UHS Journal 2021

UHS Journal

SAN FRANCISCO UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL FALL 2021

A magazine for the San Francisco University High School community 2021 Volume XXXII

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Elizabeth Faris Mark Johann Kevin Kitsuda Artemisia Luk ’17 Jenn Soult MANAGING EDITOR Jenn Soult COPY EDITOR Evan Hulka ’00 DESIGNER Design Action Collective EDITORIAL BOARD Shaundra Bason Julia Russell Eells Nate Lundy Jenny Schneider Alexandra Simmons Jenn Soult EDITORIAL STAFF Thelma Garza Elena Hobden Nate Lundy Alezja Metts Dara Northcroft Jenny Schneider Marianna Stark ’89 PRINTING Community Printers

UHS MISSION STATEMENT San Francisco University High School welcomes students of demonstrated motivation and ability to engage in an education that fosters responsibility and the spirited pursuit of knowledge. We are a school where adults believe in the promise of every student, and together we work to build and sustain a community of diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and talents. UHS challenges each individual to live a life of integrity, inquiry, and purpose larger than the self.

OUR CORE VALUES Inquiry Care Integrity Agency Interconnection CONTACT THE JOURNAL If you have news, questions, or comments, please contact us via communications@ sfuhs.org.

ALUMNI NEWS AND CLASS NOTES Please send alumni updates and class notes to UHSalumni@sfuhs.org.

FOR ADDRESS CHANGES Please email address changes to communications@sfuhs.org.

The UHS Journal is a publication of San Francisco University High School, and is circulated free to more than 7,000 households of alumni, parents, current and former faculty, and friends of the school.

Periodical’s postage paid at San Francisco, California.

Postmaster: send address changes to Mailing Records Office, San Francisco University High School, 3065 Jackson Street, San Francisco, CA, 94115. ©2021 San Francisco University High School. All rights reserved.

Printed in California on recycled paper.

Cover illustration: Illustration by Design Action Collective.

Inside cover photo: Students returned to campus for the 21/22 school year with excitement and enthusiasm.

UHS

SAN FRANCISCO UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL FALL 2021 UHS JOURNAL VOL. XXXII

Journal

UNIVERSE

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A WORLD VIEW ON THE COURTYARD

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CRITICAL CARE

By Nate Lundy, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid

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STAFF PROFILE: GEOFF “FREE” GARY

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INSPIRATION: AFFINITY SPACE FACULTY SPONSORS

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NEXT LEVEL: THE CAMPAIGN FOR UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL

By Shaundra Bason, Director of Development

Letter From the Head Welcome New Faculty and Staff

and Community Stewardship 18 Equity and Oversight Committee: Year-End Report Graduation 2021: Exemplars of Grace under Duress UHS Chosen as a State School of the Year by CalHi Sports!

Decorator Showcase 2021: New Perspectives Class of 2021 College Admission Statistics

FEATURES

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DOLLARS AND SENSE: UHS, MONEY, AND BEYOND

By Jenny Schneider, Director of College Counseling BREAKTHROUGH SUMMERBRIDGE: AN UPDATED NAME AND AN AMAZING SUMMER

By Dara Northcroft, Executive Director, Breakthrough Summerbridge

ALUMNI

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PIZZA PARTIES BACK IN THE OVEN!

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UHS ALUMNI NETWORK IN ACTION! NETWORKING NOTES

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CLASS NOTES

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2021 ALUMNI HONORS

ANNUAL REPORT

WHAT'S YOUR ONE DEGREE EXPERIENCE?

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2021 REUNIONS

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A JOURNEY FROM POLITICS TO PLUMBING: STEWARDING OUR MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCE 2021 Alumni Association Runway Lecture

Board Chair Letter Treasurer Letter Parents Association Letter

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Alumni Association Letter New Board Members Fundraising Gift Listing Thank You to Our Volunteers Join Us in Giving

UNIVERSE

LETTER FROM THE HEAD

Julia Russell Eells, head of school

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ntersections present us with opportunities that come with inevitable questions and occasional trepidation, relief, and joy. Entering an intersection and then stepping over a threshold to a new path is—in many ways— what the high school experience is all about. In my career as a

lifelong educator, I have found myself happiest when I am working with students and adults at those thresholds. Admissions, college counseling, faculty hiring, and creating new structures and spaces for growth and learning all incorporate choices at various forks in the road. The intersections and thresholds that we faced (and created!) in the midst of the pandemic, the presidential election, and the national reckoning of social and racial injustice challenged even the most seasoned and comfortable in the face of unexpected roadblocks and detours.

As we entered the academic year in August 2020, we did so with guarded optimism that we might return to a somewhat “normal” school year, but we were thwarted, week after week, by rising COVID cases. Ultimately,

we were able to bring half our student body to campus by February, in rotations with the other half. As the school year wore on, our fierce focus was on our community’s well-being, academic growth, and safety.

We closed out the year with the strong belief that we delivered a highly effective academic program that included space for deep dives on wellness, antiracism, and meaningful connection.

With the growing rate of vaccination and the subsiding of COVID cases by May, we held commencement for the Class of 2021 at our stunning Paul Goode Field athletics complex, on a windswept morning in the Presidio. After sending off the seniors, the faculty and staff returned to campus for an outdoor luncheon with the Class of 2020, offering them an opportunity to say goodbye to

Members of the Class of 2020 finally getting to say goodbye to faculty and staff

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their campus and their teachers. More than 75 members of the class attended, and we learned that “last year’s seniors” had taken a variety of unconventional pathways in the fall of 2020. Some packed up and headed to college campuses; others traveled with friends, moving from Airbnb to Airbnb, while attending classes remotely.

Some attended their first college classes from their bedrooms and kitchen tables at home while helping out with their families.

Several took gap years to work on political campaigns or to intern in the tech, medicine, social services, or finance sectors.

I believe the work we have done, as a school, to remain responsive to the needs of our students has resulted in the kind of creative agency that the Class of 2020 displayed at the height of the COVID crisis.

UNIVERSE

Julia Russell Eells meets with new faculty at opening meetings.

In this issue of the Journal, you’ll read about our students, faculty, staff, families, and alumni facing a variety of crossroads at school and in their lives. Navigating the third rail of financial aid in college and high school admissions; holding mirrors up to our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) programming and progress; unveiling Summerbridge’s increased alignment with the national Breakthrough Collaborative; carrying forward a historic capital campaign; and welcoming new leadership to the Head of School’s office all point to a school that is growing, stretching, and adapting to meet the needs of our students in a new world context. Our new-student enrollment continues to reflect the diversity of the Bay Area, and our college matriculation continues to reflect the ambitious inquiry of our seniors.

We could not continue on our path of institutional growth and self-reflection without the volunteer and financial (annual

and capital) support of those who are listed on the pages of the 2020–21 Annual Report.

Your willingness to partner with us on this journey—at all of the intersections—is a testament to the community’s trust in our shared vision and core values. As I contemplate the intersections that lie ahead for my June 2022 retirement, I do so with excitement for the arrival of incoming Head of School Matt Levinson, with the deepest gratitude to our donors and trustees, as well as heartfelt admiration of our students, faculty, and staff. I also carry the deep conviction that UHS is prepared to face many challenges at every intersection— equipped with the right tools and with steadfast confidence that a dynamic and bright future always lies ahead of us.

INTRODUCING MATT LEVINSON On behalf of the UHS Board of Trustees and the Head of School Search Committee, it is our great pleasure to announce that Matt Levinson has been unanimously selected as our next Head of School starting in the 2022-2023 school year.

Matt will succeed Julia Russell Eells in July 2022, following Julia’s remarkable nine-year tenure as Head of School.

More information about Matt, including a letter from Matt to the UHS Community can be found on the UHS Head of School Search web page.

Julia Russell Eells

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Welcome New Faculty and Staff Connecticut. Ben earned a BA degree from Tufts University, an MA in Spanish philology from Middlebury College, and a Certificate in Elementary Education and Secondary School Spanish from the College of New Jersey in Mallorca, Spain.

JT Brown joins our staff as the new registrar, replacing Joanne Sugiyama, who served as our registrar for 33 years and retired at the end of the 2020–21 school year. JT has more than 20 years of experience as a registrar, most recently serving as the registrar at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, and holds a BA in business administration from Fresno Pacific University.

Our Language Department welcomes Ben Chang as a Spanish instructor. For close to twenty years, Spanish language— most notably Spanish-language acquisition—has been a central point of Ben’s life focus. He most recently worked as a Spanish teacher, advisor, and coach at the Nueva School, and previously served as a world language faculty member at Drew School and as a Spanish instructor at Choate Rosemary Hall in

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Dr. Nandita Dinesh joins UHS this fall as the director of the Human Development Department. Nandita brings a wealth of experiences from the United World College, as the associate director of the Bartos Institute for Constructive Engagement of Conflict (2015–2018), head of performing arts (2015), and head of arts, theatre arts & literature teacher, and experiential education head (2011–2014). After graduating from Wellesley College with a BA in theatre studies and economics, she received an MA in performance studies from New York University and a PhD in drama from the University of Cape Town. We are excited to see her unique background in the arts, service learning, experiential education, and curriculum development helping the Human Development Department flourish.

and was an Honor Scholar Graduate, with a concentration in biology, at Los Medanos College. His postgraduate studies were at the Universidad Pedagógica de El Salvador, where he earned his teaching credential with a concentration in biology.

Our Athletics Department welcomes A’Jaee Foster as the assistant athletics director.

A’Jaee has served as the assistant women’s basketball coach at Academy of Art University and as the director of analytics at Gonzaga University, where the women’s basketball team won a 2018–19 conference championship. She earned an associate degree in sociology, a bachelor’s degree in social work, and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Gonzaga University.

Nelson Funes joins our Science Department, teaching Honors Biology and Advanced Bio electives. Nelson attended San Francisco State University, where he earned a BA in Latin American studies (Raza Studies),

Arts instructor Bria Goeller will be teaching Drawing and Painting III and co-teaching AP Studio Art. Bria is a San Francisco artist, designer, and educator with a BA in art and education from Emory University. She also studied at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (Denmark, Sweden, and Ireland) and the Sarah College for Higher Tibetan Studies (India). At Drepung Monastic University (India), she explored intersections between Eastern and Western medicine.

UNIVERSE in Costa Rica. A highly skilled and versatile musician, Ernesto taught at the Golden Gate Bass Camp in San Francisco this summer, creating a curriculum including Latin, jazz, and improvisation courses.

Our Human Development team welcomes De Shan Lett as our new Director of Learning Services. De Shan received her M.S.Ed. from CUNY - Lehman College, and her B.A. from Wayne State University, and attended a graduate program at Cornell University. De Shan lives by the belief that “life is about the journey, not the destination.” De Shan brings to UHS experience from the Charles Armstrong Day School, where she served as both Middle School Director and Associate Director of Equity & Inclusion. She also worked at Park Day School as Middle School Director, Burgundy Farm Country Day School as Director of Academic and Student Support & Interim Middle School Head, and the Emma Willard School as Director of Cognitive Skills.

Ernesto Mazar Kindelan joins our Music Department as a music instructor, teaching Chamber Orchestra and Beginning Instruments. Ernesto graduated from Holy Names University with a master’s degree in art, and received a BA degree from Instituto Superior de Artes

Early this summer, our business office welcomed Laura Miller as the new director of human resources. Laura is a driven human resources leader with deep experience and success in building and growing teams, applying a people-centric focus, identifying opportunities, and delivering solutions. She previously served as the head of human resources at Seal Software in Walnut Creek and as the director of human resources at Ariat International in Union City. She holds a BS in business administration from California State University at Northridge and a Human Resources Management Certificate from the University of California, Los Angeles.

program. He received his BA degree in neuroscience and art from Swarthmore College and his MFA degree from the Art Center College of Design. As an alumnus of the UHS ceramics program, Nikhil strongly believes in the holistic capacity of creative and visual arts to empower students to maximize their potential.

In April 2021, Marjan Philhour joined our development team as our new campaign associate, responsible for major gift fundraising. She is also our liaison to the Parents Association. A graduate of UC Berkeley, Marjan was most recently a candidate to represent District 1 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

In addition to serving in the offices of Mayor London Breed, John Kerry, and Governor Gray Davis, she has provided counsel and oversight to nonprofits and private corporations in the areas of fundraising and strategy. Marjan also cofounded the Balboa Village Merchants Association, is a member of the Filipina Women’s Network, and has served on the boards of the Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women and the SF National Women’s Political Caucus. Marjan and her husband, UHS’s own Byron Philhour, also became new UHS parents this fall, as we welcomed Joey to the class of 2025.

Mary Stares joins our business office team as manager of operations, responsible for many of the day-to-day non-financial activities for UHS. Mary has more than 15 years of administrative and operational experience; she most recently served as a residential senior staff member at the San Francisco Zen Center. She has a BA in history and is a certified Canadian Red Seal Journeyman Carpenter and a Zen Buddhist priest with 22 years of practice and teaching, after receiving her monastic training in locations worldwide.

Teresa Vo joins the development office as a development associate.

Teresa most recently served as the business resource associate at the YMCA of San Francisco, where she managed donations and development campaigns.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in managerial economics from the University of California. n

Nikhil Paladugu ’12 returns to his alma mater to join the Arts Department. Nikhil will be teaching all levels of our ceramics

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Dollars and Sense: UHS, Money, and Beyond ­­— Jenny Schneider, Director of College Counseling

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magine it’s the second week of March. The UHS admissions team has just dropped welcome packages in the mail for accepted students. The team members spent the previous day in the Jackson Street Lounge, around its hallmark round table, stuffing acceptance materials into big red envelopes that consist of a warm welcome from our head of school; a congratulations from our admissions team; resources to begin getting oriented to what being a UHS

UHS Financial Aid

student means; and, for 25% of the enrolling class this year, a financial aid award. The team drives the packages to the Geary post office, drops off the envelopes, and returns with empty bins and hopeful hearts for the next enrolling class at UHS. Thus commences the next stage of the admissions process: courting accepted candidates and hoping the talented young people who have been admitted will accept a spot at the school.

For many families, money will be a key driver in a final decision about where to send their Goals rising ninth grader.

To endow our Educational Promise scholarships that provide full financial aid to one or two Breakthrough Summerbridge students who are admitted to and enroll at UHS each year To endow financial aid dollars to ensure that we can continue dedicating the same amount of funds to supporting our students and their families To expand immediate-use financial aid dollars at the disposal of our admissions team while each endowment grows

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For the Class of 2025, the UHS admissions team had more than a million dollars to allocate from the financial aid budget. While the school is fortunate to have these dollars to spend, determining how to allocate them in the most effective way poses a challenge.

UHS, like most independent educational institutions, relies on tuition dollars, and Director of Admissions Nate Lundy and his team must annually navigate the tension between fulfilling the part of the school’s mission “to build and sustain a community of diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and talents” and remaining responsible with a generous, but still limited,

budget. Lundy says, “For us, it’s about trying to figure out how we craft a class that we want, and that we believe is aligned with our mission, vision, and values, with the budget we have. If that means we’re giving a family a full ride because that’s what they qualify for, then that’s what we are going to do.”

ON CAMPUS It was a warm spring day in March 2018 when Luqmaan Shaikh ’21 received good news from UHS. He came home from his middle school to find his welcome package and, with it, enough financial aid to make a UHS education affordable.

Luqmaan knew the UHS campus well from his experience as a Breakthrough Summerbridge student. For his family, the decision to commit to UHS was easy. His mother, Shehnaaz, says, “He was already comfortable at UHS, and the financial aid was such that it wasn’t a very difficult decision to make. From what I’d seen of UHS, compared to the schools that my older children had attended, it was a no-brainer.

