Colgate
Stories
How we met.... The first time I remember laying eyes on Nancy Schulte ’80, it was first year and I was looking for a free terminal in the computer center in Lathrop Hall. She was using one of the work stations. Nancy had prematurely gray hair, and I remember thinking, “Why is this older woman taking up limited space here when students need to work on their assignments?” Little did I know that this old lady was destined to become my “old lady.” It turned out that we had mutual friends, so we soon became better acquainted. Meanwhile, Nancy had convinced the athletics department to let her teach a ballroom dance class that would count toward students’ phys ed requirements. It was when I took that class that I became interested in her as more than a friend; however, one of my closest friends was interested in her, too, so I kept my distance. In the spring semester of our sophomore year, Nancy studied abroad in London. Before she left, I had a heart-to-heart with the aforementioned friend, who had since become aware of my interest in Nancy, and he bowed out. For the next year and a half, it seemed like we were always apart: Nancy abroad in London, summer in different places, separate study groups that took me to Dijon and her to Granada. Finally, we got to spend senior year together on campus, as dorm co-presidents in Cutten. Just before graduation, prompted by the sudden awareness that we were headed off in different directions, we decided to become engaged, with a plan to marry in two years after we both completed our graduate studies. Because that decision was spontaneous, I did not have a ring to give her at that time. That was corrected when I presented one to her on the Village Green during a visit to Hamilton that summer. Our Colgate love story culminated in June ’82 when we were married at Ketchum Church in Hamilton’s Americana Village, with legendary philosophy and religion professor R.V. Smith presiding, and the reception at (where else?) the Colgate Inn. To commemorate our 25th anniversary, we renewed our vows on a Tahitian cruise with our three children attending, one of whom was then a Colgate junior. We never did kiss on the Willow Path bridge (we weren’t aware of that tradition), but we did just about everywhere else, so maybe that counts, too. Thirty-five years later, it seems to be working. — Skip Cornelius ’80
Are you a married Colgate couple? Tell us your story: scene@colgate. edu or 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton NY 13346.
72
scene: Autumn 2015
After working for an environmental advocacy group for several years in Maryland, Megan Cronin is back in school. She just finished her 1st year at Georgetown Law in DC. Annie Ben-Ami just graduated this spring from Georgetown. Megan is going to miss the time they spent together in the Georgetown Law library. This summer, Megan was happy to be back in NYC for the summer to work for a federal judge and to spend time with her friends Lindsey Jacobson, Sarah Kingsly, Emily Johnson, Courtney Ryan, and Eileen O’Brian. Back at Georgetown, Megan continued to indulge her passion for a cappella that she developed in the Colgate Dischords by joining Georgetown’s “Lawcappella.” Talener continues to hire more Colgate graduates! Ryan Walsh ’15 and Taylor Craig ’15 joined Kim Siembieda, Danielle Wessler ’12, Ali Meyer ’14, Tira Hastings ’14, and Olivia Nabhan ’14 in NYC. Yinka Morakinyo ’15 joined Kate Brynes ’13 in Talener’s newest office, DC! Kristen Hill ’15 joined Rob Laughlin and Emma Santoro ’13 in Boston. Alicia Scully ’13 moved from Talener’s NYC office to join Austin Douglas in the LA office! Keep the updates coming! Kim: 610-952-0491; kimsiembieda@gmail.com
201 1 Emily Steiger 10 John Street Hamilton, NY 13346
Reunion June 2–5, 2016 If your Facebook feed has been totally flooded with weddings lately, then I’ve got a real treat for you, because so is this column! At the end of July, many Colgate alums had a wonderful time in Cape Cod celebrating the wedding of Valerie Boyd. In attendance were Alexandra Maltz, Llewelyn Engel, Mary Sullivan, Emily Shaw, Kristen Nozell, Mary Beth Spencer, Jessica Morlando, Jane Scheinman, Keegan Conway, Mike Magee ’09, Hillary O’Brien, Kelly Byrne, Ellie Ham, Yvette Bandín, Zach Helft, Amanda Fernley, and Abbie Tillman ’06. Also present were Mari Santos and Elder Silva of La Iguana, who joined in the festivities. Many of these guests will reunite at Colgate