are 5 and 7, and continues to love her career as a child and adolescent psychiatrist in private practice.

Being a list person, I appreciated the following dispatch from Raymong Kuo:
“1. My wife and I welcomed our daughter, Layla, our first child.
“2. We moved into our new home in Brooklyn.
“3. I received my Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University.
“4. I started as an assistant professor of political science at the University at Albany, SUNY, but moved earlier this year to Fordham University in the same capacity.
“5. I regularly see Alexandre Su, who also lives in Brooklyn.”

It was great to hear from Josh Kagan. He recently became the director of business development and sales for Clean Fund, a specialty finance company that provides commercial building owners with capital to do energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. “No kids (yet) though have been married for four years almost to the day.”

I also heard from the wonderful Amos Hausman-Rogers, who writes, “I have been traveling and raising money for charity by donating and seeing if people want to match my donation for home-lessness. I raised a fair bit, and think I’m taking the summer off.”

I still remember seeing Sarah Kozinn perform at Wes and being struck by her talent, so I was especially glad to get her news. “My husband and I moved to Los Angeles in 2013 after almost 12 years in NYC,” she writes. “I am a theater professor at Occidental College and just published my first book, Justice Performed: Courtroom TV Shows and the Theaters of Popular Law (Bloomsbury). Last September we multiplied and had a baby! He’s an adorable goofball. Other than that I’m still acting and writing and hanging with Wes folks out here.”

From Sonya Abrams: “I hightailed it to San Francisco immediately upon graduation and haven’t looked back, and I now have three kids under four years old (Most recent addition, Keira, born in February), so my professional pursuits have been temporarily buried under a pile of sippy cups and Pampers, though I still find time to do some freelance event photography for a public affairs forum.”

Rachel Stevens, in western Mass., had an even more memorable blizzard experience than the rest of us sorry New Englanders. “During the January 27 blizzard—luckily only six inches here, my brother in Worcester got 33—we welcomed Lillian Winslow Stevens! She is spoiling us rotten, and loves visitors.”

My dear buddy Ben Stanko has a message, too. “I’ve moved from South Philly to the Mount Airy neighborhood in Philadelphia. My wife, Kim Massare, and our two-and-a-half year-old-son, Theo, are having lots of fun exploring the woods around the Wissahickon Creek. I’ve also recently been promoted to district arborist in the urban forestry division of Philadelphia Parks & Recreation.”

We have a winner for this round’s nonprofit spotlight, wherein I donate to one awesome organization that you nominate. The spotlight goes to Women’s Prison Association, thanks to Samantha Yard. In the fall, Samantha begins a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship in PTSD at the Seattle VA. Her husband, Antoine McNamara, continues his work as a patent litigator, and their daughter, Sophie, is about to start preschool.

Samantha, who conducted her dissertation research with women in jail and prison, added that the Women’s Prison Association (WPA) provides services across various stages of involvement with the criminal justice system, and “they have actual outcome data (a rarity) showing that their programs reduce recidivism, which is why they get my vote.” Join me in donating to the WPA this month at wpaonline.org!

Meanwhile, here in Boston, my boyfriend, Nick, and I eloped and bought a house in the city with a little yard, enabling my intense gardening addiction. We adopted two former street cats that are unbearably cute and ridiculous. I’m still working with incarcerated teens, managing a program that gives them access to lawyers. I’m also on the board of Phinney’s Friends, an all-volunteer nonprofit that helps disabled, low-income people in the Boston area keep their beloved pets by providing assistance with their care: phinneysfriends.org. We’re always looking for volunteers, and many tasks can be done remotely!

Thanks, all. I can hardly believe I’m writing this, but I would love to catch up at our upcoming 15th Reunion. Also, starting with the next issue, Aryn Sperandio will join me in writing the notes. So you’ll be hearing from her, too.

