Max Slater and his wife, Megan, welcomed boy-girl twins last year in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their older son Levi started pre-kindergarten this fall. Max is working as an administrative law judge, and recently earned a black belt in Shaolin Kung Fu, as well as his CrossFit L1 coaching certification. He is constantly in awe of his wife’s badassery as a civil rights litigator.
Greetings Wesleyan community! Please enjoy the following updates from the Class of 2010:
We have three publications to report!
Rebecca Turkewitz recently published her debut book, a spooky, literary, short story collection titled Here in the Night, with Black Lawrence Press. It’s got dark New England woods, a boarding school murder mystery, queer ladies telling each other ghost stories, and lots of people still awake when they really should be sleeping! https://blacklawrencepress.com/books/here-in-the-night/
Phil Singleton adds, “I published my first novel and made it an audiobook as well! Daybreaker is the story of the titular spaceship as it ‘tows’ the earth to a new star after our sun mysteriously goes supernova.” Phil’s book can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/DAYBREAKER-Book-1-Phil-Singleton-ebook/dp/B0BX4SBBZK/
Carolyn Sinclair-McCalla recently published a children’s book entitled, We Can Walk Around with Everything. It is the Good News of Jesus Christ, penned to help parents and grandparents share their faith with their children, and beautifully illustrated by Kamar Thomas. It is available from Westbow Press, on Amazon, and wherever books are sold.
Shannon Sun-Higginson and Andrew Murphy were thrilled to welcome their daughter, Kira, in March of this year. Kira currently loves eating books, splashing around in the tub, seeing dinos at the museum, and shaking her shaky egg. Kira has loved meeting her aunts and uncles Yulhee Cho ’11, Gabriel Furtado, Samantha Sherman ’09, Tara Kahn Rooks,and Aaron Izakowitz .
Elizabeth Larner changed her last name to Leonard. She adds that she “finally got around to it after getting married more than four years ago.” And in more exciting news, she and her husband welcomed their second son, Adam, in August.
Dan Heinrich Manuyag is currently based in Los Angeles and is fortunate to be still able to build community, travel, and create art with NYC–based Chelsea Rodriguez, Lorena Estrella, and Genesis Grullon through the Reading and Writing Rainbow Collective. This December he celebrated the adult Bar Mitzvah of Miles Tokunow in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mazel tov, Miles!
Lorena Estrella is back in the printshop dusting off old type, slinging ink, and learning the art of letterpress printing. She has also been advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza by making and distributing free posters and stickers, attending local protests, and reading Palestinian poetry. Dan Heinrich has joined Lorena in this effort by attending local rallies and sharing Lorena’s and other alumni’s protest artwork. Dan and Lorena are joined by Lex Horan, Leah Lucid, and Miles in encouraging alumni to move Wesleyan toward divestment from “companies profiting off Israeli occupation and apartheid.” Feel free to reach out to them for further details regarding a circulating alumni petition.
Thanks as always to those who contributed and, as always, feel free to pass along notes anytime to DavidALayne@gmail.com.
Please write to your class secretary.
Lucia Pier lives in Los Angeles. Last fall she was organizing with local groups to advocate for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. She signed the alumni letter calling on Wesleyan to divest from companies that profit off Israel and its ongoing war in Gaza. Other classmates have also signed this petition, including Jessie Spector.
Lauren Goldman writes: “I am finishing law school on December 15, 2023, at City University of New York School of Law.
“I have enjoyed spending time with Aleya Brahmachary, Rashida Richardson, and Adit Shah in New York last fall. Last summer, I studied in London at Queen Mary University of London, where I was lucky to see Caroline Janin, Armando de Moura Palha Filho, and Tara Moore.”
Hello, ’07 classmates! Megan here with a few updates. First of all, I need to give a little shout-out to my co-secretary, Victoria Belyavsky Pinsky. In October, she ran her debut 26.2-mile race at the Wineglass Marathon. Congratulations, Victoria!
In other news, Laura Catana reports that she recently joined the marketing team at Symphonic Distribution where she manages marketing teams across the U.S. and Colombia. She was also invited to join an artist management collective as the artist relations lead and works closely with musicians to develop their musical careers. Although she is always planning her next international adventure, Laura is back stateside and currently based in Brooklyn, New York.
