Class Notes

Class of 2002! Another year down, only a few more to go until our 15th reunion!

I can personally attest to the fact that I’ve seen rave reviews EVERYWHERE – from the New York Times to Entertainment Weekly – for Una LaMarche’s new book, Like No Other, which was published in April. I’m paraphrasing the description from Amazon.com, but the novel is about what happens to an unlikely pair – a Hasidic good girl and a fun-loving book smart kid – after they get stuck in an elevator when a hurricane strikes. Una’s next book will be a collection of hilarious essays. Congrats!

Freelance writer and editor Cristina Moracho also has a book out. Her debut novel, Althea & Oliver, was published by Viking Press on October 9. According to Amazon.com, “Althea Carter and Oliver McKinley have been best friends since they were six. Now, as their junior year of high school comes to a close, Althea has begun to want something more than just best-friendship. Oliver, for his part, simply wants life to go back to normal, but when he wakes up one morning with no memory of the past three weeks, he can’t deny any longer that something is seriously wrong with him. And then Althea makes the worst bad decision ever, and her relationship with Oliver is shattered. He leaves town for a clinical study in New York, resolving to repair his brain, while she gets into her battered Camry and drives after him, determined to make up for what she’s done.” Cristina lives in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and is working on her second novel.

Also out in New York: Michelle Rabinowitz was promoted to vice president of production for TriBeCa enterprises. She oversaw production of the doc We Could Be King about the merging of two rival high schools in Philly and their first football season as a new team. It aired on ABC and ESPN and is now available on iTunes. Alex Horwitz edited the documentary, Whitey: The United State v. James J. Bulger, which premiered at Sundance and has been getting great reviews since its release. He is currently directing a documentary that will follow Lin-Manuel Miranda as he stages his new musical, Hamilton, which opens at the Public Theater in early 2015. Speaking of Lin, his improvised hip-hop comedy series Freestyle Love Supreme premiered in October on Pivot, in which he stars alongside Bill Sherman and Anthony Veneziale ’98 (who also produces the show).

Didn’t believe this one when Rich sent it to me in the first place but did some research and it’s pretty awesome! Rich Boatti’s, aka Roatti the White Tiger’s street ball video of his complete domination from behind the arc, “Streetballin so Hard M***erf***ers Wanna Find me (for three)” went viral, garnering a combined 2 million views on Youtube and World Star Hip Hop, leading to media coverage on multiple sports publications like Bleacher Report, Deadspin, and Ballislife. Shaquille O’Neal even tweeted that the NBA should “sign him up.”

Lauren Geller Rascoff lives in NYC with her husband, Sam, and their two beautiful children — Jonah (5) and Roselle (2.5). She is an urogynecologist working at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. Jocelyn Greene is delightedly the mother of Nathaniel (age 2) and runs the children’s theater program, Child’s Play NY teaching dramatic play and directing kids in Brooklyn and Manhattan.  And Anthony Rosario is now the Director for the new Brooklyn Initiative Program for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC. He writes, “BBSNYC is looking or mentors for kids in Coney Island and Red Hook.” Anthony has also moved to Bushwick with his partner of two years and they have a puppy named Randy that is their “newest joy.”

 

Congratulations are in order to many of our fellow graduates:

Lexi Keeler and her wife Jenny Jackson welcomed twins Harper Mae Jackson and Will Roscoe Jackson this past January. Per Lexi, “they’re already irritating older brother Emmett, just like younger siblings should.” Lexi is now working at the Seattle chapter of Summer Search, a national youth development organization that helps low-income youth get to and through college.

Sara Miller is happy to report that she gave birth to her first so, Ezra Penn, in April 2014. She, her husband, and new baby have moved to Bucks County, PA.

Ben Goldstein and his wife Cheng Li welcomed their son Malcolm Li Goldstein on April 25th. Ben Allen and Sonya Abrams ’01 attended the Bris. They will be moving cross-country as Ben will be starting as Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Duke University this Fall.

Ryan Akers’ son, Carl Joseph, was born at his home in the early morning of June 14th, 2014. Weighing in at 7lbs. 6oz., he’s a happy and healthy baby who “enjoys milk, naps and a good burp.”

Josh Gleich says “it’s been likely the most eventful summer I’ll ever have.” Between late June and early August, he became a father (his daughter’s name is Violet), a PhD., and a visiting professor of film and television studies at U. of Arizona.

Steve Scribner married Stacy Passmore in April. The wedding was in Austin TX, with fellow ’02 folks Bajir Cannon, John Gordon, Austin Zinsser, and Dina Levi in the wedding party.  Steve said, “we sang the fight song with gusto right after the ceremony, other wesleyanites there included (among others) Conor Gately, Josh Blumenstock, Nate Link, Ryan Huggins, Kathleen Jones, and John Guerry.”  Steve lives in Brooklyn and works for FXFOWLE Architects in the Cultural and Educational studio.

Eric Kushins married to Doreen Lee in April in Savannah, GA. An Duong ’03 served as Eric’s “best friend” in the wedding and provided a grooms-woman speech. While Eric completes his last year in his joint-PhD program in Organization Management and Sociology at Rutgers University, he will be working as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Stetson School of Business and Economics at Mercer University in Macon, GA. In August, Eric and his wife moved from Long Island City, Queens to Atlanta, GA.

Sonja Koppenwallner was excited to place 3rd in the 3k open water swimming at the FINA Masters Swimming World Championships in August. They were held in the Olympic Rowing basin in Montreal.  Reminded her of the good times she had with Wescrew, “except for this time she swam instead of being in a boat.”