Class of 2000, great to see many of you at the 15th Reunion in May, and we have officially began the journey towards our 20th Reunion! Now on to the news, notes and updates…

Scott Mayerowitz and his wife, Sheri, are excited to announce the arrival of their daughter Leah Paige Mayerowitz. That’s why the family wasn’t able to attend our 15th Reunion but they look forward to seeing everybody for our 20th.

Jason Robinson and his fiancée, Cassandra Flemming, are proud to present Bryce Robinson, born June 7, 2014. Mom and Dad have known each other for 20 years and are happy and blessed to be a family.

Luke Davenport writes “I recently left my job at IBM to start an education consultancy called District Public that helps New York City school leaders use their data more effectively. It’s an exciting change and very rewarding so far.”

Andrea McKnight says “I continue to practice law in southeastern Massachusetts. I’m pleased to announce that for the third consecutive year I was recognized with the Massachusetts Super Lawyer Rising Star award. My practice consists of domestic relations matters and civil litigation—pretty much anything that keeps me in a courtroom!”

Hi, everyone! After a grueling winter, your fellow classmates have been eager to share their latest and greatest news. Hope you enjoy!

After several months of training in DC, Max Krafft is heading off to begin his new career as a diplomat in the Foreign Service with an assignment to the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara, Mexico. He’s looking forward to hosting some visitors during his next two years abroad, and is eager to find out where the State Department will send him next.

Lisa Zweigenhaft and Adam Kirk are getting married on June 20, 2015, in New York. Jennifer Bianculli ’07, Amanda Facelle, Yuri Hoshino, Katie Bofshever, Hailey Sarage, Russ Follansbee, Terence Malangone, Nick Hayes, Jason Ben-Eliyahu, and Field Yates will be in the wedding party.

Matt Patterson writes, “In December I left my job of four years and started traveling in Southeast Asia. I had been running a young craft brewery in San Diego and one of the highlights of these months on the road will be working on a New Zealand hop farm for harvest this March. I will be back in the U.S. visiting friends and figuring out relocation by late summer. See you then!

Tyler Chapin wed Lauren Scheese on Sept. 12, 2014, in Philadelphia. Tyler’s groomsmen included Grayson Connors ’08, Louis Gabel ’08, and Baker Woods. The four lived together in Lowrise E2 in ’06-’07, after meeting on Nic 7 third floor the year prior. Tyler met his wife in Hawaii while vacationing with Grayson during August of ’07. The wedding was a great celebration with food, fun, and plenty of dancing late into the evening.

Aviva Tevah is in Philadelphia at UPenn, getting an MPA at the Fels Institute of Government. This semester she’s a policy intern at the Mayor’s Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity, an agency responsible for organizing and implementing a coordinated approach to reducing poverty in the city.

Jeremy Finch lives in Somerville, Mass., with Stephanie Fungsang ’08. He’s excited to be attending MIT’s Sloan School of Management in the fall.

Jess Eliot Myhre has been exploring intersections of different kinds of American roots music, working full-time as a clarinetist, vocalist, and bassist in DC. She fronts and manages a band, Bumper Jacksons, which will be releasing a new record this summer, Too Big World: An Adventure Story. (You know you went to a liberal arts college when your albums contain colons, eh?)

This January Joe Newman moved to SF with his wife, Allie. He’s a privacy and consumer protection attorney at Electronic Arts, which has been great so far! “Looking forward to meeting up with all my Wes friends in the Bay Area!”

Tressa Eaton is living and writing in Tel Aviv. Drop her a note if you are in the area!

Mike Repplier produces digital video and live streams for ABC News. He also hosts an ABC News/YouTube series focusing on viral content. He ran the New York City Marathon in Nov. 2014, finishing in 3:14:44. He plans to begin training for this year’s marathon… maybe next week.

Graham Immerman is the co-owner and CMO of Olive Natural Beauty, a 100-percent organic skin care line that focuses on the amazing anti-aging benefits of extra virgin olive oil. Learn more about his company on the class notes website!

