As always, thanks to my classmates for writing in. Hope everyone is doing well!

McKenzii Webster iscurrently living in Memphis, Tennessee, where she works in music—a passion that began during her time at Wes, “when she began booking and promoting campus concerts.” Mckenzii was recently honored by the Memphis Business Journal  for her work helping Memphis musicians. Sandy A. Durosier graduated from medical school this May and started internal medicine residency at the University of Connecticut. She is excited to live in Connecticut again and be close to her family and friends!

Kristen Raddatz received a two-book deal with Hachette’s romance imprint, Forever. Her debut, a cozy, fantasy rom-com, A Tale of Mirth & Magic, [was] published in August 2025 under her pen name “Kristen Vale,” and her second novel will be out sometime in 2026/2027. Kristen lives in Chicago with her partner, Jon, a condo full of books, and her frenemy black cat, Opal. Prince Emenalo just welcomed his third child (a little girl) on April 12, 2025, and celebrated his two-year anniversary with Eagle Telemedicine. Also, he was informed that he made the 2010s All-Decade Team representing the Class of 2012–2013 and is excited to come back this year for Homecoming to be recognized!

Benjamin Swerdlow (né Abravanel) is a professor of psychology at Lake Forest College, studying clinical psychology, emotions, and close relationships. While he loves the work, he is very happy to be on sabbatical in the fall! Vivianne Swerdlow is a clinical social worker at a practice also in Lake Forest, Illinois. She focuses on treating mood and anxiety disorders, suicidal and non-suicidal self-directed violence, chronic pain, and queer populations. They just celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary and live with their husky-Aussie rescue dog, Sonic, and their chinchilla, Cashew. They officially have a guest bedroom after buying a home in Lake Bluff last year and would love for you to come visit!

Gabriel Urbina lives in New York, where he continues working as a writer, director, and producer in the audio fiction space. Hit Singles, an Audible Original series he created and worked on with several other Wesleyan alumni, was just released in the spring, and his new ongoing podcast series, The Harbingers, just had its release at the Tribeca Festival. (Look for its full release in the fall.) He works and teaches around the city and is always up for interesting collaborations on new projects! Ka Ya Lee moved to Hong Kong in December 2024, and she started working as a research assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong. Her research area is philosophy of education. 

Katie Schad and Adam Purdy, happily married and living in Brooklyn with their handsome cat, Mookie, have spent much of this year with Wes friends: playing pickleball with Jeff Tanenbaum ’12 and John Froats ’12; walked the length of Manhattan with Faye Phillips; had dim sum with Elias Rothblatt ‘12; went to a ballgame with Chris Kuehn; went dancing with Ashley Palmieri; road-tripped upstate with Danielle (née Springer) Dieterich and JD Dieterich; and celebrated the wedding of Laura Volgenau in the Catskills with too many classmates to name! 

Greetings, Class of 2012!

Please enjoy the following updates from your classmates:

Hannah Berkman and Luke Erickson welcomed their second son, Ken, in February. They’re now living in Silver Spring, Maryland—in a neighborhood filled with Wes alumni.

Lennox Byer writes, “I continue to live in San Francisco with my partner, Raul, and our corgi, Tiramisu. I finished all my medical training at UCSF in 2024. I am currently in my second year on faculty as an appointment of assistant professor of neurology. Don’t see myself ever leaving San Francisco! We spend a lot of our free time eating, traveling, and seeing musicals. My sister, Ericia Byer ’13, lives in New York, so we visit her a couple times a year and pair it with some Broadway :D.”

Charlotte Cottier and Gus Spelman ’11 welcomed their son, Bertram Cottier Spelman, in March. They can’t wait for Bertie’s first roll down Foss Hill!

Rebecca Snelling writes, “I’m happy to share that my partner and I just bought our first house together in Boston! We’re surrounded by boxes, but we look forward to hosting friends from Wes whenever anyone would like to come visit!”

