Hi ’04,

As we get into the spring season, I hope this finds you well.

Back with another round of class notes for you, with some fun stuff from fellow classmates:

Abraham Lateiner is living in the Boston area and enjoying being a father to his 11- and 15-year-old daughters. His current passion is a performance art piece called the Support Genius Chatbot, which Abraham developed as a part of the Relational Uprising community of practice. This “chatbot” engages audiences to identify and uplift the supportive relationships in their lives, tapping into narratives of AI to encourage and equip people to protect their relationships amidst increasing social fragmentation. Abraham has performed on the street, at open mics, variety shows, and other gatherings of artists and creatives. You can see the chatbot on Instagram and read the FAQ here. 

Kevin Baker has started a new job as executive director of the West Virginia State Bar after working as the city attorney for Charleston the last seven years. He and his family—wife, Sarah, and kids, Wesley (12), Josephine (nine), and Harriet (seven)—welcome all Wesleyan visitors to Charleston, West Virginia; plus the new job will see Kevin traveling the country and hoping to visit you in your town too.

Brian Hennessey tells us that on his end he’s now living in Coconut Grove in Miami with wife, Berit, and their now walking 15-month-old daughter, Sylvia. “I’m working for Norwegian Cruise Lines, so anyone coming to Miami definitely should drop me a line.”

Chetan Devaskar also reports: “Oasis wasn’t the only big reunion last fall!” In 2004, Nick Sabloff, Steve Morgan, and Chetan,“caught up in Los Angeles to join 80,000 fans for one of the band’s record-breaking performances at the Rose Bowl.”

As always, if you have an update, please send it to me at wes04classnotes@gmail.com. I love getting them and look forward to the next notes from you all.

Charles O’Connell married Robyn Swift this past June and had a celebration in October. In attendance were Lucy O’Connell ’06, Jason Scott ’04, Andy Casden, and Ellen Jewett ’81. Charlie and Robyn are living in San Francisco, California.

Samantha (Gillombardo) Larson is the attorney manager of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s newly minted Non-Profit Legal Resource Center. She provides free legal education and representation to nonprofits in northeast Ohio, 96% of which lack in-house counsel. Sam counts herself exceedingly lucky to remain connected to so many Wesleyan friends and cherishes her weekly phone dates with Emily Teitsworth.

Joey Wender now serves as executive director of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition. He still lives in the D.C. suburbs with his wife, son, and daughter. 

Julie Stankiewicz will begin a new role as an instructor at Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. Julie will be teaching a course that she created—Understanding the Experience of Chronic and Invisible Illness—to clinical psychologists, who will receive formal continuing education credits for completion of the program. In the near future, Julie plans to offer this course to social workers, nurses, and physicians through additional departments at Rutgers University. This course was created to fulfill the mission of the nonprofit organization that Julie founded and leads—CARE for People with Chronic and Invisible Illness. Julie has been happily married to Ben Teaford for more than 11 years. Ben owns his own videography business and enjoys the creativity of his work. Together, Ben and Julie enjoy spending time with their cat, Vespurr, long walks in nature, and travels to the mountains and coastlines of New England.

I’m back with a quick roundup of notes from our classmates.

Adam Cayton-Holland wrote the film See You When I See You, directed by Jay Duplass—it had its world premiere at Sundance in February! This film was based on his 2018 book, Tragedy Plus Time. Adam says “the cast is incredible and I’m thrilled for people to see it . . . really excited about the start of this journey. I was a big indie movie kid growing up, a film major at Wesleyan, so this is, needless to say, a dream come true.” The film will next play at SXSW.

Radhika Singh’s debut novel, Earthly Playing Field, is forthcoming May 2026 from Common Notions Press. Set in the sci-fi present, the novel ruminates on Sufi poetics and the role of faith in resistance, while speculating on a bioengineered technology to hack AI warfare. Her second novel, Weirdly Tuned Antennae, is forthcoming November from FC2 Press. Set in the future in the hills of India, it speculates on a post-imperialist world enabled by ongoing people’s movements and by a ubiquitous plant-based technology that fosters gender magic, healer witches, and interstellar romance.

