ALUMNI MAGAZINE / SUMMER 2019
Lives That Speak: Thomas Kail ’95 p. 24 | An Oral History of Sidwell Network News p. 32 Remembering Kieran Shafritz de Zoysa p. 20
CONTENTS
32 4 FRONT COVER: THOMAS KAIL '95, THE DIRECTOR OF THE NEW BROADWAY PLAY, HAMILTON AT THE RICHARD ROGERS THEATRE IN NEW YORK CITY ON JUNE 19, 2015. (PHOTO BY TODD PLITT FOR THE WASHINGTON POST VIA GETTY IMAGES)
Hellen Hom-Diamond, Chief Communications Officer Mukti Desai, Creative Director Loren Hardenbergh, Special Projects Director/School Archivist Meghan Leavitt, Assistant Director, Communications
Kristen Page, Writer Elizabeth Conley, Director of Development, Alumni Engagement, and Leadership Programs Natalie Champ, Advancement Writer
Ashley Doherty, Assistant Director, Alumni Engagement Programs Emma O’Leary, Assistant Director of Donor and Digital Engagement
ALUMNI MAGAZINE / VOL. 90/NO. 03 / SUMMER 2019
FEATURES 24 .
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LIVES THAT SPEAK: Thomas Kail ’95 In this new series, we share stories of how alumni let their lives speak and the unexpected twists and tales of life after Sidwell Friends. Tommy Kail discusses why the “who” has always mattered more than the “what.” Larnies Bowen ’03 and Cat Dawson ’04 talk about their “perfect and weird” paths.
32 . . Breaking the News: SIDWELL NETWORK NEWS Alumni remember lives as campus reporters in the age of camcorders and VCRs 35 years ago. 36 . . FOND FAREWELLS Honoring the legacy of retiring friends and faculty serving more than 20 years.
DEPARTMENTS 3 . . . From the Head of School 4 . . . Sidwell Scene
Commencement recap; parting words from Horizon editors; a new fox on campus; the Peace Speaker returns; and remembering Kieran Shafritz de Zoysa. 44 . . . Alumni Action
Reunion Weekend DAA
24
48 . . .Class Notes 74 . . .Notes from Retired/Former Faculty and Staff 76 . . . From the Archives
The Legacy of Peace
S TAY C ON N ECT ED WI T H S I DWEL L FRI EN DS @sidwellfriends facebook.com/ sidwellfriends @sidwellfriends
EDITORIAL BOARD Hilary Dayton Busch ’85, John Dickerson ’87, Cate Livingston Fernandez ’76, Margaret Wilner Hut ’64, Peggy Smith Luthringer ’55, Peter MacDonald ’78, Eliza Lowen McGraw ’90, Anna Membrino ’07, Joan Reinthaler, Philip Terzian ’68
Contact Sidwell Friends Alumni Magazine at
202-537-8444 magazine@sidwell.edu Sidwell Friends Alumni Magazine 3825 Wisconsin Avenue NW Washington, DC 20016 sidwell.edu/magazine
A student works on a pottery project in art class. PHOTO BY: Kelley Lynch
› FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
How do we learn? Educators have grappled
with this question for centuries, relying on intuition, experience, creativity, and, above all, relationship-building to help students develop their talents and values. Recent research in cognitive and neuroscience, technology, and environmental and building design have complicated our understanding of the learning process. Recognizing the complex interplay of variables that shape how students learn, scholars in these fields have founded organizations and programs to explore a burgeoning field called learning science. Founded in 2002, the International Society of the Learning Sciences, for example, is “dedicated to the interdisciplinary empirical investigation of learning as it exists in real-world settings and to how learning may be facilitated both with and without technology.” Leading academic institutions, from the University of Pennsylvania to Stanford, Johns Hopkins to Northwestern, have established centers and graduate programs that embrace this approach. They seek to demystify the learning process and to identify practices that could improve the experiences of students and teachers alike. A visionary educator, Thomas Sidwell was a pioneer in learning science. He knew, first and foremost, that engaged and engaging teachers were the essential ingredient in creating a great school. But he also understood the importance of providing hospitable spaces for learning. In fact, the cover of the School’s first catalog boasted about its facilities. “The site is admirable and could scarcely be improved. The grounds are ample and well-shaded. The rooms are large, airy, and well-lighted,” he wrote. “For comfort and the correctness of posture, the latest approved single desks have been provided.” As the Eye Street campus grew crowded, Sidwell sought to improve facilities and purchased the Washington School for Boys at 3901 Wisconsin Avenue NW, which he established as “the headquarters for the outdoor activities.” Future generations followed his example of building facilities that would optimize conditions for learning. In the early 2000s, the School completed an ambitious campus renovation that redefined not simply the relationship between buildings and learning but between architecture and the natural environment. The Green Building Council recognized these innovative efforts by recognizing the Middle School and Meeting Room with LEED Platinum honors. Then Head of School Bruce Stewart asserted that buildings were essential to teaching and suggested that the new facilities would become “another member of the faculty,” providing additional opportunities for intellectual and spiritual development. With the purchase of 3720 Upton Street, the advent of learning science, and the hiring of Perkins Eastman as our architects, the School has a remarkable opportunity ahead. Among the