this fall for the wedding of Keegan Conway and Mike Magee ’09. Hilary Hursh and Graham Partner ’09 also planned to be married in October. Marietta Glass married Matthew Fieger ’10 in June in NYC. Chip More ’10 and Jess More ’10 were both in the wedding party with more Colgate alums attending as guests. And rounding out the wedding news are Chris Adler and Alison Edmark ’12, who got engaged in July. Now on to the non-wedding news: Since graduation, John Goodman worked in financial services until early 2013 when the NYSE was bought by ICE. He then spent 6 months as a digital media planner and accepted a marketing internship at Canary before beginning an MBA program at NYU in August. Brendan Hall started a new job at the Blackstone Group in NYC. Brenda Boyle is moving to Uganda to spend a year as a Grameen Foundation Fellow. If any alumni find themselves around Kampala, first round is on her! Zachary Helft is in his 3rd year of a PhD at UC Berkeley and has started a company, C Light Technologies, Inc, on the side. His company is the expert producer of the Tracking Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope, which can image the very back of the eye and use this to track eye motion at extreme levels of precision. This technology is
used in the medical diagnostic field to help detect neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, and MS. Leslie Kessinger has successfully started a franchise of Three Dog Bakery just outside of Nashville, TN. The store bakes natural treats for dogs and was recently written about in the Tennessean, the local paper. She plans to open a 2nd store in 2016, and hopefully even more down the road. Stacey Marion graduated from the U of WIMadison with a master’s of science in agroecology. Shortly after graduating, she ran the Boston marathon stride by stride with Kelly Cattano ’12, and was cheered on by fellow cross country teammate Ellen Callahan ’10. Evan Zimmerman graduated from Villanova law school, passed the bar exam, and started work at a law firm in Red Bank, NJ, (Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla) where he practices in the field of land use and development. He was recently at Colgate with a group of Theta Chi brothers, who came to play golf and visit their house. Evan also made the trip to LA to visit his freshman–junior year Colgate roommate Ethan Levitt, who just got a job working for the LA Dodgers. Elora Apantaku graduated from Chicago Med School in June and began her family medicine residency training at the U of Iowa in Iowa City. As for me, I’m finishing up my 2nd year as a fundraiser at Colgate. John Paul Ortiz ’10 and I, along with our beagle Raider, recently moved into a new house that will be familiar to former lax bros and Colgate partygoers: the infamous “brown house” on Madison Street. Our landlord has completely renovated the interior, however, so there’s no longer a makeshift door between the 2 apartments or an indoor pool in the living room. Thanks to everyone who submitted updates. I look forward to hearing from you all next time! Emily: esteiger@colgate.edu; @emilybaselt
2 0 12 Fatima Sowe Fatima: sowescene@gmail.com
2 0 13 Molly Gilligan Dear Colgate community, I’m thrilled to share these fun updates from a few of my classmates. Caitlin Grossjung recently cohosted the Mosaic Music and Arts Festival nestled in the Endless Mountains, Pa. Caitlin says, “Nathan Carpenter led the festival, and I am happy to say I was there from the start. We took over a summer camp and filled it with music and art for 3 days! Several fellow alumni attended as well. I’m happy to say that everyone who attended felt the same sense of community that I did and had a blast. I also performed with Max Miller ’12 and Ben Diamond. A year of planning and several days of no sleep, stage-managing, band welcoming, and coordinating were all worth it. It was both challenging and rewarding. I’ve been with National Geographic Studios for a year now and it’s a fantastic company. I’m a field and post associate producer on one of their documentary TV shows. I just returned from 3 months in the mountains of North Carolina.” I loved listening to Caitlin at open mic nights and other events while at Colgate, and it’s fantastic to see her continue to foster her passions for music and community. Jenna Taylor is enrolled in a full-time course at the Startup Institute, focusing on web design. Throughout the course, students develop techni-