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2014 graduate with biology and psychology majors, is the daughter of Dennis McKenna and Eileen McKenna. Elizabeth Mulkern Raines, a May 2015 graduate with psychology and anthropology majors, is the daughter of Dr. Anne Mulkern and Dr. Lawrence Raines III. Michael Thomas Smith, a senior with a music major and a speech and hearing sciences minor. Lindsey Kristin Freeman, a senior with a psychology major and a biology minor, is the daughter of Polly Freeman and Dr. Matthew Freeman of Hillsborough. Caroline Alyce Hamilton, a junior with environmental sciences and geography majors and a marine science minor, is the daughter of Mary Hamilton and Brad Hamilton. Mariya Husain, a senior with biology and political science majors and an Arabic minor. Amanda Caroline Lohmann, a junior with biology and computer science majors, is the daughter of Cathy Lohmann and Ken Lohmann. Katherine Hannah Mulligan, a senior with a biology major and chemistry and Spanish minors, is the daughter of Neil Mulligan and Linda Mulligan of Hillsborough. Kristen Leigh Segars, a senior with biology and chemistry majors and a Spanish for the professions minor, is the daughter of Dr. Albert Segars and Barbara Segars. David Andrew Serody, a senior with political science and English majors, is the son of Dr. Jonathan Serody and Anne Serody. Jasmine K. Sun, a senior with a biology major and chemistry and Spanish for the professions minors, is the daughter of James Sun and Helen Sun. Enrique Hernan Santacruz Toloza, a junior with physics and Spanish literature majors and a chemistry minor, is the son
of Eric Toloza of Lutz, Florida, and Lucia Santacruz of Bethesda.
THE SPORTING NEWS
The East Chapel Hill High field hockey team won their eighth consecutive state
UNIVERSITY UPDATES
championship.
PlayMakers Repertory Company has a new
producing artistic director, Vivienne Benesch. She succeeds Joseph Haj, who is now the artistic director of the Guthrie Theater in Minnesota, where Joe moved with his wife Deirdre and their daughter, Samantha. Since 2005, Vivienne has served as artistic director of Chautauqua Theatre Company in western New York. She’s also acted and directed on and off Broadway, in the West End, in film and on television. She counts Emmy-winning actress Debra Messing of “Will & Grace” among her fans. The two met as classmates at NYU’s
PHOTO BY ALISON SHEEHY
• Brooke Gavin McKenna, a December
Graduate Acting Program in 1993. “She was
a luminous actress, ferociously intelligent and uniquely sensitive,” Messing recalled in a press release. “She inspires wherever she goes.” Adds Vivienne: “I’m thrilled to be moving somewhere that has always made me feel simultaneously relaxed and inspired to work harder.” Dr. Kevin Guskiewicz, a neuroscientist and internationally recognized expert on sportrelated concussions who’s been a senior associate dean in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, is now the College’s 22nd dean. He succeeds Karen M. Gil. Dr. Guskiewicz was featured in a November episode of “60 Minutes” in a story that delved into the state of concussion safety and science in football.
Chapel Hill High completed a dominant victory in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3A girls’ cross country championships.
Meghan McPeak, a junior at Carrboro High,
won the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s (NCHSSA) fourth annual Scholar-Athlete Essay Contest for the female entrants. Meghan, who is captain of the girls’ golf team, wrote her essay on her choice to stop playing soccer after numerous injuries and to take up golf, learning to depend on her own mental toughness to overcome bad rounds versus playing as a team member in soccer. Jordan Fitzpatrick of Carrboro High was a finalist among male entrants. GIVING BACK
The Chapel Hill Giving Party raised more than $11,000 for local nonprofits A Lotta Love (Donate a Room), Support Circles with IFC, Fuel Up Perry Harrison, SKJAJA and Transplanting Traditions. Its “sister” parties in Chatham County and Raleigh raised more than $25,000. Founded by friends Perri Kersh, Mary Beth Grealey, Casey Saussy and Sue Egnoto, the Giving Party’s nine-year total is an impressive $306,500. Ken and Cheryl Williams are behind UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center’s largest gift ever – $10 million. The Williamses are longtime supporters of the university. Ken received his master’s degree from the School of Public Health in 1970, and his doctorate in 1976. He served as senior vice president of Quintiles before retiring. CHM
January/February 2016 chapelhillmagazine.com
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