A visionary educator, Thomas Sidwell was a pioneer in learning science. He knew, first and foremost, that engaged and engaging teachers were the essential ingredient in creating a great school. But he also understood the importance of providing hospitable spaces for learning.
top educational architects in the world, Perkins Eastman is recognized for being “both visionary and pragmatic, nextgeneration and contextual.” Their architects will be effective partners for several reasons. First, Perkins Eastman has been lauded for conducting research that links environmental design to student and teacher well-being and to providing a sense of place to anchor a strong community. Second, they are eager to engage with and learn from leading scholars who have identified the Upton Street project as potentially transformative for our understanding of teaching and learning. Third, Perkins Eastman is highly collaborative. They are in the process of organizing a series of surveys, charettes, and summits that will enable significant input into the building and design of the new Upper School. In addition, the building will house the Center for Teaching and Learning, which will enable our students and faculty to benefit from the latest in learning science, and the Center for Ethical Leadership, Inquiry, and Action, which will prepare our students to engage essential ethical issues with courage and thought. Enjoy the summer, because when we return in September, we will be asking students, faculty, staff, parents, friends, and alumni to roll up their sleeves and design the future of learning. Together, we seek to deepen our sense of community, promote health, wellness, and environmental sustainability, and provide an unprecedented physical environment that will improve learning outcomes for students. In friendship,
Bryan Garman
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On June 9, 128 seniors stepped from the grounds of Sidwell Friends School into what life held next.
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› SIDWELL SCENE
“Love will always triumph over hate, but only if enough people are brave enough to join the fray.”
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› SIDWELL SCENE
As seniors arrived in the dining hall to pick up their bouquets and boutonnieres, white dresses mingled with dark suits as students hugged, took selfies, and tried to take in the fact that they had made it to their commencement. Then the sprint was on to get the traditional pictures taken before the threatening skies opened up, including the senior class photo on the Upper School turf field. Gathering in the Robert L. Smith Meeting Room for their last Meeting for Worship as students, they spoke and shared their heartfelt thoughts, leading to the powerful moment when the realization swept over the students that this would be the last time they turned and shook hands as students. With proud friends, family, teachers, and staff standing and applauding, the Class of 2019 walked into the David P. Pearson ’52 Athletic Center and took their seats. Head of School Bryan Garman welcomed all those present; then Upper School Principal Mamadou Guèye read “Remember” by poet Joy Harjo, an excerpt of which says: Remember you are all people and all people / are you. Remember you are this universe and this / universe is you. Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you. Sheila Johnson, cofounder of BET and the Salamander Hotels & Resorts—and a member of the Sidwell Friends faculty from 1972–75 and the Board of Trustees from 1992–96—was the featured speaker. She emphasized the importance of passion and tenacity as the students moved forward in their lives. “Continue to seek knowledge and pursue wisdom,” she exhorted. Sheila also emphasized the need to carry the Sidwell Friends values of community and love as the students moved into this new phase of their lives, particularly in these divided times. “Life has never been about you or about me. Life, and all that matters within it, has always been about us,” she said. “Love will always triumph over hate, but only if enough people are brave enough to join the fray.” As Mamadou read each student’s name, they crossed the stage, pausing for a handshake and a photo as Bryan presented them with their diploma. Then—in a moment that was both a long time coming and over too quickly—the Class of 2019 became the School’s newest alumni. As they left, giving high fives and hugs as they recessed down the aisles, they must have remembered the final words of Sheila’s speech, reminding them that although their classes were behind them, their work in living out the lessons they had learned at Sidwell Friends was just beginning. “You have been gifted a lifetime of homework,” Sheila said. “Class dismissed.”