And many of us on the move professionally or geographically:

Jesse Lava is now the director of legislative affairs for the Chicago Department of Public Health. Sarabeth Broder-Fingert is now the Assistant Professor in Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine. Rachael Slivka moved to Washington, DC, where she is in a fellowship in Extreme Environmental Medicine through George Washington University (it’s through the department of emergency medicine. Rachel also is engaged to Joel Schectman, a journalist for the Wall Street Journal.  And Rachel Kriger and her husband moved to Philadelphia. She practices acupuncture at The Cedars House. Check out her website at www.pointsofreturn.com.

Lastly, Allison Kennedy lives in Albuquerque and working for the state of New Mexico through the Main Street program, which focuses on the preservation and economic revitalization of historic downtowns.

As for me, as part of my job as Vice President of Original Series at Spike, I spent September in Morocco, overseeing production of our new scripted event series TUT, starring Ben Kingsley, which premieres in summer 2015. I also had a new show premiere this past summer, Hungry Investors, and in September, the fourth season of our #1 hit show Bar Rescue. And personally, I’ve enjoyed the first year of marriage to my wife!

JUSTIN LACOB | justinlacob@gmail.com

Class of 2001, you never disappoint. The rest of the many notes I received are available on Wesconnect and will appear in the next issue, too.Nora Friedman writes the following: “I’ve been teaching violin in Brooklyn for the last 12 years (hard to believe). I’m now the assistant Suzuki violin department head at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and at the Thurnauer School of Music (in Tenafly, N.J.) and teach at the Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, N.J. I’ve been really, really lucky because I love what I do and find it so exciting to be part of shaping so many children’s futures. My dog and I also have a private studio at home and a few slots are opening up for the summer into fall. It would be so fun to work with the children of Wes alum! I start teaching Suzuki method violin at age 3-1/2.”Brenna Cothran lives in New York with wife Jasmine Ma, who is on the faculty of NYU. Brenna writes, “I work as a registrar for an art advisory firm that helps individuals and corporations care for their collections. Our first child, Sammy, is four and just started pre-K, and our baby son Max was born in April.”Aryn Kalson-Sperandio and her husband and kids spent the best August ever visiting family and friends on the East Coast. Now they’re back in western Canada, and back to work and school, which isn’t so bad either.Louisa Michaels is now the finance manager of Carnegie Robotics in Pittsburgh. Son Leon is 4 and thriving.Tracy Manaster writes: “I am thrilled to announce that my debut novel, You Could Be Home By Now, will be published this December by Tyrus Books. It’s set in a luxury retirement community whose regulations prohibit full-time residents under the age of 55. When a struggling resident, underwater on her mortgage and unable to relocate due to the nation’s ongoing housing crisis, is discovered to be raising her grandson in secret, the story—with the help of a teenage beauty blogger, a pair of young professionals dealing (badly) with a recent loss, and a retiree with reasons of his own to seek the spotlight—goes viral. The book takes on the fallout for all involved. My (presumably insufferable) 17-year-old self told my admissions interviewer at Wes that I wanted a book out by 35—looks like I made it just under the wire. Delivering on a 2001-vintage promise, my housemates at 40 Fountain (Ben Paradise, Emily Archibald, and Nicky Pessaroff ) all have characters named after them, and my husband, Marc Alifanz ’99, scored the dedication.”Jeffrey Lane finished his PhD this summer and just started a professorship at Rutgers University, in the School of Communication and Information on the New Brunswick campus. He is still living in Harlem with his wife, Emily, and now a pooch named Peanut as well.Dispatch from Kavi Reddy: “I left Boies Schiller in 2012 after about seven great years to go in-house at NBC Universal, where I worked as a lawyer, mostly on reality television for Bravo, Style, and Oxygen, and then on acquisitions for Syfy, Chiller, and Cloo. This past spring, I left NBC and am now on the tiny but mighty, two-lawyer legal team at Gawker Media LLC in New York. I love Gawker and love walking to work in Soho from my place on the Lower East Side.”Joanna Weaver writes, “I moved to Louisville, Ky., in the summer of 2013 and have just begun a PhD in experimental psychology at the University of Louisville. I study the cognitive and situational factors that affect learning and performance and conduct experimental research in schools. We welcome all visitors for Derby or at any other time of year!”Alex Gordon’s son turned 1 at the end of August, and Alex has started a new job handling internal investigations at Swiss Reinsurance Company in Zurich.Adam Goss writes, “My wife, Janice, and 2-year-old son, Joaquin, welcomed Amelia Paz Cruz Goss in June to our growing Texas family. She is happy and healthy! Also, I joined BHPBilliton in January as an exploration geologist working on our new Mexico team and preparing for bid rounds following Mexico’s historic recent denationalization of its energy industry. Looking forward to a somewhat cooler Houston fall and winter. If anyone’s in Houston we got a spare room and a pool!”Yvette Luxenberg and Jeff Rose bought their first house this June and their 2-year-old son Jasper still asks, “Are we going home to the new house?” when they pick him up from school!Amos Hausman-Rogers has left his life and job in the Bay Are and is traveling—and still checks his Wesleyan e-mail, by the way. His report: “This summer I visited the town in Poland where part of my dad’s family/ancestors lived untll WWII. I didn’t realize until I got there that I was the first person back there from the family since they left under quite unfortunate circumstances. Powerful and quite healing for me.”Jonathan Osler and Rose Cahn have this report: “March 28, 2013, we welcomed our second daughter, Aya Simone Osler-Cahn, into our family. Jonathan and I have both started new jobs in the past year. Jonathan is now director of the San Francisco Teacher Residency Program which trains new teachers who commit to work in San Francisco’s high needs schools. I received a Soros Justice Fellowship to start an immigrant post-conviction relief project, helping people vacate criminal convictions that would otherwise cause their deportation.”Ben Spatz recently moved to the UK to become lecturer in drama, theatre and performance at the University of Huddersfield. He also finished a book on embodied knowledge that will be published by Routledge in 2015. He and his partner have a baby, Caleb Reza, born March 1, 2014.

