Class Notes

It’s reunion time! Can’t believe it’s been 20 years since we graduated. Just like college was a blink of an eye, so was the last 20 years (well . . . maybe not the last two during COVID). Looking forward to seeing you all in May on campus! Onto the notes:

Felicity Kohn was elevated to counsel at the law firm of Pryor Cashman in New York. She is in the firm’s Intellectual Property and Media + Entertainment practice group, where she handles a wide range of intellectual property and complex commercial matters. Felicity was named “One to Watch” in Intellectual Property Law by Best Lawyers in America (2021–22) and “Women in the Law: One to Watch” by Best Lawyers in America (2021).

Sallomé Hralima is partner in a New York–based archiving and media company. With Umi NiiLampti ’99, she cowrote Through the Wire, a short film about a young West African college student on the verge of making it in the music industry. In 2017, Sallomé returned to WesU to teach a course at the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship and received the Edgar Beckham Alumni Achievement Award. In 2018, she delivered a TEDxWesleyan talk, “Workplaces Suffocate Human Potential” in which she referenced Bozoma Saint John ’99. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and two daughters, Dream and Legacy.

Angie Schiavoni recently started Montessori Public Works, an organization dedicated to bringing the first Montessori classrooms to public schools across New Jersey. This proud Wisconsinite (who drove her minivan to Wes full of Wisconsin beer, bratwurst, and cheese one year) still can’t believe she settled on the Jersey Shore, and thinks it must be because of the subconscious brainwashing of college roommates Alena Fiorentino (née Weller) and Cara Summit (née Smith).

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Debra Granik is set to direct a feature adaptation of Una LaMarche’s YA novel Like No Other. She and Anne Rosellini of Still Rolling Productions optioned the book, in partnership with Mad Dog Film’s Alix Madigan. Published in 2015 by Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, Like No Other is billed as a contemporary take on West Side Story. It watches as the unlikely paths of a Hasidic girl and a secular boy meet on Eastern Parkway and blossom into a forbidden romance.

Ryan Akers is a stay-at-home dad. His daughter, Isadora Eleanor Akers, was born last June.

Jenny He is the exhibitions curator for the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.

Ben Allen has completed five years now as technical advisor for Microfinance Research and Learning at Catholic Relief Services in Baltimore, Maryland. Since 2020, Ben has coordinated surveys in Africa and Latin America to learn how the informal savings and lending groups trained there have fared during the pandemic. Ben has also been moonlighting as an economics instructor at Loyola University–Maryland in 2020–21 and Catholic University of America (Washington, DC) this spring. His eldest daughter, Livia, is two and started preschool in December; and his youngest daughter, Norah, turned one in February.

After spending two years in Seoul, Korea, building the global security function for Coupang Inc., Eric Donelan moved back to the U.S. to be closer to family. He recently joined eBay as the senior director for Global Security and Resiliency based in the San Jose area.

Ernest Hartner is living in Miami with wife Raquel and three kids. He plans to stay in a dorm room with Nick Bazos at reunion.

Rachael Slivka and husband Joel had a baby boy, Dov, in August. Big brother Ori is excited to have a new friend.

As for myself (Justin Lacob), after spending a year during the pandemic in Vancouver with my wife Melanie and two daughters (Scarlett, now 7 and Juliette, now 4), we returned to Los Angeles in July 2021. Still working at documentary studio XTR, I recently produced the Oscar-nominated feature documentary Ascension; They Call Me Magic, a four-part documentary series on AppleTV+ about Magic Johnson; Butterfly in the Sky, a documentary about the impact of Reading Rainbow and LeVar Burton; The Territory, a Nat Geo film that premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival about an indigenous-led land defense against illegal loggers and nonnative farmers in the Amazon rainforest (edited by Carlos Rojas); art-heist documentary The Thief Collector (which premiered at SXSW); The Hobby, a documentary about the recent trading card boom; and about 15 other documentary features and series. I also am the cofounder and head of Documentary+, an ad-supported streaming platform (www.docplus.com) for passionate nonfiction fans.