Meggie Twible and her co-parents, Caleb Westberg and TK Hays, welcomed their daughter, Ellis Magnolia Twible, last August. They’re soaking up all that summer in Chicago has to offer as Meggie launches her somatic therapy practice, Homecoming Therapies.

After a whirlwind few years of balancing work and school, I wrapped up my MBA at USC Marshall this May, with a certificate in technology commercialization. I’m still in the construction tech world at Bluebeam, now leading web marketing. Say hi if you’re ever in LA!

Thanks to those who contributed and feel free to pass along notes at any time!

Ross Shenker is living on the gorgeous Upper West Side of Manhattan where he is currently an associate casting director at Kate Geller Casting. Some favorite films he’s worked on that you can check out in theaters and on VOD include: Bob Trevino Likes It, Oh, Hi! (executive producer: Sabina Friedman-Seitz), Cora Bora, The Front Room, Omni Loop, Barron’s Cove, Cold Wallet, Drugstore June, The Wild, Molli and Max in the Future, and The Good Half. He has also cast for theater both on his own (The Art Tour @ Theatre Row; featuring Samantha Joy Pearlman); and alongside Taylor Williams as associate CD on Prince Faggot at Playwrights/SoHo Rep.

Evan Moore writes, “The first feature film I produced, Oh, Hi! got into Sundance and will be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics this summer. I am now working on my second: Late Fame, starring Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee.”

Kara Parez writes, “After 12 years below the Mason-Dixon Line, I moved back to Massachusetts and published my first book, Money for Change, in April 2025.”

Katie (Colasacco) Rowan writes, “Allie Rowan and I welcomed our second child, Louis, this May. We’re settling into being a family of four and getting used to running on very little sleep again. Louis has already had the pleasure of meeting all of our senior year Wesleyan housemates: Emma Lewis, Zuleikha (Hester) Gallup, and Devon Hopkins. We’re hoping to bring the whole family to our upcoming 15-year reunion!”

Emily Pontecorvo writes, “I recently won the National Magazine Award for service journalism for a series of stories in Heatmap News called “Decarbonize Your Life.” The stories walk readers through the most impactful actions they can take to tackle climate change and provide detailed guides for actions like getting solar panels and heat pumps. The series is available to subscribers of Heatmap.”

Sophie Ackoff writes, “Andrew Pezzullo ’13 and I welcomed our baby, Asa, this April. It was 15 years ago now that Andrew and I met at a Long Lane Farm meeting at Wes! We recently moved to LA from the Hudson Valley of New York where Andrew spent a decade farming organic vegetables while I was organizing farmers for policy change at the National Young Farmers Coalition. Now I’m at the 11th Hour Project, working primarily to support Black farmers and Indigenous land return. Andrew is planning to stay at home with Asa for a few years while he dreams up a farm-to-table culinary project. We can’t wait to show Asa Long Lane and Wild Wes. We love to visit the edible forest garden Andrew helped create that is flourishing in the WestCo courtyard!

In January, Caitlin MacLeod-Bluver was named Teacher of the Year by the state of Vermont. Congrats, Caitlin! The state’s website said this about this honor: “[Caitlin] creates powerful, culturally responsive learning environments where students feel respected, valued, and encouraged to embrace their full identities.” The Vermont secretary of education also said, “Caitlin’s ability to inspire, challenge, and uplift her students, makes her an exceptional educator, and a true leader in the field.”

Tim Morley and I returned to Southern California this past year after spending the last decade in Connecticut. Tim finished his minimally invasive surgical fellowship and took a job as a general surgeon in the South Bay. We welcomed our second child, Addy, this past June.

Thanks for all the wonderful updates!

Best,

Allie

Greetings, Wesleyan Community! Please enjoy the following update from the Class of 2010!

Cate Haring and Lonny Blumenthal welcomed their first son, Thomas Blumenthal, on January 16, 2025! Cate, Lonny, and Tommy live in Columbus, Ohio, where Cate works as a surgeon, Lonny works as a software product manager, and Tommy is already preparing to enter Wesleyan Class of 2048! 