Best wishes to all of you.

MARA VOUKYDIS | maravee@gmail.com

In his first class note ever, Dave Jenkins writes, “After 10 years as a firefighter/EMT and local firefighters union leader, I left the Santa Fe, N.M., Fire Department in order to start my first year at the University of New Mexico School of Law.”

Joe Griffin and his wife, Sandra, welcomed their third child into the world. Reese Madeline was born on August 19th and her two older brothers, Kian (4) and Bode (almost 2), are very excited with the arrival of their new little sister. The Griffin’s moved to Connecticut and now reside in Ridgefield. Evans Anyanwu got married and became a partner at the law firm of Roth D’Aquanni, LLC in Springfield. Evans also joined the Board of Link Community Charter School in Newark where the chairman of the board is Andrew Lacey ’89.

Laura Alward writes “My husband, Brian Alward, and I just had a fabulous (we’re not biased or anything!) baby girl on July 19. Petra Eloise Alward is her name, and we have already started executing our plan to have her on skis before she can walk and climbing before she can use the toilet. We’re utterly whupped and think she’s divine!” Scott Mayerowitz married Sheri Askinazi (Binghamton ’99) on June 8, 2014. Scott is working as an airlines and travel reporter for The Associated Press; Sheri heads the global alumni program at the law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP. The couple live on the upper west side of Manhattan.

On June 7, 2014, Matt Freeman married Bethany Caruso ’03 at a farm outside of Atlanta, Ga. The couple never met at Wesleyan, but have many friends in common and even lived in the same room in Earth House three years apart. “We danced, swam, drank bourbon lemonade, and ate fried chicken with a number of fellow WesTech grads.”

Matt Lenard completed a two-year Strategic Data Project Fellowship with the Wake County Public School System and was just named the district’s director of data strategy and analytics. Matt will be leading efforts to leverage education data to help improve outcomes across the district. Also, Matt and his wife, Melody Moezzi ’01 , celebrated the birth of the paperback edition of her memoir, Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life.

Timothy Howard writes, “I’m living in Brooklyn, married to an accordion player, and working as a reporter at WNYC’s Radiolab. I’d love to hear from any former classmates who have ideas for radio stories. I’m also still/always/forever releasing music under the name Soltero (soltero.bandcamp.com). Any interested upright bass players out there?”

Andrea McKnight was awarded and named a 2014 rising star super lawyer of Massachusetts, and named to Boston magazine’s top female lawyers 2014. She has settled down in Cape Cod, where she is raising her son. Andrea writes “I can’t believe our 15-year Reunion is coming up in May! Seems like yesterday!” Elizabeth (Doctors) Alleva moved over the summer to a new home in Lynbrook, Long Island, with her husband Neill and her dog Kylie. She continues to teach dance, choreograph, and serve on advisory boards for NYC’s Department of Education. Leah Grabelsky has moved from Boston to Brooklyn to work with the Learning Partners Program—Chancellor Farina’s exciting new initiative to facilitate ongoing collaboration and learning throughout NYC public schools—and return to her New York roots. She’s thrilled to be working with Maris Yanow ’04 and living closer to her sister Jenny Grabelsky ’06, cousins Sarah Leitson ’11 and Andrew Gladstone ’11, and dear friend Diana Glanternik ’99.

If anyone is interested in joining the class notes team, please contact us. We are looking for a volunteer for the spring of 2015.