See everyone on campus soon!

Hi 2001,

So much has changed, but what remains the same is how happy I always feel to hear from our classmates about the things they are up to around the globe. Keep sending in those notes!

Myra Sessions shares that she had so much fun watching Katie (Barge) Paris Zoom interview the U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Murthy, in a panel arranged by the White House. Topics included COVID-19 and keeping kids safe, as well as political activism.

Ben Hurwitz, Aryn (Kalson) Sperandio, Scott Kushner, and Aaron Rosenberg left behind parental and professional duties for a weekend together in the California desert to celebrate the wedding of Jess Goldfarb to James Winston on March 5.

Ben Spatz has been promoted to reader at the University of Huddersfield and continues to explore connections between artistic research and theories of identity. View Ben’s work at urbanresearchtheater.com/, including videos and publications. Visitors to Northern England are always welcome!

Ashley (Crossan) Morse lives with her husband and two sons in Chicago, where she occasionally has the pleasure of hanging out with Loren Berlin ’00. This past summer, Ashley and her kids traveled to Los Angeles to spend cherished in-person time with the ladies of 54 Home (and their partners and sweet kiddos): Julie Ames, Sarah Kozinn, and Liz Weiner—an “annual-ish” visit that usually includes Kate Purdy too (she was quarantining this time). Ashley also shares that after nine years as an organizational effectiveness consultant at Allstate, she has brought her career back full circle to the not-for-profit sector and is now doing social impact consulting and loving it. Last, but definitely not least, she has also found time to take a painting class—in Ashley’s words, “a delightful, albeit sometimes bewildering, challenge!”

Andrea Donnelly writes in with news that her work as a sound and energy healer, spiritual mentor, and coach took off last year. She was featured on Yahoo, Bustle, Hello Giggles, Re-Spin, and several incredible podcasts including, Chakra Girl Radio and Raising a Powerful Girl. Andrea is particularly proud of an interview with Thrive Global on finding happiness and joy during turbulent times, which seems to be a continued theme as we move into 2022. If you’re interested in learning more about Andrea’s work, find her at wearehere2remember.com or reach out at andrea@wearehere2remember.com.

Until next time, 2001.

Trace Peterson is currently the 2021–2022 NEH postdoctoral fellow in poetics at the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, Emory University. A trans woman scholar and poet, this year she also co-organized, with two other trans scholars, the first-ever Working Group in Trans Studies at the MLA Conference, which featured nine participants. Her new publications this year include a chapter for the SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies, a chapter in the forthcoming Wiley Blackwell Companion to American Poetry, and new poems in Michigan Quarterly Review.

Gloria (Weber) Plaks kicks us off with great energy: “Hi Wes fam. I like to think of you to lift my mood during these crazy times . . . Nicole, Nana, Janine, Novi, Kinshasa, Kandi, Jaime, Freddy, Jason, Mel, Carole, Ale, Caliente Peeps & La Casa Crew (sorry I can’t list you all, I would be here all day). . . . The memories of our times at Wes together still make me smile today.  My hubby and I are holding down the fort with four kids in a pandemic school year.  We are both still school teachers . . .  me in high school with big kids and him in elementary school with 3- to 7-year-olds. . . .  Through all (the pandemic madness), we are happy that we are there for the students. Then we come home to four kids, ranging from 2 years old to 15 years old, and a new lovely madness begins . . . dinner, homework, playtime, dishes, organizing, showtime, and maybe a little yelling (but VERY LITTLE).  I couldn’t do it without the support of my husband, Eric Plaks, who always steps up without me needing to say a word and my mother who we call on CONSTANTLY to pick up sick kids from school, to give us date nights, to drive kids to doctor appointments.  I am blessed, happy, and my heart is full.  Hope you are all doing well.  If you are out there struggling, I wish you strength.  Take care!”

