Tag: 2001

Happy summer Class of 2001! Our classmates are keeping busy as ever.

Chris Saenger writes in to share that he is back in Washington, D.C., after spending four years in Bogota, Colombia. He will now be leading USAID’s Ukraine desk for the next couple of years. Chris’s wife, Caroline Adams Saenger, still paints beautiful, abstracted landscapes, and he adds that he smiles wistfully when he passes the exit for Middletown on his way up to visit his daughter at the University of Vermont.

Elizabeth Savage has started her own practice, Elizabeth Savage Law, located in Portland, Oregon. She focuses on appeals, civil litigation, and family law. Visit Elizabeth’s website (savage-attorney.com) to check out more about her new private practice.

We have another law career update from Wei Hu. Wei was recognized by City and State New York’s 2024 Trailblazers in Law publication! Wei’s practice, MRTA Law PC, was highlighted for helping to advance social justice and economic equity in New York’s adult-use industry and cannabis law. Wei is considered a leader in this category in part for prevailing in a pro bono appellate matter that changed New York State’s marijuana conviction expungement laws in 2023, as well as for having worked with Governor Hochul’s office on regulatory and enforcement matters to stem unlicensed dispensary operations throughout New York in 2024. As if Wei has not been busy enough, he, along with two co-owners, also recently opened Lenox Hill Cannabis Co., a dispensary located in Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Correction from last issue: Mattitiyahu Zimbler’s name was misspelled. We apologize for the error.

Whew! Thanks so much to everyone who shared their news. We love hearing from you.

Best,

Aryn and Mara

Great to hear from you as always.

Mattitiyahu Zimbler writes, “I recently accepted a faculty position in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Boston College. As part of my teaching, I had the absolute honor of having Kate McGrew, Megan Bartlett, and Eric Rueter ’99 provide incredible guest lectures for my classes. Their relevant expertise has made my classes all the better for it!”

From Matt Earp: “I’ve been pursuing immersive experiences ever since I moved back from Berlin in 2016 and returned to Oakland. For the last five years, I’ve been in Reality Labs at Meta working on immersive experiences for the Quest Virtual Reality headsets. I’m a content designer on the Metaverse team, which means I focus on defining new concepts and then working with [the] team to figure out how to build them. It’s been a wild ride, with a highlight being creating concerts and events in Horizon Worlds, including for Post Malone. I’ve also continued to DJ professionally since college, and now have a duo act called sw00se with my wife, Sara (also a DJ herself). Or maybe now it’s a trio since we welcomed our daughter, Rhye, into the world a year ago. Her favorite toy is a Fischer Price record player and she adores music of all kinds. I still trade tunes with Tim Jones ’02 who also lives in Oakland—we’ve kept our blend of hip-hop and electronic music alive since our WESU radio show days and he still inspires me.”

Nora Friedman writes, “My news is that in May I became the director of the Suzuki Program at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music in Park Slope, where I’ve been on violin faculty for the last 12 years. I would be thrilled to hear from any Wesleyan alums thinking of enrolling their children in bass, flute, violin, guitar, cello, or piano lessons in our program! My email is nora.friedman@bkcm.org.”

Congratulations to Emily Barth Isler for her second book for middle school-aged readers coming out this March, called The Color of Sound. Focusing on a neurodivergent character, the book “explores intergenerational relationships through time travel, and depicts Jewish identity and traditions in an accessible, thought-provoking way.” I see praise already piling up, with best-selling author John Cho writing, “The Color of Sound is a valentine to families everywhere. Isler explores multiple intergenerational relationships lovingly and honestly, while keeping a gifted and vulnerable girl firmly at the center. It’s hard to imagine a book that I would want both my parents and my children to read, and yet, here is one.”

Best,

Mara

Our 2001 class is as busy as ever.

