Charlotte Pitts just graduated with her master of architecture degree from the University of Virginia and is heading out to Northern California to begin her career at Mithun. She is joined by her fiancé, John Henry Vansant, who will work in Oakland as an in-house law clerk for AFSCME, a public-sector labor union, before returning to the University of Virginia School of Law and Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy for his final year of studies. They are excited to settle down in Northern California and look forward to spending time with fellow Cardinals out West.
Daniel Lee is now working in the Silicon Valley as an engineer for Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. It’s a new product so he is currently testing the device and using it day-to-day to listen to music and to capture special moments. He says, “It’s a cool product you guys should try out at your local stores!”
Jack Maraghy wrote, “I recently finished a master’s degree in screenwriting at the National Film and Television School (NFTS) in London. Short films I wrote at the NFTS are now screening at festivals worldwide. One of my short animations won a Student Academy Award in October and is featured as an Oscar contender in the Hollywood Reporter. The film, Mum’s Spaghetti, is a stop-motion rap operetta (rap-eretta) about a girl and her beatboxing dog who aspire to become the best rap duo in North England. Currently, I’m working on a new live-action short funded and developed by BBC Film.” Congratulations, Jack!
And congratulations to Julia Black and John MacIntosh ’16! They married on June 17, 2023, in Darien, Connecticut. Julia said, “We met between Usdan and Foss Hill in the fall of 2014.
John and Julia
“We were surrounded by love and friends from Wesleyan: six bridesmaids were also Class of 2018 (Dana Mitchell, Elizabeth Spitz, Christina Vyzas, Tierney Behles, Brooke Hodgson, and Kayla Bigelow), and four groomsmen were also Class of 2016 (Lyle Mitchell ’16, Niall Devaney ’16, Joey Amendola ’16, and Jackson Arnold ’16).”
The Black-MacIntosh wedding party with Wes friends
And more wedding news: Carter Armendarez wrote, “Dom Pirraglia had a legendary Long Island wedding. Matt Winchester, Alina Pham, Isaiah Bellamy, Alex Horton, Joe Bongo,Maeve Vitale, Ed Pierce, James Matias ’19, Coach Black (Wesleyan wrestling coach), and I all went.”
Ciarra “Cici” Frattasio started a business this year. Short Girl Jean (www.shortgirljean.com) provides luxury denim for shorties 5’3” and under, with two different inseam lengths, 24 inches and 26 inches. She says, they are “sustainable and comfortable.”
Katherine Paterson said she will be very busy in early 2024, and depending on when you read this, she “will either be touring the East Coast with her debut album, Wake (February 27–March 12), or recovering aggressively at home with her partner and dog (March 13 onward). Check out her website or follow her on Instagram (@kpatmusic) to find a show near you!” www.katherinepatersonmusic.com.
A J Wilson wrote that he and his “partner, Taylor McClain ’17, both took and passed the Georgia bar exam in October 2023. We now live in Atlanta, where I work as a corporate associate at King & Spalding LLP, and Taylor will be a senior strategist focused on corporate purpose and social impact at BCG Brighthouse!”
Caroline Diemer is “currently the programming coordinator at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. I run a free speaker series that happens on the first Thursday evening of the month called Think & Drink and is available online and in-person. If anyone would like to watch or listen, visit wisconsinmaritime.org.”
GiorgiaPeckman lives in San Francisco and works as a designer at a small studio. In their free time they advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israeli occupation. They signed the petition demanding that Wesleyan divest from Israel and encourages other alumni to do the same.
Hailey Broughton-Jones, Matilda Hague, Caroline Liu, DjunaSchamus, and Rebecca “Bex” Sussman have also been advocating for a ceasefire and signed the petition for Wesleyan divestment from companies profiting off Israeli occupation and apartheid.
Ryan Dobrin is the associate director on the first Broadway revival of Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, and Lindsay Mendez. Come see it at the Hudson Theatre in New York City through March!
Paige Amanda wrote a children’s book earlier this year called Spencer’s Noisy Mixer. In 2023, they will have another book coming out called Spencer’s Special Interests. These books are part of a series of neurodiversity-affirming children’s books about two autistic siblings. You can check out their writing at: paigeamandawrites.com.
In fall 2021, Ryan Dobrin was one of the associate directors on the Broadway production Diana, The Musical, which he followed up with being one of the directing fellows at the Drama League. Congrats to Ryan!
Congratulations to Hannah Skopicki and Matthew Renetzky who graduated with their Juris Doctors from American University Washington College of Law. From sitting next to each other coincidentally in the fall 2014 Wesleyan orientation picture, you have come a long way! After graduation and studying for the bar, Hannah and Matt will have judicial clerkships in the District of Columbia and California, respectively.