Warm greetings from new class secretary Matt Danzig. I’m excited to be the first to hear all your exciting news. On my part, after stops in Ann Arbor, Denver, and Milwaukee, my wife, Ellie Hall, and I returned to New York City in 2022 with Hannah (now seven) and Asher (now three). We live in the Bronx where I work as a pediatric urologist and somehow finished coaching a season of Hannah’s peewee soccer team despite not knowing any of the rules. I’d be happy to connect with any ’09ers living in the area or passing through, even if we didn’t know each other well back on campus. Please continue to write in with updates, big or small!

Max Krafft continues to enjoy life in Norway, where he works on an open-source software project, coordinates a book club, manages two local baseball teams, and has just completed a master’s degree in English literature at the University of Oslo.

Catherine Kast Stickney and her husband, Ben Stickney, moved from Brooklyn to Decatur, Georgia, so Ben could join CNN’s Atlanta bureau as a producer last year. They welcomed baby Roger Paul Stickney in November 2024. Roger joins big sister Wynne, who is six.

Michael Repplier returned to New York City after several years in Miami. He produces documentaries for ABC News as well as projects for streaming platforms. He became engaged in February, and with fiancé Kyle looks after their cherished dog, Bruno.

Evan Coleman is excited to share that he and wife, Lisa, welcomed a beautiful new baby girl, Taylor, on June 30. She joins four-year-old brother Reece and two-year-old sister Robyn.

Congratulations to Sean Michael Chin who made his Broadway debut this spring as assistant fight director for Othello. He teaches stage combat at Pace University and Muhlenberg College, as well as for private studios in NYC.

Sophie (née Pollitt-Cohen) Reagan writes: “Hello from Oslo, Norway! My family and I moved over here in July. We’ve been having a blast exploring our new home, and I can’t wait to meet up with Emily Dine next time she is in Greece. If you find yourself in Oslo, give a shout!” 

Justin LaSelva writes after last updating us in 2020. He and wife, Sarah, moved from Austin, Texas, to rural Vermont in 2023. He continues to work remotely for the University of Texas at Austin while enjoying his new environment “on a dead-end dirt road in the forest,” spending time cycling, snowshoeing, kayaking, hiking, traveling to concerts, and splitting lots of firewood to stay warm and cozy. He is president of the local sportsmen’s club and recently started a recreational kickball league. He enjoyed reconnecting with classmates at last year’s Reunion and revisiting favorite Middletown haunts (though sadly missing O’Rourke’s Diner of course). 

Murder.” Lynn was also a principal in the “VitaminWater: Brooklyn Bridge” commercial directed by Spike Lee and filmed a SAG feature in Atlanta this May. She continues to be repped by Buchwald and Entertainment Lab in NYC, Forward Talent in Georgia, and The Wayne Agency in LA.  Lynn welcomes creative collaborations with fellow Wes alums. More at www.lynnfavin.com!

Anthony Nikolchev writes, “My newest performance [written, performed, and created by me and my partner Gema Galiana’s company, The Useless Room] had its premiere at the 2025 Theater Venice Biennale under the artistic direction of Willem Dafoe. We were presented alongside Romeo Castellucci, Thomas Ostermeier, and Milo Rau. The show, called The (Un)Double, based on Dostoevsky’s The Double, was well received with [one critic] saying, ‘The (Un)Doubleis a dark mirror. It reflects our fears, our conflicts. It is theatre that does not tell but shows. It does not explain, but makes you feel. And it forces us to look inside. Even when we don’t want to.’— Andrea DiMaso, Notizie Teatrali (Venice, Italy). Next show dates are [in] October at La MaMa in NYC.”

Lauren Goldman and her husband, David, welcomed their son, Maximilian George Cooper on April 10 in New York!

Sam Barcelo got married to Christina Mastrocola on May 3 in Newport, Rhode Island.

Though Patrick Armano-Amato and his husband, Dominic, have been living in Los Angeles for five years now, they are excited to have become homeowners again this year. 