Emily Barth Isler and husband Jim Isler just celebrated 19 years of marriage and four years of living in Los Angeles with their two children. Jim created a kids’ series for PBS about the origin of animal idioms, which is premiering this fall. Emily, author of AfterMath, an award-winning book for middle school–aged kids and adults, has written two more books that were recently announced. The Color of Sound is a middle-grade novel that will be published by Lerner Book Group in March 2024, and Emily’s first picture book, Always Enough Love, will be out from Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books in 2026.

Will Engel is writing a novella! Will tells us that it’s a comedic story about Santa Monica neighbors during the quarantine. The working title is, I Live in Sweatpants: the Life and Times of Jamie Jordan. Will is putting the finishing touches on his novella and hopes the story can translate well into television.

After a series of adventures, Somachi (Chikwe) Kachikwu is back in Maryland working as a curriculum director for a training agency while pursuing her doctorate in education. Life has taken Somachi to Nigeria and England since graduation, but now she’s back home. Somachi looks forward to reconnecting with many of our fellow classmates soon.

Lisa Weinert’s recently published book, Narrative Healing, offers a new paradigm for personal growth, self-care, and community action through an embodied writing practice. Her six-step process of healing through storytelling—awaken, listen, express, inspire, connect, and grow— incorporates somatic practices, creative prompts, and mindfulness exercises to guide readers in releasing stories held within their bodies.

Thanks so much to everyone who shared their news. We love hearing from you.

Best,

Aryn and Mara

It’s strange, the class notes that came in just happen to be only from good friends. It’s almost as if I forgot to do any outreach whatsoever and sent a pleading SOS out to them the night before the notes were due. If that were the case, I’d be very grateful. Maybe someday I’ll have the opportunity to thank them for some situation like that, but probably not since it would never happen!

Ben Stanko has spent the last 15 years working for Philadelphia Parks & Recreation as an arborist and is currently managing the Street Tree Management Division of the department. He is very excited to help with the implementation of the new Philly Tree Plan, the city’s first strategic urban forestry plan (https://www.phila.gov/programs/philly-tree-plan/). He lives in the neighborhood of Mount Airy with his wife Kim and their two sons, Theo (10) and Louis (5). He is always happy to see other Wesleyan folks at the schoolyard of the local public elementary school.

Jesse Kudler has been active in political organizing in Philadelphia, currently volunteering with progressive candidates for city council and mayor. He has been enjoying returning to live musical performance and has been a part of the Balinese gamelan ensemble the last few years. He’s recently taken up a bit of rock climbing as well.

Joey Conover has moved on from building houses to helping others buy and sell houses, currently including a couple of Wes alums who have a cute, two-bedroom renovated and centrally located house with a dependency out back coming on the market this spring. She is at Nest Realty. Give her a call if Charlottesville is tempting you!

Here in Boston, I’m still recovering from the intense effort of baking a (kind of weird looking) cake in the shape of a giant Lego head for my son’s seventh birthday. The things we do for love.

Sending my best wishes to everyone,

Mara

Happy New Year Class of 2001! We hope 2023 has kicked off to a great start.

Wei Hu writes in to tell us that after 15 years of regulatory/administrative law and administering public benefits at the NYC Department of Social Services, he founded a boutique New York cannabis law practice (www.mrtalaw.com) last year. MRTA Law counsels adult-use licensee and license applicants and assists ex-marijuana offenders to expunge prior convictions. Wei also accepted an adjunct professor position at CUNY School of Law where he will be teaching NY Cannabis Law: Social Justice and Economic Equity under the MRTA. Wei resides in Manhattan and Ulster County with his wife and two young daughters.

Doctor of Dental Surgery, Julia Jackson, has just launched her new professional bio. In it, Julia shares she was drawn to dentistry because it harmonizes the relationships between art, science, and people. Julia also lectures regularly on implant dentistry and holds several memberships in dental organizations in the Virginia area as well as nationwide. Julia even founded two study clubs: 1st Ladies of Dentistry and The Essentials lecture series. Julia loves her profession, her patients, and doing good works in the community. Check out her full bio in the electronic version of Class Notes. Also be sure to follow Julia on social @socket_grafting_girl.