Movin’ on up: In Biz Journal, Bozoma Saint John shared the story of her career path that led her to being the chief marketing officer of Netflix. Saint John “reconsidered her medical-career goal after being inspired by an African American Studies class during her freshman year at Wesleyan.” Kate Whitman Annis was appointed as the executive director of the NJ Devils Youth Foundation. More on that move here. Zack Becker was recently promoted to the rank of commander with the Houston Police Department, taking charge of their Midwest patrol division. “I’ve been with HPD for over 21 years now—time has absolutely flown by.”

Adam Birnbaum and wife Alem bought a 117-year-old house in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, where they live with daughter Sonya, who’s going to be two in May. “We’re in the middle of renovations, which we hope will be done before Sonya reaches retirement age.”

Sahra Halpern and Dan Engler are marking 12 years in Oakland, California, where they live with kids Hanna (12), Adam (almost 10), a poodle named Pepper, and two cats. “After 15 years at Schwab, I left in the early days of the pandemic for a large community development financial institution (CDFI), a nonprofit lender that provides financing for affordable housing and small businesses in underserved communities. Dan continues to grow his practice at Cox, Castle & Nicholson, providing legal services in real estate. We are looking forward to resuming travel this year, with trips to Montana and Maine and hoping to cross international boundaries as soon as possible!”

The world seems to be bringing Wes alums together of late. From Eve Fox: “The smallness of the world was confirmed again for me when former class of ’99er, Megan Wolff, joined the staff of Beyond Plastics, the nonprofit led by former U.S. EPA regional administrator Judith Enck, where I’ve been the digital director for the past few years. Megan’s our new policy director and it’s been great to reconnect with her.”

Alison MacAdam left NPR several years ago and is working as a freelance story editor for documentary podcasts and radio. Some recent projects include 544 Days and a series for NPR’s Embedded. “I also have the pleasure of working with Eve Abrams ’93 on an upcoming podcast series called Hot Farm (it’s not porn, I swear) from the Food and Environment Reporting Network. Still living in DC and enjoying time with Wes friends, old and new.”

This “small world” trend hit your class secretaries, too. Darryl sends greetings from cold Maine, where he shared that Bates just hired Matthew Coyne ’12 as their new head football coach.  “Another Cardinal becomes a Bobcat!” I (Kevin) had a similar experience at my last company, where we hired the supremely talented Jiun Kimm ’10 as our head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. I’ve been fortunate to have a couple of run-ins with other classmates too. In late December I joined a group of graduate school classmates for dinner, which included Mark Zubko and his wife Alex Charters Zubko. My most random run-in was Marnie (Randall) Craycroft, who spent time on the same tiny island in Maine that we did last summer. It’s a small world, but Wesleyan is all over it!

Amy Davenport is still in Carrboro, North Carolina, where she lives with her spouse and their three children (6, 6, and 8). She’s entering her seventh year as a nurse-midwife at UNC Chapel Hill. She recently stepped down from her role as postpartum medical director, because, well, “pandemic and that whole work-life balance thing.” She plans to spend that extra time reading, knitting, baking, and riding her Peloton.

Kate Wetherhead still lives in New York, splitting her time between NYC and Putnam Valley with her husband Jeff Croiter (who, coincidentally, was the lighting designer of Broadway’s Freestyle Love Supreme, co-conceived by and starring Wes alum Anthony Veneziale!) This summer, Kate will be in Chicago, Illinois, premiering the Broadway-bound musical The Devil Wears Prada as part of the writing team, along with Sir Elton John and Shaina Taub. Directed by Anna D. Shapiro, Prada begins performances at the Nederlander Theater July 21, 2022. If you’re in Chicago this summer, come check it out!