Hilda Ives Wiley and Avery Esdaile
wesleyan2000@gmail.com

Jeff Blumenthal started graduate school at San Francisco State University for geography with a concentration in natural resources management. Dan Shotz’s wife, Emily, gave birth to twins, Zelda and Zachary, on July 10, 2014, in Los Angeles. They join 4-year-old Lily. “Everyone is doing well, except for the part of us that likes to sleep. We have been fortunate to have many Wes friends come to visit the Zs, including Ted and Nora Grip Boretti who flew from Mass. with their girls soon after the arrival. Lindsay Grajewski Beros and her husband, Alex, welcomed their third child, Olivia Jane, in July. Divya Kumar has been doing postpartum support work in the Jamaica Plain area for the past few years and currently oversees prenatal and postpartum programs at a local agency that provides a wide range of programs for children and families. She facilitates support groups for new parents and works as a postpartum doula and lactation counselor in the JP area. Additionally, she created a pilot program to prevent postpartum depression and provide postpartum support for new moms and their families. The program received a second year of funding from the state to support staff in four community health centers across Massachusetts, including Divya’s local health center, Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center (where she also serves as a staff member). The center provides comprehensive perinatal support for all patients—screening new moms for postpartum depression and other perinatal emotional complications, offering information and education, and connecting families to resources both within the health center and in the community. By offering all of this within the health center, they are changing the way they care for new moms and families by reducing barriers to services and information and increasing access to necessary support and resources. Last December, Divya wrote a piece for MotherWoman’s Huffington Post blog about the importance of support groups for new moms. Here’s a link: huffingtonpost.com/motherwoman/it-takes-a-village-to-rai_b_4393052.html. And finally, Divya and husband Dan Koulomzin celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary this past August! Their little ones are 7 and 5. In other health-related news, Ed Holzwarth founded a new company, Pattern Health Technologies, to build preventative health apps for individuals and software for healthcare professionals to better manage chronic health conditions, track important health metrics, and prevent serious health events. He continues to lead his other company, Little Green Software, which is a mobile app development firm. Aimee Dawson and husband Ewan welcomed a baby girl, Tessa Munro MacKenzie, in December. She enjoyed six camping trips around Québec this summer snuggled in the tent with her big sister, Fiona. Being north of the border, Aimee still basks in maternity leave, but will take up her dental drill again soon. Liz Shulman and her husband, Andrew Mastronarde, have also become expatriates. Liz joined the faculty of the psychology department at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. They are enjoying the Niagara region, which features friendly people, lots of wineries, and very few guns. Marianna Ellenberg will appear in the fall issue of Cahiers du Cinéma. She will be featured in the article “New York Girls” with an interview about her new film The Deflowering of Ariella Von. Liz Garcia and her husband welcomed a baby boy, August, this summer. He joins older brother Wilder. In June, Liz participated in the Shasha Seminar on the Road: Wesleyan Women in Hollywood. Not only did she get to share the panel with Jan Eliasberg ’74 and Jane Goldenring ’77, but she loved meeting recent graduates and catching up with Dan Shotz, Jim Gilbane, and Chris Chambers. Professor Jeanine Basinger put President Michael Roth ’78 on the spot and made him agree to a Wes women in directing seminar. Classic Jeanine and an all-around lovely experience. Seth Dellinger writes: “I have just become certified as a teacher of Awareness through Movement, the group learning format of the Feldenkrais Method. This method is a unique form of movement education that uses novel sequences of actions to stimulate the formation of new motor patterns in the brain, making it possible for the nervous system to reorganize itself. Because the brain controls the muscles, this work creates the possibility for students to release long-term habitual muscle contractions and discover flexibility, better posture and more lightness and ease in movement. It has been effective in improving the quality of life of patients with central nervous system disorders as well as raising the performance level of world-class athletes and musicians, and all manner of people in between these extremes. I am now teaching Awareness through Movement classes in Washington, DC. To learn more about my classes, check out my Facebook page (Seth Dellinger, Awareness through Movement) or my blog: movelikeachild.wordpress.com, or contact me directly at sethbdellinger@gmail.com. Thanks!” Kim Varner Wetzel welcomed her second child, Cecil, in April and a new job in August with a fast-growing Alaskan telecom company, GCI. Tim Higgins, a certified financial planner who lives near Boston, has written another book, Unconventional Investing, this time with co-author Michael Hajek. Kirkus Review calls it: “Wise, authoritative and carefully documented; should stimulate deep thought in those who are willing to break free of the conventional investing mode.” You can find the book and more info on Amazon as well as at unconventionalinvesting.com For Kevin, life as a family of five is not easy, by any stretch, but at least is beginning to seem normal. Despite an amazing admissions cycle with a 63 percent increase in applications, it was the summer of transitions for me. Not only did my dean announce that she will be stepping down at the end of November, but I also had to hire seven new staff members. Happily, one of my newest admissions counselors is Maurice “Mo” Hill Jr. ’14, so Wesleyan is slowly taking over the Kenyon admissions office. I will serve as the interim dean of admissions and financial aid come December while the search for a new dean is underway. Kevin and I enjoy hearing from you, so please continue to share your news with us! C. DARRYL UY | darryl.uy@gmail.com KEVIN KUMLER | kevinkumler@gmail.com

Hello, Class of ’98! We have just a few updates this round, so please send me or Jason your news if you’d like to be included in the next installment.

In February 2015, Kate Wetherhead will be releasing a book she co-wrote with her collaborator Andrew Keenan-Bolger. The book is titled Jack & Louisa: Act 1 and is the first in a three-book series for Penguin Young Readers Group.

In June, Meredith Hoffa and husband Nick ’97 expanded their family with the addition of Bo Hoffa. Meredith writes, “I am really, really into him.”

I had the chance to catch up with Sarah Margon while in Washington, D.C., for a meeting with the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety. While Sarah caught me up on her great work with Human Rights Watch, we ran into Amanda Bowker, who was a few tables away! Amanda had just moved into a new home and was enjoying the summer with her husband, Dave, and two daughters.

That’s it for this round … short and sweet!

MARCUS CHUNG | marcuschung98@gmail.com 

Jason Becton | jcxbecton@yahoo.com

Cannot believe we are preparing to close out 2014. I am completing my first year of grad school. I am in pursuit of my master of science in integrated marketing at NYU. It’s been quite a nuanced balancing act with full-time employment and a curious 3-year-old toddler. Very thankful to my husband for helping to keep our routines consistent.

Leah Brown (@AyannaSpeaks) wrote in to spread good news and cheer with her fellow Wes alums: “I’m excited to share that I am the founding executive director of the only urban squash educational program in New Jersey. Just completing our second year and expanding in the fall, StreetSquash Newark is changing lives in Newark, N.J. I was married in August and in a few months I am releasing my second spoken word CD to music. My website with upcoming details is speakitco.com.”