If we could make it work, we had to do it for him.” The word that came up the most in our conversation with Shehnaaz about UHS is “support.” The Shaikh family not only saw an opportunity for Luqmaan to thrive in an environment with small class sizes, they also saw UHS as a potential safe haven from some of his experiences in middle school. Shehnaaz remembers, “I wanted a more supportive and understanding community, and we found that at UHS. Once he was accepted, it was like, ‘Yay. He’s going.’ We’re so lucky and grateful for this amazing opportunity.”

For most of his ninth-grade year, Luqmaan’s family lived in the manager’s apartment at a residential hotel that his dad manages, and he remembers feeling like he couldn’t invite people over because the space was so small.

“People invited me over to their houses, and I couldn’t reciprocate the favor,” he says. “Sometimes I felt like a leech. It helped a lot that I have friends from UHS who also attended public middle schools and came from different worlds.” While Luqmaan felt some discomfort about his socioeconomic status at UHS, he was determined to take advantage of as many opportunities as he could. By his senior year, Luqmaan had been elected by his peers to serve as a Vice President of Diversity and Equity; a leader of the South Asian Club; and a leader of Men’s Club, a studentrun organization devoted to talking about issues related to masculinity in the UHS community and broader cultural contexts. This fall, Luqmaan is attending Lehigh University, with the additional honor of being a Posse Scholar. Luqmaan reflects, “I don’t think I would have had the leadership opportunities I had at UHS at another high school. UHS and Summerbridge, and now Posse, have set me up with a series of opportunities to move up in life.”

Just a few years ago, during Luqmaan’s freshman year, Shruti Jain ’20 and Jasmine Gonzalez ’21 spearheaded the founding of Financial Aid and Socioeconomic Status (FASES), a new affinity space on campus, designed to cultivate discussions that are more open about money and create a greater sense of belonging for students receiving

F E AT U R E S financial aid at UHS. Chloe Richmond ’21 remembers the first meetings as full of positive energy and excitement: “It was awesome seeing how many people were also on financial aid and seeing peers from so many different backgrounds. Having a space where we could come together and talk about financial aid was really beautiful.” Even during remote learning this past year, FASES hosted regular meetings, which ranged from discussions about the impact of COVID-19 on community members’ lives to collaborations with other campus organizations, such as the Mental Health Coalition and the college counseling office.

The affinity space’s success shows that it is supporting students as they navigate the complexities of attending an independent school where, no matter how generous the financial aid budget is, there will always be a larger population of students whose families can afford to pay full tuition for them to attend the school. The reality is that this is not unique to UHS, but is endemic to the business models of independent schools and colleges around the country.

Gaby Garcia ’22, a co-leader of FASES for the upcoming school year, says that when she first arrived at UHS, she felt overwhelmed, and sometimes awkward, about her status as a student receiving financial aid: “Sometimes my peers would talk about going on lavish trips or attending super expensive summer programs. These things sound so cool, and I would have loved to do them if I were from a different socioeconomic class.”

Now, as a senior, Gaby speaks from a place of strength. She says, “Realizing the experience of class difference is a reality, but I never feel ashamed of my background.

You might have something I don’t have, and I might have something you don’t have. I just want to try and learn from my peers, understand their experiences, and build connection, tear down the wall that prevents us from talking openly.” During the

2021–22 school year, Gaby hopes to continue building a strong community, and is brainstorming ideas such as a buddy system that pairs incoming freshmen with upperclassman FASES members, and writing zines on financial literacy. When asked what she most wants the UHS community to know, Gaby says, “FASES has made my experience at UHS much better. Especially speaking as a Latinx, first-generation, cisgender woman, I am seeing how open and understanding our community is. I want alums to know how positive the impact of this club has been on my experience.”

LOOKING AHEAD After three years of investment in a UHS education, students and families face discussions about the next stage of the educational journey. To whatever degree money had been part of the conversation when choosing a high school, it inevitably becomes a more complex topic when it involves the cost of a college education.

The college process brings with it anxieties that cut across the socioeconomic spectrum. It is a rite of passage to adulthood. For the majority of UHS students, it means moving away from home.

It often means students feeling vulnerable about how they will be evaluated by admission offices.

And, for students whose families cannot afford the sticker prices of the colleges they are considering, it also means facing the cost of school up front—which, for most of the wider population of college applicants, influences where they are ultimately able to enroll.

For many families, the sticker prices of schools influence where students apply, and unfortunately, many do not end up submitting applications because of sticker shock. Given this reality, the UHS college counseling office continues to work on meeting families where they are, and talking openly and honestly, to provide the best possible guidance for every individual. This

fall, we hosted Ron Lieber, New York Times columnist and author of The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Roadmap for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make, for a webinar with other Bay Area schools and organizations, addressing the multiple issues that come up for families around the cost of college.

In recent years, we have moved towards a collaborative model and teamed up with other independent schools in the area to host financial aid leaders in higher education, as they share the most current key insights into the financial aid process directly with families.

In addition to providing education for families around the costs associated with applying to college, UHS is working to help students develop better financial literacy. In 2020–21, Megan Storti, chair of the math department, offered a class to students on financial literacy, to help improve their understanding of their finances more broadly. The course featured guest speakers from the Federal Reserve (Eric Fischer ’99) and Merrill Lynch. Students also completed projects on rent control, student loans, and microlending, to get a better sense of opportunities and constraints that individuals living in the Bay Area and beyond face. Feedback from students in the course was overwhelmingly positive.

Socioeconomic status is at the intersection of so many parts of our identities, which is one reason it’s so complicated to discuss. But UHS is committed to engaging in conversations that are not always easy. If we do not engage, we cannot grow. We cannot let fear of making mistakes or fumbling prevent us from trying to do what is right. So we continue to evolve, inspired by students like Luqmaan and Gaby and so many others, knowing that there is always more work to do, and knowing that this is part of what it means to live a life of integrity, inquiry, and purpose larger than the self. n

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Breakthrough Summerbridge: An Updated Name and an Amazing Summer ­­— Dara Northcroft, Executive Director, Breakthrough Summerbridge

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ounded in 1978 at UHS, Summerbridge has been positively impacting the lives of ambitious middle school students and the enthusiastic college students, our Teaching Fellows, who teach them. In fact, UHS is the original site and inspiration for the Breakthrough Collaborative, which now includes a network of 24 affiliates throughout the United States.

As a full affiliate of the National Breakthrough Collaborative, we share its mission to work with highly motivated, traditionally underrepresented students to achieve postsecondary success, and empower aspiring leaders to become the next generation of educators and advocates. In June 2021, we changed our name and logo to reflect the enduring and growing strength of our alliance with the Collaborative and became officially known as Breakthrough Summerbridge at San Francisco University High School.

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students, after more than a year of participating remotely, summer 2021 was a reunion with friends whom they had not seen in person since 7th grade. And our 7th- and 8th-graders—who not only had never met each other in person, but had never been on campus—cheerfully participated in the learning and community building while on campus.

In response to COVID-19 restrictions and challenges, we adapted our 2020–21 summer and after-school programming into an effective and engaging online format, with a curriculum that is strongly informed by social and emotional learning (SEL). SEL not only helps our students navigate the unprecedented challenges of distance learning, but also guides them through building essential self-management skills, resilience, and meaningful and supportive connections with one another.

Providing a program that allowed students and faculty to interact in person was very important to us and was at the heart of our planning for this summer. Through the enduring support of UHS, we were able to ensure that resources were in place to ensure safe in-person programming by way of a “Virtual +” (Virtual Plus) model where students had their classes virtually three days a week and joined us on campus one or two days a week for our communitybuilding classes and activities.

It was a unique and exciting summer for all of us!

In addition to providing students and families with one-on-one support, our counselor—who is also a licensed therapist—led the development of enhanced SEL programming, which was first implemented in summer 2021 and will continue in after-school programming and in subsequent summers. This programming and curriculum includes new lesson plans for grade-level classes, professional development and resources for faculty and Teaching Fellows to further integrate SEL strategies into lessons and activities, and workshops to provide families with tools to support their children.

The most heartwarming part of the summer was seeing students interacting in person with their classmates. For our 9th-grade

Our summer faculty was fantastic! All of our Instructional Coaches either had served as an Instructional Coach or a Teaching

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F E AT U R E S

“Summerbridge is very important to me because in the future it will help me get into good schools. Even though the start of SB was virtual, it really felt like everyone cared about the students’ education, and I really appreciate that.” (8th-grader) “Breakthrough is an amazing program that has helped a ton of people reach their dreams.” (9th-grader)

Fellow in previous years or had been a Summerbridge student when they were in middle school. In fact, Corey, one of our summer faculty members, was a Summerbridge alumnus who became a Teaching Fellow, then decided on a career as a teacher, and then joined us as an Instructional Coach—the trifecta!

With the support of the Instructional Coaches, our bright and talented Teaching Fellows did an excellent job at planning and teaching the academic classes and leading our spirited event days. On remote learning days, they implemented a variety of interactive webbased activities that engage students in their learning, and on on-campus days, lessons included science labs, where students observed both virtual and in-person labs and practiced good scientific habits, observation, and analysis. Math classes allowed students to solve math problems through critical thinking and error analysis, and to extend their conceptual knowledge to real-world situations. Novels were at the center of humanities classes in which, through the intersection of literature and history, students learned about characters through a historical lens, through writing, discussing, and using textual evidence to answer prompts. Additionally, our 8th-graders took a high school advising class, which taught them about the application process, prepared them for writing personal statements,

and helped them practice their interview skills.

A highlight of every Summerbridge summer is our Friday event days. With our “Virtual +” programming, students came to campus on alternating Fridays, by grade level. During all-school meetings, clubs within each grade level presented skits, led cheers, and competed for Spirit Points. Afterward, students participated in fun activities, such as carnival games, movie day, and a mini-Olympics.

College and Career Day this year was part virtual and part in-person. Our 9th-graders, who were on campus that day, learned about the collegegoing experience and about a variety of careers; our 7thand 8th-graders had a similar experience, but virtually. What made the event special was that most of the presenters were Summerbridge alumni or current Teaching Fellows.

We ended our summer with Celebration, during which we shared highlights of the summer and heard speeches from some of our 9th-graders as they reflected on their Summerbridge experiences and memories.

The evening culminated with faculty singing to the students and graduating our 9th-graders, sending them well wishes for their journey into high school and beyond.

Supporting and encouraging a growth mindset and increasing

“Breakthrough Summerbridge is not a phase; it’s a lifestyle. What I mean by this is, this program has helped me so much that my time here is something I will always remember and take with me. Many skills I’ve used and learned here, I will take on with me for the rest of my life.” (9th-grader) “Breakthrough Summerbridge is a community. I never really knew much about being part of a larger community. Being part of this community means that we always support each other, and our friends will always be here for us. The teachers are always here to answer our questions, and it always feels like they’re your friend and teacher. That makes me feel like Breakthrough is the biggest and most welcoming community I’ve ever been a part of.” (9th-grader)

student confidence academically and socially were at the core of our summer programming. Our students worked collaboratively, listened attentively, responded insightfully, wrote thoughtfully, solved mathematically, hypothesized scientifically, participated enthusiastically, helped others empathically, and laughed heartily. Kudos to our students and to the faculty who supported them in this journey.They all embodied the Breakthrough Summerbridge spirit! n

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A World View

on the Courtyard W

hen we closed commission a piece of campus campus in March artwork to commemorate the of 2020, few had courage of our community in any idea of when a return to our the face of the pandemic. beloved spaces would be possible.

Julia reached out to former After a virtual graduation for staff member, alumna, and art the Class of 2020, disappointconsultant Lisa Lindenbaum ’97 ing news came that we would for leads on Bay remain teaching Area sculptors who and learning in might be interested a remote fashion in creating a piece for at least the for the school. Lisa first semester of used her vast net2020–21. Head work and experiof School Julia ence to reach out to Eells turned interested sculpa part of her tors. She collaboattention to welrated with faculty coming a return member and Art to campus when History instructor it was possible.

Linda Fleming, Artist Rachel Damian, In concert with who engaged her the redesign and students in the final selection of construction of two humanities the piece. In the fall, the class classrooms whose doors would was given five finalist pieces to now open to the courtyard, Julia choose from. They undertook wanted to place a new piece of a three-week process including outdoor art near the classroom meeting with Julia to hear her entrances. Thanks to the support thoughts on the commission, of families from the Class researching each artist and each of 2020, the school piece, presenting their findings was able to to the class, discussing the artists, and, finally, voting on a final piece.

Their final choice was a piece

by Linda Fleming, a sculptor based in the Bay Area. Linda has been on the faculty at multiple California art schools over the past 30

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years, and her pieces have been featured in exhibitions across the country. Rachel says, “The students really took the lead on this project and were very invested in the process.” The Art History students who were directly involved in researching and advocating for this particular piece were David Wignall ’21, Emilia Fowler ’21, Gaby Garcia ’22, and Katie Hartel ’21.

FROM THE CLASS’S PRESENTATION: “Through her work, Fleming tries to capture intangible aspects of nature in sculpture, exploring the shapes that the wind, gases, and sound might take. Her unique use of negative space is heavily inspired by a course she took in college on particle physics.

Through her work, she seeks to combine science and intellectual curiosity with art.This combination of the academic and creative reflects the multifaceted identities of UHS students and their diverse array of interests.

“The warm hues in Fleming’s ‘Worlds’ portray a joyful and welcoming mood. The delicate, yet complex, curved paths from the intersecting rhomboids connect with the intellectual complexity of UHS students. Adding on, the delicate and airy form of the piece, ‘Worlds,’ demonstrates the freedom and autonomy UHS students have in forming their own path.

The ‘Worlds’ piece also connects with UHS values such as inquiry, care, integrity, agency, and interconnection.

The artwork’s fusion of creativity and intellectual devotion resonates with University students’ tendency of being curious and open-minded, embodying the value of inquiry. The intricate and infinite paths formed by the piece connect with the value of agency demonstrating UHS students’ ability to explore new paths and take risks. The connecting paths of the piece emphasize the values of interconnection, integrity, and care, as the paths are all connected to one another, reflecting University’s inclusivity of its community of diverseminded students.

The warm hues of ‘Worlds’ will bring vibrancy to the courtyard.

The piece’s delicate, weightless form will draw attention to it without overpowering the courtyard’s space.

The fact that the piece seems to change shape due to the alteration of its shadows throughout the day gives it a semi-kinetic element, making it interactive to the audience.”

Linda Fleming came to campus in May to see the installation and to meet with the Art History students. Being involved in the selection and installation of a public piece of art was a unique opportunity for the Art History class, and this piece of community art celebrates the reopening of campus while recognizing the courage, compassion, and tenacity of the UHS community. n

F E AT U R E S

Critical Care ­­— Nate Lundy, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid

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ndependent school admissions has never been an equitable process. In fact, when I think back to my experience of applying to high schools, as a student coming from public school and applying for financial aid, I don’t ever remember feeling like an individual or a desired applicant. I was just another number being sent from room to room while everyone else jockeyed for position with the head of school or the admissions director. In the last 20+ years, as an admissions professional, I have seen families and students have experiences similar to the one my family and I had, and not get the support or guidance they needed to have a successful and fulfilling admissions experience.

When designing an admissions process at UHS, we are forced to acknowledge the historic barriers that have always been in place for those whom a quality education was not meant for.

We ask our students to commit to our core values of Integrity, Interconnection, Inquiry, Agency, and Care, with the hope that they take these values far beyond our hallways and into the world.

Keeping that in mind, we in admissions hold ourselves to the same standards and values that we demand of our students.

As a school with six times as many applicants as admitted students, we are mindful of the messages we send to prospective

families. We want to ensure that we are transparent about our desired outcomes of identifying and enrolling students who will move our school forward.