Sarah Elmaleh also has some exciting career updates. She says, “2023 was big for games I’d worked on for years finally releasing: as a voice actor, Hi-Fi Rush, [and] as a voice director, The Lamplighter’s League, Goodbye Volcano High, and more Fortnite. But the biggest project by far has been chairing the Interactive Negotiating Committee at SAG-AFTRA. At the time of writing, we’ve been negotiating with the major game publishers over issues like wages, safety, and AI for over a year—with luck by the time of publishing, we’ll have a deal that protects performers in our space. Best wishes to all my fellow ’07s!”
Nicholas Nauman said, “I have disengaged with Wesleyan in recent years: at our 10-year reunion, I watched President Roth deflect students who were incredulously angry at the University’s decision to override student and staff organizing for divestment from apartheid Israel. This is why I’ve reengaged: the organizing has persisted and we can all take part.”
As always, we are eager for your updates! If you have news (big or small!), please send it to your class secretaries, Megan and Victoria, at the email addresses below. Wishing you all a peaceful and prosperous 2024.
Mel McCrea received an MA in counseling psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is in clinical practice with Sessions Psychotherapy and is accepting new clients in California.
Lorraine Umwiza Githiora says, “I’m expecting my first child in June 2024! That’s the biggest news I can think of. 🙂 . . . . I am in New York, working as a program manager for CUNY. The granny hobbies I picked up as a child continue to bring me solace—jigsaw puzzles, fiber arts, and baking.”
Elena (Won) Kermah says, “I am currently living in Pennsylvania. I have six kids, who are all being homeschooled. My husband is working on his PhD in Hebrew bible. We returned from living in Israel a few years ago and are planning to do international Christian missions in West Africa as our long-term goal.”
Alex Pfeiffer Reynolds “spent a great four days lounging on the beach and eating tacos with Adam Maxwell and his family, [who were] visiting from Steamboat Springs, down in Las Gaviotas, Rosarito, Baja Mexico. We had a great time catching up and shared some laughs about how we first met, living next door to each other on Clark 1 freshman year!”
Psyche Cassandra Dunkhase shares, “I continue my work as a professional cellist and teaching artist in the greater Boulder, Colorado, area, where I stayed after receiving a master’s of music degree in cello performance from the University of Colorado. Three years ago I founded Cellists for Change, a nonprofit that aspires to build a more equitable, inclusive, and connected world by investing in young people while making sustained progress toward paradigm shifts within the classical music sphere. Check us out at www.cellistsforchange.org! I travel to Huehuetenango, Guatemala, on a regular basis to work with Escuela de Cuerdas, a school of music partnered with Cellists for Change, and volunteer with a cleft lip/palate medical mission through Rotary International. When not teaching or performing, I enjoy foraging with my herbalist nurse wife out the backdoor of our high-altitude permaculture home, reading in front of a cozy fire with our two orange kittens, and dreaming up Cellists for Change’s next big project!”
Jesse Young married Michele Viterise at a ceremony near their home in Washington, D.C., on September 23, 2023, where they were joined by their dear Wes friends Katey Rich, Nat Webb, Nicole Weiskopf, Rachel Wertheimer, Hayley Stokar, Dana Raviv, Paul McElfresh, Rae Kaplan ’07, Jessica Chayes ’07, Margaret Dickson ’07, Lauren Smith ’07, as well as Jesse’s brothers, Zach Young ’08 and Ethan Young ’13! And, yes, they all sang the Wes fight song, as well as MGMT’s Kids (the unofficial Wes fight song).
Nina Eichacker and Johann Patlak and their “two daughters (now eight and six!) are keeping on keeping on in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, where we are all loving life in the Ocean State. If you find yourself in those parts, please reach out!” Nina is working as an assistant professor at the University of Rhode Island; Johann is an anesthesiologist working at Rhode Island Hospital.
Sam Han says, “After living in Perth, Australia, I moved to London with my partner, Ruth, in 2022. I continue to teach sociology and media studies, now at Brunel University. My latest book, The Concept of Tragedy: Its Importance for the Social Sciences in Unsettled Times, was published in April by Routledge. When not reading, writing, and teaching, I’ve been walking around the city with Ruth and making photographs in earnest and have been posting quite a bit on my Instagram (@dolo.graphs).”
Naomi Goldenson contributed, “I’ve moved to Montreal to start a job as the director of the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) Regional Information for Society (RIFS) International Project Office. Quite a mouthful, so you start to understand why there are so many acronyms. I’ll miss seeing Sarah Weigle and family around Seattle, but excited to explore and try to catalyze research to inform regional decision-making.”
