CLASS OF 2001 | 2026 | SPRING ISSUE
2001 ARCHIVES | HOME
← 2000 | 2002 →
Hello, 2001, and welcome to our 25th-anniversary reunion year. Truly hard to believe, but here we are. Thank you to everyone who wrote in. We always love to hear what’s going on.
Karen Gross shares that she became an adjunct member of the faculty at Temple University in January 2025, teaching a course called Creating a Media Business, aimed at juniors, seniors, and grad students in Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication. Karen draws from her 25 years working across communications, journalism, and speechwriting, including 12-plus years as an entrepreneur running a communications consultancy, to develop curriculum that is relevant to her students today. She also continues to consult with executives, thought leaders, and national organizations on their communications strategies, as well as shares her own voice as a keynote speaker, singer, and Substack writer (Karen invites Wesleyan friends to tune in at sherockedit.substack.com.)
After working remotely in Oaxaca, Mexico, Rachel Feinstein Stevens came home with bilingual kids and an extra dog. Rachel is starting a new data analytics arm of her architecture firm that is focused on environmental data and homeowner choices. Please reach out at Rachel Stevens | LinkedIn if you’re a data geek who wants to kvell and/or collaborate!
Oliver Platts-Mills and Natasha Sienitsky ’02 have been hard at work in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This fall they celebrated a successful first full wedding season at the resort-retreat they renovated. Love Ridge (www.loveridgeva.com) welcomes reunions and retreats, and it’s perfect for couples or larger groups. Oliver says, “Come on down, our girls (10 and seven) will make you feel right at home!”
Peter Cambor recently moved to Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Chrissy, and their three children, Claire, Beau, and Birdie. In 2025, Peter was nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy Award for the Paramount+ documentary As We Speak, which he produced. He also co-wrote American Curl, a feature comedy film about the 2018 U.S. Men’s Olympic Curling Team, currently in production and slated for release in late 2026 via Paramount Pictures.
For the past year and a half, Mike Homolka has been living in a small town in southern Spain. He reports that his two children are adapting nicely, and everyone is enjoying being a bilingual, bicultural family. Mike continues to write poetry and hopes to teach high school literature in this new context.
Chris Saenger let us know he got “DOGE’d” out of his job at USAID in 2025, along with the agency’s other approximately 2,000 foreign service staff. Chris wanted to share stories of what overseas life and work was like for many staff and their families, so he launched a podcast called It Was Never a Job (itwasneverajob.com). The stories are harrowing and hilarious, heartbreaking and joyful. If any other Wes folks have a USAID connection to share, drop Chris a line!
Owen Panettieri is loving life in NYC with his husband and dog. He is a playwright and vice president of 5000 Broadway Productions—the production company of Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02—alongside fellow vice president, Sara Elisa Miller ’02. Check out Owen’s plays, which are published through Concord Theatricals. Owen signs off, “Happy 25th, everyone!”
Adam Goss writes in to say, “Congratulations, Class of 2001! I cannot believe it has been 25 years since we tossed our graduation caps.” Adam shares he is still working as an exploration manager in Houston, Texas, finding new natural resources across Latin America and West Africa. He had a busy year with work and leisure travel to Calgary, El Salvador, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Dominican Republic. The Wesleyan connection is strong in Houston, as he often runs into other 2001 E&ES energy powerhouses in town, including Matt Bourke and Andee Marksamer. Adam is proud to share that in 2026 he will be serving as the technical chair for the largest geoscience energy conference in the world, IMAGE 2026, in Houston. If you are in town, drop by and say “howdy.”
Thanks for writing in and sharing little slices of your life. Hoping to see many of you in person in May on Foss Hill.
Until next time,
Aryn and Mara
ARYN KALSON-SPERANDIO | arynsperandio@yahoo.com
MARA VOUKYDIS | maravee@gmail.com