Frances Northcutt Green writes, “Next year I’m starting a children’s literature reading group in NYC for adults who love children’s literature and would love to include Wesleyan folks next. Anyone who is interested can reach me at northcuttgreen@gmail.com.”

Patrik Nylund (@PatrikNylund2) shared a few laughs. “Though I enjoy reading others’ updates, I have been terribly bad sharing my own for the last…well, maybe 10 years…Well, here are some. I returned to San Francisco two years ago after a four-year stay in my native Sweden. For the last four years, I have worked as a freelance research analyst and security adviser in the private security sector. I’d love to meet other Wesleyan alums doing similar work; please feel free to contact me via LinkedIn or patrik.m.nylund@gmail.com.”

Lauren Porosoff (@LaurenPorosoff): “Just writing to report the news that my book, Curriculum at Your Core: Meaningful Teaching in the Age of Standards, is coming out this fall. The book is a guide to designing curriculum, using values as a starting place because deciding what’s most important for students to learn is always a values-based process.”

Alexandra (Sasha) Lewis-Reisen was full of good news: “Working at the New York Legal Assistance Group, representing domestic violence survivors at trial and appellate levels. NYLAG, which represents needy New Yorkers for free, is a hotbed of Wes alums—awesome to see all the Wes mugs and posters around the office. The rest of the time, my husband Alex and I hang out with fellow NYers who have similar-aged kids as Anya (5) and Wes (almost 4). Earlier this year, my daughter Anya and I got to see Jessica (Shea) Lehmann (@JessicatheRD) in Arizona. Jess is teaching nutrition at ASU, appearing on local TV as a nutritionist, and raising three amazing boys with husband Greg Lehmann.” Sasha also added, “Visited Sarah Kollman and she is practicing charter school law and reveling in her adorable baby son, Peter, with husband Justin Regnier. Next trip: seeing Cheryl (Goldman) Governale, who is in California, finally stateside after years in Italy and England with her family. Wish we were all living closer to each other. And to O’Rourke’s!”

Andrew Frishman (@AndrewFrishman) wrote: “On the professional side, this past May I completed an EdLD (Doctorate in Education Leadership) at Harvard Graduate School of Education. My work focused on a year of residency with Big Picture Learning (bigpicture.org) and was titled ‘The Future of Big Picture Learning: A Strategy to Spread Student-Centered Personalized Education.’ My committee members included my incomparable and inspiring adviser Mark Moore, and Clayton Christensen. I have now fully transitioned onto the BPL leadership team—if there are any folks out there in the Wesleyan alumni world interested in talking about how to innovate and transform the public education system, I’m eager to connect! On the personal side, my family loves living in Cambridge where my wife, Leigh Anne Needleman ’96 (a neuroscientist at Harvard), can walk a few blocks to work; our children, Jordan (almost 5) and Lundy (2), continue to thrive. We’re thrilled that Jordan is attending Amigos bilingual public school in Cambridge as a junior kindergartener this fall.”

A couple of short and sweet notes: Susanne Sreedhar recently received tenure and is now an associate professor of philosophy at Boston University. And Charlotte E. Scott, Esq., has been an attorney for the past 11 years in northern California with her own law practice in Mendocino County, right across the street from the courthouse. She recently had her second baby, Zara Rose and her first, Violet, is 4-1/2.

Semeka Smith-Williams wrote in to say hello and to provide a couple of general updates. “My daughters and I just made it back from our weekend at Wesleyan, where we saw Gillian Todd ’98 and Javaid Khan ’96 at the screening of Bobbito Garcia’88’s Doin’ It in the Park. What an incredible film! We had the pleasure of walking around the campus and soaking up the sun while exploring many the new spaces Wesleyan has to offer. Aside from that, things are going well for me and the family. I am working at Packer as a kindergarten teacher and LS diversity coordinator. My daughters are there, too, and feel like valid members of the community. It’s an extra exciting year at Packer, because Jose DeJesus is the new head of the upper school, and there are other Wesleyan grads in the building, but nothing compares to the class of ’97!”

And to close, Wesleyan’s Precision founder, Abdul Lateef Rasheed (Abdul Latif), following his inaugural artist-in-residence position at Lincoln Center, was the first Rockefeller Foundation Fellow to have a grant proposal that was his brainchild brought forth into a residency program, which he conceived, founded, and recently completed: The Artist Mentoring Lab.

Thank you ’97s for showing up strong with your notes for the end of the year. Until we meet again, please e-mail or tweet me @BGunlimited. 

Kimberly King
kimberly.king715@gmail.com

Check out Sarah Wildman’s new book, Paper Love: sarahwildman.com/books/. It’s the story of Sarah’s search for the woman her grandfather left behind when he fled Vienna during the Holocaust. Her interest was first kindled when she found pictures of an unknown woman with her grandfather. Her search took her to Vienna, the Czech Republic, Berlin, and Israel. Kirkus Reviews calls the book “a poignant and humane memoir.”

In news from Connecticut: Mark Davis works at Wesleyan and lives in Middletown with his wife, Megan (a Middletown native), and their children Minerva (“Minnie”), 4, and Oliver (“Ollie”), 2. He is always happy to see fellow ’96ers on campus!

Across the country, Cathy Thomas is working on a PhD in literature, with a focus on comics and contemporary Caribbean writing, at UC, Santa Cruz.

Pamela Stumpo published an article about Egyptian politics. You can read it here: layalina.tv/new_at_layalina/pamela-jean-stumpo/.

