theUnion: Alumni London, while working part time for the law firm I worked for in Charlotte. I’ve been amazed by the international nature of the Wildcat community!” Vy Drouin-Le has also traveled abroad while working toward her master’s of architecture at Houston’s Rice University. Last summer, she and two classmates presented a campus design proposal at a forum in Switzerland, featuring students and architects from 10 countries. Vy’s team won the creativity prize. She also visited her senior-year roommate Krista Timeus in Berlin. Also last summer, Lindsay Brownell and her brother hiked the Camino de Santiago across Spain, 550 miles in 33 days. Wow! Another Wildcat abroad, Athan Makansi, writes: “I’m excited to report that starting in January, I will be working for a start-up technology firm, Vera Solutions, in Mumbai! I’ll be developing cloud computing and data management solutions for nonprofits, charities and other social impact organizations.” Wedding bells ring constantly for the Class of 2010 these days! Lisa Landoe married Hunter Hedrick outside Chicago Aug. 31. Sonia Huang served as maid of honor and BJ Youngerman as best man. Tory Summey and Lisa’s brother, Mike Anderson ’02, served as groomsmen. Religion professor Douglas Ottati co-officiated. Lisa and Hunter live in Chicago, where she is a second-year doctoral student at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and he is a producer at the advertising agency Young and Rubicam. Another Davidson couple tied the knot in August: Laura Candler and Dan Hampton ’11 were married in Atlanta. Meryl Breeden, Hillary Maul and Rebecca McCormack were bridesmaids, and Clark Candler II ’07, Chris Hampton ’08 and Blake Candler ’13 served as groomsmen. Laura graduated from the University of Georgia law school in 2013, and she and Dan live in Winston-Salem, where Dan is studying at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Heather Smith married Marty Burch ’08 Sept. 21 in Atlanta. The wedding party was full of Wildcats, including Marja Kunz, Cassie Dormond, Julie Palm Lindberg, Ellen Viser, Martha Culp, Abby Jones, Mike Anderson ’02, Peter Beste ’08, Cowden Rayburn ’11 and Graham Smith ’12. Heather’s grandfather, Charles R. Hasty ’54, officiated. Stephen Pierce married Elizabeth Mee Pierce Oct. 12. The couple lives in New Albany, Ind., where Stephen serves as the facilities director at Sojourn Community Church. He also recently received his master’s in divinity from Southern Seminary. Devon Weeks shares that on Nov. 2, she married John Hughes on her family’s farm in Dunn. Sarah Bennett and Amanda Goodman represented
the Wildcats, with Amanda serving as maid of honor. Devon and John now live in Rochester, NY. Congratulations to the happy couples! Another future Wildcat has entered the world: Caroline Morrow Niziol reports that she and her husband Jason welcomed a son, Zachary “Zack” Edward Niziol Aug. 24. Hooray! After graduating from the University of Tulsa College of Law and passing the Oklahoma bar exam, Andy Dunn shares that he is now in his first year at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, John B. Turner Master of Laws Program, specializing in energy, natural resources, and indigenous peoples. Caroline Curtiss is in her second year of graduate school at Eastern Carolina University, and in 2014 will present research at the National Association of School Psychologists Conference in Washington, D.C. Peggy McKay is also in school, getting her master of arts in teaching in science education at UGA. Heidi Marti helped lead a paleontology dig for 25 high school students to Utah and Montana. The dig was in conjunction with the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology on the campus of the Webb Schools, where Heidi is an admissions counselor. She also met up with Catherine and Zack Stergar as they road-tripped from South Carolina to California. Michael Raymond writes that he has spoken with current Davidson seniors about his work in Washington, D.C., with the Advisory Board Company. As of Jan. 1, Michael begins service as the vice commander and chief of staff for Division 054-23 in Central Chesapeake with the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Laura Voss reports her new job as a management assistant at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which will open in 2015. Congrats! Finally, Allie Coker-Schwimmer shares that her husband Manny ’09 was diagnosed with cancer in October and has been receiving chemotherapy treatment. She writes: “Each day is a step in the right direction, but the overall journey will take some time. Luckily, our families have been present and we have been shown a great amount of Wildcat love!” May we continue to be a strong support for Allie and Manny. It’s clear from everyone’s news that the friendships we built over four years are still meaningful and important today. Thanks, as always, for sharing! Contact: Claire Asbury, 3001 Westfield Rd., Charlotte, NC 28209; 770-826-0079; clasbury10@gmail.com
Currently she is in Atlanta working for the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. There she manages “the socialization and specimen collection of our rhesus macaques colonies.” This means getting to “hang out and see class of 2011 play with monkeys all day.” 64
Journal
Haley Cook Sonneland, 45 Wall St., Apt. 807, New York, NY 10005; 203-219-0031; hsonneland@gmail.com
2011