Lydia Menendez Parker is working with The Nature Conservancy in Vermont on land protection, and loves keeping in touch with friends from Wes, while skiing and hiking in northern New England as much as possible with her family.

As for myself, I also debuted a project at Sundance—the first episode of a three-part series called The Oligarch and the Art Dealer—about a Swiss art dealer and a Russian oligarch caught in a web of secrets, lies, and money. Last year, amongst the projects I produced, I just wanted to give a shout-out to my faves: Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost, Apple TV’s number one film, directed by Ben Stiller about his famous parents; Champions of the Golden Valley, a feature documentary about the Afghan ski team, also produced by Malala; State of Firsts, a doc that premiered at Tribeca about Sarah McBride, the first trans member of Congress; Trophy Wife: Murder on Safari, a Hulu stranger-than-fiction true crime series; and animated short All Heart, about a father grieving his daughter. I also produced a podcast about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Paramount, which was really fun to work on!

Wow, it’s almost time for another reunion! One year away.

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

Dan Packel completed the Philadelphia Marathon in November. He was happy to be cheered on by Ben Stanko ’01 and his family. “Our local public school in northwest Philly is a mini-Wesleyan cluster: my daughter and Ben’s kids are joined by the children of Catherine (Beer) Coleman ’01, Ali Stumacher ’01, and Jean Friedman-Rudovsky ’02. 

Liz (Doctors) Alleva teaches HypnoBirthing® childbirth education and supports families in creating calm, confident birth experiences. “It’s truly amazing what the power of the mind can do—especially during birth. If you or someone you know is expecting and would like to learn more about empowered birth, please visit my website: www.HypnoBirthingMommy.com.”

Trace Peterson finally joined the Wesleyan chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi Society this year as an alum after pledging 30 years ago, most likely setting the record for longest perma-pledge ever. Trace’s second full-length book of poems, The Valleys Are So Lush and Steep, won the 2025 Alma Book Award from Saturnalia Books and was just published in October 2025. The book features blurbs by Anne Waldman, Samuel R. Delany, and Sandy Stone. This year Trace also published an article in the peer-reviewed journal Boundary 2 and an essay in the nonfiction book Fast Famous Women (Woodhall Press) edited by Gina Barreca. Stephanie Burt wrote a chapter about Trace’s work in her new book Super Gay Poems (Harvard University Press). Trace continues to teach at UConn.

From Mandy Snyder: “Hello, Classmates: Life is good for me in western Massachusetts. I am continuing to practice contact improv and teach groups in parts work and somatics. My latest passion is exploring the Enneagram, a system for personal and spiritual growth, through the lens of embodiment. Any Enneagram enthusiasts, reach out! I would love to connect about it: mandy.jean.snyder@gmail.com.”

Dear ’99ers,

Unfortunately, we’re opening this version of the notes with some sad news: Zack Becker shared that his wife, Amy Martin, died suddenly on September 7 (obituary here and MSN article here). “We met at an ’80s party during orientation and went on to enjoy another 30 years of friendship and 21 years of marriage. She loved Wesleyan and will be sorely missed by me and her many friends.” We heard from several others in the Wes community who were touched by Amy. Our hearts go out to Zack and family.

Jennifer Karlin is an associate professor at UCSF and recently launched the Reproductive Health Hotline (ReproHH), a free, confidential, and nationwide hotline that provides evidence-based answers to questions from care providers about sexual and reproductive health. This essential service is funded by the State of California until 2029, to help improve quality of reproductive and sexual health care across the nation amidst intersecting crises that imperil our health-care system as labor and delivery units close, Medicaid cuts deepen, and abortion bans proliferate. If anyone wants to learn more about this great resource, please reach out to Jennifer at reprohealthhotline@ucsf.edu. In other news, in September, Jennifer swam over 17 hours straight from Catalina Island to the coast of California, officially becoming a channel marathon swimmer. She is looking forward to her next swimming adventure soon!