Anastasia Chiu finished her MS in library and information science in May 2014 and is on the hunt for academic library jobs and residencies. She enjoys the occasional crafting hangout with Annina DeLeo and Linda Shum, and would love to catch up with other Wes folk in the area.

Brittany Delany is living in southern Arizona with her boyfriend and working as a grant writer. In the upcoming months, she will be involved in dance projects in Santa Fe, N.M., with Wesleyan associate professor of dance Pedro Alejandro and Sarah Ashkin ’11. She had a blast connecting with Ginna Curry for a visit in Phoenix.

Saul Carlin heads business strategy for Medium’s publications platform, which helps media startups acquire funding, reach sustainability, and maximize their impact in the world. Life in San Francisco as a coffee sipping, cocktail mixing, vinyl listening, road biking tech yuppie treats him well.

Ari King writes, “I’m exceptionally honored and pleased to announce the third season of Off Campus, an online community and podcast based out of Brooklyn. Off Campus offers interviews, stories, and advice about life in college, getting a job in the ‘real world,’ and how to have a career.” More information about Season 3 can be found on the class notes website!

Alan Ashenfelter is assistant director of admissions at The Rivers School in Weston, Mass., and founded Standout Recruiting Consultants. They provide college counseling and guidance services for student athletes going through the college recruiting process: standoutrecruiting.com. .

Grace Petersen has been living in London for the past year working on business development for Google Glass. She has been learning to appreciate cask-pulled ales, or at least trying to, and using weekends to explore Europe farther afield.

And Shane E. Heckstall writes, “Hi. I finished a book titled, Did You Create a Monster? Available on Amazon starting June 1, 2015, this book is a keen way of ‘looking back to move forward.’ All material personally written and researched by me in a way to answer questions about African-American identity in higher ed and their success. This book comes from within and it makes an easy summer read, a good source of college-level coursework, a gift for a college-bound minority student or a thought-provoking book for educators across the board. If you know me, support me. Remember: June 1, 2015. Did You Create a Monster? Amazon.com! Help me reach 500 books sold and reach out to me on LinkedIn. Thanks.”

Graham Immerman:

Olive Natural Beauty is a 100% natural and organic skin care line that focuses on the amazing anti-aging benefits of extra virgin olive oil. The company was founded by CEO and President Jessica Dupuis (Emerson ’10) in 2009, and is co-owned by Chief Marketing Officer Graham Immerman (Wesleyan ’09).

Olive currently offer 15 piece product line of lip balms, bar soaps, salves and are launching a body lotion and facial skin care line in retailers this month. Olive currently hand-make and manufacture all of their products in the Olive Natural Beauty headquarters & manufacturing facility in Easthampton MA.  We have 25 retailers in 6 states, as well as Canada, and are expanding rapidly. We’ve sold over 130,000 units to date and have some very exciting partnership opportunities lined up for 2015 including:

-Working with Ipsy (the largest cosmetic sampling program in the world)

-Accepted into the Springfield Valley Venture Mentoring Program Spring 2013

-In January, we were accepted into and are currently participating in the the Mass Mutual/Valley Venture Mentors Business Accelerator Program in Springfield, Ma where we work with industry professionals and compete for $250,000 in grants.

Our products contain no parabens, no pesticides, no chemicals, no synthetics or synthetic colors, no sulfates, no silicones, and no genetically modified ingredients. Also, we never use animal tested ingredients, only use recyclable packaging, and support fair-trade. For instance, our Good Trade organic cocoa butter and organic shea butter are fairly traded through the African Fair Trade Council, who’s profits support the empowerment of women in Africa.

Ari King:

I’m exceptionally honored and pleased to announce the third season of Off Campus-an online community and podcast-based out of Brooklyn, NY. Off Campus offers interviews, stories, and advice about life in college, getting a job in the “real world”, and how to have a career.