Matt Auerbach was named the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles Fan of the Year, which includes a VIP trip to the Super Bowl! He’s excited, and we can understand why. The competition must have been fierce. This  article on the Eagle’s website explains the touching background story for Matt’s love for this NFL team:  https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/matt-auerbach-eagles-fan-of-the-year-an-american-dream-come-true#disqus_thread.

Thanks for all the news and updates. We love hearing from you.

Oliver Platts-Mills and Natasha Sienitsky ’02, joined by their daughters Ursula (6) and Ona (4), have taken over an Appalachian Mountain lodging and campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Central Virginia. Oliver says, “Come visit us at www.loveridgeva.com!”

Andrew Drane writes, “I got married in December 2020 and we became foster parents in September 2021. We are currently caring for an adorable 2-year-old foster daughter!”

Grace Anderson-Smith now lives in Georgia, and has a “beautiful, smart, 4-year-old daughter and future Wesleyan field hockey player. I am proud to have successfully accomplished working in corporate for Time magazine, then graduated from NYU with a master’s in education. I worked and coached at Rye Country Day School, taught math, and had a math tutoring company for over 20 years. Grateful for all I have accomplished with multiple sclerosis. I have MS, but MS it does not have me.”

From Emily Barth Isler: “My debut middle-grade novel, AfterMath, came out in September from Lerner/Carolrhoda, and was called ‘a gift to the culture’ by Amy Schumer and ‘pretty close to perfect’ by Judith Viorst. AfterMath also won the 2022 Mathical Book Prize, was A Mighty Girl’s Books of the Year list winner 2021, and was chosen as Nate Berkus’s Nate’s Reads book club pick for the month of April 2022! I was delighted to be on a panel at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in April with John Cho, Kelly Yang, and Lexie Bean, speaking about the importance of books that address difficult topics for middle-grade readers. AfterMath deals with the lasting impact of gun violence in communities, as well as themes of grief, resilience, friendship, and family, and sadly it’s getting more relevant every day in light of recent mass shootings. I’m quite involved in several gun violence prevention organizations and donate a portion of my proceeds from the book to said orgs. I love doing school visits via Zoom or in person, so if you teach middle school or know a teacher who wants to bring authors into classrooms, please be in touch! Learn more at emilybarthisler.com/aftermath.”

Ben Clark was hired by the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of New York, to serve as an AUSA in the Criminal Division.

Jennifer Tuft’s entertainment technology company, Kaleidoco, has opened an immersive mixed-reality experience called Particle Ink: Speed of Dark in the arts district of Las Vegas. Particle Ink: Speed of Dark is a narrative experience, one that seamlessly weaves live performance with mixed-reality technology. If you find yourself in Las Vegas and want to step into a living graphic novel, go see Particle Ink! More at particleink.com.

Joanna Weaver (formerly Richman) moved her family of four to Boston this year for her faculty position at Northeastern University. She has enjoyed re-connecting with fellow class of ’01 alumni Will Tsoules and Mara Voukydis [aka me, and the feeling is mutual!] and alum Demian Szyld ’00. She is hoping to discover more Wesleyan friends in the area!

Always great to hear from you all.

Best,

Mara

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.

Thanks for writing in, everybody.

     Kyle Judge is currently working in the music business as an executive and manager of such notable acts who are signed to major record labels such as Young Devyn (4th & B’way/ Island Records), Souly Had (Island Records), Dru Oliver (Grammy-nominated vocal producer and platinum-selling songwriter) and Lyrique J (platinum-selling songwriter on Chris Brown’s Indigo album).  You can find them all on Instagram. He is also the executive producer of a project by Young Devyn released this summer on 4th & B’way / Island Records.

    Raymond Kuo has joined the RAND Corporation as a political scientist, continuing his research on security issues in Asia.