Celina Su was appointed to NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s transition team to work on the city’s first-ever community organizing subcommittee. “I’ve been getting the chance to connect with folks with my new book, Budget Justice, as a conversation starter, which has been great. It has been so galvanizing—a joy, even— to engage with folks in common struggle, working together for popular power and co-governance. Always happy to be in touch with folks!”

Also in NYC: Sarah (Chutiangtong) Sietsema shared that she and Shirley Fan survived the NYC public high school admissions process together. “Our eighth graders studied for the SHSAT, and us moms traded many texts about schools and rankings. IYKYK.”

On the opposite side of the globe: Amelia Borofsky and her two kiddos are moving back to Raglan, Aotearoa (in New Zealand). It’s “a beautiful surf town. We love visitors!” Darryl and I are checking with Wesleyan to see if there’s budget for in-person, class notes interviews in 2026. Stay tuned, Amelia…

I’m (Kevin) now leading a digital health company called Levanto, which is a spin out of Baylor Scott & White Health. If you want to nerd out on health care or digital health, drop me a line. I also had the pleasure of ringing in the New Year in Nicaragua with Craig Schortzmann ’01 and his wonderful family! My wife and I also attended Wesleyan night at Anna Christie, Tommy Kail’s latest play (starring his wife, Michelle Williams). It was great to see Barbara Jan Wilson (still remembers everything about everyone . . . amazing) and hear the talkback from Tommy after the play. He’s launching Proof on Broadway this spring and the live-action version of Moana this summer!

Wishing all our classmates a bright 2026, and please send your updates in so Darryl has lots of fun news to share with you all next time!

Hi, classmates! Thanks to so many of you for writing in!

In happy news, Mariandrea Mueller has married her longtime partner, raconteur Apul Patel (UC Berkeley ’97). She has taken his last name because she likes how “Mariandrea Rae Patel” sounds. They enjoy traveling and are looking forward to a safari in Tanzania, but are making their home in Los Angeles, California. 

Emily Weissman and her husband relocated a few years ago from the Bay Area to a small town in northern California called Grass Valley. They have chickens and a dog and Emily works remotely at a community development financial institution. And they love the small community they’re in.

Adam Borden was invited to Seattle in November to speak on an Amazon panel and combined it with a personal trip to the Olympic National Forest with Adam Bakun. They saw the world’s largest Sitka spruce tree, with a 59-foot circumference, in addition to eating some great meals together. Jules Cohen and Adam also broke bread—they went to Maneki, Seattle’s oldest Japanese restaurant, where Jules filled Adam in on his work at Microsoft. Adam thinks Jules is probably our only classmate to be working for the same company since graduation! Adam took his daughter, a Middlebury art history major, to Miami and met Franklin Sirmans ’91 at his museum, the Perez Art Museum, for a brief visit. What an impressive modern collection!

Lisa Winegar says she has been lucky to be able to keep in regular touch and often see many of our fellow’98ers this year and will have the chance for more in 2026. To protect the embarrassed and guilty parties, she will keep their names private. In news that apparently surprised Lisa more than anyone, she got married and is now a stepmom. She’s even serving on her school’s board of trustees. (“You can take the girl out of Wesleyan, but not the Wesleyan out of the girl . . .”).  She also wanted to say that she had a magnificent time at our 25th Reunion. And she’s going to make it her business to try and convince all of you to come back every five years! She points out that we have already had to say goodbye to more of our classmates than many can stand, so we need to take advantage of any time we can be together at our beloved Wes. She also lives in New Hampshire now and asks anyone in the Boston metro area and New England/Northeast to please get in touch!