AS TOLD BY: Khalil Jolibois and Savanna L. Shuntich, Class Secretaries I am happy to report that things are going well for the class of 2011. First of all I should mention the weddings. Congratulations to Justin Godinho and Kelly Lence Godinho who had a mountainside wedding in Maggie Valley, N.C., July 20. They did not have an official wedding party, but rest assured there were plenty of Davidsonians in attendance. They were married by our very own Davidson chaplain, Rob Spach ’84. Justin and Kelly now reside in Chapel Hill where Justin is working on his doctorate in chemistry and Kelly is pursuing a master’s in social work at the University of North Carolina. On a somber note, we offer our condolences to Diane Kaliris and her family. Her father Charles “Chuck” Kaliris passed away in September after a long battle with cancer and will be remembered as a loving husband and father. Several members of our class have recently begun international adventures. In September Jay Lanners moved from Atlanta to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to take a job with MercadoLibre in strategic planning and investor relations. Across the world in the Middle East, James Wudel is working for a nongovernmental organization called Nature Iraq. He started off with an unpaid internship, and is still there “darn near two years later with a full-time job.” Finally, Will Oldfather fulfilled his longtime dream of working in China when he moved to Shanghai in October. He is still with KPMG, though in a markedly different setting. Jennifer Gambrell has also become a bit of an international citizen. She now works for Baker & Taylor, a book wholesaler that sells its wares to European booksellers. She is taking the opportunity to travel overseas for business to “create the study abroad experience she never had.” Lynea Witzak is hoping to spend some time abroad like Jennifer and the others. Currently she is in Atlanta working for the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. There she manages “the socialization and specimen collection of our rhesus macaques colonies.” This means getting to “hang out and play with monkeys all day.” However, Lynea is now interviewing to teach in Shanghai with the goal of moving there in early February. Other folks have left jobs to pursue higher education. Taylor Hess was working at Blackrock in New York but left last summer to move to Dallas and attend Southern Methodist University. He is in a master’s program for sports administration and working for SMU’s athletics compliance office. Sydnor Gammon also recently returned to the classroom when she moved to “Durham in August to pursue a master’s in business administration at The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.” She is also working toward earning a certificate in health sector management. On another note, Dean Williams works for Red Ventures in Charlotte. He does search-engine davidsonjournal.davidson.edu
optimization but has also stayed involved with music. He is co-owner with fellow Davidson grad George Ramsay ’59 of Bold Music, which is an inhome music-lesson business in Charlotte. Johnny Pav is not far from me in the District of Columbia. He just began a master’s in computer science program this spring at George Washington University. Khalil is still living the dream in Miami. He is working as an administrative supervisor at the InterContinental Miami and taking accounting classes. This means that he gets to stare at spreadsheets both during the day, and at night, and rarely gets to visit the infamous Miami 24-hour nightclubs. I quit my job in July and switched from part-time to full-time law school at American University. As I write this, I am in the middle of my second year and wishing all my exams were still self-scheduled. As always, Jolibois and I would love to hear from you, especially if it has been awhile. Contact: Khalil Jolibois, 6321 SW 63rd Terr., Miami, FL 33143; 305-510-9603; Khaliljolibois@gmail.com Savanna L. Shuntich, 3614 Connecticut Ave. NW, Apt. 35, Washington, D.C. 20007; 904866-8087; savanna.shuntich@gmail.com
2012
AS TOLD BY: Keneya’ Edwards and Meg Jarrell, Class Secretaries Hey, ’Cats! Just under two years out and we are already out there accomplishing great things! In medicine and the sciences, Leland Taylor earned a scholarship to continue his medical studies at Cambridge University while Danielle Wright stayed closer to home to pursue a medical degree at the University of South Carolina. She is pursuing her degree while serving as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. Marissa Ghant started as a clinical research coordinator in the Division of Reproduction Endocrinology and Infertility at Northwestern University’s School of Medicine. Hannah “Rosie” Lawrence began a doctoral program in clinical psychology in Maine. Former French major Amanda Vredenburg headed back to France to pursue a master’s in French literature while her fellow field hockey teammate Krista Jackson also left the country to become an English teacher in Honduras. She follows classmate Erin Lupfer, who started a second year as an English teacher in Madrid. Lauren Kamperman is also abroad in England getting a master’s in women’s studies (humanities) as part of her art research on the lack of musculature in the female form in 19th century French paintings. She hopes the degree will be helpful in making an interdisciplinary approach to her studies as she begins to apply for art history doctorate programs. Victoria Jackson began teaching middle school as a National Teaching Fellow for Citizen Schools in Concord. Annese Armstrong isn’t far away in Charlotte as she begins work for the CharlotteMecklenburg Library system. Former Phi Delta Theta president Clem Butler began his second year in Manhattan Beach, davidsonjournal.davidson.edu