We also want to ensure that every applicant and family feels seen and known through the process. The admissions process is not only about doing right as an admissions team, but about doing right by our applicants and improving as a school every day.

At UHS, we use our core values to make decisions and guide young people through their high school years. In particular, the UHS admissions team leans on the value of care at every turn in the admissions process. The amount of care that goes into ensuring that all applicants and their families get what they need through our process is referred to by some educational experts as Critical Care. Expert Rosa L. Rivera-McCutchen says, “Critical Care in school leadership is described as going beyond traditional conceptions of care relating to trust and relationship building and is grounded in confronting and dismantling historically inequitable systems in schooling.” With this in mind, we build an admissions process with the hope of providing true and authentic access to what a UHS education is and can be for all students and families.

For example, our process includes efforts to schedule events at different times and days, to allow families to choose what works best for them. Additionally, we aim to streamline as much as

we can, such as by posting the application fee waiver code on our webpage, so that families are not forced to call and ask for it. This approach is carried forward once applicants become students. We prioritize anticipating the needs of our students and families and ensuring that relevant information is passed on to our deans before school starts, so that students who are in need of technology, lunch, books, and/ or language access get exactly what they need. We expect their experiences as students to mirror the attention to detail that they experienced as applicants, which we believe is the foundation for what our students’ four years of high school are all about. We set students’ expectations early, and we aim to deliver throughout their time at UHS. Admissions teams are often seen as gatekeepers with a task of creating an air of exclusivity— an environment in which few gain true access and even fewer gain acceptance. However, this is not the case at UHS. Although our admissions standards are still quite stringent, the admissions team works tirelessly to ensure that we are opening our doors as wide as possible, thus ensuring that we have as representative a community as possible.

One silver lining that we have found in the global pandemic has been giving ourselves permission to make changes and shift the way we operate an admissions

process. Providing virtual events gives us the ability to provide families from anywhere with unlimited access to the information they want. Additionally, we have been able to offer events at times, and on days, that we would not have normally been able to access due to our neighborhood agreements.

Lowering barriers to access has been a part of the UHS strategic design for years, but we are finding that our Critical Care approach has taken our admissions process to the next level in relation to who has access to UHS and at what level. We are proud to say that all of our decisions are made through the lens of our mission and vision.

The idea of equity and access in independent schools is not new, but the idea of providing critical and authentic care to all who walk through our doors may be.

Our hope is that this concept takes flight in all independent schools and gives true access to all who want it. n

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Staff Profile:

Geoff “Free” Gary Geoff “Free” Gary goes deep in answering questions about his high school days, obstacles, and epiphanies in this staff profile. Read on to get to know Free and what makes him the friend and colleague he is today.

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eoff “Free” Gary joined UHS in 2019 as associate director of admissions. He came to us from the admissions and athletics offices at Drew School. His career has included being an English teacher, student activities director, advisor, and varsity boys’ basketball, track and field, and varsity girls’ tennis coach. Free received a BA in Psychology from the University of Maine, Orono, and is currently studying Private School Leadership at Columbia University’s Teachers College. Prior to entering independent schools, he recorded multiple albums and toured throughout the U.S. and Europe as a hip-hop artist, “Mr Free.”

We caught up with Free recently to learn more about what his high school years were like and what makes him the friend and colleague he is today.

school of over 1,200, I’ve always had a place in my heart for the challenges faced by minority students in the classroom. This sentiment has proven to be my guiding star as I’ve entered into a career in education. My heart has always been with students who feel “othered” for one reason or another, and I’ve strived to provide spaces where they feel comfortable being themselves.

Although I understand why, it seems odd to me that we (both students and adults) spend years of our lives together, yet are hesitant to be who we truly are, at times.

Where did you grow up and how does that impact your professional career?

I’d have to say my parents’ divorce proved to be indirectly responsible for the greatest leap I made in my life. At the time, we were God-fearing Pentecostals who went to church a minimum of three times a week. The church was everything to me. My grandfather was a preacher, and my mom was an evangelist. Many who knew me then swore I’d become a preacher someday. However, when my folks separated, the church condemned my mother for being a preacher’s kid and going against a promise she (and my father) made to God. This led her to take the daunting step of walking away from the church but seeking other ways to exercise her faith.

Not long after, she began to read a good deal of Eastern thought

I grew up in a small town in upstate New York, called Horseheads. As one of 10 or so African American students in a

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Share your biggest epiphany: the moments of lifedefining change that shaped you into the person you are today.

and New Age philosophy books that she passed my way when she finished. At the age of 15, 16, years old, I came to know a broader view of spirituality than what I grew up on. As a result, I began to get glimpses of what it felt like to be centered and how to live with intention as my guide, as opposed to being reactionary. That completely shifted the way I saw, and continue to see, the world around me and my place in it. Where I once felt like a victim of circumstance, I now see my surroundings as a reflection of the decisions I’ve made and continue to make. With that in mind, I’m grateful that my path has guided me to UHS! Shameless plug: It is much easier to accept that principle when I look out at the community surrounding me and see highly motivated students and adults at every turn.

Describe your biggest obstacle in life so far and how you mastered it.

My sophomore year in high school was, hands down, the worst year of my life. It began with a feeling of invincibility, as I was the starting quarterback on the

JV football team, and we were undefeated four games in. Week 5, I got moved up to varsity and was forced to play on the scout team offensive line. This meant I lined up across from our starting defensive tackle, a senior, who was the craziest guy in our school. We’d bash heads for 10–15 plays in a row, three practices a week. All of this so I could end up riding the bench come game day. Needless to say, this was a far cry from days as a starting quarterback. A few weeks later, my father and I got into our worst disagreement in all my years, the results of which only furthered my downward spiral.

And if that wasn’t enough, it wasn’t long before we studied slavery in American history. I’m not sure I can put words to how multifaceted the challenges were that arose during that unit. I remember my heart beating out of my chest as the topic came up. Suddenly, I was the elephant in the room. Surrounded by all White classmates who were probably just living another day in history class, it felt like every single one of them was staring at me for the entirety of the unit. The sense of inferiority that came from hearing how my ancestors were dehumanized by theirs gave rise to questions I had not confronted in that depth before. Of course I had known about slavery for as long as I can remember, but studying it and having extensive conversations about the atrocities that took place was an absolutely humiliating experience. An added layer to this was that I am biracial, with a Black father and a White mother. At that time, my

F E AT U R E S 13/14-year-old mind questioned if my White grandparents even loved me because I was Black.

A highly dramatic conclusion, drawn with no experiential basis whatsoever, but I share that to illustrate how far gone my mind was, and how the impact of that topic led to me questioning the very roots from which I came.

With all of that swirling through me, I eventually reached my tipping point, where depression set in. I remember walking the halls with my hoodie on, not talking to anyone for days on end. I sat in classes and refused to participate. There was a darkness that overcame my being and brought about an attitude of carelessness and withdrawal. To that end, my third-quarter report card showed a 45% OVERALL average. This was followed up by 28% in the fourth marking period. I’d given up.

But, in an ironic twist of fate, my father ended up providing the inspiration that pulled me out of the hole I was in. He planted seeds of hope by laying out a plan that would eventually serve as the blueprint to my resurrection. He pointed out that all of the classes I failed could be taken over the following year. If I finished the last two years strong, colleges would recognize that something happened that sophomore year that threw me off— essentially showing them I was actually a good student. I bought in, used those words as a rallying point for myself, and returned to school as a much more positive junior, who was also starting to read the above-mentioned books, and the tides turned, so much so that I ended up receiving an academic-based scholarship to attend the University of Maine.

As I reflected on that year, I never could really place where that darkness stemmed from.

It was only as an adult that I gained some perspective and had a few inclinations as to the root of the trouble. But, oddly enough, the longer I’ve been in education, the more I’ve seen many students experience their own version of the “sophomore slump.”

Thankfully, mine ended happily and served as a great point of reference as I empathize with students who are struggling with dynamics they may not even be able to name.

Do you remember your first day of high school? Tell us about it.

I actually have no recollection whatsoever. The only thing I remember from early that year was that a group of senior volleyball players realized who my older brother was, and they started calling me “Little Gary.”

Being seen and recognized by them gave me all the confidence in the world.

What do you hope students at UHS learn from you?

I hope students learn to bring a “glass half full” approach to their lives. I opened up here, as well as in my speech earlier this year at convocation, to show students that, yes, I walk our halls with

positivity and do what I can to be as consistently upbeat as possible, but there are certainly dark days when I don’t feel as vibrant as I wish to be. There have also been plenty of hardships in my past. A powerful shift in mindset occurred within me when I came to understand that any negative cycle I experienced was just that: a cycle, something that will inevitably shift, so long as I stay the course and keep living according to the intentions I project. Hopefully, modeling vulnerability will create spaces and confidence, within our community, for our students to open up and share their truths with each other, so we can continue to support each other and uplift each other in purposeful ways. n

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Inspiration:

Affinity Space Faculty Sponsors The UHS mission states, “We are a school where adults believe in the promise of every student, and together we work to build and sustain a community of diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and talents.” Every year, UHS faculty and staff support students as sponsors for a wide range of affinity spaces and clubs on campus. Read on to explore perspectives from six of these spaces. With 58 student-led organizations on campus, this is just a small sample of the profound work of these spaces, and we are proud to celebrate their openness, honesty, curiosity, and engagement, which are consistent with who we are as a school.

Jessica Osorio ’10, English Department

SPONSOR OF LATINE (FORMERLY LATINX) Latine is an affinity space and club that offers a safe and welcoming space for those who identify as Latine.This club celebrates Latine culture, community, and all aspects of our identity.

This club offers resources for Latine students to collaborate, learn more from our cultures, and have fun.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT UHS?

This is my sixth year working at UHS. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO SUPPORT STUDENTS IN AFFINITY SPACES?

As an educator, I always strive to be the kind of teacher and mentor I needed, but did not have, as a student. I was very well supported in high school, but I didn’t have many mirrors.

Because I grew up attending independent schools, I didn’t have many friends or teachers who identified as Latine. I spent a lot of time and energy trying to understand and blend into the (White) culture around me.

I know I would have really benefited from having a community of Latine peers and mentors

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with whom I could explore and embrace that part of my identity.

It is an honor to support our Latine students in creating a space where they can be their whole selves and celebrate the many gifts their cultures have to offer. When students feel like they belong, they thrive and lead. I love watching our Latine students support one another, make this school their own, and push UHS to become a more equitable community.

HOW HAVE YOU COLLABORATED WITH STUDENTS AS A FACULTY SPONSOR?

In so many ways! Mostly, I help the students realize their vision for the affinity group. Each year, we work together to set a few goals, but the priority is always building community, joy, and a stronger sense of belonging for Latine folks at UHS. In our regular affinity group meetings, we often talk about issues facing Latine people (both at UHS and beyond) and what we can do to help. During Latine Heritage Month (September 15–October 15), I support students in organizing a series of events that have ranged from guest speakers, to cooking classes, to lunchtime fundraisers, and an amazing Latin dance lesson on Zoom last year.

HOW HAS YOUR PARTICIPATION IN AN AFFINITY SPACE INFLUENCED YOUR WORK AS AN EDUCATOR?

Being a part of an affinity group has showed me just how much more rich and nuanced conversations among our students are

when they all feel safe to bring their whole selves into the room.

In a class of 16 students, every single person is having a different experience of the course.We may be reading the same novel, but because each of us has a different identity and cultural lens, we are each going to have a different relationship with the story and its characters.This multiplicity of perspectives is what makes being a part of an English class a beautiful and transformative experience.

But it also means that, as a teacher, I need to be intentional about building community and trust in my classroom, to make sure that all of those perspectives are heard. In my classes, I spend the first week of the course focusing on community building and co-creating group agreements. Learning cannot happen if students don’t feel a sense of belonging and connection.

Before we start reading the book, everyone needs to feel like their authentic voice matters and will be heard.

WHAT ONE BOOK/SHOW/ MOVIE WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR FOLKS INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT EQUITY, AND WHY DO YOU RECOMMEND IT?

I would recommend Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks, especially if you’re interested in thinking more about equity in education. She asks how we can create classrooms that do not reinforce existing systems of domination, but instead make education a practice of freedom. Her ideas have been a guiding light for me since I started teaching.

Andrew Galatas, Science Department

SPONSOR OF SPECTRA Spectra is the LGBTQ+ affinity group at UHS. Spectra strives to provide a safe space for queer/questioning members of our community to celebrate their identities and express their authentic selves.They host open and closed meetings to discuss current events and queer issues and set aside time to relax and enjoy each other’s company. Spectra hopes to increase LGBTQ+ awareness in our community and ensure that queer students feel supported and loved.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT UHS?

This is my fifth year, all as a science teacher.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO SUPPORT STUDENTS IN AFFINITY SPACES?

As a queer student who spent most of his lower education at a conservative religious school, I thought it was important to provide as much access to safe, celebratory discourse around LGBT, queer, and questioning issues to our own students as possible. Just having a space to build community and offer mutual support does wonders.

F E AT U R E S HOW HAVE YOU COLLABORATED WITH STUDENTS AS A FACULTY SPONSOR?

My role varies from year to year and issue to issue. Sometimes I provide a moderating adult voice in a room if a difficult discussion’s happening. Sometimes I encourage and facilitate cross-space dialogues (e.g., with Men’s Club, SWEAR, Interfaith Club). Usually I’m just there to provide quiet faculty/adult support for students in an area [where] they don’t always get shown outright allyship.

HOW HAS YOUR PARTICIPATION IN AN AFFINITY SPACE INFLUENCED YOUR WORK AS AN EDUCATOR?

Coming from a university teaching background, I already had a bit of a learning curve to navigate around student emotional support and development (which is obviously not a focus of college teaching). Helping support Spectra has given me a much more transparent and nuanced window into students’ emotional lives, in my own teaching but also in how my students or mentees are receiving messaging and support from the school community as a whole.

WHAT ONE BOOK/SHOW/ MOVIE WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR FOLKS INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT EQUITY, AND WHY DO YOU RECOMMEND IT?

I’d strongly recommend Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde. It’s not only a wonderful collection of essays and oratory in its own right, but also a great example of intersectionality in literature.

Lorde draws on a variety of identities in the writings (Black, lesbian, woman, cancer survivor, etc.) in a holistic, clear way that demonstrates that queerness, while fundamental, isn’t defining.

WHAT ONE BOOK/SHOW/ MOVIE WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR FOLKS INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT EQUITY, AND WHY DO YOU RECOMMEND IT?

Adam Ahmed, English Department

SPONSOR OF MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA (MENA) MENA stands for Middle Eastern North African and is an affinity space for all people who identify with the term.This group mainly has closed meetings available only to those who identify as MENA to discuss topics that relate to our community.

This is a difficult question! I’m not sure I have an introductory text for learning about equity. Maybe Black Skin,White Masks by Frantz Fanon; that was a foundational text for me in developing my own racial consciousness. Fanon was a Martiniquan French psychiatrist who analyzed the psychological effects of racialization on a racialized subject. His exploration of the psychology of race blew my mind when I first read it, and it helped give me language for feelings I couldn’t articulate.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO SUPPORT STUDENTS IN AFFINITY SPACES?

In my conversations with student affinity group leaders, we talk about long-term goals for the group and future meeting topics.

I let the students lead whenever possible; I’m there to support them as they direct the group.

HOW HAS YOUR PARTICIPATION IN AN AFFINITY SPACE INFLUENCED YOUR WORK AS AN EDUCATOR?

I’m constantly reminded of the fact that our students have so many aspects of their identity that aren’t visible in the space of a classroom. This pushes me to create spaces for students to share that identity in class— whether it’s through writing or community-building activities.