Season 3 episodes of Off Campus will feature:

Margaret Sullivan-Public Editor of The New York Times, Malik Yoba-Actor on FOX hit show Empire, Kristen Kish, Top Chef Season 10 Winner, Jen Messier & Jonathan Soma- Co-Founders of the Brooklyn Brainery, Ian Harnarine-NYU Tisch Professor, Taylor Pemberton-Creative Director of  Pemberton , Nicholas Woo-Academic Director of Highbridge Voices, Kris Hayes, Proprietor of Easy Plateau Productions.

There has been no marketing budget for the show and I quit my full-time real estate job in Manhattan because I believe in the people and I believe in our mission. We are raising money for Season 4 through kickstarter! Please consider donating to the show so we can hire interns, editors, producers, do more interviews and take Off Campus to the next level. To listen to interviews and learn more, please go to www.thisisoffcampus.org.

To access Season 1 & 2, you may listen through iTunes and to read highlights and bio’s of each episode, please visit www.thisisoffcampus.org.

Thanks to everyone who sent in notes and please keep them coming!

Alejandro Alvarado | ale.alvarado12@gmail.com

The Class of ’08 is making moves!

Amanda Krentzman writes: “I changed jobs and I am now a director of development for Gail Berman’s new studio The Jackal Group. I focus on scripted television development along with unscripted TV development and feature development as well. The Jackal Group is an independent studio that is co-owned by Fox. Gail is known for her work on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Malcolm in the Middle. Additionally Gail was also the president of Fox and the president of Paramount Movie Studios along with the founder of Berman Braun.”

Bex Allen made a career move in joining the YMCA of Metro Chicago as a development associate. Ian Renner went back to business school, and ​is enjoying hanging out there with Emily Malkin. ​Caroline White began an MBA program as well—she is at Simmons School of Management in Boston. She started in 2014.

Ruby Ross writes: “Goodness! It looks like a lot has happened since the last time I wrote into class notes, but so much so that I can’t really recap. So I’ll keep it to this: 2014 brought me lots of travel (to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, a giant cross-country road trip from NOLA to the West Coast and back, and to Iceland to catch the Northern Lights), some time learning from Wes alum and singer-songwriter extraordinaire Dar Williams ’89, as well as many other musical advancements (quit my day job!), and, best of all, a boyfriend-turned-fiancé!”

Brandon Smith sends in his update: “While living in LA for business school, I managed to spend time with a few Wesleyan alums. I have since moved to Berlin on behalf of a venture I created at USC. It’s been a pretty cool experience, albeit there’s a tremendous language barrier. Here is a link to the Marshall Admissions website: marshall.usc.edu/mba/profiles. I was fortunate enough to be included within the MBA profiles (I just wish I didn’t look so sweaty).

Caroline Raclin has an enviable path as well: “I’ve gone further down the humanitarian/disaster relief rabbit hole and am living in the Philippines, running an NGO program that aims to help nearly 50,000 people rebuild their lives after Typhoon Haiyan hit in Dec. 2013. I’ve learned more about proper roof construction and eating of fertilized duck eggs (balut) than I ever wanted to know. Hope all is well with you and the rest of our Wes fam!”

Alicia collen Zeidan | acollen@wesleyan.edu

Calvin Cato | catocals@gmail.com

Todd Stone serves as “guest secretary” this time:

Matt Lewis changed jobs and is now working at a law firm in San Francisco. Outside of work, he spends as much time as possible with his beautiful wife, Jessica, and their son, Jack, almost 2.

Sivan Cotel is patiently waiting while the first barrels of aged gin get their beauty rest at Stonecutter Spirits, which he and his wife founded last year. The first bottles will hit New York and Boston shelves in summer/fall of 2015!

Lodro Rinzler is teaching meditation in NYC and celebrating the launch of his fifth book on the topic this fall, How to Love Yourself (and Sometimes Other People). He visited Dave Delcourt in Boston for a raucous weekend in honor of Dave’s wife being pregnant with their second son.