From Andrea Donnelly: “Last I wrote, I’d started a spiritual healing business, We Are Here 2 Remember, which has taken off like a rocketship in the past few months. I am primarily doing spiritual mentorship for founders and CEOs.” She was recently featured on Yahoo, Halle Berry’s new site rē-spin, and podcasts including Chakra Girl Radio and Hello Universe. By the time this is published, a two-part interview with Ali Levine, former Bravo Reality Star, about her work will be released on her podcast Everything with Ali Levine. “My talk with Ali is beyond a dream come true. I was an American Studies major and this feels like the perfect mash-up of my intellectual + spiritual curiosity and forevergreen love of pop culture. If anyone wants to learn more about my work you can email me at andrea@wearehere2remember.com or www.wearehere2remember.com.”

From Jenny Selgrath: “Last year I started a position at the NOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary where I do research focusing on the intersection of coastal communities and ocean ecosystems. As a result my pup and I moved to Santa Barbara, which has been a sweet place to be for COVID. Lots of road biking, outdoor yoga, and my first West African Dance class since Wesleyan—this time at the beach.

    Don Kim moved to Century City and hopes there are some Wes folks in the area!

    Amy Larkin Gelbach is living in Richmond, Virginia, and will be teaching life skills to 6th–8th graders at Brookland Middle School this year.

    Karen Gross enjoyed emceeing our virtual 20th Class Reunion, seeing familiar faces, and connecting candidly about life in pandemic times. She recently launched a new podcast called She Rocked It, dedicated to raising the volume on women’s voices (and a clear continuation of her Womanist House days). You can tune in on podcast platforms, YouTube, and at www.sherockedit.com. Karen is also still running her speechwriting and communications consulting company. She currently serves as the speechwriter for one of the nation’s most influential public health leaders.

    Lisa Kagan recently released a book of poetry and art entitled Coming Home to Myself. Spanning a decade of growth and change, this book honors the importance of following your inner compass through exploring nine essential elements of the human experience: courage, passion, patience, grace, faith, resilience, wonder, gratitude, and renewal. Serving as an intimate companion for navigating life’s passages, this collection is an ode to the kindness and generosity that the world desperately needs and the power of turning that caring towards ourselves. You can purchase your copy here:

https://familyheirloomarts.com/products/coming-home-to-myself-poetry-and-art-by-lisa-kagan/

From Brenna Cothran: “I’m happily surrounded by Wes alums wherever I go (not that I’ve been going anywhere this past year). Alice Jankell ’83 and her family live down the hall from my family’s apartment. I’ve been working at the Whitney Museum of American Art as an exhibitions registrar for the past 5 1/2 years, where I collaborate often with Lauren (Tehan) DiLoreto ’97. I’m co-class parent for my son Max’s first grade class along with Georgia (Silvera) Seamans ’98 (I also have a daughter, Sammy, who is about to finish fifth grade). When travel is possible, trips to my hometown mean that I get to see my sister Rallie (Nepveux) Snowden ’96. And of course, long walks with my dog while wearing my (now-20-year-old) Wesleyan sweatshirt have led to many random connections with fellow alums on the sidewalks and in the parks of NYC.

My beloved housemates of 51 Fountain are still going strong! Isaac Eddy was awarded tenure and a promotion to associate professor at Northern Vermont University–Johnson where he is the chair of the Performing Arts Department. He is also on the committee to merge all Vermont State College System campuses to ensure they all remain open and continue to provide affordable liberal arts education to rural Vermonters. He directed an original performance, The Monument, devised by an ensemble of NVU students, which won a national Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival “Citizen Artist” award during the Spring ‘21 semester. One highlight of this difficult year was zooming Wes 2001 artists into his classes including Kate Purdy and Woody Fu.

I also need to admit something to you, dear reader. I didn’t intend to miss the online Reunion and certainly didn’t intend to omit telling you about it. I actually didn’t know about it. Is an email hiding in one of the many confounding layers of purgatory known as spam quarantine (such a charming name prior to 2020)? Probably. Would I have attended and then missed your actual faces and daydreamed/Zoomdreamed of walking all the way up Foss Hill with you instead? Definitely.