This work is about the students.

Choosing a career in education is about supporting young people through the good and challenging times. I also believe I have worked out a lot of my challenges with my independent-school experience by supporting students through their challenges. It is definitely a symbiotic relationship.

The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee. She does such a good job at getting to the heart of inequities in our society and supporting her work with data and historical references.

Five years.

HOW HAVE YOU COLLABORATED WITH STUDENTS AS A FACULTY SPONSOR?

HOW HAS YOUR PARTICIPATION IN AN AFFINITY SPACE INFLUENCED YOUR WORK AS AN EDUCATOR?

WHAT ONE BOOK/SHOW/ MOVIE WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR FOLKS INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT EQUITY, AND WHY DO YOU RECOMMEND IT?

HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT UHS?

I wanted to help the MENA students feel more connected to each other and visible at the school. As an Arab-American kid growing up in a predominantly White suburb, I never had a place to reflect on and celebrate my own identity, so I strive to build a space like that for MENA students at UHS.

logistics and understanding who to ask for what. I think they also feel empowered to know an adult in the community is in it with them.

Nate Lundy, Director of Admissions

SPONSOR OF MULTIRACIAL CLUB AND MEN OF COLOR GROUP Multiracial Club is an affinity group for UHS students and faculty where they can discuss topics pertaining to self-identity, public perception, and common experiences that arise when identifying with multiple racial identities.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT UHS?

Four years.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO SUPPORT STUDENTS IN AFFINITY SPACES?

A lot of what I do in these spaces goes back to my experience in school, when I didn’t have an adult there who reflected my appearance or life experience. I don’t want any student to feel like they are alone or not seen in our community.

HOW HAVE YOU COLLABORATED WITH STUDENTS AS A FACULTY SPONSOR?

I am there mostly as a thought partner.They have great ideas and often need guidance around

Alexandra Simmons, Dean of Student Life

SPONSOR OF BLACK STUDENT UNION (BSU) BSU is a closed affinity space for the black population of UHS. It allows for open conversations with people who can relate to your experience, and it is also a place to just chill with people.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT UHS?

I am in my third year at UHS. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO SUPPORT STUDENTS IN AFFINITY SPACES?

I’ve always been drawn to affinity spaces. I’m a people person and an experience person. Connecting

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F E AT U R E S with others through their personal experiences provides richness and texture in our understanding of one another. I’ve seen growth from and connections between students that cannot be simulated in cluster or a classroom.There is no homework, there are no pre-planned learning outcomes, and there is the ability to opt in; this equation allows students to engage wholeheartedly and with full agency.When I joined UHS, it was crucial for me to get involved with RIOT (our girls-of-color affinity space) and the Black Student Union (BSU) because these are important parts of my own identity. I always want to do everything I can to create space and enhance support for students who share these identities.

HOW HAVE YOU COLLABORATED WITH STUDENTS AS A FACULTY SPONSOR?

The shining moment for me was in my first year of working with the BSU.The students were processing an incident that caused friction in the community, and rather than silently moping, taking to social media, or handing the issue to others, they came to me to think about next steps.The students coordinated with BSU leaders from peer schools across San Francisco and staged a walkout during all-school meeting and a sit-in in the Upper Courtyard that lasted the entire school day.

They shared stories, ate, laughed, and took up space. It was beautiful. Students who participated continue to talk about how this day built their self-esteem as UHS students and reminded them that they matter. Much of my work in supporting them was making space—letting their teachers know they wouldn’t be in class, coordinating with my peer colleagues at their schools to make sure everyone was safe and aware, and letting my fellow senior administrators know that this was necessary.

HOW HAS YOUR PARTICIPATION IN AN AFFINITY SPACE INFLUENCED YOUR WORK AS AN EDUCATOR?

Because I am no longer in the classroom, connecting with

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students requires a bit of strategy, but, fortunately, it energizes me.

My work in affinity spaces has made my work as an educator more meaningful and helped me keep a keen eye on how our students show up and what they need. This year, a senior lovingly nicknamed me “the People’s Dean,” and I believe that is because of my proximity to students in spaces like these.

This enhanced connection with students allows me to show up more joyfully, creatively, and energetically.

WHAT ONE BOOK/SHOW/ MOVIE WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR FOLKS INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT EQUITY, AND WHY DO YOU RECOMMEND IT?

I shall cheat! I express myself best through music; I love making playlists and sharing them with others. It’s my love language.

What I would recommend is a playlist curated by the Oakland Museum for their 2021 exhibit Mothership:Voyage into Afrofuturism. The exhibit itself is beautiful: a visually stirring journey through the connections between Black/African American history, storytelling, art, music, and sociopolitical movements.

The playlist can be found on Spotify and is called A Parallax View: Afrofuturism in Sound, and it is an eclectic sonic adventure curated by Paul Miller, aka DJ Spooky. Hearing history in this way is fascinating and enriching.

Pierre Carmona, English Department

SPONSOR OF ASIAN AMERICAN PACIFIC ISLANDER (AAPI) AAPI is an affinity group for UHS students and faculty who identify as Asian American and/or Pacific

Islander to come together as a community and bond over our heritage and experiences.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT UHS?

This will be my sixth year at UHS. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO SUPPORT STUDENTS IN AFFINITY SPACES?

These past five years, I’ve seen the affinity space student leaders and members get into, in the words of Congressman John Lewis, “good trouble, necessary trouble.” I’m inspired to help students push UHS to do better and to be better. The AAPI affinity space, at least for me, is also one of the few spaces that feels like home. I feel free to be myself. And I hope to create a space for students where they feel safe and seen, but also proud, curious, and empowered. To my chagrin, I didn’t embrace being Mexican and Chinese American in high school. It’s not something I actively hid or resisted, but it’s also something I didn’t try to nurture or pursue. I want to create spaces and structures where racial identity formation can happen at an earlier age.

HOW HAVE YOU COLLABORATED WITH STUDENTS AS A FACULTY SPONSOR?

When I collaborate with student leaders, my feedback is always in the service of their vision and goals. I’m generally in awe of the student leaders, and collaboration usually means stepping back and being an encouraging presence.

However, collaboration took on an added and heavier meaning last year. Last school year was the hardest and most exhausting and isolating teaching year of my career, due to the pandemic coupled with the impact of antiAsian racism, especially the hate crime in Atlanta. The AAPI student leaders shouldered so much, and, in order to protect them and themselves, we all had to slow down, to rest, and to say “no.”

Collaboration meant checking in with each other, taking care of each other, and prioritizing our mental and emotional health.

HOW HAS YOUR PARTICIPATION IN AN AFFINITY SPACE INFLUENCED YOUR WORK AS AN EDUCATOR?

Personally, I felt connected to Joanne Sugiyama, former registrar and AAPI co-adult sponsor, and the AAPI student leaders from the past three years. There’s tremendous trust and camaraderie and joy. Being an adult sponsor of AAPI reminds me to translate and nurture a similar ethos in my English classes.

I value risk-taking, dialogue, honesty, and discomfort. Ideally, I want my students to bring their full selves and personal identities to my classes and into their writing. However, I don’t want my classes to become a confessional space. Nonetheless, I strive for a balance, because the head and the heart can work together.

WHAT ONE BOOK/SHOW/ MOVIE WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR FOLKS INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT EQUITY, AND WHY DO YOU RECOMMEND IT?

I keep returning to Jeff Chang’s We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation. I can’t say enough good things about Chang’s essay collection: expansive, thought provoking, an example of Black–Asian solidarity, etc. During hard times, the last two paragraphs give me solace: Each of us is left with the question: Can we, given all the pain that we have had inflicted upon us and that we have inflicted upon others, ever learn to see each other as lovers do, to find our way toward freedom for all?

The horizon toward which we move always recedes before us.The revolution is never complete.What we see now as solid and eternal may be disintegrating inward from our blind spots. All that signifies progress may in time be turned against us. But redemption is out there for us if we are always in the process of finding love and grace. n

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NEXT LEVEL:

The Campaign for University High School — Shaundra Bason, Director of Development

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t UHS, we prove the transformative power of education every day through the experiences of our students and faculty. Our vision is audacious: to continually expand what makes high school meaningful.

Reaching our goals takes commitment and resources, so UHS has launched the Next Level campaign, a $52 million effort that will ultimately give our community the support, physical space, and community connection that are needed for UHS to reach its potential as a school.

The Next Level campaign will bring this bold vision to fruition, keeping UHS at the forefront of secondary education. Together, we’ll continue to transform our program, the spaces that unite us, and our ability to inspire a more inclusive, more diverse community.

Leading in the secondary education space requires us to constantly advance how and why high school matters. Supporting the Next Level Campaign will lift up the school and the high school experience by advancing our community’s priorities across multiple fronts: • Campus transformation to redesign existing facilities and build the California Street STEM and community campus.

• Program and professional development funding, such as the Lamott Endowment for Interdisciplinary Teaching and

Curricular Innovation awards, annual grants that fund the work of inspired teachers in creating curricula that encourage team teaching and interdisciplinary work.

• Faculty support that fuels care and innovation, helping UHS attract and retain worldclass teachers.

• Student financial aid expansion to help dismantle the barriers that prevent talented students from attending UHS, and to increase our community’s socioeconomic and cultural diversity.

• Flexible operating support so that we can make the most of opportunities and respond nimbly to challenges.

We have already benefited from the generosity of past and current UHS families and alumni. Under the visionary leadership of our Head of School, Julia Russell Eells, we have prioritized the idea that the physical spaces in which our students learn have a profound impact on their success.

Coupling that idea with supporting our faculty and increasing the number of students we have the opportunity to serve, we are poised to continue to lead as a school that not only invests in the education of developing minds, but also shapes the personal and professional trajectories of countless students across generations.

is a place of people, where the connections that we draw together—and that draw us together—are vital. This focus on connection can be seen throughout the planned facilities improvements, taking the school a step higher across each level of our campus. Not only do the Next Level Campaign’s campus transformation plans intend to elevate our facilities and our use of them to catalyze connection, but through a new 50,000-square-foot California Street campus, we will provide— for the first time—the right space for our whole community to be together. We will increase the area of our campus by more than 50%, with spaces devoted to flexible classrooms, fabrication and collaboration spaces, science labs, and social hubs. Our spaces will be customized to meet the creativity and energy of our community while making the student experience across our campus more cohesive—and we are on track to be shovel-ready just two years from now.

The Next Level Campaign has the opportunity to catalyze our position as a school that is poised to revitalize the lifelong impact of secondary education.

In partnership with the UHS community, we can invest in building up our physical spaces while continuing to build up our students and faculty intellectually and emotionally. With partnership and resources, UHS has the vision and ambition to go to the Next Level. n To learn more about the Next Level Campaign, contact Director of Development Shaundra Bason at shaundra.bason@sfuhs.org.

UHS is a school where connections spark our imaginations and elevate our intelligence. It

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Equity and Community Stewardship and Oversight Committee Year-End Report

D

uring the 2020–21 school year, the Equity and Community Stewardship and Oversight Committee, made up of students, faculty/staff, parents/guardians, trustees, and alumni, was established to chronicle, evaluate, and steer the work outlined in the 2018 UHS Statement on Equity and Community.

Much has transpired in our country since we approved that statement, sparking our sense of urgency and growing understanding of what it takes to become an antiracist institution. It is now time to revisit and revise the 2018 statement and to develop a DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging)/Antiracism strategic plan during the 2021–22 school year, in coordination with our California Association of Independent Schools accreditation self-study. We believe the work

should be led and affirmed by this Committee in collaboration with the standing Trustee Committee on Equity and Community, to include the voices of our entire community.

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, we were gratified to come together to support the school in this way, and we look forward to digging deeper, listening, learning, and collaborating to build a safe, brave, and strong community where everyone can stretch, thrive, and reach their full potential. Following is an overview of the actions/ initiatives undertaken and in progress, with four key recommendations for the 2021–22 school year and actions/programming that UHS has established and/or that are in progress.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 2021–22: Revise and update the 2018 UHS Statement on Equity and Community Designate a team of students, faculty, and administrators to respond to harmful incidents more efficiently and to develop transparent pathways for community and individual responses and repair Expand and offer parent/guardian education in DEIB, in alignment with best practices Consider the addition of an ethnic studies course of study in the curriculum The UHS Equity and Community Stewardship and Oversight Committee Members Hailey Bancroft ’23 Sandeep Bhuta, Faculty Kendal Black, Trustee and P ’23 Julia Russell Eells, Head of School Alison Fong, P ’23, ’25 Santiago Herrera ’23 Katie Hultquist ’92 Deundra Hundon, Staff (Breakthrough Summerbridge) Nicole Hunter, Faculty Tilda Kapuya, Director of Equity and Community Noah Sebhatleab ’22

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U H S J o u r n a l | FALL 2021

UNIVERSE

ESTABLISHED

IN PROGRESS

Developed Community Agreements that are posted in every learning space on campus

Enhancing Parent Alliance on Community Equity (ACE) programming, engagement, and leadership

Established anti-bias training for all faculty/staff search committees

Participating in the Equity Dashboard Consortium (now called The Inclusion Factor)

Expanded and enhanced recruitment, hiring, and retention of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) faculty/staff

Continuing focus on recruitment, hiring, and retention of BIPOC faculty/staff

Expanded programming for alumni (Runway Lecture Series)

Scheduling regular in-service professional development for faculty/staff and administrators

Launched the Equity and Community Stewardship and Oversight Committee Solidified commitment to and partnership with Breakthrough Summerbridge Integrated DEIB goals in Teacher Competency Statements and Student Feedback Survey, with a focus on building culturally responsive practices

Requiring DEIB goal in all faculty Folio professional development planning Enhancing support for all new faculty, with a focus on BIPOC teachers Expanding community curriculum to include neurodiversity and disability awareness and ableism

Established Human Development Department with cultural competency and equity literacy programming

Reviewing history and English curricula and pedagogy, with a focus on celebrating BIPOC contributions and equity literacy

Developed crowdsourced community curriculum for DEIB work (MLK Day Symposium and Community Day) and expanded these days within the COVID schedule

Focusing DEIB programming on contributions of excellence from the BIPOC community

Enhanced financial support for DEIB professional development conferences and workshops (e.g., People of Color Conference, White Privilege Conference, Facing Race, California Teacher Development Collaborative workshops) Established the UHS Internal Research Team; developed and conducted student survey on community and interconnection (piloted in spring 2019, revised in spring 2021, and conducted again in October 2021)

Integrating DEIB learning goals into all academic departments beyond Human Development (particularly history, science, and English) Expanding interpretation and translation services Institutionalizing student affinity and activism spaces by putting a compensation plan in place for faculty/staff leaders

Established robust student affinity and activism spaces

Analyzing data from the Internal Research Team’s community and interconnection survey and developing action items to address shortfalls

Established an active and increasingly visible Understanding Whiteness affinity group for White faculty/staff and students

Developing metrics for student thriving, to populate an Equity Dashboard (IRT)

Prioritized racially/ethnically diverse Board candidates (currently at 57% BIPOC)

Establishing pathways for student voice and agency with school administration

Established Board standing committee on equity and community

Incorporating restorative justice practices into evolving discipline, honor, and integrity codes and systems

Enhanced recruitment, hiring, and retention of BIPOC administrators

Engaging the Board in DEIB training

Created parent/guardian affinity meeting spaces Instituted POC night, a twice-yearly meeting for students, faculty, and staff who self-identify as People of Color

Building a dashboard of 10 years of Board demographics Developing DEIB goals for the Board, in alignment with 2018 and future Equity and Community belief statements n

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UNIVERSE

Graduation 2021:

Exemplars of Grace under Duress U

HS’s 2021 graduation was historic in many ways.