Over the summer, Patrick participated in his third AIDS/Life Cycle (a 545-mile, seven-day bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise money for HIV/AIDS prevention and research) as team co-captain for the Merrill Lynch/Bank of America team. While this was the last year that the SF Aids Foundation and the LA LGBT Center co-hosted the ride, both organizations will be creating new rides starting next year, and Patrick fully plans on continuing his participation in this great cause. 

In the beginning of the year, he was elected to be vice president and board member of the Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, which provides visibility, advocacy, and business development for the LGBTQ and allied business community. In the fall he will be joining the board of APAIT, an organization whose mission is to positively impact the quality of life for vulnerable communities experiencing behavioral health challenges, housing insecurity, justice-involved individuals, victims of human trafficking, and those at risk for HIV/AIDs and sexual health issues. He is also an active member of the WeHo Chamber of Commerce, the California LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, and, in service to his community, regularly volunteers at organizations such as Project Angel Food, Family Equality, APLA Health, the Williams Institute, Gay for Good, and the Hollywood Food Coalition.   

He is still loving his career at Merrill Lynch as a financial advisor in wealth management, and, within the organization, became the vice chair of the LA Pride Business Council in the spring. 

Later this year, he is looking forward to participating in the Zuma Beach Triathlon to support the Challenged Athletes Foundation and potentially getting his fur baby, Dolce, a younger sibling (who will appropriately be named Gabbana). 

Abigail Hinchcliff, co-founder of Olson Grimsley, will be honored by the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation at its 19th Annual “Raising the Bar” Celebration. Recognized for “speaking truth to power” and “leading through adversity,” Abigail has played a pivotal role in landmark cases, including a $60 million verdict against Enfamil’s maker and ongoing litigation against predatory rental fees. A Yale Law graduate and former first assistant attorney general of Colorado’s Consumer Fraud Unit, she continues to champion justice for everyday Americans.

Greetings, Class of 2007! Megan here, ready to provide you with some classmate news. 

Leon Hilton announced that he has a new book published by the University of Minnesota Press. The book, titled Counter-Cartographies: Neurodivergence and the Errancies of Performance, was published in August 2025.

Lauren (Tinkoff) Domaszowec reports that her nonprofit, Gryphon Foundation for Global Change, recently gave a $10,000 grant to a Ukrainian NGO during a wartime visit. Domaszowec is a founding board director for the Gryphon Foundation, an independent nonprofit committed to advancing human rights, resilience, and social justice around the world.

Jocelyn Bonadio-de Freitas gave a life update, telling classmates that she is living in Brooklyn with her son, Arjun, while working as a community educator and writing a Substack about parenting, “Millennial Parents.”

Laura Catana shared that she was recently promoted to director of content and social media strategy at Symphonic Distribution, a 100% independent Latino-owned music distributor. Laura says, “I’m now leading our incredible U.S. and Colombia-based team in crafting content that celebrates, supports, and educates independent artists around the world.”

Jane Charles-Voltaire, Esq. has an exciting career update. She reports, “I’m honored to share that I’ve recently stepped into the role of deputy executive director at the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ). It is a true privilege to continue advancing IAWJ’s mission alongside our dedicated team and the remarkable global leadership of women judges committed to justice.”

Wishing you all the best for the remainder of 2025! Please continue sending updates to us!

Daniel Dykes married the wonderful Xiao Lin in Brooklyn, Connecticut, in June, with Wesleyan professor Duffy White in attendance! He is enjoying getting back into theater and is currently playing Emperor Joseph in a production of Amadeus in Madison, Connecticut, after starring in Uncle Vanya and directing his sister Emily’s play At the Still Point.

On June 18, 2025, Jesse Young and his wife, Michele Viterise, welcomed Dylan August Young into the world—their first child (a boy). A rotating cast of family members helped the new parents and baby get through the first few weeks, all of which helped function as an excellent distraction from the state of the country (and world) in mid-2025!