Peter Isbister lives in Decatur, Georgia, with his wife Robyn Painter and their three kids, Mira (12), Eliot (8), and Ezra (8). He is an attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center in the Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative, representing immigrants detained in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He is still in touch with his good friend David Lubell, who now lives with his family in Berlin, Germany, after spending a few years also in Decatur, Georgia, and with Rachel Wellborn who has long lived in Atlanta.

Sara Brenneis and her family were in Madrid in the spring of 2020, just hitting their stride during a year-long sabbatical when . . .  well, we all know how that worked out. After Spain’s strict six-week lockdown when their two young boys were not allowed outside, they were grateful to return to the wide-open expanses of Northampton, Massachusetts. Sara has her hands full as professor and chair of the Spanish Department at Amherst College and full-time childcare juggler. She caught up with a very bearded Nick Coleman on a recent trip to Wisconsin and has enjoyed some Zoom happy hours with Margaret (Solle) Salazar and Rebecca Alson-Milkman. Sara wants to know: Anyone else up for a swing through Middletown for our 25th?

Speaking of Margaret Salazar, she was just appointed to a post in the Biden Administration.  She will be serving as HUD regional administrator, advancing the administration’s efforts in the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska), starting this past February.

Marianne Benet lives in Rye, New York, with her three sons. After her divorce, she started rowing crew again, and competed at the Head of the Charles last October, for glory and to raise money for the Angelman Syndrome Foundation, an organization that is close to her heart because her middle son was born with this rare genetic disorder. This May, she and Heather Marciniec celebrated their combined 90th birthday (45 + 45) in Key Biscayne, Florida, with Erin (Fieler) Collins, and Miki Kawashima, whose daughter, Elia Matrician (’26) will be attending Wes next fall! While there, they partied and reminisced with Ken Anderson, who lives in Key Biscayne and works in finance. Finally, she has a new love (and Wesleyan connection), Mario Manna ’00, also divorced, and a wonderful father to three extraordinary children. This year, they traveled with their six kiddos to Disney, Key Biscayne, and skiing in Vermont. Of note, she sent her notes in from Cartagena, Colombia, where she had just spent a day visiting the historic walled city with her dear friend, Isabel Vega, who is now living in Colombia and working on her independent film projects. Isabel is happy, healthy, and always involved in creative endeavors: She produced and directed a documentary called La Corona (The Crown) that was nominated for an Oscar and now, many years later, is at Sundance for the second time. The film is about a beauty pageant at a Colombian prison for women.

Abe Forman-Greenwald was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award last year as a producer on the Netflix series Big Mouth and was looking forward to the debut of their spinoff series Human Resources, which came out on March 18 of this year. Also, now that live music is back, he’s been enjoying going to concerts with fellow ’98er Sascha Paladino here in Los Angeles.

John Speck is excited to be in the midst of his third year as a software engineer, and still finding time to make music with exceptional New Yorkers. He has two daughters, ages 3 and 7, who are thriving in the quality public schools of South Brooklyn. They explore nature as much as possible these days: Prospect Park, Jersey, and Miami(!). He had the good fortune of seeing Harrison Owen and his son, Russell, recently, and recommends Harrison’s book Niji Umi (“for children ages 0–100”).  He also had a fun hiking adventure on the Appalachian Trail with Jason Gonzalez and Dave Montgomery ’97 last summer. Jason has recently completed an MBA and continues his impressive tenure as an attorney at the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, and has four adorable children with his lovely wife Ayisha.

In harder news, Cassie Colletti Mecsery shared that her husband Sean Mecsery has been fighting glioblastoma for the past two years while she manages their family and their family business in Cos Cob, Connecticut. Unfortunately, there are no approved treatments and she asked people to look for their GoFundMe to help as they work to pay for his experimental treatments and support their two children, ages six and two.