Our graduating class joined together with faculty, staff, and families on Paul Goode Field for the first time in the field’s history. We celebrated outdoors, masked and physically distanced.

Students chose Spanish instructor Ernesto Padró-Campos to speak on behalf of the faculty. Ernesto, a larger-than-life figure at UHS, shared his remarks from behind dark aviator glasses, as we were graced with a beautiful sunny day in San Francisco. He has been at UHS for 29 years, and he is a revered faculty member, leaving an impact on all students who have spent time in his classroom, and a mentor and role model to both students and faculty. Ernesto shared poetic words as he addressed the Class of 2021, recognizing that Paul Goode Field exists today in a place he described as a verdant harmony of land that has guided its indigenous peoples on the “path of life.” Noting that he spoke as “perfectly imperfect, as all human beings are,” for this traditional rite of passage, he recognized that each graduate, while on a steady diet of Zoom and Canvas, had to address the challenge of learning from home, and, “more than ever, had to muster the energy to search deep inside for the agency to mine for perseverance and to envision a future where a virus would no longer be limiting your pursuit of happiness.”

Providing advice to the Class of 2021, Ernesto directed the graduates to expect and accept the expressions of advice from older adults for what they are: overflowing, and likely unrequested, morsels of advice that come from a place of care—“for

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U H S J o u r n a l | FALL 2021

we, the older adults, are full of care.” He reminded students that someday they will share stories about surviving the pandemic with children, possibly even their own children, and explain that the virus forced them to take shelter, to hide. Then, he said, they would be reminded that the limitations imposed by the pandemic forced them to set aside a way of life, “a life which you were certain you had every right to.” He noted the importance of understanding that, trying and exasperating as this experience has been, it pales in comparison to other harrowing events in human history that have forced millions to take shelter and to hide, far from their own homes or countries, in order to escape death, not from a viral infection but from a pathogen only produced by the human species: hatred fueled by fear. “Viruses do not select their targets based on ethnicity, nationality, race, gender, age, or sexual orientation,” he said. “Only humanity lost can do that.”

Ernesto shared his experiences when coming to the US in 1992 and how he volunteered with nonprofit agencies to support the fight against the AIDS epidemic. He noted that we must remember that our fellow human beings across the globe are suffering from a lack of resources, just like gay men were when the AIDS epidemic broke out. He instructed the students that, in the future, they will have the power to teach and to lead, and that they must use that power carefully, ensuring that they cause no one harm, but, rather, as the UHS mission statement reads, challenge each individual to live a life of integrity,

The Class of 2021 Head’s Award for Perseverance and Leadership This new award will be given annually at closing ceremonies and will recognize a senior or seniors who exemplify the leadership and perseverance that the Class of 2021 displayed in the face of multiple curveballs presented by the global pandemic. This year, the award was given to two groups of students: first, the leaders of our AAPI affinity group, who shouldered a heavy lift this year and brought awareness and empathy into our school and into our hearts, and second, the seniors on the boys’ cross-country team who, through unprecedented dedication, delivered a performance, for their teammates, their coaches, and their school, that was one of the best in the long and exceptional history of Red Devil cross country.

2021 AWARD RECIPIENTS: Sarah Cheung, Nathan Evans, James Kelly, James Krepelka, Devin Leung, Kai Martell, Owen Myers, Jeanette Nguyen, Drew Phillips, Ryan Tabibian, and Mason Villegas

inquiry, and purpose larger than the self—“in other words, a life of giving.” He closed by saying, “Be prepared to work hard for a more progressive concept of human evolution. Bring forth a generation defined by the attainment of equality for all living beings, by the respectful use of Mother Earth’s resources, and by the triumph of love. Remember, only in so doing will fulfilling a purpose larger than oneself become your defining legacy.”

Faculty members Jessica Osorio ’10 and Elizabeth Schaffernoth introduced two elected student

speakers, Jasmine Gonzales and David Wignall. Jasmine, founder and co-president of the Black Student Union (BSU), co-founder of the Financial Aid and Socioeconomic Status (FASES) affinity group, and RIOT conference committee member, has cultivated spaces for people to come together to share their stories. Jasmine recalled the BSU cookout held in the upper courtyard to celebrate UHS’s Black community and the healing unity of one another, following public remarks that a UHS student had made and that she and others felt had

UNIVERSE trivialized the trauma of slavery and criticized the right of Black Americans to free speech. As the founder and co-president of the BSU, she said, her goal with this gathering was “rebuilding our community after such a jarring attack against it.” She added that her time in the BSU has taught her to lead with humility, tenacity, and perseverance and to value the process of trusting yourself, and has also taught her that she deserves to claim her space. “Our individuality is what makes us beautiful,” she said, “and each of us deserves to have our voices heard in ways that are true to who we are. We do not need to apologize for being seen when we want to be, for it is our many unique perspectives that make this community so strong.”

David Wignall, student body president, read excerpts from a letter he wrote to his twelfthgrade self as a ninth-grader. He recalled his first year at UHS as a time of fresh starts and weirdness, and he cited three fundamental rules: “Do not hurt other students, do not steal from the school, and under no circumstances are you to park on Jackson Street.” The graduating class welcomed David’s lighthearted recounting of his four years at UHS, including his observation that the problem with writing letters to yourself is that you cannot respond. He wrapped up his speech by noting that his experiences at UHS have taught him that “complicated problems rarely have simple solutions, and there is no more

shape their own beliefs about what they are capable of, and that I was responsible for seeing past the walls of my classroom to understand the entirety of what they are bringing to each moment. That was when I started learning how to actually be a teacher, and not just how to have the job of a teacher.

complicated problem than life. It is impossible to put into words all the lessons I have learned here by doing, by coming to campus, by living.”

The graduation guest speaker, introduced by Assistant Head of School Nasif Iskander, was Robert Reffkin ’97. In his introduction, Nasif shared an important story: “When Robert tried to use the school newspaper to start a dialogue about microaggressions at UHS his senior year, his article was rejected. He and a few friends started an underground newspaper at the school, where they wrote about the injustices that were a common part of their experience at UHS, and the institution responded badly, punishing Robert, his classmates, and even their parents, effectively silencing them all.

What Robert had to say was inconvenient and uncomfortable, but it was also true. His example

spurred us into collective action, setting in motion a slow but steady and positive change.

In many important ways, we are a very different school now, and we are still on that journey, to

Up until now, my proudest moment at any UHS graduation was watching Robert walk across the stage in 1997 to receive his diploma.”

When Robert approached the podium, he approached in tears, and he made clear that he felt seen by Nasif in his time at UHS. He talked about revisiting UHS before his speech and

Nasif Iskander, Robert Reffkin ’97, Matt Farron ’98, Julia Russell Eells

be sure. But, looking back at that time a quarter of a century ago, it’s clear that what UHS learned from Robert was that a critical foundation for learning is trust and a deep sense of belonging, and also that real harm is done when any member of a community hears consistent messages that they are not valued, that they don’t matter.

Robert also had a profound impact on my development as a teacher, for which I will always be grateful.Very early in my career, I was his AP Physics teacher, and he and I both struggled to find a way for him to do well in that class. It was Robert who taught me that my expectations for a student’s learning help

remembering what he felt like over his four years at the school, figuring out who he was, and really trying to figure out where he fit in. He spoke of how, over time, he learned not to hide from his differences, but to harness them. He also spoke of how he focuses on what he is great at, and how it has served him well.

He reminded students that their need to fit in is not going to go away. His advice? “Don’t obsess about your weaknesses; obsess about your strengths, and find people, friends, that love you for who you are, so you can be your authentic and true self.” n

David Wignall ’21and Jasmine Gonzalez ’21 sfuhs.org

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UNIVERSE

UHS Chosen as A State School of the Year by CalHi Sports!

W

ith great pride, we announce that UHS has once again been chosen as a State School of the Year by CalHi Sports (a statewide all-sports honor for the 2020 –21 school year)!

UHS was chosen as the Division IV State School of the Year because of the broad-based success of many of its teams, on both the boys’ and girls’ sides. Annually, only five of the more than 1,500 high schools in California are recognized as State Schools of the Year.

Athletic Director Jim Ketcham said, “This was such an unusual year, and it honestly was a huge success just having our teams get to play at all. But the fact that over 250 of our students participated in the Red Devil Athletic Academy before sports were allowed to start, and the commitment, persistence, and passion they displayed to make the most of even very short seasons, are really the story here. Every single Red Devil athlete can feel proud of this award. I also want to highlight our coaches, who were truly heroic in being there for the school and their teams. They did not have to say yes, but they did, and we should all appreciate them for that.”

The award announcement highlighted many Red Devil team accomplishments, including boys’ basketball (#1 in final Division IV state rankings, with wins over St. Ignatius and Piedmont), boys’ soccer (9-0-2 record, and #1 in Division IV computer rankings in the CIF North Coast Section [NCS]), baseball (13-2 record and top 10 in final Division V state rankings), and boys’ and girls’ cross country (both won league titles and would have been among the favorites to win CIF Division V state titles).

Additionally, our girls’ basketball, volleyball, soccer, and track teams were all ranked #1 or #2 in the NCS Division IV or Division V computer rankings. Finally, the boys’ and girls’ tennis teams both had another successful year: the boys, who have won the last two NCS Division II titles, posted a 16-0 record, and the girls were 9-1, with some big non-league wins.

State Schools of the Year by divisions have been compiled since 1997.

This is UHS’s seventh such honor, by far the most of any small school in California. UHS last won this award in the 2018–19 school year. n

Congratulations to all of our athletes, our coaches, our athletics staff, and our entire community!

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UNIVERSE

Class of '21 Seniors Cross-country

Lucy Hurlbut ’21

Jasmine Gonzalez ’21 Drew Phillips ’21

James Krepelka ’21

Dom Brugioni ’21

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UNIVERSE

Decorator Showcase 2021:

New Perspectives — Thelma Garza, Director of Events

I

t is said that necessity is the mother of invention, and this has certainly been true for the beloved annual San Francisco Decorator Showcase, benefiting the UHS financial aid program.

For the second spring season in a row, the Showcase team had to adapt in response to continued uncertainty and ever-changing restrictions, as it became apparent that a live Showcase would not be possible for 2021. The story of how these challenges were overcome demonstrates the enduring support, creativity, and generosity of our community.

Heading into 2021, the Showcase team began brainstorming ideas around a new design event that would appeal to our Showcase fans and meet growing financialaid needs. Our first virtual Showcase tour, in 2020, was based on photos and video of design work done in an actual home.

This year’s special interior design event was based on the floor plans of an existing property, but was designed and produced completely virtually. Given the innovative nature of this event, this fresh interpretation of the Decorator Showcase tradition was dubbed New Perspectives, presented

by Decorator Showcase and Steelblue.

New Perspectives featured a stunning virtual tour inspired by a luxurious penthouse apartment, with 360° views of San Francisco landmarks, at 1080 Chestnut Street. Commandingly sited on one of Russian Hill’s most desirable blocks, above the five-acre Francisco Park, the 5,445-square-foot penthouse is distinguished by soaring ceilings

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U H S J o u r n a l | FALL 2021

and grand entertaining rooms, complemented by expansive windows. On the market for the first time in 50 years, the penthouse is represented by Gregg Lynn of Sotheby’s International Realty.

We are so grateful to the many talented and creative people who worked with us to bring you New Perspectives. Particular thanks go to O’Brien Chalmers, founder of Steelblue, a San Francisco–based creative agency and our presenting sponsor. Along with his team, led by Phil Ryan, he provided the expert services needed to bring the virtual tour to life. We extend our deepest appreciation to our talented designers, who displayed great commitment and loyalty in agreeing to take on this challenging project and creating the elegant urban designs featured in the tour.

Additionally, we owe gratitude to Gregg Lynn, who secured the homeowners’ permission to use the address and plans upon which the virtual tour was based, and to architect Stephen Sutro, UHS class of ’92, who reimagined and prepared the floor plans of the property as the foundation for the designers’ work.

We would also like to recognize the Honorary Committee, Committee Chair Heidi Castelein P ’20, and all of the New Perspective Patrons for so generously answering our call for support. Thank you, also, to our corporate sponsors and advertisers, for their sustained commitment during these challenging Showcase years.

Plans are already underway for the 44th annual Decorator

Showcase, and we are anticipating an exciting spring 2022 launch in person! Watch for news about opportunities to be

involved in this unique UHS tradition as we continue to raise funds for the financial-aid program. See you in April! n

CLASS OF 2021 COLLEGE ADMISSION STATISTICS By the end of their time at UHS, our graduates are inspired, confident, and ready for their next adventure. With the support of our experienced and supportive college counselors, students map out paths forward that best match their values, passions, and aspirations. While we take pride in the broad range of excellent colleges and universities that our students choose to attend, we are proudest of who they are when they graduate from UHS: individuals ready to live lives of integrity, inquiry, and purpose larger than the self.

COLLEGE

ACCEPT

ATTEND

ACCEPT

ATTEND

American University

3

1

Lehigh University

3

1

University of California, Berkeley

ACCEPT

ATTEND

9

Amherst College

1

0

Lewis & Clark College

3

1

4

University of California, Davis

13

Anglo-American University

1

0

Loyola Marymount University

4

0

0

University of California, Irvine

2

Arizona State University, Tempe

3

0

Loyola University Chicago

1

4

1

University of California, Los Angeles

8

Barnard College

1

1

2

Loyola University Maryland

1

0

University of California, Merced

6

Boston College

7

0

2

Macalester College

2

0

University of California, Riverside

4

Boston University

0

12

1

1

1

University of California, San Diego

3

0

Bowdoin College

1

1

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

1

0

0

2

1

6

Brown University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

University of California, Santa Barbara

1

0

3

1

0

Bryn Mawr College

McGill University

19

1

1

5

1

1

7

Bucknell University

Middlebury College

University of Chicago

0

0

1

3

1

6

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Mount Holyoke College

University of Colorado, Boulder

Mount Saint Mary's University

1

0

University of Denver

3

0

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

2

New York University

3

0

University of Hawaii, Manoa

2

0

0

0

0

2

1

2

California State University, Chico

New York University Shanghai

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Carleton College

1

1

Northeastern University

6

1

University of Leeds

1

0

Carnegie Mellon University

2

0

Northwestern University

1

1

University of Maryland, College Park

2

1

Case Western Reserve University

2

0

Oberlin College

1

0

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

2

0

Chapman University

2

1

Occidental College

7

2

University of Massachusetts, Boston

1

0

Clark Atlanta University

1

0

Ohio State University

1

0

University of Miami

2

0

Clark University

1

1

Otis College of Art and Design

1

0

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

4

0

Colby College

2

2

Pace University

1

0

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

2

0

Colgate University

5

1

Pacific Northwest College of Art

1

0

University of Nebraska, Lincoln

1

0

College of William and Mary

1

0

Pennsylvania State University

2

0

University of New Mexico

1

0

Colorado College

1

0

Pepperdine University

1

0

1

1

Columbia University

3

0

Pomona College

1

0

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

0

1

0

1

3

2

Princeton University

University of Notre Dame

Connecticut College

1

0

2

4

3

6

Cornell University

Purdue University

University of Oregon

0

0

1

2

1

3

University of Pennsylvania

Cornish College of the Arts

Reed College

0

0

0

1

1

3

University of Pittsburgh

Creighton University

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

3

0

0

4

1

1

Dartmouth College

Rhodes College

University of Puget Sound

0

1

1

1

2

1

University of Rhode Island

Denison University

Rice University

1

0

0

4

2

1

University of Richmond

Dickinson College

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

0

0

1

1

1

2

Dominican University of California

Saint Mary's College of California

University of San Diego

1

0

0

3

1

1

University of San Francisco

Drew University

San Diego State University

0

0

0

1

2

5

University of South Carolina, Columbia

Drexel University

San Francisco State University

3

0

0

4

5

1

Duke University

San Jose State University

University of Southampton

0

0

0

3

1

8

University of Southern California

Elon University

Santa Clara University

0

1

0

1

1

2

University of St Andrews

Emily Carr University of Art and Design

Scripps College

2

0

0

3

1

1

Emory University

Simmons University

University of Utah

0

0

0

1

1

1

University of Vermont

Florida State University

Skidmore College

0

1

0

1

4

1

University of Virginia

Fordham University

Smith College

0

0

1

1

3

6

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

Southern Methodist University

University of Washington, Seattle

3

1

0

9

2

1

University of Wisconsin, Madison

George Washington University

Spelman College

0

1

0

1

3

1

University of York

Georgetown University

St. Lawrence University

0

6

2

2

6

2

Georgia Institute of Technology

Stanford University

Vassar College

0

0

0

1

1

1

Wagner College

Gonzaga University

Stevens Institute of Technology

1

2

0

2

4

1

Wake Forest University

Harvard University

Swarthmore College

0

0

1

1

2

2

Harvey Mudd College

Syracuse University

Washington University in St. Louis

2

0

0

2

1

1

Wellesley College

Hobart & William Smith Colleges

Temple University

0

1

1

1

1

1

Wentworth Institute of Technology

Howard University

The New School

0

0

2

1

1

5

Indiana University, Bloomington

The University of British Columbia

Wesleyan University

0

0

0

1

2

2

Whittier College

Johns Hopkins University

Trinity College

1

1

5

2

2

6

Williams College

Kenyon College

Tufts University

0

1

1

1

3

3

Lafayette College

Tulane University of Louisiana

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

0

0

0

1

1

2

Xavier University of Louisiana

Lake Forest College

Union College University of Arizona

2

0

Yale University

5

4

0

COLLEGE

COLLEGE

University of California, Santa Cruz

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ALUMNI

2021

I

n 2018, the UHS Alumni Association began a new tradition called Alumni Honors, designed to recognize and acknowledge the contributions of alumni who embody the core UHS values of inquiry, care, integrity, agency, and interconnection.