Saad Handoo writes, “Hi! I live with my family of four near North Druid Hills in Atlanta. I work in sales strategy for Delta Airlines and recently ran into Ayando Kono while on a business trip to Tokyo—such a fun and unexpected reunion! We’re always looking for fun things to do around the city and love connecting with other local families.”

Leah Stern and Teague Hopkins were thrilled to welcome baby Ori in summer 2024, joining Asa, who is now four. Asa’s most recent bedtime story is how Teague and Leah met, “so we’re starting the indoctrination early. We’re grateful that our Wes and Alpha Delt friends are still a huge part of our community and our kids’ lives, both virtually and IRL.”

A crew of 20-plus classmates in NYC came together for a happy hour in April, organized by Jess Smith and Fazal Yameen. “Some old friends, some new. All sparked by a convo with Jess while I was searching for a new tech leadership role. If you’re in NYC and want to join the next one, please reach out to Jess or myself.” Fazal can be reached at myameen@wesleyan.edu.

Mel McCrea is living in her hometown of Oakland, California. She practices as a psychotherapist at Blue Oak Therapy Center, with a focus on supporting queer and trans thriving and multicultural relationships. She welcomes client inquiries, as well as being set up for dates with cute, liberation-oriented people in the East Bay. 

After celebrating the first birthday of her second child, Russell Louis Gomes Galdston in May, July saw Maya Gomes become a tenured professor of earth and planetary science at Johns Hopkins University. She lives in Baltimore with her husband, Jesse Galdston, and her other son August Eugene Gomes Galdston.

“Laura Rindlaub can’t remember the last time she contributed to the class notes and therefore has no idea where she left off! “My husband, two daughters (Kate, eight, and Mari, six), and I have lived in Montclair, New Jersey, since 2021, and frequently run into Adam Stone ’05 at the town pool in the summer. Our lives have assumed that sweet suburban, early ’40s cadence of work, kid activities, gardening, and now renovating our 100-year-old house. We love it all. A fellow psychologist friend and I started a private CBT practice in Summit, New Jersey, in 2020, which we are in the process of expanding. I’m so lucky to report that my work is interesting, challenging, and delightful every single day.”

Kate Longley-Wood’s job at The Nature Conservancy is taking her around the world, including to Belize and to the Seychelles to help support these countries in their marine spatial planning processes. Despite her love for the ocean, she is still too afraid to go SCUBA diving.

Paul McElfresh was appointed middle school director of The Berkeley Carroll School. Here is a link to the announcement: new school director. 

Sarah Myksin and Brian Heiss welcomed their son Alexander (Class of 2046?!) in May 2024. They share, “The last year has been a joy and we’re hopeful we can introduce him to Wesleyan at our 20th Reunion next year. Brian and I have been in D.C. for the last four years after time in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. After completing his fellowship in oncology and clinical pharmacology, Brian joined the FDA as a medical officer in 2021; I made the move from fundraising to edtech at the same time.”

Celia Reddick, her husband, Alain Uwumugambi, and their two daughters (ages six and one) live in Tallahassee, Florida, where Celia is an assistant professor of education and international development at Florida State University. She writes, “If you find yourself stumbling through the Florida Panhandle, please give a shout! We’d love to see you.”

Molly Dengler is planning a move within the next year from her hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota, back to the Dominican Republic with her partner and son, who was born there 10 years ago. She is dreaming of their future house serving as a retreat center for international leaders in education to share ideas as she coaches school and district leaders to center global competence in her current role at World Savvy. 

As one of the founders of Child Care for Connecticut, Izzi (Autumn) Greenberg shared the exciting news that her organization was able to pass transformative, first-in-the-nation, childcare legislation in the Connecticut legislature in its 2025 session.

Ethan Leinwand is working as a blues pianist, performer, and advocate in St. Louis, where he serves on the board of directors for the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation.

Ben Shestakofsky and family have moved from Philadelphia to Ithaca, New York. Ben is now an assistant professor of information science at Cornell. 