Jamie Pagliaro recently stepped into a new role as CEO of EarliPoint Health, a health-care technology company focused on earlier, more objective diagnosis and outcome measurement in autism. He lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with his wife and their two teenage children, and plays in a local band (The BARD Band). This year also brought a great reunion with former squash teammate Andrew Frishman ’97, whom Jamie connected with at an education event in the mountains outside of Denver.

Mary Lisio reports she had a wonderful significant birthday celebration in New York that included Danielle Woodrow, Mollie Nelson Webster ’99, Sarah Margon, Mike Lenore ’97, Keri Chaimowitz Topkins ’97, and Sadia Shepard ’97. She heard from many alumni that day and is grateful for her Wesleyan friends!

Ellen Struzziero wrote in to say she is still living just a half hour from Wesleyan in Farmington, Connecticut. She has been there for 22 years now and has three beautiful daughters: Eliza and Scarlett Kamm, whose father is the late James Kamm ’92, Alpha Delt president; and her youngest, Edith Roth, who was born in 2015 to Ellen and her high school sweetheart (her second husband, but who is counting?) After working for the City of Hartford Department of Health for four years during COVID-19 and then mpox pandemics, Ellen went back to working ob-gyn (midwifery) in Hartford. Her older two have started college, one in Connecticut and the other at Stonehill College in Massachusetts, and she says it is absolutely unbelievable that she could have children as old as she was when she first set foot as a frosh at Wesleyan. On a sadder front, earlier in 2025, she lost her (second) husband, and between that unexpected tragedy and the realization that she is now old enough to have kids in college she has been thinking a lot about WesFolk that she hasn’t heard from in years. She hasn’t kept her old Wesleyan email but would love to hear from classmates—the good, the bad—any and all of it. After all, “life is all about the stories.”

Finally, Justin Ring is pleased to have sent in his first update in 27 years! [Editor’s note: “27 what now??”] After five years of teaching screenwriting at Wes, he moved back to LA and finally started his own small production company, Shindig Entertainment. He’s honored that the first film he executive produced, Where in the Hell, is the feature directorial debut of Laramie Dennis ’95. It played in festivals all over the world in Seoul, Melbourne, and Berlin, and even picked up the Best Narrative Feature award for its NYC premiere at the Queens World Film Festival, where Justin got to catch up with Jody Kuh ’95 and Bex Schwartz ’00, who were rockstars for coming out for opening night. By the time this is in print, it should be available wherever you stream films. Justin also got to see Neal Wilkinson’s amazing art installation Fight for America! in London’s West End this summer, where apparently Neal hornswoggled Justin into “karaokeing” We Are the World in front a gaggle of bemused British gamers as part of the show. Justin also sees Jaime McAdams, who is a big deal at MSG/Radio City, whenever Justin passes through NYC and learns exactly what the Yankees are doing wrong. Finally, right before the holidays, Noah Merin, Ashley Knaysi, and Anthony Veneziale let Justin crash their mini–Gag Reflex reunion for a lovely evening. Ashley has become a quite brilliant nurse practitioner and shares a shift once a week with Samantha Smith-Newman ’02, whose husband, John Newman, directed the first short that Justin produced, starring Lynn Chen, because LA is actually a small town, and Wes peeps support each other. Give a Justin shout if you come through LA, ’98ers!

And with that, I turn to 0°F temps but two feet of fresh snow and more coming down. I’m so envious of all of you running into each other and especially those of you still in New England, but snow and my increasingly feisty teenage nieces are still too hard to pass up.

Please keep in touch. It was wonderful to hear from so many of you.

Best,

Abby

Madeleine Perez wrote to share happy news: “We had the honor of having our son Dylan’s Bar Mitzvah here in LA in May 2025. But even better is that our amazing rabbi is also a Wesleyan alum—Rabbi Jon Hanish ’84. He did such a great job, and it was an honor to have that Wes connection on such a special day. If you’re in LA come say hi at Temple Kol Tikvah.” Mazel tov to your family, Madeleine! 