Calif., working for McCaster-Carr. His Phi Delta brothers Brian Russell and Richard Lockridge began their second year of law school at Columbia University and UCLA, respectively. Tamara Munroe began work as a legal assistant to the global advertising and communications team at T. Rowe Price in Baltimore, Md. Amanda Ottoway is nearby in Washington, D.C., working as the education coordinator at the Pulitzer Center. John Morgan headed north to New York to work for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., while former SGA president Gerard Dash headed south to Atlanta to begin the management development program at McMaster-Carr. Gerard recently led a men’s doubles tennis team to the city championship. All that work on the Davidson tennis courts paid off! Rachel Means began work as an integrative medicine artist for Tampa General Hospital, where she incorporates the arts into her work in medicine. Steph Meador, Dennis Shannon, Sarah VandenBurg, Kerem Eroglu and Tyler Hammet are prepared to face their second winter in Madison, Wis., as they continue their work for healthcare software company Epic. Please send updates to davidson2012wildcats@ gmail.com so we can put your updates in future issues. Be on the lookout for a call for information early this spring! Contact: Keneya’ Edwards, Philadelphia, PA; 404-408-2011; keneyaedwards@gmail.com Meg Jarrell, 850 North Randolph St., Apt 704, Arlington, VA 22203; 571-276-8555; margaretkjarrell@gmail.com
2013
AS TOLD BY: Billy Hackenson and Mel Mendez, Class Secretaries As the winter season comes creeping in for many of us, we reflect on the closing of our graduating year and all that we have accomplished since then. Although, many of us have experienced a lot of firsts—first house-hunting experience, first jobs and first international experience—we also celebrate the continued learning and developing experiences that Davidson has instilled in us. James Tolleson, for example, continues with his passion for food justice that he cultivated through his CIS major in ethnic studies. Currently living in Greenwood, Mich., James is serving as an assistant teacher in FoodCorps. He is teaching elementary and middle school students about gardening, the food system and nutrition. He’s also getting back into his love of sci-fi leisure reading through Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood and welcomes any recommendations for continued reading. We might all be taking some time for more leisure reading as we look forward to Connor Johnson’s pursuit of a book deal for his trilogy of fantasy novels! On the entrepreneurial side of life, Connor is also managing a small hedge fund in Washington, D.C., and looking forward to seeing some growth within in the near future. J.D. Merrill has also continued delving into youth
education as a social studies teacher for ninth- and 10th-grade students at Baltimore City College, through Teach for America in Baltimore, Md. This is in conjunction with his pursuit of a master’s degree in educational studies at Johns Hopkins University. He recently bought his first house and is excited to host any fellow Wildcats as they travel through the Baltimore area! Amelia Lumpkin, one of our most devoted and talented actresses, is taking her passion and skills to Boston as an assistant to the director of programs at The Theater Offensive. She has aided in planning, executing and evaluating arts-based programming serving youth and adults in order to eradicate homophobia and racism in the local community through theatre. Also hanging out in Beantown is Vanessa Williams who is teaching literary and life skills, along with coaching tennis, with Tenacity. Tenacity is a non-profit based out of Boston Public Schools and the public park system. Vanessa reports that she’s at a K-8 school in East Boston and is planning to teach her students how to use hip-hop in identifying, voicing their opinions on, and solving social injustices in their communities. She is also an Alumni Leadership Council Partner with Project 351, which is a movement to instill a love of service in middle school girls. While doing all of this, she is applying to graduate school. Where do you find all this energy, Vanessa? Back in Charlotte, Steven Myers is currently working for Emergency Medical Scribe Systems in helping implement ER scribe programs at several Carolinas HealthCare facilities in the greater Charlotte area. Also having used the fall to study and prepare for the MCAT, he plans to apply to a number of medical schools in the spring. Steven is interested in enrolling in an M.D./MBA combinedtrack program and hopes to pursue a career in the area of healthcare consulting and management. Internationally, Paul Spellings is living in San Jose, Costa Rica, working to build partnerships between the Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. He has been enjoying traveling the country every weekend and taking in the beautiful scenery and unique biodiversity that it has to offer. We learned that Wes Reynolds was awarded the Hugh T. Lefler Award from the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association in November. The Lefler Award honors the best undergraduate research paper on North Carolina state history. His work is entitled, ‘Mental Deficients’ to Family Planning Clinics: The Human Betterment League’s Representations of Eugenic Initiatives in North Carolina, 1947–72.” Congratulations, Wes! Please, as always, send us any updated contact information so you can keep in touch about news from campus and fellow classmates. Contact: Billy Hackenson, 92 West Paces Ferry Rd., Apt. 7023, Atlanta, GA 30305; whackenson@gmail.com Mel Mendez, Mérida, Yucatán; +52 (999) 3610315; melmendez91@gmail.com
Spring 2014
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