Andrew Stuerzel and Adriana Rojas ’07 are eagerly awaiting the birth of their second child in mid-May, right before Reunion and Commencement Weekend! Andrew has been working at Wesleyan since 2010, first in the Office of Admission for two years before moving over to University Relations. He and Adriana love living in Middletown and enjoy their close proximity to campus and Main Street. Their daughter, Reese (Class of 2034?), enjoys playing on the Labyrinth behind The Tomb, watching the West African dance class perform in the CFA, and sledding down Foss Hill.

After six years based in Kabul, Aimee Rose moved back to D.C., and is now the monitoring and evaluation practice manager for Checchi Consulting. She’s adjusting to the freedom of walking the streets sans headscarf and wondering why there is suddenly so much kale in America.

Amy Nebenhaus Egolf ’07 and Kevin Egolf are having fun learning how to take care of their newborn daughter, Aurora Lux Egolf, born Jan. 23, 2015. Kevin is also keeping busy running and managing Local Farms Fund, a socially responsible farmland investment fund focusing on early stage farmers that he co-founded in late 2014.

Chris Lake moved from Brooklyn to Northern California and is expecting a baby in early March. Also on the West Coast, living in Los Angeles, is Katie Walsh. She is pursuing her PhD at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She’s also a film critic for The Playlist on Indiewire and the LA Times.

Sarah Weingarten, a staff physical therapist at Rye Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, lives in White Plains, N.Y. She also works part-time at New York Medical College as an adjunct professor teaching cardiopulmonary and orthopedic physical therapy to first-year grad students. Her doctorate work, “Development of Home Educational Materials for Families of Preterm Infants,” is to be published in the next edition of the journal, Neonatal Network. And she’s looking forward to seeing everyone at the 10th Reunion in May!

Corey Gittus, still loving life out in Teton Valley, Idaho, has been enjoying her winter, spending time with her new daughter, Kenna, born on Halloween 2014. Corey has returned to work part-time at the Teton County fire department and is continuing to work on her paramedic license.

Meanwhile, actress Che Landon was named “30 Under 30 Women To Watch” alongside Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood by AfterEllen. She received an Ovation Nomination for her work in The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, as well as critical acclaim for her performance in the feature film Good Mourning Lucille. She was also interviewed and featured in Backstage Magazine for being the CEO and co-founder of The Creative Artists Lab, an organization and production company which bridges the socio-economic gap between artists and career building resources. She starred opposite Rance Howard and Ivan Sergei in the upcoming feature film, Broken Memories, and is slated to start shooting another feature film, Cosmos, starring opposite comedian Drake Bell.

Adam Stone (whom I, Todd Stone, incidentally knew before Wes) is working in TV in NYC. He and his wife, Rachel, Grandpa Andrew Stone ’68, Grandma Merrill Stone P’05-times-two and I enjoy their very smiley 11-month-old son, Ezra.

Adam and I are still performing “Stone and Stone” (the standup comedy duo we created at Wes!) mostly in the NYC area, and sometimes in LA. Recently, we’ve been really excited about a Web series we hosted for truTV, Grown up, grown down.

As for me personally, some exciting news…I live with my parents! We also live in New York City and I really enjoy spending time with them. But my therapist says I should move out, and I think I will soon. What do you think? Tweet your thoughts to @stoneandstone with #ShouldToddMoveOut? Otherwise, in addition to journalism, I’m expanding to advertising, which I’m excited about, and I’m really looking forward to our 10th Reunion!

Also, I’m filling in temporarily for our trusty class notes editor, Marcella Martinez, who just had her first child. Congratulations, Marcella!

Members of the class of 2005 near and far: Come back to campus for our 10th Reunion. It’s going to be a lot of fun!—Todd Stone, writing for:

MARCELLA MARTINEZ | momartinez@wesleyan.edu