CLASS OF 1988 | 2025 | FALL ISSUE

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Happy fall, classmates. Steve writes for this column.

Josephine Colon wrote in to catch up with life events and smiled at my reference to ’88ers “gittin’ old!” You see, she was originally in the Class of ’76, took a personal leave, and returned—with two small boys—to graduate with us in the Class of ’88. To her Wesleyan bachelor’s degree in government, she added a master’s in education and a postgraduate certificate in teaching middle school math from Quinnipiac University. After a career in human resources in Manhattan, she returned to Connecticut, changed careers to certified school teaching, and retired in 2015. She now enjoys giving back through volunteering, mostly as a literacy tutor, and does her own art. “Much peace to all of you!—Josephine.”

Robert Garcia joins the list of ’88ers who are published authors. His memoir Bobbito’s Book of B-ball Bong Bong hit the shelves in July and was published by fellow Wesleyan alum Johnny Temple at Akashic Books. It’s an intimate view into his life as a ballplayer, announcer, and performer and dives into the folklore and history of the game. 

Jenifer McKim is working in public media and was recently promoted to editor of investigations and podcasts at GBH News in Boston. She’s bumped into several Wesleyan alums in recent travels—people doing mission-driven work—and remains always proud of the connection.

Cynthia Hall has been living outside Worcester, Massachusetts, for 10 years with her twin boys, Allo and Ozzy, who just turned 18. She moved to Massachusetts from Venice, California, and says that the opportunity to work at University of Massachusetts Medical School is worth enduring the cold New England winters. Spring may have been “crazy with graduation and applying to colleges,” but brought great results: Allo is starting at University of Massachusetts at Amherst in civil engineering; Ozzy will join the pre-pharmacy program part time at Quinsigamond Community College. Cynthia likes to take the opportunity to warm up by visiting Los Angeles annually and plans to meet up with Adam Sigel ’91, Janet O’Shea ’90, and Jason Matzner ’92. She recently caught up with Lisa Bender and Andy Ruskin ’87 in Washington, D.C., and says everyone is well . . . and sandwiched between aging parents and raising teenagers!

A good number of us are overseas.  In the “travel abroad” division:

Benjamin Junge is enjoying a “glorious” writing fellowship in São Paulo, Brazil, for the rest of 2025. When he’s on this side of the equator, he teaches anthropology at SUNY New Paltz and conducts research on citizenship and democracy in Brazil.

Andrew Goldman, a professor of history at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, is very honored to have been selected as the professor-in-charge of the Intercollegiate Center of Classical Studies (ICCS, or The Centro) in Rome and will lead a faculty team in 2025–26 to instruct undergraduates on the archaeology and history of ancient Rome and Italy. This is his third time at the program, first as an undergraduate in spring 1987, and then as a junior instructor in 1999–2000. Now he hopes to give his students the same amazing experience that he had almost 40 years ago. Andrew also joins the published list; his book, Ancient Cities, co-authored with friend and colleague Charles Gates, was issued by Routledge last year. This new third edition showcases his expertise on Roman archaeology and will be translated into Turkish later this year. Life in Spokane and at Gonzaga has been quiet and largely fulfilling. Andrew and his wife, Amy, had a wonderful time in early June visiting Boston and catching up with old friends, staying with Holly Campbell Ambler ’87 and her husband, David, as well as a long, tasty vegan lunch with Hillary Ross ’88.

An update from Stephen Morison Jr., who you may remember moved to Marrakesh, Morocco, last summer. First, on the day he wrote, it was 100 degrees and climbing (whoo!). He’s had a terrific first year as head of the American School of Marrakesh, a K–12 school with a rich history in the region. His partner, Emily Allen, also works for the school, and their daughter is earning a master’s in architecture at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Stephen and Emily get to see Paul Gosselin in Paris frequently, and they keep in contact with Wendy Blum ’87, Steve Kullback ’89, and Nancy Nachbar ’89. “I feel lucky to have been able to maintain these great friendships. In fact, Paul and I log onto the internet every Sunday and do a calisthenics workout together, continuing a tradition that began in college, then was revitalized during the COVID years.”  [Editor’s note: anyone our age who can still do calisthenics in 100-degree weather should publish the secret.]

If I may take the liberty to add my own contribution: I lost my father in April 2025. He was 104, a veteran of World War II, and thank heavens, lucid and able to the very end. In his lifetime he traveled to 164 countries on every continent. His granddaughter, my daughter Aubrey, starts college this fall at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, studying fashion design. She will be just three and a half miles from where her grandfather was born, in 1921, in Brownsville, Brooklyn, one week into the Harding administration. Full circle.

Thanks for sharing your news and please keep it coming. 

PETER V.S. BOND | 007@pvsb.org

STEVE PIKE | SLPSyracuse@gmail.com