Ben Helphand wrote: “This summer I published Berries for Bloomingdale: The Serviceberry Cookbook, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Chicago’s Bloomingdale Trail, which I helped to create. It’s an ode to foraging and features recipes from neighbors and a few far-flung serviceberry (aka juneberry) enthusiasts. Like the trail, it was a true community effort, celebrating the fruit of the native berry.”

We are thrilled to learn about a new kind of berry! Congratulations on the cookbook, Ben!

Sara Kate Gillingham wrote: “Wow, it was a big year. In June I turned 50 and a long relationship ended just days later; I finished grad school in August; and became an empty nester (my daughter found a great home at Oberlin!). I’m enjoying swimming through the winter in Coney Island, dancing constantly, and working as a couples and individual therapist. I have a rich and busy social life but wouldn’t mind any reconnections with Wesleyan pals. Drop me a line! skgillingham@gmail.com.”  Happy birthday, and congratulations on completing grad school and all your amazing news, Sara. 

Andrew Frishman, we always love your “Wesleyan-adjacent highlights.” Keep ’em coming!

“In November I went to a talk at Boston University by Andrew Szegedy-Maszak [now retired professor of ancient Greek history at Wesleyan]. I brought my son along, ran into a bunch of Wesleyan alumni, and it was genuinely fun to feel that Wes energy in the room.

“I recently attended a design sprint in Palo Alto, focused on imagining what high school could look like in the future, especially with AI in the mix. Totally unexpected bonus: a delightful reunion with Ussuri Yu ’99 (we lived on the same hall when I was an RA in Hewitt 10 during 1995–1996), and another Wesleyan alum was there too, Ingrid Wong ’96.

“A week later, Leigh (Needleman) ’96 and I went to a wonderful Hanukkah party hosted by Fawn Phelps and her husband, Mike Mittelman. Great to see Alisa Khan there as well, plus other Wesleyan folks in the mix.

“The following week I was in NYC and got to see fellow Wes alum Maxwell Bigman ’14, and also Ethan Gordon (a current Wesleyan student, and the child of my colleague Dr. Pamela Gordon).

“And one more happy Wes connection: Leigh and I and our kids, who are now 16 and 13, continued a tradition of sharing a just-after-Thanksgiving meal with Laura Warren ’98, her husband, Alan, and their kids, which was really delightful.”

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Sasha Lewis-Reisen and her 11th grader attended Wesleyan’s Admission 101: Know Before You Go “two-day series of workshops about the joy that is the college admissions process (not just for Wes, although how amazing would that be!). “We ran into old friends and made new ones—so many fellow alumni and Wes staff attended with their kids. It’s an amazing and thoughtful program. If you are in the Middletown area the weekend before Thanksgiving when your kid is in the 11th grade, please consider it. And the kids got to attend real classes! (Which is, surprisingly, very rarely an option on college tours, as I’m finding out.) Apparently, Wesleyan has been running this program for decades. Go Wes!” 

We wish everyone a kind and healthy spring and summer, and we are looking forward to seeing all at our May 2027 reunion! 

Jess and Sasha

Dacque writes for this issue.

1996er fam: happy and healthy to all in the new year! Lots of good news comes in from our classmates. I hope all are getting geared up for our 30th Reunion—start spreading the news!

In February, Josh Pollock became new executive director of the Boulder Climbing Community, a regional stewardship organization that maintains Colorado’s Front Range climbing spaces. Josh, who has worked for two decades building relationships between the people who use and manage these spaces, says that he is “honored to join the BCC, an organization that exemplifies community engagement to protect the places we recreate.” Open invitation to all to come visit sunny Colorado to experience world-class climbing opportunities.

Chung Ma (my personal RVA/River City consultant when traveling to that region) writes that he caught up with fellow Wes alum Bruce MacDonald ’92 in Richmond, Virginia.