Finally, we sadly lost Angie (Montgomery) Arnold in December 2021.  At Wes, she was a triple major in English, film study, and African American history, and afterward got an MFA at Columbia, and an MBA at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. She published her first book, Rivers Under Water, in 2018, a story of a woman who searches for love and spiritual liberation over the course of three generations in the Deep South; and she wrote and produced an off-Broadway play, The Standard Upgrade. She also won the Miss Black Connecticut Pageant.  She leaves behind her beloved husband, Artis Arnold III, and many family and friends.

We also sadly lost Christopher Lawrence Rosaschi in February.  He will be missed by his children, his family, and so many who knew him.

Hello all!

By now, our reunion celebration has taken place and we hope many of you made it back to campus.

We received a couple of updates before reunion:

Arik Preis wrote in from NYC. He has three daughters—Scarlett and Edie (both age 14) and Nessa (age 12)—and is a partner at Akin Gump, practicing bankruptcy/financial restructuring.

Erica (Schiller) Burnell is living in Seattle, Washington, with her husband, son, and daughter, and recently switched careers to occupational therapy. Erica said, “I’d love to hear from anyone who I’ve lost touch with!” You can reach her at schill.erica@gmail.com.

Remember to log into the digital Class Book at https://wesleyan.brightcrowd.com/1997/sign-in/  to see what our classmates have been up to and to create your own page.

Thinking of you and sending all of you our absolute best wishes!

Hello, fellow ’96ers! I hope this update finds you well.

We have two newly published authors in our midst! In January Jacob Ward published his first book, The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World without Choices and How to Fight Back. It combines interviews with the top minds in behavioral science and cutting-edge reporting on technology to warn readers about the danger that AI is about to do to our most important critical faculties as what Google Maps did to our ability to navigate from place to place. Jake is a technology correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC and debuted the book on the TODAY Show. He lives in Oakland and regularly sees Shola Olatoye and Matt Strozier, Susan Yee, along with Walter Einenkel ’97 and Clara Petit ’97.

Samantha Greene Woodruff published her first novel, The Lobotomist’s Wife. As the title suggests, the main character, Ruth, is the wife of a charismatic doctor who is championing a new treatment in the 1950s, the lobotomy. As the doctor begins to operate recklessly on his patients, Ruth realizes she is the only one who can save them. In addition to buying Sam’s book, you can also read this piece she wrote for Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/my-life-changed-41-after-lifetime-anxiety-1668523.

Daniel Cohen and Mara Kailin are close to 20 years in Denver. Dan’s entrepreneurial COVID baby is Two Tails Story Co. (ttstoryco.com), a start-up founded on the attachment between people and their dogs. The B2C e-commerce company will offer unique, fully personalized books and art. Thanks to the Wes grads that helped Two Tails get started! And Mara left her role in community mental health after 18 years and has been consulting and working with private behavioral health companies (and teaching, taking private clients, and more). The two of them are beginning to wonder about life after their oldest— Eli (16)—goes to college in a couple of years.

Rallie Snowden writes: “I am still living in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with my 11-year-old daughter Porter and my 3 ½-year-old son Miguel. The kids, plus being in my eighth year of working in the counseling center at Washington & Lee University, keep me pretty busy. Cheers to all my fellow Wesleyan alums!”

Finally, Ben Meyer informed us of his cross-country move: “My wife and I relocated from LA to Brooklyn this summer, for her work. My kiddo, Bash, is in fourth grade with Amelia, daughter of Elizabeth Meister ’92, whom I know from grad school in Chicago. She’s always introducing me to other Wes folk in the South Slope. We’re swarming around here! East Coasters, give me a shout.”

It’s always great to hear what folks are up to—please continue to send us your news.

Katy writes for this issue: We are all thinking of each other, through the local and global challenges of this moment, and I hope these notes find you well.  It’s been lovely to hear your updates.  Read up below on how your classmates are spending their time and talents: composing, writing, serving others, braving major career changes, and making the most of everyday life.

Jeanne Bonner writes: “I won a 2022 NEA translation grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to continue my work translating a transnational Italian author who survived the Holocaust.”