Elura Nanos Kish writes, “I’m enjoying life being a TV and radio lawyer, and I regularly do appearances on Fox News, HLN, Sirius Radio, HuffPost Live, and others. I’m also being featured in a new show on Reelz called Celebrity Damage Control, and I’m working hard toward landing a new show where I can tell it like it is with no holds barred. Marysol Castro and I had lunch to discuss life as a Wes ’96 New York Big Mouth TV personality (which was so fun), and in the middle of our lunch, we ran into none other than Matthew Strozier. Total Wes moment! I’m also starting my seventh season playing flute and piccolo with the Philharmonic of Southern New Jersey, and have joined its board as well. Still living in Cherry Hill, N.J., with my husband, son, and daughter.”

Mara Kailin and Daniel Cohen are celebrating 11 years in Denver. Dan is training for the NYC Marathon in November, and Mara recently got a great promotion at work. Dan reports, “Our kids are in first and third grades, and as they get older we like Colorado more and more because of all the things the family can do. We just celebrated our joint 40th birthday party by renting a house in the mountains with a group of friends, including Sean O’Connor and his wife, Lisa. Turning 40 is not so bad….”

Anand Nayak lives in Florence, Mass., with Polly Fiveash ’98 and their two sons. He is a Grammy-nominated guitarist, singer, and producer. You can find him on tour (along with Scott Kessel ’88) with folk band Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem.

That’s all for now. If we haven’t heard from you in a while, send in your updates!

DARA FEDERMAN | darasf@yahoo.com 

DACQUE TIRADO | dacquetirado@yahoo.com

Calling all ’95ers, calling all ’95ers! ’tis the year of our 20th, yes 20th Reunion. Save the dates of May 21–24, 2015. It is sure to be a fantastic weekend but only if you come. Join and/or check out our Facebook page, groups/30073947769/. We also need your time and, of course, your treasure/s. There are many ways to volunteer and give back; go to wesconnect.wesleyan.edu. Many thanks to those who have already done so. I can’t wait to see you all!—DDB, your dedicated class secretary.

Jacqui P. Rubin and Matthew Healey welcomed a daughter, Isobel Sadie Healey, on May 21. She joins older brother Nathaniel Charles Healey, born on Nov. 22, 2012.

Tamekca Faria married Troy Frisby in September 2014.

Stacy Theberge (now Taylor) traveled around the world for six months, then married her love and partner-in-crime, Jason Taylor, at her parents’ house in Maine. This fall, they bought an old farmhouse near Portland, Maine, and run their animation company, Little Zoo Studio, from it.

Cheryl Mejia says, “I am in my final year of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) residency! I will therefore finally be back in the job market after eight years of training. We physiatrists are good at non-surgical orthopedics, including injections, manual medicine, and rehabilitation of stroke, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and cardiopulmonary diseases. A spine and sports (interventional pain management) fellowship wouldn’t be bad either! My gal, Clare, and I are still loving Miami. Drop a line if you are in town! Oh, and my e-mail signature also says that I am VP of Women in Medicine. If you are an LBT physician, you should check us out! Super fun as well as educational. WomenInMedicine.org.”

Amy Casher states, “My husband, daughter, and I are so happy to welcome our newest family addition, Lucas Casher Seibel, born August 25. We recently moved to Concord, Mass., from downtown Boston, and are enjoying life on the Sudbury River.”

Jason Wiser (married name of Jason Wiener) is launching his iPad kids game “DinoTrucks”—about digging up and building dinosaur skeletons—on Oct. 15, 2014, just in time for National Fossil Day! Press release, screenshots, and ridiculously cute trailer video narrated by his daughter available here: YayaPlay.com/DinoTrucks.

Jen Levine-Fried completed her master’s of science in accounting in December 2013, and got her CPA just last week. She is an accountant for a nonprofit in Boston, where she has been living since 2001. Jen is bringing the whole family to Middletown in May for our 20th (husband Matt and kids, who will be 6 and 8). She is looking forward to seeing many of you there!

Jeanne Bonner shares: “Happy to contribute to the class news. I’ve just started a master of fine arts in creative writing program at Bennington College. I continue to work as an NPR station reporter and am the proud mamma of my 2-year-old son, Leo, who can now triumphantly say, “I got ya!” and “I found it!” I am really enjoying immersing myself in reading and writing again, and am re-reading some texts I haven’t read in quite a few years! Hope everyone is doing well.”

Alexis Greeves is living in Minneapolis these days and has a private practice in which she does play therapy with deaf and hard-of-hearing children. David, her husband, and Alexis have two daughters (Ruby, 5, and Eliza, 2). Alexis left the East Coast (she was in D.C. for 12 years) kicking and screaming but is really loving life in the Midwest! Here’s her website: hopeandhealingmn.com.

Ryan Knox spent the summer teaching legal philosophy to pre-frosh at Brown University. He rather liked that Brown waitlisted him and now he was lecturing there! He is spending the fall writing poetry at Westlake, in Hangzhou, China, before returning to Hong Kong and New Haven where he splits his time and his life to achieve balance.

Jessica Peterson lives in Grand Junction, Colo., with her husband, Dave, and their daughters Elena (11) and Claire (6). She is the editor of The Maverick—the magazine for Colorado Mesa University. She also teaches in the mass communication program at CMU. (This is a recent development, after years of working as a reporter, and then as the communications/PR director for Mesa County, Colo.) When not chasing the kids on skis and mountain bikes, Jessica satisfies her inner drama geek by performing in community theater and dance productions, and also does some professional voice-over work. She serves on the board of directors at the Museum of Western Colorado.