Each year, Alumni Honors celebrates alums who are leaders in their fields and who are making important contributions at a local, national, or international level through personal accomplishment, professional achievement, or humanitarian service.

We are pleased to announce the 2021 Alumni Honors recipients: Mark Burford, PhD, ’85, R. P. Wollenberg Professor of Music and chair of the American Studies program at Reed College, and Christopher Raisbeck ’81, certified medical assistant and LGBTQ community advocate and volunteer.

We invite the entire UHS community—alums, current students, current and past parents, and current and past faculty/staff—to nominate candidates. Nominations are reviewed on a rolling basis, and recipients are honored at Reunion Weekend. To see past nominees or to make a nomination, visit our website.

Alumni Honors recipients for 2021 were honored on May 6 and 7 in virtual programs. Links to videos of the public programs can be found on our website.

The Alumni Honors selection committee consists of the Alumni Council, the head of school, and the president of the board of trustees.

— Lareina Yee ‘91, P ‘21 Honorary Chair, UHS Alumni Honors

MARK BURFORD, PhD, ’85

R. P. Wollenberg Professor of Music, and chair of the American Studies program, at Reed College

D

r. Mark Burford ’85 is the R. P. Wollenberg Professor of Music at Reed College. His seminal 2018 book Mahalia Jackson and the Black Gospel Field is the product of an exceptional career of scholarship and teaching. Celebrating Jackson’s excellence and virtuosity as an artist, the book has received multiple prizes, including the Otto Kinkeldey Award from the American Musicological Society for an outstanding book in musicology by a senior scholar.

Mark’s research and publications on Jackson, other Black artists

such as Sam Cooke, and nineteenthcentury AustroGerman concert music have made significant contributions to the field of musicology. Mark says, “What is most gratifying about receiving the Kinkeldey Award, beside it being the top honor in my field, is the fact that the book was measured against the entire range of musicological scholarship, from the Renaissance to

Bach and Beethoven to high modernism. For a study on Black gospel music to be recognized in that context suggests shifts in the intellectual terrain of the discipline more broadly and affirms the questions that I pose at the heart of my classes.”

Mark’s music education began as a member of the San Francisco Boys Chorus in elementary school. He credits UHS with a broad and deep music education, beginning with his first exposure to music history in Western Civilization. At UHS,

CHRISTOPHER RAISBECK ’81

Certified medical assistant and LGBTQ community advocate and volunteer

W

hen Christopher Raisbeck ’81 was in fifth grade, his grandmother broke her hip, and she remained in care for the rest of her life. He made time to visit her often, not only because he loved her, but also with the conscious desire to make sure she received companionship and connection. Chris has always felt a calling to help others.

For Chris, a non-traditional learner with undiagnosed ADHD, UHS was an academically challenging environment. As a student, he was aware of his learning differences: reading for meaning and content took him up to 50% more time than it took his classmates, and

the five-paragraph format for crafting a standard essay, which works well for linear learners, completely eluded him. If he was a student today, he says, he would use a mind map or concept bubbling as a technique for organizing thinking and writing. “I knew my brain didn’t work like other kids. I had to accept, early on, that I was not an academically strong student.” At Oregon State University, he struggled with

he sang with Camerata, led by Bruce Lamott, who would go on to be a lifelong mentor (and who nominated him for Alumni Honors). “It’s hard to express how impactful Bruce has been on my life,” Mark says, “not only as a colleague in the field of music history, but through our personal friendship.” He adds, “Bruce programmed excellent material, unusual choices for a high school.” He recalls, in particular, a Brahms double-choir motet, opus 109, no. 3, with Camerata singing one part and the UHS Chorus singing another.

Continued on page 32 organic chemistry, which inhibited his plan to attend veterinary school. He still wished to be of service to others and to honor his knowledge and experience in science, so he pursued and received his BS in science education and integrated sciences.

Despite his academic challenges, Chris felt supported and inspired by the people around him at UHS. Past UHS Spanish teacher Ronda Calef has been a lifelong mentor and friend. They first met as part of the Intercultural Club’s language immersion weekends. As a senior at UHS, Chris audited her Spanish I class Continued on page 33

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ALUMNI

WHAT'S YOUR

ONE DEGREE

EXPERIENCE?

One Degree is a recurring section of the UHS Journal magazine, sharing stories of alumni who work together or volunteer together after their time at UHS. What’s your One Degree experience? Send us the story at UHSalumni@sfuhs.org. See page 36 to learn about ways to expand your career network and make meaningful connections with other alumni.

Wyatt Kim ’14 and Alex Warren ’14 are collaborating to raise funds to build a maternal health clinic in the northern Malawi community of Mahowe.

Both Wyatt and Alex are pursuing careers in medicine, and their shared interest in global health drew them to this initiative.

Mahowe, a village of 10,000 in the northern Chitipa District, makes up only 5% of the population in the district, but accounts for 60% of maternal deaths.

Today, expectant mothers must travel more than 20 miles to the closest clinic, requiring expensive bicycle taxi fare or a daylong trek by foot. The goal of this clinic is to decrease at-home births and improve maternal health outcomes in the area. The clinic will also offer HIV testing in the hopes of reducing community transmission. The only clinic in the area closed a few years ago, and the new clinic will strengthen healthcare infrastructure in Mahowe overall.

Help support their goal of raising $12,500 to build the clinic by contributing to his GoFundMe online. n

Shelley Bransten ’86 interviewed classmate Lisa McKnight ’86 for her webcast series Taking Stock Live in March 2021. On Taking Stock Live, Shelley interviews thought leaders in retail and consumer goods. Shelley is Corporate Vice President, Global Retail & Consumer Goods Industries, at Microsoft, and Lisa is SVP/ Global Head of Barbie & Dolls Portfolio with Mattel. Watch Taking Stock Live on YouTube,

and hear Lisa describe the evolution of the Barbie doll during the past six decades, how the pandemic has impacted the business, and why Barbie was recently voted as the #1 toy property for 2020. n Lincoln Mitchell ’85 met Sam Levi Pasco ’20 in the press box at Citi Field in Queens on August 25. Both were there to cover the second game of the Giants vs. Mets series. Lincoln writes a biweekly column about San Francisco-related topics for the Examiner (he also has written numerous books and articles about history and baseball in The City, and teaches in Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs).

Sam is the founder and director of the Sports Department at KXSF 102.5 FM (est. 2019).

Lincoln reports, “The Giants won 3-2 as Jake McGee got Pete Alonso out on a soft liner to second with a seal on every rock for the final out.” And Sam adds, “The Giants eventually went on to sweep the series 3-0 behind great pitching and two Kris Bryant home runs.” Sam goes on to say, “It was exciting for me personally since it was my first time covering a Giants game on the East Coast.…

[After the game,] I took the train to Philadelphia to move into campus at UPenn. It was great meeting a fellow UHS alum, especially over our shared confusion of how to exit the Citi Field press box.” Sam is in his second year at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is majoring in communication and media studies. Sam took classes remotely from home his first year as an undergraduate during the pandemic. n

Phase one of the clinic was completed in June 2021.

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BIO BIO EXPEDITIONS In 1992, Marc Goddard ’84 and Laurence Alvarez-Roos ’84 launched their adventure travel company, Bio Bio Expeditions. But the two became business partners long before that: in high school, they had a car washing business, and after college, they got their first taste of adventure travel running a business filming rafting trips on the Zambezi River. Their team spirit had originally been sparked when they played on UHS’s first league championship soccer team in 1982.

For nearly thirty years, Bio Bio has grown from running rafting trips in Chile to offering multifaceted adventure travel in hand-picked destinations worldwide, across South America, Asia, and Africa, including Patagonia, the Zambezi, Kilimanjaro, Bhutan, Machu Picchu, and the Galápagos Islands. Bio Bio also offers continuing education classes in wilderness medicine and international veterinary medicine. Marc and Laurence have a team of more than a dozen international guides, but they still enjoy the details of planning trips themselves, from

Candace Yu ’99, principal with YouTube Social Impact, discovered multiple UHS connections during production of the YouTube Originals film Trapped: Cash Bail In America. Candace writes, “Back in 2016, I was tasked at work to build a pipeline of impact

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lodging to menus to local excursions, and they often captain the boats themselves. Marc runs the booking office in Truckee, and Laurence serves as “boots on the ground” in his second home of Chile, running trips in Patagonia.

Marc and Laurence were introduced to rafting by Marc’s sister, Renee Goddard ’82, who took Marc, Laurence, and friends (including Pete Berry ’84) rafting for Marc’s seventeenth birthday, on the South Fork of the American River. Immediately following that trip, they bought a dinghy and drafted classmates Elliot Mainzer ’84, Jeff Williams ’84, and Ted Maher ’84 to crew the boat’s maiden voyage. On that trip, a sharp rock ripped the raft floor in the second rapid, and the crew decided to hike out while captains Marc and Laurence finished the trip riding the raft “doughnut style” downriver, undeterred from future adventures.

the United States, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Africa, Chile, Turkey, and Siberia. In 1991, Marc was selected as a member of Team California, which won the world championships of rafting in 1992 (Costa Rica) and 1993 (Turkey) and secured fourth place in 1995 (Africa).

Laurence received his degree in Political Economy of Industrial Societies at UC Berkeley, focusing on trade relations with Latin America, and minored in Spanish literature. From 1993 to 1999, he was the USA Men’s Whitewater Rafting Team captain, competing in both national and international raft race championships. The competition in 1999 included a first raft descent of the Orange River in the green Kalahari in South Africa. At the 2000 World Rafting Championships, Laurence was “safety team” captain on the Futaleufú River in Patagonia.

In the early days of Bio Bio Expeditions, Marc and Laurence were proud to be recruited

by UHS outdoor education instructor Derek Larson ’84 to take UHS students down various rivers across the West. One student in particular stands out to them from that time: Zach Cowan ’93 later interned with Bio Bio Expeditions in Chile and went on to become a world-class kayaker. He now lives in Truckee, where he is the owner/manager of the Redlight hotel.

Over the years, Marc and Laurence have seen their business grow into one of the most well-respected adventure travel companies in the industry. Bio Bio has been featured in National Geographic Adventure and Outside magazines.

Paddler magazine named Marc the “Wizard of Whitewater,” listing him as one of the world’s top 10 most active river guides.

When he is not in his second home of Chile, Laurence lives in Truckee with his wife, Terry, and their daughters, Sabine and Saskia. Marc also lives in Truckee, in a riverfront home, with his son, Quinn, and his daughter, Lilian. Renee became a teacher, environ­mental consultant, and activist, and is now a council­ member in her hometown of Fairfax. n

Marc majored in geography and economics at the University of Colorado, where he continued to go river rafting. After college, he spent ten years working as a guide and leading expeditions in

documentaries to license for release on YouTube. A year later, I was working with Chris Jenkins, a former Washington Post editor, and his business partner on their documentary about cash bail.

Two years later, due to business reorganizations, I transferred the project’s management to

Ian Roth ’94, a development lead on the YouTube Originals team based in Los Angeles. (I didn’t know Ian was a UHS grad until well after we had started working together and we had gotten to know each other on a personal level.) That same year, Chris invited me to his wedding,

upon which I discovered he was marrying Sara Collins ’93, who I didn’t know, but who I realized was the older sister of Julia Collins ’97, who I overlapped with by a year. So awesome to see how UHS touchpoints converged behind this project.” n

ALUMNI FISKKIT John Pettus ’96 and Tom Oakley ’96 reconnected, a decade after UHS, in an unlikely place: Iraq. As first lieutenants in the U.S. Army, they found themselves together in Baghdad in 2006.Years later, Tom became a trusted advisor and early adopter for Fiskkit, a platform that John developed for in-line news commenting, which “turns discourse into data,” making discussion about current events more useful, factual, productive, accountable, civil, and enjoyable.

Fiskkit is designed to raise the level of discussion online and create accountability for civic leaders. Its name was inspired by the blogging term “fisking,” a point-by-point refutation of a blog entry or news story, named after Robert Fisk, a British journalist who was a frequent early target. Fiskkit allows anyone on the Internet to “fisk” any text online—just like handwriting comments in the margins. Not only can users add comments; they can also tag specific sentences as true, false, opinion, well reasoned, or logically unsound, creating color-coded markup. If enough users (about ten) have fisked the same article, Fiskkit can use their markup to statistically validate critiques of specific points. Additionally, Fiskkit is now developing tools to allow readers to filter out trolling without resorting to censorship or moderation. A key new feature in the classroom version, added in 2020, enables students to fisk one another’s comments, as well as the original article.The combination of social but asynchronous thinking and critiquing (key during the COVID-19 pandemic) with synchronous class discussion gives students a way to engage with each other’s ideas critically, and leads students to a deeper understanding of their own thinking processes.

In spring 2019, Lucy Hume, MD, ’90 became part of the team at Golden Gate Pediatrics, joining fellow alumnae Lisa Dana, MD, ’86, and Dawn Rosenberg, MD, ’91, who have

John founded Fiskkit in 2014, after identifying misinformation as a structural flaw in American media and politics during the 2012 election. Prior to developing Fiskkit, he had a distinguished ten-year military career, leaving the Army Reserves as a Captain in 2011.