Sam Effron (good to share memories of seeing P-Funk perform in 1994 at Spring Fling as we all watched on Foss Hill) sends in news that he is trying to stay informed and sane in this chaotic world. He recently “read” (listened to) The Art Thief and highly recommends it to everyone, particularly because the audiobook is read by Edoardo Ballerini ’92 and that he does a phenomenal job. Edoardo also happens to live in the same town as Sam, and they run into each other from time to time. Sam was very excited to be heading off to Mexico City with Josh and Maggie McClean Suniewick ’97 and a group of friends to celebrate a friend’s 50th birthday.

He ran into Alejandro Luciano at the airport on the way home and who had spent the same weekend with Anuj Desai and Jennifer Lau. Sam is starting to get excited and plan for our 30th Reunion in May (which he is calling our 25th Reunion Redo since stupid COVID robbed us of an in-person event, and also because calling it the 30th Reunion makes him feel ancient). He hopes to see as many ’96ers there as possible.

Hardy Griffin writes that he is doing well and that he recently won The Masters Review’s Short Story Award for “Ahmet Usta.”

Stacy Carlson says, “In 2021 my family moved from Oakland, California, to Minneapolis, which has been (surprisingly?) wonderful. Turns out I love a winter wonderland, though at the time of this writing, the intense, violent presence of ICE has prompted me take to the streets as a legal observer in below-freezing weather. In other news, I’m pleased to announce the publication of my next novel, titled The Gyre, due out in May 2026. If you like literary/historical fiction set in the wilderness, please check it out!” 

As for me, I am doing well in Maryland and am very excited to see some amazing landscapes and experience the Mighty 5 National Parks in Utah this spring.

Hi, Class of ’95. It’s good to keep connecting with our classmates, including after last year’s 30th Reunion. This round, I have a couple of focused updates—a fun theme going of our talented classmates in film!

Laramie Dennis (my wonderful first-year roommate!) writes: “I made a movie!! Where in the Hell, an art house buddy comedy about a pair of defectors from the crumbling LA film industry, marks my feature film debut as a writer/director. Justin Ring ’98 executive produced, and Sarah Hirzel consulted on title design. We played a bunch of festivals this past year, scooping up awards including Best Comedy Feature (Poppy Jasper), Best Feature Screenplay and Best Narrative Feature (Queens World), and the She’s On Fire Award (Female Filmmakers Festival Berlin). Where in the Hell will be available on Amazon and elsewhere this spring—watch for it!!”

Soraya Selene writes: “The past year has been wonderful and eventful for me, particularly as I got to reconnect with so many friends around the country. A feature documentary I directed, Who in the Hell is Regina Jones?, screened at numerous festivals, won several awards, and had its theatrical premiere in Los Angeles last June. It [had] its broadcast TV premiere in February. On the festival trail I got to connect with Angela Tucker ’96 in New Orleans (whose documentary about Barbara Jordan, The Inquisitor, you must see!), and I had the awesome experience of bumping into Damon Smith and his lovely family in Martha’s Vineyard, when my film was screening there. I also got to spend time with my bestie Stacey Samuel ’96, who recently moved back to NYC from D.C. She visited me in Los Angeles and graciously watched over my 11-year-old twins while I traveled. It takes a village! More big personal news . . .  after living in Los Angeles for 19 years, I moved to Lisbon with my children this past summer! During my trip to San Francisco for my appointment at the Portuguese consulate, I got to hang out with Diana Ip and Isabella Gralinska. So fun! If any Wes folks are in Europe and want to connect, I’d love to hear from you. It was so wonderful to reconnect with so many of you at Reunion.”

Lastly, big thanks to Bo Bell, my co-secretary for the past nine (!) years. Bo is stepping aside to focus on other things, and I will continue as your class secretary. Gratitude to Bo for his enthusiastic presence these many years!