(Jennifer) Parker Dockray is celebrating her first year as the executive director of Backline, a national nonprofit promoting support for experiences with pregnancy, parenting, abortion, and adoption. Their campaign to open the country’s first All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center was just profiled in Cosmopolitan.com and is slated to open in Indiana next spring. Parker is loving life in Oakland with her second grader, and although she’s grateful to Facebook for keeping her connected to so many Wes classmates, she looks forward to seeing folks in person at our 20th Reunion.

Ana Maria Kleymeyer’s biggest news is that she co-produced a documentary called La Ruta de las Almas (The Road of the Souls) this year. It’s in its final stage of production. Other than that, Ana started her own consulting business—a small project she calls Instruments for Change. She consults on international environmental law as well as art projects with social and environmental impact. And she has moved back to the USA after five years in Europe.

DWAYNE BUSBY | dwaynedbusby@yahoo.com 

David Nesbett opened his own law firm, Nesbett & Nesbett, P.C., after many years working as a prosecutor and in another firm as an associate. He says, “We’ve been in business almost four years now, practicing small business civil law and criminal defense.”

Julian Bobb also made a career change. He says, “In February I left Jennison Associates, an investment advisory affiliate of Prudential. I decided to put my law degree on the shelf for a little bit to try my hand at real estate investing in NYC. It’s a slow go so far but I am going to stick with it. I am still pretty active with my fraternity, currently in my second term as the President of the New York Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. I am also class president and preparing for my 25th reunion at Phillips Exeter Academy this May. I hope to see Astrid Wilkie-McKellar, Coco Kikoski, Lorenzo Childress, Francois Nguyen, Jay Johnson ’89, Greg Sawyer ’95, and Jeff Wilner at Exeter for the reunion. I stay in touch with Astrid, who is living in Georgia now, Danny Santiago, who lives in Tennessee, and Nelson Rodriguez, who lives in Puerto Rico, not to mention my Kappa Brothers, Andy McGadney ’92 and Mike Harris. I regret not being able to make the Reunion this year, as it landed on the weekend of my wife Vanessa’s 40th birthday, and she did not want to spend it at Wesleyan. We also celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this past May. I had the opportunity to give a talk on Wesleyan’s campus last November; it is a very different place. I can’t believe that Mocon is gone, and in fact it doesn’t look like it was ever there.”

Tonya Ward Singer says, “My book will be published in November! I wrote a book for K-12 learning leaders to facilitate dynamic collaboration among teachers to elevate the achievement of diverse learners in schools. It’s called Opening Doors to Equity: A Practical Guide to Leading Observation-Based Professional Learning (November 2014, Corwin Press and Learning Forward).”

While we’re celebrating book publications, Maggie Nelson will publish her ninth book this spring, a work of “autotheory” titled The Argonauts (May 2015, Graywolf Press). The project was supported by a Creative Capital Innovative Literature Fellowship. Maggie lives in Los Angeles and teaches in the School of Critical Studies at CalArts.

Tania Llambelis is teaching kindergarten in Oakland, Calif. She says she “continues to utilize skills she acquired as a dance major at Wesleyan when she does her morning routine with her 24 students, which includes mindful breathing techniques, yoga, and dancing.” Tania also reports that she and Darcie Luce ’93 “founded the Oakland Improv Collective in 2007, and the company continues to bring performance to the people of Northern California. The company participated in a unique event called the Art in Nature Festival at Redwood Regional Park in Oakland, Calif. In addition, we are gearing up for performances for the Day of the Dead.”

Also busy performing is Ken Barnett. He says, “I’m currently performing in a world premiere of a musical adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s novel, Fortress of Solitude, at the Public Theater in New York.”

Robin Shane reports on more Wesleyan theater connections. “I am now living in Philadelphia with my husband, Jonathan, and two daughters Cecily (11) and Miranda (7). I have been named as resident costume designer at EgoPo theater in Philadelphia and at the Passage Theater in Trenton, N.J., and continue to be on staff at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J., where I design all six productions in the Fine Arts Department.” Robin’s daughters attend the Abington Friends School, “where their Spanish teacher is none other than Catalina Rios ’84.” Robin’s husband, Jonathan, just received tenure and promotion at Arcadia University in the theater department, where his colleague is the illustrious Mark Wade ’83, who was the director of Robinand Mark Gordon’s senior project! Small world indeed!!

Jessica Sharzer says, “I live in LA with my two kids, Sasha (4) and Dante (7). I’m a writer/producer on the cable series American Horror Story, and I wrote a teen thriller called Nerve for Lionsgate that shoots in early 2015.”

Sasha Chanoff says, “I’m living in Somerville with my wife and two children, Lailah (4) and Hayden (6). I’m going into my 10th year of running RefugePoint, an organization that finds lasting solutions for refugees in life-threatening situations. I served as a consultant for the new Warner Bros. film The Good Lie, starring Reese Witherspoon inspired by the true story of the refugees known as the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan. I have also worked with the producers to create The Good Lie Fund to support south Sudanese refugee children in crisis. All is wonderfully well.”

Elizabeth Rand Ehrlich says, “I am still in Hartford, Conn., busy with my four kids! My business, Kids Kippot, has taken off this fall and I am filling orders for custom kippot (yarmulkes) as fast as I can make them. I am enjoying using Etsy as a platform to showcase my wares and love the flexibility of working for myself. My website is kidskippot.com if you’d like to see what I make.”