After attending Stanford, he enlisted in the U.S. Army thirty days before September 11, 2001, and was commissioned as a military intelligence officer two years later. His first deployment was to “FOB Danger” in Tikrit, Iraq, conducting Civil Affairs missions assisting local and provincial government officials with reconstruction, governance, and economic development projects. After his first tour, he worked in private equity, earned his MBA from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, then deployed to Iraq for a second tour in 2009–10, as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence of the top Civil Affairs unit. In Iraq, John built the Army’s first civil information management system. As a military analyst and an investment analyst, he saw the need for tools to help leaders make highconsequence decisions quickly, so he built a system for collating civil–military engagement reports (e.g., meeting reports

and observations) across the Iraq Theater of Operations, and led a new team to analyze the information generated by the system, improving the reporting from a five-week-old, 100-page Word document into a daily one-page summary with analysis for senior leaders at the Corps (three-star) staff level and below. The new reports proved to be so useful that they were sent to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

been with the practice since 1999 and 2005, respectively. n

on the front line of the pandemic who were featured in a recent article supporting mental health awareness in the MR PORTER Journal, an influential weekly magazine published by the online

David Gutteridge MD ’01, emergency doctor at NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn, was one of many health workers

Tom attended West Point for college and was deployed to Iraq as an armored cavalry officer at the outset of the war. After serving in Iraq, he was selected by the Army to attend law school at the Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law (JD, 2008), and Columbia Law School (LLM, 2018). Now a Lieutenant Colonel in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, he’s been teaching law at West Point since 2018. Having talked often with John while Fiskkit was being built, Tom was inspired by his teaching assignment at West Point to use the tool to challenge his cadets’ critical thinking. He views teaching young men and women (and future army officers) how, but not what, to think as a main function of his job, and over the past three years, the private classroom version of Fiskkit has given him unprecedented

visibility into his students’ thought processes. Fiskkit’s platform has allowed Tom’s students to repeatedly practice critical thinking skills over the course of a semester, and has given him analytical tools to assess their progress. This methodology even gained some attention when Senator Joni Ernst explained fisking to Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, after Ernst’s daughter completed a fisking assignment from Tom’s course.

Today, Fiskkit is working on quantifying student improvement in vital critical-thinking “hard skills” (e.g., differentiating facts from opinions and recognizing unsupported claims), which John believes will have far-reaching implications in the fields of education and pedagogy. Twenty-five years after John and Tom graduated from UHS, their friendship is stronger, and Fiskkit’s relationship with academia is growing.

Fiskkit is now being used in twenty undergraduate and graduate classroom settings in a dozen schools around the world.

John and Tom invite members of the UHS community who are interested in Fiskkit, the problems it’s solving, and classroom implementation to contact them at john.g.pettus@gmail.com and tomoakley@outlook.com. n global menswear retailer MR PORTER. David was selected to represent the United States in this article by classmate Carlos Rivera-Anaya ’01, head of mar­ keting for MR PORTER. n sfuhs.org

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ALUMNI

2021

Reunions CLASS OF 1981

CLASS OF 1986

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2021 reunions were once again held virtually, and with a great turnout!

ALUMNI

CLASS OF

1991

CLASS OF

1996

CLASS OF

2016

In 2022, there will be 17 classes that missed their reunion in 2020 or 2021, and eight more classes due to celebrate! With such a big group, we’ll hold a reunion BBQ, at Paul Goode Field in the Presidio, for classes ending in 0, 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7. Significant others and kids welcome!

Mark your calendar for the first weekend in May 2022 (Friday, May 6, and Saturday, May 7), the traditional timing of Reunion Weekend. Check out our website for a draft schedule of events, including a virtual gathering for those who can’t attend in person. All applicable health guidelines will be followed. Until then, you can connect with your classmates on Facebook—find your private class group in the groups section of our Alumni Facebook page.

Friendly reminder: We need your email to invite you to your reunion! Please take a moment to make sure we have the right info for you in the Alumni Directory on the Alumni Portal of our website.

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ALUMNI

A Journey from Politics to Plumbing: Stewarding Our Most Precious Resource 2021 Alumni Association Runway Lecture

O

n Friday, November 12, 2020, the Alumni Association held the fifth annual Runway Lecture and luncheon at the Olympic Club in downtown San Francisco, featuring Aaron Tartakovsky ’08, CEO of Epic Cleantec.

Founded in 2017, the UHS Runway Lecture is designed to bring the energy and dialogue around social justice, equity, and inclusion on our campus directly to adult members of our community, providing you with runways to be change-makers at work, as volunteers, and at home with friends and family. Learn more on our website.

Aaron is a leading voice on the need to rethink how we design our infrastructure, based on the belief that access to clean water and reliable sanitation are basic human rights. A GreenBiz 30 Under 30 honoree, Aaron has received many accolades, including special recognition at the White House Water Summit for his development of special initiatives to combat California’s drought.

Epic Cleantec is a leading water technology startup, formed out

of work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and recently named a 2021 Fast Company “World Changing Idea” honoree.

Aaron cofounded the company in 2015 after living in Israel, where 90% of all wastewater is reused.

Epic Cleantec’s pioneering approach converts a building’s wastewater into clean water, natural soil amendments, and renewable energy, demonstrating that the waste in wastewater is not waste at all. This approach enables a building to reuse up to 95% of its water, making cities resilient in the face of a changing climate.

At Runway, Aaron shared his experiences working with real estate leaders, top corporations, and municipal governments to modernize how we build our cities. He shared lessons that can

be applied to all social change efforts, and discussed how we as individuals can influence government to move our world in a better direction.

Runway is designed to bring the energy and dialogue around social justice, equity, and inclusion on our campus directly to adult members of our community, providing you with runways to be changemakers at work, as volunteers, and at home with friends and family. Runway tickets are free to attendees who work in social justice professionally. Runway is open to all members of the UHS community and their guests.

To view the video of the event, visit our website. n

ALUMNI HONORS: MARK BURFORD, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26 Mark fondly remembers his time at UHS as a golden age for the school’s music program. He sang in Camerata with many alums who went on to distinguished professional careers in music, including vocalists Chris Nomura ’82, Helene Zindarsian ’82, Margaret (Nomura) Clark ’83, Julie (Hunt) Neilsen ’87, Rob Stafford ’87, and music entrepreneur Deke Sharon ’86, who is personally credited with elevating a cappella singing to a

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commercial art form.When alum Chris Nomura came back to the UHS campus with the Tufts Beelzebubs a cappella group, Mark was inspired to form a barbershop quartet with Deke, Giorgio Kulp ’84, and Steve Kubick ’85. After hours, Bruce took the foursome to a meeting of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA), further encouraging their love of one of the “nerdiest” forms of singing.

Mark recalls the UHS Music Department providing multiple opportunities that are indelible in his memory, such as a visit to Italy

by Camerata and the UHS Jazz Band, assisting Bruce as the TA for Chorus, and taking AP Music Theory with Frank Grijalva.

Frank recalls, “Mark wrote a paper on Vedic chant, and it blew me away that he chose to write about a genre that pushed himself as a music scholar far beyond what I was teaching in the classroom.”

As an undergrad at UC Santa Barbara, Mark had planned to study biological sciences and economics, but one day he was listening to a recording of that Brahms double-choir performance on his Sony Walkman when he realized, “I have to be a music major.” Later, Professor Alejandro Planchart wrote on a music history paper, “You should consider musicology.” At the time, he didn’t know the study of music could be a career. But he

ALUMNI went on to receive his master’s and doctorate in musicology from Columbia University. Atypically for a PhD, he decided not to write his first book on the subject of his dissertation, Brahms choral music. As a professor of music history and chair of the American Studies program at Reed College, he was allowed the time and space to consider what to publish.

“I always wanted to write about African American music. I was studying Black gospel voices in pop culture, and found a trove of materials on Mahalia Jackson in an archive in New Orleans that was so rich, I decided I needed to write a whole book on her.”

In the UHS Alumni Honors program on May 7, 2021, Mark explained to the UHS community audience why Mahalia Jackson is an icon of American music: “She is exemplary and exceptional at once. Her life allows us to tell so many stories of our culture.” Jackson was born in New Orleans in 1911, the granddaughter of enslaved African Americans who had been emancipated. She was part of the Great Migration and joined the modern gospel singing movement in Chicago. The sheer magnitude of her fame at the height of her career was unprecedented. She sang at the March on Washington.

She extended financial

backing to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was a close confidant of its first president, Martin Luther King, Jr. At the height of her career, Harry Belafonte described her as the most powerful Black woman in the United States. “There are so many Black artists who have not been recognized, or have been obscured by the music industry,” Mark says, “but she was hyper-visible, visiting all Americans in their living rooms on television, and her visibility raised the stakes for all African Americans.”

no matter what I’m working on,” and if you’re not sure you’re ready to go professional or pursue advanced degrees, “hang around the things you love” and the opportunities will come to you.

Mark is taking a sabbatical this year and beginning research projects on W. E. B. Du Bois and music and on the reception of African American music by the Rolling Stones. n

Mark’s advice to young musicians? “Ear training and musicianship has always helped me,

ALUMNI HONORS: CHRISTOPHER RAISBECK, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26 and was exposed to different ways of learning and teaching. As an undergraduate, he served two years as a Summerbridge teaching fellow, mentored again by Ronda, who was also a member of the Summerbridge staff.

After graduating from college, Chris began his teaching career in independent schools and worked with the Oregon Coast Aquarium. When he was 28, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. The loss of his mother prompted deep personal evaluation. A few years later, he separated from his wife and came out, and he returned to teaching elementary school science.

Benefiting from a new perspective on his own life, Chris strived to make his classroom safe for all learners. He attended a weekend-long workshop for classroom teachers, led by Kevin Jennings, which became the

foundation for the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in California. He assisted in the first GLSEN conference in 1996, the year that the independent film It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School was released. The following year, he co-chaired the first GLSEN speakers’ bureau, in partnership with Marla Weiss. “Eight years ago, I was talking to my nieces and nephews, who mentioned that each had ‘always’ had a gay/ straight alliance at their schools.

At the time, I had no idea of the long-term impact my contributions would have.” Chris’s work with GLSEN, striving to eradicate bullying and make classrooms safe for learning, has affected generations of students in California. Chris was proud to learn that today there is a LGBTQIA student affinity group at UHS, and, in May

2021, he celebrated his recognition by UHS Alumni Honors with the members of Spectra.

where our city cares for those in need and without judgment.”

After many years as a classroom teacher, Chris shifted to work in health care—specifically clinical care—helping patients achieve their own wellness. Now, as a clinical medical assistant, he helps patients navigate resources in the healthcare system, and provides hands-on care in medical offices, urgent-care clinics, and, most recently, HealthRight360.

The foundation of service learning at UHS has had a profound effect on Chris. In addition to a professional career of serving the community, he has been a lifelong volunteer for GLSEN, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the AIDS Food Store of Long Beach, and Flagging in the Park, which supports the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park.

Today, Chris works on the front lines of the pandemic, caring for those seeking shelter in San Francisco’s isolation and quarantine hotels. He monitors patient health, manages comorbidities and other symptoms, and provides a comforting ear. “I always try to care for my patients with the same attention as I would my own family and friends. I’m proud to live in San Francisco,

When asked how he defines success, he emphasizes personal happiness and caring for others.

“I hope that I can inspire each of us to provide service in life.

Listen to your inner voice, pursue your passions, focus on joy, and know that where you are in your life’s path is the right place for right now. What gives me joy is guiding people to help them get to the next safe place for them.” n

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ALUMNI

Pizza Parties Back in the Oven!

After a fifteen-month hiatus, in observance of social distancing guidelines due to the pandemic, the Pizza Party Program is back on!

When you get three or more alums together for any kind of snack, we’ll reimburse you up to $50 when you send us photos with your tablemates and the restaurant check. Only one submission per person per year, please.

Jacob Urisman ’19, William Chang ’19, Joe Lerner ’19

Angela Hui ’16, Audrey Hui ’20, Eva Krueger ’20, Draper Dayton ’20 Simone Jacob ’17, Lindsey Chung ’17, Claire Wilson ’17

Nathalie Chicoine ’19, Jielu (Amy) Yu ’19, Emilia Lim ’19

Pierce McDonnell ’17, Emily Minus ’17, Camila Vergara ’17

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ALUMNI

Teddy Solomon ’20, Christina Sze ’20, Cameron Ehsan ’20

Kendall Hufford ’16, Ethan Dixon ’15, Audrey Evers ’15

Kyra Kushner ’20, Jenna Tam ’20, Sydney Duncan ’20, Jessie Sherr ’20, Tulasi Holdridge ’20

Jorge Mora ’19, Prathinav Vishnu ’20, Benjamin Hunt ’20

Rachel Wu ’17, Lindsey Chung ’17, Linda Huang ’17

Pierce McDonnell ’17, Linda Huang ’17, Emily Minus ’17

Peter Baumbacher ’15, Ila Shon ’15, Maddy Chung ’15, Caelyn Dovey ’15, Ella Dovey ’21 sfuhs.org

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ALUMNI

UHS Alumni Networking Network

Notes

in Action!

Elliot Greenwald ’03, SVP & COO of Quip at Salesforce, is a new member of the UHS Alumni Council, serving as honorary chair of careers and mentorship. He’s been in the tech world since 2007, when he graduated from college and started in an entry-level sales position at Google. He’s benefited from some strong mentors along the way as he tried out different career paths, and he is excited to assist young alums in finding their way in any field.

Owen Christoph ’14, former production manager of Superfine Art Fair in New York City, reached out to Alison Harding ’96, independent curator, for information on careers in the San Francisco contemporary art world when he moved back home during the pandemic. He is now the registrar and digital archivist at Jessica Silverman Gallery. Owen found Alison through the online directory.

Juliet Sampson ’86, P ’22, had worked in London, predominantly in finance, for 20 years before taking some time off, returning to the U.S., and switching careers. When Marianna Stark ’89, UHS director of alumni engagement and giving, learned that Juliet was interested in impact investing, Marianna connected her with Ted Levinson ’90, founder and CEO of Beneficial Returns. Juliet shares that Ted was a very helpful mentor, suggesting ways to update her resume and strategies for returning to work in a new field. She is now the chief operating officer and head of social and environmental context at Anthropocene Capital Management.

Elliot’s role is part of UHS’s continued emphasis on building out our alumni professional network. If you’re looking for a mentor, in tech or in any other career path, please reach out to UHSalumni@sfuhs.org and we’ll help facilitate a match for you. Whether you’re in job search mode or not, we encourage all alums to add UHS to the education section of your LinkedIn profile, so that you are “searchable” (our private LinkedIn group is another great resource, but has no search function). Additionally, we highly recommend joining our new private, closed networking site Alumnifire, which allows alums to ask for and offer help, and which doesn’t require 2nd-/3rd-degree connections in order to see other profiles.

Crystal Yao ’13 reached out to Alison Lu ’07, director of business strategy and analytics for the San Francisco 49ers, for advice about applying to business school. Coincidentally, Crystal is following in Alison’s footsteps at Harvard Business School, where she matriculated this fall. Crystal found Alison on LinkedIn.

Our mentorship program will evolve over time, and we look forward to hearing your suggestions for how to use our most valuable asset—you!

Find fellow alums in six places 1 Via a LinkedIn search.

3 Through the UHS Alumni Directory on our website.

4

Alumnifire online.

6

2

Via our private LinkedIn group.

5 In person at events.

Via phone/email with the Alumni Office.

Have you benefited from the network recently? Send your story to UHSalumni@sfuhs.org.

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ALUMNI

Class Notes After several decades as a ghostwriter and marketing communications guy, Douglas Gorney ’79 has traded the laptop for a paintbrush.

Since 2018, he’s been making a living through his local’seye-view watercolors of San Francisco and commissioned portraits of homes.

his ensemble, Les Arts Florissants.

Basil remains the only American to have graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionnette, a renowned puppetry school based in CharlevilleMézières in eastern France.