Luke Snelling married Kathryn McKinley in Sonoma, California, surrounded by Wesleyan folks, including best man Philip Cortes ’06 and Casey Wilson ’06, who gave a blessing at the wedding. Ben Flynn ’03 and William Shaw were also in attendance. Luke writes, “I also brought Kathryn to Wesleyan for Reunion, where it was fun to row with some members of the crew and celebrate the life of David Wyant by dedicating a shell in his honor. It was also fun to visit WESU and reminisce with Eli Schned about our time on air.”

Lodro Rinzler continues to write books about and teach meditation from his very old home in upstate New York, where he lives with his wife and toddler. The three of them recently met up with David Delcourt for a lovely romp while spending a month in Scotland.

Katie Walsh had a ball with the Class of 2005, dancing the night away in Club Hewitt at our 20-year reunion (still got it!). She is still in Los Angeles, working as film critic for the Tribune News Service, and is the vice president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. 

David Rood-Ojalvo married Alice Buttrick on June 28, 2025, in Mahopac, New York. Rachel Pecker officiated. Vivian Rood-Ojalvo, one, attended, as well as 22 graduates of Wesleyan.

Liz (Beedy) Wendorf has three kids and lives in Massachusetts, teaching high school math and running her hemp farm and CBD business, Windy Village Wellness, alongside her husband, Matt. Dancing until the wee hours with her fellow ’05ers at Reunion was a highlight of the year so far.

Marcus Bach-Armas also writes that most special moment of the last few years was probably having fun at Reunion with his fellow ’05ers.

Andrés Méndez-Peñate is enjoying life teaching Spanish in the Boston area and hanging with his eight-year-old, Diego.

Doro Globus is the publisher at David Zwirner Books, the publishing arm of one of the world’s leading commercial art galleries. She also writes children’s books celebrating creative careers. Her upcoming series, It Takes a Team, will launch in 2026 with We Made a Song and We Made a Movie, published by Bloomsbury. Doro lives in London with her husband and their two children, Tristan (10) and Thea (six).

Emily Pfeiffer-Russell lives in Bakersfield, California, with her spouse, Ed, who is an agricultural scientist in the citrus industry, and their two sons, Henry (nine-and-a-half) and George (six-and-a-half). Emily helps junior high students in the resource specialist program with their academics. The ’05 Reunion was a definite highlight of the year, including the sad, but beautiful tree dedication memorial service held for Jesse Brenner, aka “The Bizzle.”

Ben Popper recently attended our 20th Reunion and danced his face off. Since then, he started a new role as director of content marketing at Writer and is eager to connect with anyone interested in AI agents.

Jenny Mariaschin-Rudin and Rachel (Morris) Bruce ’03 ran into each other at their synagogue B’nai Jeshurun, on the Upper West Side and realized they were not only Wes alumni, but also were in the Mazeltones together! They have happily reconnected, and their children make mayhem and music together on Shabbat. Jenny has a private psychotherapy and neurodiversity consulting practice, and Rachel is an ER attending. 

David Delcourt writes, “I’m stillrunning my hot sauce company, Seed Ranch Flavor Co. (and sister brand GrownAs Foods), out in Boulder, Colorado. We have a delicious sauce featured on this season of Hot Ones. . . . So far, Owen Wilson, Dakota Johnson, Aaron Paul, and Adam Levine have loved it! The aches and pains of 20 years out of college haven’t kept me from keeping in touch with Ben Brown, Will Conkling, Teek Thaker, Tom Facelle, Rodney Solomon, and Lodro Paul Rinzler.”

Jeremy Paul is now working at Oberlin College—the Wesleyan of the Great Lakes—as their dance production coordinator.

Amy Crawford recently joined the team at global music and sound company MassiveMusic and is still based in NYC with kids (ages three and five) who are loving every minute.

Adam Smiley Poswolsky loved 20th Reunion so much he decided to volunteer to be our class secretary! Reunion highlights were MGMT karaoke in WestCo, dancing in Club Hewitt, and celebrating the life of his best friend Jesse Brenner. Email your class notes to aposwolsky@gmail.com.