Pat Charlemagne writes: “My EdD from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education was conferred in December. My dissertation will be available via ProQuest: ‘The Unexpected Value of the Coronavirus Pandemic in Elevating the Importance of and Essential Need for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Serving as Youth Development Professionals.’”

We also got word that Simona Kwon joined the New York City Board of Health in 2021.

Christine O’Brien writes: “Alternating between treading water and drowning as an emergency physician in San Francisco.  Enjoying beautiful hikes and my 10-year-old daughter on my days off.”

Sarah Kirkland Snider announces: “In June, at Carnegie Hall, the New York Philharmonic will give the world premiere of my orchestral work Forward into Light, inspired by the American women’s suffrage movement (originally scheduled to premiere in 2020). The same week will see four NYC performances of my Mass for the Endangered, which was released as an album on Nonesuch/New Amsterdam Records last year. Wes friends: holler at me for tickets! I live in Princeton, New Jersey, with my husband, son Jasper (13), daughter Dylan (10), and two dogs.”

Stacy (Theberge) Taylor, still in the Portland, Maine, area writes: “Our son Niko is in first grade, and I have met quite a few families who have moved to town from NYC and other points afar. (One of the only benefits of the pandemic.) Last summer we had two Wes visits: from Ed Lee (who is in Boston) and Bo Bell and family. It’s great to see other Wes folk in Maine. Let me know if you plan to be around Portland and I will treat you to a lobster roll . . .  or two.”

Carrie Turner (née Fischer) exuberantly writes: “For anyone thinking of making a midlife career change, just know that it CAN be done! For 20 years (after a short-lived stint in the world of musical theater), I had a successful run in luxury retail management. Two years ago, I decided that it was time for my next act—and after much soul searching and hard work, I am now in human resources and loving it. I am grateful to a few Wesleyan alumni along the way who gave me great advice, but mostly it was all about the hustle . . . and if I can do it, anyone can.  My partner Nils and I welcomed a new addition to our household two years ago: a French bulldog named Rousseau. Nils and I also still make electro-pop music as Nite Haus, and we still live in NYC. I am still BFFs with Brett Aristegui. Best wishes to everyone out there.”

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

When we nudged, our fellow ’89ers sent in some good Wes memories. But, y’all (!!!!), wait until you read some of these memories . . . I mean confessions. . . . No, ok—definitely memories :)! Grab a snack and let’s spill the tea:

Lee Ann (Jacob) Gun, whose daughter Emma is a sophomore at Wes (and is loving her experience!), shares: “My freshman roommate and I decided we needed a second couch in our Clark quad living room. So, we set our alarm one night for 4:00 a.m. and set out for one of the Fosses. We walked into their common room, picked up a couch not being used, and walked out, lugging the couch. We struggled to the top of Foss Hill when public safety shined their headlights on us. We dropped the couch and ran. The next morning on the way to MoCon, the couch was there at the top of Foss Hill, students sitting in it. We laughed. We decided we were fine with just the one couch.”

Listen to Lori Lobenstine’s story of what her parents ultimately did after she got arrested on Wesleyan’s campus for protesting: “I forget if it was junior or senior year when we had the sit-in at the president’s office, trying to get Wes to divest from South Africa because of apartheid. Folks were camping in there 24/7 and others were coming and going in support, while other were leading rallies outside. In the end, a whole bunch of us decided we would get arrested instead of leaving willingly. My first arrest! (Not my last.) The best was when my parents sent me a formal card, ‘Proudly announcing the arrest of their daughter . . . ’ like it was a birth announcement. Gotta love being the kid of activists. They were so excited.”