Ché Landon, who lives in Los Angeles with their wife, Kiki, has been working at Amazon MGM Studios for the past two years as the lead DEIA creative executive for Prime Video U.S. Movies and Sports Original Series. Their purview recently expanded to include EU Local Original Series and Movies. They traveled to London on assignment in January to implement country specific diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across EU content and production slates.
Delilah Lora wrote, “I was promoted to head of Upper School at New York City independent school The Cathedral School of St. John the Divine.”
Lodro Rinzler and his wife, Adreanna, welcomed their daughter, Ruby, into their lives in June 2023. Lodro continues to write books and teach Buddhism from their home in upstate New York.
David Rood-Ojalvo lives in Rockaway Beach, Queens, where he and his partner, Alice Buttrick, were expecting the birth of their first child in January 2024.
Hi, ’04—sincerely appreciate you taking the time to send me some updates for this round of notes.
Stephanie Mandell tells us: “Work and family life in Burbank, California, are going well. I continue to play a ton of ultimate and got to compete in nationals in the grandmaster (e.g., old person) division last summer. This was after a lovely visit out East where I saw Josh Kaye, Megan Ridley-Kaye ’05, and Jon Lashley. Looking forward to our 20th Reunion!”
Adam Hodge says: “I just wrapped up my time serving in the Biden administration as spokesperson for the National Security Council and assistant United States trade representative for Public Affairs. Enjoying a nice break with family before figuring out what’s next!”
Raven Maldonado has been settling into her new home in Yonkers, New York, with husband Charlie Goodman, nine-year-old son, Wesley (Wes for short), and two-year-old daughter, Gabriela. She recently started a new position as global people engagement director at Heifer International and is building a consulting practice in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and organizational development. She recently became an ambassador for her upcoming 20-year Wesleyan reunion and is excited to reconnect with classmates in May. Where has the time gone?!
Additionally, Amy Todd moved recently to Portland, Maine, with her husband and two young kids. She mostly parents, works from home for an environmental research organization, and finds some time for other hobbies like beekeeping and biking. She’d love to connect with other Wes alum in the area.
Nick Vincent is approaching his second anniversary as executive director of the undergraduate career center at Columbia University and is loving life in higher ed. Nick’s son, Leo, is in kindergarten and flourishing in the NYC public school system; validation that taxes are inherently good.
Ashley (Elia) Weller reports she “started a small animal mobile veterinary acupuncture practice two years ago that continues to grow and, she says, has been so rewarding! Also, we are due with our (surprise!) third baby this spring!”
Mark Schindler launched OtterBear Enterprises, an advisory service to help companies navigate the complex landscape of SaaS. Mark offers strategic guidance, organizational design, product development support, as well as innovation and communication improvement strategies. Mark’s goal with OtterBear is to demystify the tech world for successful business leaders stepping into SaaS for the first time, offering them a guiding hand through the complexities of the industry.
Tim Ridout joined the U.S. Navy in January 2022 as an officer. He is currently stationed at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and lives in northern Virginia.
That’s about it for now! As always, if you’ve got class notes, please share them with me at wes04classnotes@gmail.com.
Roberta Pereira was recently appointed the Barbara G. and Lawrence A. Fleischman Executive Director of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, located at Lincoln Center. The library holds one of the world’s most extensive research collections in theater, film, dance, music, and recorded sound, as well as a wide array of circulating and reference materials. Roberta lives in New York City with her six-year-old daughter, Bianca, who also loves going to The New York Public Library and using her Spider-Man library card.
John Graham lives with his wife and three children in Tbilisi, Georgia, where he runs a cultural and hiking travel business. When traveling to Vermont this past summer, he saw Ari Wolfe, Adam Tuck ’05, and Josh Dankoff ’02.
Matt Kushner is currently working on installing Illuminarium Experience’s fourth venue, this time in the Wynn Hotel in Macau, China, after a successful opening of the first international venue in Toronto, Canada, in August. Lauren Kushner (Brown ’04) continues to create interactive animations at the American Museum of Natural History and is preparing for the production of the next planetarium show. Kids, Mimi and Tessa, are doing great in third and first grade respectively. They are both performing in dance and winter showcases at school.
Please write to your class secretary.