Hi ’04! Hoping this edition of Class Notes finds you well. I’m back with a new round with some fun updates:

Mark Schindler continues to run his consulting firm, OtterBear, helping companies navigate digital transformations and build stronger leadership and operations teams via coaching and advising. This fall, he launched the Second Circle Institute (2CI), a leadership accelerator program and peer-driven community designed to help midlevel leaders grow into strategic, confident executives.

William Gilmore told us back in July that he, Michael Lang, David Whiting, Scott Zimmer, Jon Youngner, and their families gathered in Boston for a long-awaited meetup, reconnecting and reminiscing about the good times they shared at Wes. Mosah Goodman had booked tickets to join but a last-minute business meeting foiled that plan. He and Blake Williams were able to join via video call to share some laughs.

Stephanie Mandell writes in to tell us that last fall she and her husband competed in the World Ultimate (Frisbee) Championships in their age division, and their team won third place! “I hope to have more experiences like that before we all get too old.”

Dorian-Jamal Cool tells us: “I hope you’re doing well. Here are some updates. My fiancée and I married on May 1 of this year. We went to the Shakespeare Garden in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and made wildflower crowns for each other and jumped the broom (which my aunt made). The other big news is we spent a month in Mother Africa traveling solo in Namibia. We almost died in the desert, we ate the best sushi I’ve ever had, we swam with wild dolphins in a shipyard, and saw a lion pretend he could challenge a rhino—the rhino called his bluff and drank the water. Oh, and we weren’t killed by an angry elephant who just wanted us to get out of his place. He was quite cross.” He also added: “We were those cheesy dorks who, when driving through the desert, played “Africa” by Toto. It was nerdy, but I won’t say it wasn’t totally cool.”

Bernadette Doykos also writes in to share: “I am living in Salt Lake City but working for Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s media company, Boardroom, which is based in NYC. It’s been a big year of getting acclimated to a new home and pining for New England. The good news is that ski trips bring folks through town a fair amount, so I was able to hit some intermediate blues with Brent Taylor ’07 and Jenn Brown this winter!” Bernadette also said that she “had a sweet lil WesLax reunion” with Meriel Darzen and Sonya Behnke Page ’03 at the wedding of Erin Malone ’03, “though we missed Martina McPherson more than words can say.”

She also follows up to shout-outs to Adam Hodge for his selection to the Board of Trustees. “Proud of that guy!” [Insert writer’s note here, I have to echo that!]

We also heard from Adam himself who has been keeping busy too! “This summer, I completed my first half ironman and lived to talk about it. I’m excited to represent the Class of 2004 on the Wesleyan board as an elected trustee. Don’t hesitate to reach out!”

Brian McKenna is living the dream in NYC with his beautiful wife and two daughters. He continues his dedication to the professional passions he discovered at Wes, fusing music/audio with visual storytelling as the founder of BtOVEN MUSIC (www.btovenmusic.com), established in 2009 after launching his career writing jingles.

            “Recent work includes: experiential animation for Disney with partner studio Cartuna, under Clio consideration; a growing Telly count, including the most recent 2025 award for work supporting Ukraine on Raw Travel, TV’s #1 rated travel show; cause-driven work with organizations like The Ghetto Film School and NYC–based PSA powerhouse F.Y. Eye, e.g., Rising Tide Effect | Water Wise; and purposeful podcast productions across corporate and entertainment sectors, e.g., Symptomatic with iHeart and Novartis.” 

            Outside of his work in studio and on location, Brian focuses his time on family, friends, fitness, fun, and foodie culture—in perpetual pursuit of perfecting his lasagna.” =)

As for me, I continue to live in and love Chicago, when I’m not traveling across continents for work. I’m hoping to get back to the East Coast in the late fall to visit the family and some of my favorite neighborhoods!

As always, if you’ve got class notes, please share them at wes04classnotes@gmail.com.