Sherry (Lehr) Föhr remembers “that time during Hurricane Gloria, when we spent hours huddled in the hall of Foss 9, eating a rather eclectic variety of snack foods and telling weather-related horror stories.  That morning, I had to venture out into the storm for a German exam (because why cancel classes for a full day just because of a hurricane?). The classroom was on the top floor of Fisk Hall, where we could see tree branches crashing onto the roof of the frat house next door as we frantically tried to remember various verb endings. When it was finally over, I had to dodge flying bits of shale from the roofs of various old buildings along Wyllys Avenue. It was so nice to get home and be welcomed by my hallmates!”

Hurricane Gloria happened our freshman year and Melissa Herman asks if you remember “putting masking tape on the windows in the dorms? I was biking across campus back to the Butterfields and almost got blown over by the wind. And then it was pretty much nothing compared to our fears and expectations.”

Elizabeth “Betsy” Henry recalls: “It was Uncle Duke Day weekend and I entered the basement of Foss that had been spectacularly decked out with strobe lights, upside-down rooms (furniture on ceilings), velvet everywhere, dark rooms with funky lighting, disco balls, the works, and I get through the maze and there is this awesome band playing this rockin’ song about a magic carpet ride and everyone is dancing and jamming like crazy and the lead singer is this fabulous chick who is belting out this line, ‘Why don’t you ride with me little boy, on a magic carpet ride,’ which is just so catchy. Loved it!  For four years I attributed “Magic Carpet Ride” to this band (which I sadly can’t remember the name of, but always caught their gigs around campus) and danced my heart out every time they played it for years to come. To this day, I still interject ‘boy’ into the lyrics when the Steppenwolf classic comes on the radio and think of that Wesleyan moment. Rock on!”

Checking in from Maine, Karen McVey Fussell mused the following mash-up of good memories: “The spaceship-ness of MoCon, the announcements from the upper deck, Uncle Duke Day, the wonder of an endless supply of Cap’n Crunch.”

Alex Dohan recalls “those crazy evenings in frosh year when we would blow off studying to sneak up to the roof of Judd Hall—for a breath of fresh air!”

Kevin Heffernan writes: “I’d say one of my best memories was playing softball with everyone during senior week. There wasn’t a person who didn’t have a smile on, what with classes over and summer coming.”

Kim Slote wrote in that: “A great memory for me was performing with the Cardinal Sinners in the World Music Hall and how amazing it felt to sing our hearts out and have the crowd be with us every step of the way!”

Phineas Baxandall remembers “that time when the ultimate frisbee team went to Santa Barbara, California, for college nationals was an amazing memory.”

Sending us all greetings from Shanghai, Robin Smith recalls: “that time when I was touring a prospective student around campus, after he finished a late afternoon interview in the administration building and walked into Alpha Delta, when they were having a co-ed Naked Party in the living room. Fun times.” (Also, I wonder if that prospective student ended up WISELY choosing Wes?!?! 🙂 Robin also shared some personal fond memory gems:

“That time when . . .  I would go down to the boathouse in the very early morning, on the Connecticut River, to get ready for crew practice, and the sun was just coming up. Even though it was extremely cold, and steam was rising off the river, it was incredibly quiet and so beautiful.”

“That time when . . . I would leave rehearsal from the ’92 Theatre late at night and meet one of my roommates (a microbiology major), to walk her back home from feeding her cells at the lab. It was our best time to talk and catch up on our day/week and plan for the upcoming weekend.”

“That time when . . . I performed as the character of Babe in Crimes of the Heart, for my senior thesis show as a theater major. Such a wonderful cast and crew to work with in doing that show.”

And the good Wes memories are still being made to this very today; or as Liz Marx aptly says, “It’s a memory that we keep making:  Every Monday night for the past year, Sneep Wadhwa, Anne Liss Johnson, John Hlinko, Lauren Bruck Simon, Adam Long, Ed Aubry, and myself get together for online bar trivia. Our team name is Gross Hall Reunion and we kick ass. We have such fun and our Wesleyan education is put to good use.”