Thomas DeFrantz ’80’s article “The talking|dance Series” was featured on the cover of the November 2020 issue of Theater magazine. Tom is a professor in the Department of African and African American Studies and in the Program in Dance, and was previously a professor of Theater Studies; Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies; and Computational Media, Arts & Cultures, at Duke University.

Class of 1988 members Darcy Ellsworth Yow, Joey Stewart, Terrel Hutton, and Nell Branco got together in March 2021 for a political action party to write postcards to lawmakers and voters across the country.

Tomás A. Magaña, MD, MA, FAAP, ’82 has joined the UHS board of trustees. Read about Tomás in the annual report, on page 42.

The Class of 1982 celebrated their reunion a second time, in person, at Scott Norman's home in Stinson Beach on October 2.

Check out all the photos on our Alumni Facebook pages.

In October 2020, Elliot Mainzer ’84 became the CEO of the California Independent System Operator, which is responsible for managing the power grid and operating the energy market for California, the world’s eighthlargest economy.

Puppeteer Basil Twist ’87 made his directorial debut at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in January 2021, with a new staging of Jean-Joseph de Mondonville’s Titon et l’Aurore, an 18th-century Baroque opera, in collaboration with esteemed conductor William Christie and

Maya Browne ’88 is the host of Stories from the Brink, a podcast, launched in January 2021, that gives voice to personal stories about overcoming challenges in life with grace and humor. Maya is an award-winning journalist, feature film producer, and author.

She currently serves as a board member at The Door—A Center of Alternatives—and splits her time between Austin, Texas, and Quogue, New York, with her partner, Laurence Pels, and their Labradoodle, Messier.

Jenny Mitchell, PhD, ’88 was the lead author of a study, published by UCSF in May 2021, showing that MDMA, the illegal drug popularly known as ecstasy or molly, was shown to bring relief to those suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, when paired with talk therapy.

Jenny Weiss ’89 gathered with friends, including Francesca Applegarth ’89, Jennifer Bunshoft Pergher ’89, Ted Collins ’90, Charles Hansen ’88, Ethan Schram ’89, Charlotte Stimson ’89, and Samantha Hartley (sister of Will Hartley ’89), in her mother’s garden in Napa to begin to honor the life and beauty of her

mother, Gretchen Berggruen, who passed away in 2020, and to begin to celebrate and pay tribute to their beloved friend Will.

Jenny writes, “The loss of our dearest and most special friend Will has been deeply painful for everyone who was fortunate enough to know him. We are immensely grateful for the joy that he brought to us all, and we are comforted by the knowledge that he loved his life, his friends, and most of all his family. We look forward to being able to gather with his other dear friends and family as soon as we are able.” Will Hartley passed away in February 2021 after a tragic accident. Memorial plans will be announced when available.

Will Hartley ’89 and close friends in an undated photo. Back row L to R: Charlotte Stimson ’89, Mary Ames West ’89, Max Applegarth. Front row L to R: Jennifer Bunshoft Pergher ’89, Francesca Applegarth ’89, Will Hartley ’89, Lucas Spaulding ’89.

Summer 2021 in Napa (L to R): Charlotte Stimson ’89, Jennifer Bunshoft Pergher ’89, Charles Hansen ’88, Jenny Weiss ’89, Ted Collins ’90, Ethan Schram ’89.

Vendela Vida ’89 published her latest novel in February 2021. We Run the Tides is a comingof-age story about growing up in San Francisco’s Sea Cliff neighborhood.

The Class of 1990 enjoyed their virtual 30th reunion so much that Ted Collins ’90 and Elizabeth Land ’90 organized a speaker series, hoping to reengage on a periodic basis around various topics of interest. Says Ted, “We ask our own, homegrown subject-matter experts (from the Class of 1990) to guide the conversations, or ‘virtual salons.’”

Their first virtual salon, featuring Monique W. Williams, Katharine Gin, and Alex Mandel on the topic of working in the field of social justice, took place in summer 2020. Classmates can find details of future events on Facebook.

In February 2021, Sarah Harrington ’90 became the deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice, overseeing nationwide appellate litigation. Before joining the Supreme Court and appellate practice at Goldstein & Russell in 2017, Sarah spent eight years in the Solicitor General’s office and was an appellate attorney in the Justice Department’s civil rights division. She is a Harvard Law School graduate and has argued 22 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Molly Howson ’91 is excited that Ben Stewart ’91 and his family will relocate to Rye, New York, this fall and will be her neighbors, to boot, settling just a few blocks away from her.

After living in San Diego for seven years, Eli Marmar ’91 returned to the Bay Area in summer 2020 and now resides in Sebastopol with his wife,Yael, and their two boys, Noah and Isaiah. “It feels great to be living back in the bay: mountain biking in the redwoods, surfing in frigid

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water, going to Giants games, and discovering parts of Sonoma and Mendocino that we never knew.” In addition to marketing and design consulting, Eli has just released his debut novel, Wind Quest—fiction for middle schoolers, filled with adventure, mysticism, and ecology, with illustrations inspired by classic nautical tales. “As a father, I was inspired to create a story that would reawaken children’s sense of awe, reconnect them to the mystical power of nature, and also help them digitally detox.” Wind Quest is available for purchase online.

In March 2020, Ashley Gould ’92 became a founding limited partner with How Women Invest, an early-stage venture fund seeking to realize untapped economic potential by focusing on the intersection of female founders and female investors.

Will Bartlett ’93, P ’24, and Lisa Congdon ’93 have joined the UHS board of trustees. Read about them in the annual report, on page 41.

Jonah Moran ’93 was nominated for a 2021 ACE “Eddie” Award by the American Cinema Editors (ACE).The nomination, for best edited limited series or motion picture for television, recognized Jonah’s work on Hamilton.

On October 9, 2020, Kelly Johnson ’94 welcomed Henry Grove Rawlins Johnson— named after her greatgrandfather—to the world.

Julayne Virgil ’94 received the 2021 Simpsonista Award from the New Literary Project (formerly the Simpson Literary Project) in July 2021.The award honors extraordinary individuals and organizations that give voice to writers and storytellers across the

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generations, especially those in traditionally under­ resourced communities.

In the words of the New Literary Project, “Ms. Virgil has been a careerlong dedicated, principled, brilliant advocate for girls, women, health, education, and stronger communities. She is a champion of writing by girls who tell powerful stories of their lives, and the New Literary Project is honored to celebrate this remarkable, generational leader.”

Rob Walker ’96, president and founder of UpCycle Builders, helped out classmate Alex Rosenblatt ’96 on a house repair in spring 2021.

Haregu Gaime ’97 was appointed to her second term on San Francisco’s Immigrant Rights Commission in June 2021. Haregu is a naturalized citizen from Eritrea, and has been an immigration attorney in private practice since 2009.

Robert Reffkin ’97 was the keynote speaker at the UHS Class of 2021 graduation at Paul Goode Field in June.You can watch the video of his speech on our website, and be sure to begin with Dean of Faculty Nasif Iskander’s introduction of Robert at 53:20.You can read the full story about graduation and Robert’s speech on page 20.

Miriam Wells ’99 is a residential real estate agent at Sotheby’s International Realty. She sells houses in both Marin, where she grew up, and San Francisco. Miriam has enjoyed helping several of her UHS classmates accomplish their real estate goals; this year

she represented close friend Domenica Alioto ’99, which she says was a lot of fun! Prior to entering the real estate industry, Miriam was a successful international reporter based in Beijing, China. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University, and she brings the principles of ethics, integrity, and accountability to her real estate practice. Miriam lives in San Francisco with her FrenchCanadian husband; their rising first-grader, who attends Marin Country Day School; and their 18-month-old baby, who was born two weeks before shelter in place. They’ve enjoyed spending extra time together during the pandemic, especially hiking in the Presidio and walking to Baker Beach. Please feel free to reach out to Miriam through her website—she’d love to work with any UHS alums out there!

Diana Jansson ’99 and Melissa HolmanKursky ’99 started an election volunteer support group in September 2020 to support each other and encourage others to get involved in get-out-the-vote efforts. The group quickly grew and today has 200 members. Diana and Melissa are happy to report that it drew many fellow UHS alumni from the classes of 1998, 1999, and 2000. They say it has been very gratifying to reconnect and work together with other civic-minded alumni, including Anne Braveman Gips ’99, Rebecca Kimport ’99, Maura McGinnis-Gibney ’99, Kate Reder Sheikh ’99, Danny Erdberg ’00, Mariana Maguire ’00, and Candace Yu ’00.

And more news from Melissa Holman-Kursky ’99: After 20 years in the classroom, a Nickelodeon Award–winning improv show that she co-founded, and a new graduate degree in educational therapy, Melissa

recently launched CognitionSF, a resource for parents and children in the Bay Area and beyond.

CognitionSF offers educational therapy services, parent/guardian coaching, social skills groups, and professional development for schools.

Caroline Grey ’01 joined the U.S. Department of Energy as White House Liaison. Before joining the Biden administration, Caroline had worked for Biden for President as Expansion States Director, managing distributed engagement in 33 states, and worked on the presidential campaign of Senator Elizabeth Warren. Caroline started her career as an organizer for then-Senator Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, and also worked on the 2012 Obama reelection campaign. She is the cofounder of Civis Analytics, a data science firm.

David Gutteridge, MD, ’01, emergency doctor at NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn, was one of many health workers on the front line of the pandemic who were featured in a recent article supporting mental health awareness in the MR PORTER Journal, an influential weekly magazine published by the online global menswear retailer MR PORTER. David was selected to represent the United States in this article by classmate Carlos Rivera-Anaya ’01, head of marketing for MR PORTER. Jacqueline Kurzer ’09 and her husband, Harrison, welcomed their first child, Theodore, on July 20, 2020. Jacqueline joined Cathedral School for Boys as the head of the lower school at the beginning of the 2021–2022 school year.

The Washington Post’s website The Lily published an op-ed by Grace Fish ’11 in July 2021.

Grace wrote about moving back in with her parents and siblings during the pandemic, and about

ALUMNI how introverts and extroverts in her family were affected differently by shelter-in-place and again when restrictions ended.

Grace is an MBA candidate at Stanford Business School.

In summer 2020, singer/songwriter Olivia Christensen ’12, professionally known as LIVVIA, Zoomed in from Los Angeles to Jesse Berrett’s pop-music history class. She discussed her experiences breaking into the music business and shared advice on how to protect your artistic vision and why it’s in your best interest not to compromise.

In October 2020, Joshua Kwan ’13 became a production assistant with Lucasfilm Animation, supporting the assets department. In his free time, he serves as a core member of Women in Animation Bay Area and Asians in Animation, helping create programming that educates and empowers underrepresented professionals from diverse backgrounds in the animation industry.

Owen Christoph ’14 moved home to San Francisco in March 2020, at the outset of the pandemic. He had been the production manager of Superfine Art Fair in New York City. In April 2021, he joined Jessica Silverman Gallery as registrar and digital archivist.

Kate Gilbert ’14 was featured in SHOUTOUT LA magazine in July 2020 as an emerging graphic designer to watch. Thanks to Kate for designing the UHS Alumni Association’s new loyal-giving lapel pin. See page 40 to learn more about the loyalty program.

Fascinated with magic since the age of 10, Danny FishmanEngel ’15 (known professionally

as Daniel Roy) decided to pursue a career as a sleight-of-hand magician after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2020 with a degree in neurobiology. He has performed at the world-famous Hollywood Magic Castle, been featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us on national TV! During the pandemic, Daniel pivoted to performing his new virtual interactive magic show, titled “Virtually Unreal,” for both corporate and private events. He also teaches magic to students of all levels, through private lessons and through his new online course, Card Magic 101.

To inquire about booking Daniel for a live or virtual event, taking private lessons, or signing up for Card Magic 101, you can contact him through his website. He also posts videos about magic, sleightof-hand, and neuroscience to his YouTube channel, which has more than 80,000 subscribers.

Lindsey Chung ’17 received the Charlene Conrad Liebau Library Prize for Undergraduate Research, a UC Berkeley Social Welfare 2020–21 Achievement Award.

Lindsey was recognized for their thesis, “Accessing Gender Affirming Care from the Margins: Comparing the Strategies of Transgender People Pre-1980 and Non-Binary People Today.”

Startup company Remora, co-founded by Paul Gross ’17, has been receiving strong traction and visibility in the media since getting started in the summer of 2020. Remora’s device captures the carbon emissions from a semi truck. Remora then sells the captured carbon dioxide to concrete producers and other end users,

helping companies earn new revenue while meeting their climate commitments. CEO Paul and his team were featured in the Wall Street Journal in August 2020.

Byron Hurlbut ’17 was admitted to the Harvard Law School Junior Deferral Program. He will matriculate in 2024 after taking two years off following college.

In summer 2020, Jacques Boas ’18 was a marketing intern with the Sundance Institute’s Co//ab sector. Now in his final year in the College of the Moving Image at Wesleyan University, he’s directing his senior film thesis.

Eileen Gu ’21 participated in the January 2021 X Games, where she won two golds (superpipe and slopestyle) and a bronze (big air). She was the first Chinese competitor to win gold in the event’s history, and the only rookie to win three medals.

Two months later, Eileen won two golds (half-pipe and slopestyle) and a bronze (big air) at the FIS Snowboard and Freeski World Championships in Aspen, CO, becoming the first Chinese freeskier to nab multiple medals.

She did so with a broken finger and torn ligament in her hand, competing without poles. Eileen will represent China in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

PAST FACULTY/STAFF In 1990, Bill Laven was 36 years old, in his second year of teaching photography at UHS, and finishing his master’s program at the San Francisco Art Institute.

One of his projects for his MFA was a portrait series featuring images of about two dozen UHS students, contrasted with narrative text written by Bill about his

own experiences coming of age in the ’70s. It was exhibited first at the Art Institute’s Diego Rivera Gallery and then later at UHS. Last year, Bill was preparing to move out of his long-time home in San Francisco and came across the archive as he was packing up.

He spent about a year contacting each of the students in the series to give them their portraits, and had a wonderful time connecting with them in the process. Bill says, “It was fascinating reconnecting with my old UHS students. They’re now older than their own parents were when they were teens attending UHS, so speaking to them as adults reflecting on their own adolescence was wonderful. Many have children of their own, and some even with their own teenage kids.

I’m so glad I was able to find so many of them and catch up and revisit our time at UHS.” Over the years, he has kept in close contact with two of his past students—Hadley Hudson ’92, and Cory Jacobs ’92—both of whom went on to work in photography professionally and were instrumental in helping him find his portrait subjects.

Cory says, “One of the incredible things about UHS for me was the personal connections I made with faculty, especially Bill, who has been a lifelong mentor. It was pretty wild looking into the eyes of my teenage self and I’m so grateful to Bill for capturing all of us in during that liminal time in our lives.” If Bill took your photo for this project and hasn’t yet contacted you, please reach out to him at williamlaven@icloud.com.

Jon Reider, past UHS director of college counseling, was featured in the 2021 documentary Operation Varsity Blues:The College Admissions Scandal. He shared his perspective on the scandal from his viewpoint as a Stanford University admissions officer from 1985 to 2000. n

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Alumni Calendar CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR LOCATIONS, TIMES, AND DETAILS

DECEMBER 16

All-Class Holiday Party at the Contemporary Jewish Museum

DECEMBER 17

Young Alumni + Faculty Hot Chocolate Mixer on Campus

MARCH 2

Alumni Leadership Circle Cocktail Party at the Head of School’s Home

REUNION WEEKEND MAY 6

Student + Alumni Literary Festival 25th Reunion Reception for the Class of 1997 at the Head of School’s Home

MAY 7

All-Class Reunion (honoring classes ending in 0, 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7) at Paul Goode Field (kids welcome) UHS Night at Decorator Showcase