class notes

Agnes Scott College starting fall 2023 for their Writing and Digital Communications Graduate Certificate Program. Takata also recently accepted a position as the marketing and guest relations specialist for Pole Active. They also teach yoga at Crunch Fitness in Athens.

For the last three years, Mary Pope has worked as a leader on the support team at Calendly LLC, most recently receiving a promotion to support team manager in 2022. She resides in Atlanta, Georgia, enjoying a life of quiet solitude, travel and joy.

Rev. Catherine “Cat” Boyle is now serving the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, California, as their minister of religious education.

Kaitlyn Klein started working last summer as a swim instructor at the YMCA.

Liz Hartnett Santamaria teamed up with Jayme Walton ’07 to compete as the only all-female team in the Steinbeck’s Chili Cook-Off in November 2022. Liz also volunteered at Pancake Jam in December 2022, along with fellow ’08er Emily Hansen

Anastasia Ball Johnson is currently working for the ThINC College and Career Academy. She switched from being a licensed therapist to a teacher and is excited to start on this path.

’09

Tiffany Claiborne tiffanydaniellec@gmail.com

The class of 2009 is continuing their gradual world takeover this year, with new children and education in their sights this time.

Leah Anderson McCraney welcomed her new daughter, Sophia Rose Leslie McCraney, to the world in August 2022. Fun fact: Big brother Whit initially hoped for twins that he could name “Polar” and “Express,” but finally accepted only one baby sister he wanted to call “Rosabella.” He got part of his wish in the middle name Rose.

Stephanie Hansard and her spouse, Colin Vinson, were also overjoyed to grow their family with two new additions: 8-year-old twins, Jhase and Jimmorion, whom they adopted in May 2022. Jhase loves art, dancing and math, while Jimmorion loves the library, playing outside and making new friends. Stephanie reports that they are extremely proud of their sons, who are creative, strong and goofy.

In the academic world, we raise a book to Kimberly Watt-McCune, who recently began a new journey in graduate school for an MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science) degree at Texas Women’s University. On top of that achievement, she was also promoted to a senior assistant at the Norwood Branch Library, part of the Knox County (Tennessee) group of public libraries.

Meanwhile, Shannon Yarbrough completed her MFA in creative nonfiction from Georgia College and State University, fulfilling a decades-long dream. Her first published personal essay, found in the online, progressive magazine Salvation South, is titled “Eat Les Chikin: A Queer Southern Mother’s Complicated Relationship with Chick-fil-A.” ’10

Renu Sagreiya rsagreiya@gmail.com

Olivia Greene-Knight ogreene87@gmail.com

Kristi Chenault Herin graduated in December 2022 from the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, with her master’s in data analytics, computer science concentration. It has been one of the hardest and most rewarding things she has ever done, and she is continuing to work with her capstone project adviser to try to publish her research in spring 2023.

Joanna Hair recently accepted a new attorney position with the Atlanta office of Morgan & Morgan. She is in her 10th year of practice and is excited to begin this new adventure, representing Georgia’s injured workers in workers’ compensation matters.

Esther Wallace has never done one of these before, and she’s been up to a lot in the last 13 years! Semi-recent highlights include getting married in 2017, going to graduate school, and earning a Master of Divinity degree from Starr King School for the Ministry in May 2022. In addition to being a religious educator at a Unitarian Universalist congregation, she hosts a bunch of podcasts on topics ranging from spirituality to tabletop roleplaying games. She is currently living with her spouse and their elderly pets (a rabbit and a German shepherd) on the shores of beautiful Clear Lake, California.

Michelle Bach is graduating with an M.D./ doctorate from Saint Louis University this May and starting a residency in psychiatry.

Savannah Sharp Parison began her new role as the business officer for the Film and Media Studies Department and the Carsey-Wolf Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in September 2022. She’s thrilled to be working in a department where being an English major is a conversation starter!

Renu Urvashi Sagreiya received the American Association of Law Libraries’ Foreign Comparative and International Law Interest Group Project of the Year Award in 2022. She was selected to speak at a roundtable titled “Researching Religion and Human Rights: Old Ideas Applied to Modern Issues” at the American Society of International Law 2023 annual meeting in Washington D.C. in March 2023.

’11 Sarah Bowen Hersh sbowen314@gmail.com

Julie Reynolds-Engel and her husband, Jon, welcomed a baby girl, Birdie Carol, into their family in December 2022.

Ashley Williams is halfway through her doctorate in art history at Columbia University! She lives in New York with her partner, Marcel, and their cat, Earl.

Onyinye Edeh began her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree program at George Washington University in fall 2022. This three-year program is focused on health leadership. Onyinye has been elected to serve on the board of directors of the Institute of Current World Affairs (ICWA), an organization where she served as a travel fellow from 2016 to 2018, documenting the experiences of women’s and girls’ lives in Nigeria and Niger. Onyinye is engaged to be married on April 8 in Enugu, Nigeria.

Lauren Welch O’Connor ; her husband, Patrick; and her son, Tristan, are happily residing in Tucker, Georgia. Lauren continues to work as an archaeologist in Atlanta (having returned to her old company in June 2021) and is thrilled to see Sarah Batchelor, Caitlin Suilmann and Charla Gruber ’12 on a regular basis!

Gina Luttrell launched beauty-meets-tech company Firedrake Beauty Labs in November 2022. The brand debuted with a first-in-industry app, the Universal Palette Builder. The Builder makes single eyeshadow shopping fun and stressfree by bringing the industry’s singles to one place and giving users all the tools they need to make their own color stories before purchasing.

With the support and encouragement of several members of the Agnes Scott community, Elizabeth Talaska left her role of nine years with a grassroots Atlanta nonprofit to accept a role as director of development at Georgia State University’s College of the Arts.

Chani Zwibel Butler earned an MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science) degree from Valdosta State University in December 2022. She also published another chapbook, “Circles of Roses Forever,” with Alien Buddha Press.

Anna Young moved back to Decatur last spring and welcomed her daughter, Poppy, on Sept. 23, 2022. She also enrolled in the new master’s program for clinical mental health counseling at Agnes Scott in the fall of 2022 and is enjoying being a Scottie student again.

Dr. Shama Panjwani launched her own virtual mental health counseling practice called SoHolisticEnergy Counseling and Consultation, LLC. In her practice, Shama uses a holistic wellness approach in working with clients dealing with depression, anxiety, life transition issues, multicultural issues, trauma, relationship issues, etc. You can find more information on her website: soholisticenergy.com.

Sarah Bowen Hersh started a new role as a consultant with Development Dimensions International (DDI) in October 2022. She previously interned at the DDI Atlanta office while at Agnes Scott and is happy to return to DDI! Sarah and her husband, Eric, are expecting a baby girl in May 2023.

’12

Devin Alford dlalford@comcast.net

Molly Saunders became the program manager for ALSO Youth, an LGBTQ+ youth organization in Florida. She manages two youth centers in Sarasota and Manatee Counties.

Rae Pietkiewicz graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law after four years of working full-time as a victim advocate. Pending successful passage of the Bar, Rae looks forward to continuing to advocate for survivors. In personal news, Rae recently became engaged to her partner, Samantha Schlosburg, and they are excited for their winter wedding, which will take place later this year.