Past met present in this dispatch from James Shiffer: “Last summer, I took a three-month sabbatical from my job at The Star Tribune in Minnesota to reconnect with friends near and far, including many Wes folks. Katrine Bangsgaard ’90 and I laughed about old times while dining in a roadhouse in northern Westchester County. Dan White and I watched humpback whales lunge-feeding in Monterey Bay. Bill Sherman ’90 showed me the magnificent Cascades, including one path along a terrifying sheer cliff. I traveled with my daughter Annika Shiffer-Delegard ’23 to Los Angeles, where Mike DeWitt ’90 took us to the Griffith Park Observatory and gave Annika a surprise gift: the custom wooden sign reading ‘Whispering Pines’ that once graced our Wes-owned house at 37 Home Avenue. I am so grateful for my Wesleyan network.”

Theresa Zinck-Lederer says “Just the other day, when watching my niece and nephew sledding, I commented to my husband about how much fun we used to have sledding down Foss Hill on cafeteria trays from MoCon!”

Kelem Butts didn’t hold back on the good humor with his recent good memory of “that time when Michele (Barnwell) asked for, neigh DEMANDED, we submit to the class notes (and it) was a great reminder of how much Wes meant to me and how much my time there impacts me to this day.  Oh, and my niece was just accepted to Wes, and I really hope she goes so she can get that same Wes experience.”

We hope she chooses/chose Wes too, Kelem.

Clearly, we as a class have shared (and continue to share) in making good Wes memories.

That all said, if you’re reading all this and you did NOT have the best-time-ever at Wes, we sincerely appreciate and embrace you and your experience. Seriously, there are several pain points for so many. We aren’t (ever) looking for any of you to bright side the bs you went through then (or are going through now) either. Each of your/our Wes memories and current challenges are all part of our shared lived experience as classmates and as humans.

We’ve still hopefully got miles to walk together and there’s time to make NEW Wes memories going forward. So let’s make them WITH you at our next on-campus reunion. Deal? (And this is definitely not an official pushy plug, YET!) We’re volunteers. We get nada EXCEPT the fun pleasure of staying connected to you. It would just be really nice to see all of you at our next big reunion, our 35th…?!?! Sheesh!

See you then or see you sooner, around these social media streets.

 

Greetings and salutations to all. Prayerfully, everyone is doing well and is thriving. I am happy to report that my family and I are weathering the pandemic well. Early on, I discovered a knack for sewing and got creative with mask designs that were highly functional, attractive, and at times humorous. I also count myself fortunate to have been able to work from home, as this luxury allowed me to further immerse myself in two of my passions, cooking and baking. I mastered baking sourdough and ciabatta bread, complete with flavorful homemade starter, and enjoyed preparing new culinary delights for lunch every day. Since then, I have returned to the office on a hybrid schedule and started an Aerogarden, which is flourishing with my favorite fresh herbs. I am forever thankful to my family and friends who help me eat all of my creations. Additionally, I am still writing and have added painting to my repertoire as well. My thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the entire Wesleyan community. I hope that everyone stays encouraged and safe.

Johanna W. Schneider has been elected to the partnership at Hemenway & Barnes LLP in Boston, Massachusetts. She has more than 20 years of experience advising public and private clients on real estate development projects and real estate litigation. She is also active in industry associations and serves on her town’s Zoning Board of Appeals.

Aram Sinnreich writes that he just signed a contract to publish his first novel. Tentatively entitled SavePoint, the novel was coauthored with his sister, Rachel Hope Cleves, and will be published in 2023 by Rebellion Publishing under the pen name R. A. Sinn via its Solaris Books imprint.

Elizabeth Toohey writes “I’ve never sent in news, but thought I’d finally try it!” (We are so happy that she did!) She adds that she is living in Brooklyn with her husband, 9-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, and teaching journalism as an associate professor of English at CUNY. She spent this fall in Cambridge, Massachusetts,  on a fellowship at the Nieman Institute for Journalism at Harvard, where she enjoyed hanging out with Jaclyn Friedman ’93.