Raeanne Roper Martinez is still in Austin along with Ken and Laura Cho ’93 and Jessica ’93 and Paul D’Arcy ’93, “but I have left the newspaper biz and now work as a legal editor for a nonpartisan state agency, the Texas Legislative Council. We are gearing up for the next session of the legislature, which always brings long hours and some strange happenings, so wish me luck. Otherwise my husband and I travel a bit, spend time with our nephews and other family, ride our bikes, and cheer on the Houston Astros, in person whenever possible.”

Please keep sending us your news.

Jiyoung Lim Gilbreth and Ilana wind newell
94notes@gmail.com

Hi, Wes ’93ers. We have some exciting news in these class notes: a wedding, a few career updates, and some mini-Wes reunions. Please keep the good news coming in!

Jacob Bricca writes: “My family and I have moved to Tucson, Ariz., where I have taken a job as assistant professor in the School of Theatre, Film and Television. I specialize in teaching editing classes and also teach documentary and narrative production. My feature documentary Tatanka has been screening around the country at film festivals and will be released on DVD and download early next year.”

Abigail Lorber Clarkson e-mails: “My family and I moved to Austin, Texas, this summer. Our daughter, Louisa, has become friends with Jessica and Paul D’Arcy’s oldest daughter, Maya, and goes to the same school as John Wallingford’s ’92 children. I am working at St. David’s Foundation as an executive assistant and database administrator in the grants department, and my husband is studying for his master’s in divinity.”

Chris Cowan provides this update: “In late 2012, I moved my research lab (integrative neurobiology laboratory) to the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital (Belmont, Mass.). We are currently studying brain mechanisms associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, like autism, and neuropsychiatric disorders, like drug addiction.”

Bobby Donaldson writes: “Recently completed nine years of service on the Wesleyan Board of Trustees. Currently I serve as a professor of history and the faculty principal of a residential college at the University of South Carolina. I thoroughly enjoy living (along with my family) in the heart of our campus in a community of 230 undergraduates. Not quite Foss Hill and Butterfield! I continue to be involved in a number of public history and documentary projects related to education, civil rights and youth activism, which have been featured in national publications and C-SPAN. My wife, Elise, and I have two children, Ruby (8) and Joseph (3)—who just began (today) school in a public Montessori program in our city.”

Clay Dreslough (née Dresser) e-mails: “My wife (Dee) and I finally bought the farm. It is 17 acres in Ashford, Conn. (about halfway between Middletown and Boston), and currently boasts one dog, two steer, eight cats, and about 30 chickens. We also successfully launched a pro football card game on Kickstarter earlier this year. It’s called Masters of the Gridiron and can be found at motg.net. I am continuing to earn a living from computer baseball simulations—a job that has required me to spend about three months in South Korea over the last two years. I still can’t speak the language, but I do hook up with the local Ultimate (Frisbee) players whenever I’m there.”

Julie Francis writes: “I treated myself and my family to a month-long sabbatical in December. My husband, Fred Evenson, daughters Bella (11) and Simone (8) and I island-hopped from Langkawi, Malaysia, through Southern Thailand. The girls wanted to spend most of their time snorkeling, which was fine with us. While they didn’t discover a deep love for green curry, they did develop a deeper understanding of world religions and culture and developed a strong desire for more travel and adventure—mission accomplished! One of the highlights was following a sea snake through the Andaman Sea (not bad for a mom with a phobia) and camping in a floating tent cabin in a lake in the jungle, surrounded by calling gibbons. I found the month off (100 percent unplugged from e-mail!) completely rejuvenating on the work front. My consulting practice (BellaVia Research, user experience research), is thriving and I’m blessed with clients I love working with. I came home from the sabbatical determined to find more work-life balance, and am doing okay with that (I’d give myself a C, or maybe a B-). As part of my quest for more work-life balance, I’ve started start cycling again. In May I did the 50-mile ‘tour d’ cure’ bike ride for the American Diabetes Association through Napa. I’ve started training for the AIDS Lifecycle ride in June 2015, 545 miles from San Francisco to LA. Erin Kelly ’91 intends to fly out from NYC to ride and camp with me! (Yes, we’re beginning to beg for money—let us know if you want to support two awesome moms who cycle!) I saw Erinand Elizabeth Meister ’92 recently in NYC, where we walked the High Line, devoured soul food, and pondered how it’s possible that we’re in our mid-40s. I also visited Kristin Connor ’94 and her adorable almost-2-year-old Robin and husband Mark; Kristin is living in Madison, Wis., with a thriving acupuncture practice.”

Camille McGadney writes: “We will be moving to Waterville, Maine. Andy ’92 has accepted a position as vice president and secretary of the college at Colby College.”

Jason Rekate provides this update: “My family and I relocated in August from Shanghai to Hong Kong for my job with Citi. My wife, Anna, is teaching at Hong Kong International School where my daughters, Emma (12) and Lizzy (10), are students. We’ve been overseas since 2006 and this is our fourth move.”

Matthew Schneider married Jean Gilmore Devine in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Sept. 13, 2014. In attendance were alumni, including Jon Chesto, Sue Walker Chesto, Arthur Magni, Anne Noel Occhialino ’94, and Jessica Kirshner.

Lisa O’Donoghue-Lindy is writing a blog about inspirational women making career transitions, career2.oblog.net. Lisa would love to hear from Wes grads.

Thanks for sending this wonderful news, and please keep updating us on your careers, families, and post-Wes lives.

SUZANNA HENSHON | suzannahenshon@yahoo.com 

SARAH ESTOW | sarah_estow@hotmail.com