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Gabrielle Birenbaum, Harry Weinstein, and Clara Molot
A FINAL WORD OLIVIA CHOI ’19
Horizon’s editors in chief reflect on their time at Sidwell Friends and the future.
From my first day at Sidwell Friends in the 6th grade, I have for seven years been steadfastly indoctrinated to the Quaker concept of Inner Light. I believe I may finally understand why we elect that word.
School’s and principal’s included—or 500 voices raised to sing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” together, or mere silence itself. But more exceptional than any of that, we traverse such uncharted territory together.
Light, no matter how hard one may try, refuses to be contained to any single person, thing, or creature. It is pervasive and all-consuming in its affection, and its remedial properties bring life to all around it. Light, in short, warms everything it touches. And that power really is infectious—especially so at a place like Sidwell Friends, where there is so much genuine good to be shared.
If my seven years at Sidwell have taught me one thing, it is to continue to question. To speak truth to power, to lend strength to others, and to act on what is right without waiting for someone else to do it first. Because without our hearts and our minds, after all, we have nothing.
Sidwell students, above all, are changemakers. That movement takes many forms, whether the pounding of feet on Capitol Hill—my Head of 8
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And so, when we say, “Eluceat omnibus lux,” we mean to say that, like the end of a candle touching onto its companion, when you lend your light to another, it empowers others to form little flames of their own.
KELLY ANDERSON ’19
I want to make a difference in the world through journalism and will write for my college’s student newspaper. The world faces a lot of instability. Our generation will have to figure out many problems that we didn’t create but that will impact us for the rest of our lives. Our high school years have particularly featured tremendous political polarization and global turmoil. It’s up to us to respond to the world’s rapidly changing problems in a way that avoids past mistakes while pushing to find new solutions.
CLAIRE CHOI ’19
› SIDWELL SCENE
In history class this year, we learned about Donald Rumsfeld’s theory that knowledge can be classified into three main categories: “known knowns,” “known unknowns,” and “unknown unknowns.” Known knowns encompass everything of which we can be certain. Known unknowns are things of which we recognize we are unaware, such as whether or not it might rain as I take my final steps beside my peers down the winding stone stairs of Zartman House. And the last category, unknown unknowns, are those things of which we do not yet even realize that we are ignorant.
I started at Sidwell Friends in 9th grade, and debate was an activity that helped me find my voice and, more importantly, showed me how to advocate for what I believe in. This activity helped me meet an amazing group of intellectually curious people, and many of my closest friends are people I have debated with and against. Similarly, Horizon has given me an
When I arrived at Sidwell Friends, I had only a rudimentary sense of what to expect. Known knowns: Sidwell Friends School was a competitive academic institution with nationally renowned alumni and faculty. It was Quaker, which meant it adhered to several fundamental values, such as simplicity, equity, and justice. Known unknowns: The extraordinary things I would learn here. The unimaginably kind,
outlet to find my place at Sidwell and oftentimes speak truth to power in a way that I wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Covering Sidwell’s news has shown me the best parts of our community, as well as areas where we need to improve. Sharing those perspectives with the rest of the student body gave me a unique sense of purpose during high school. My advice to future classes: Make the most out of every opportunity you’re given at Sidwell. We’re all part of an incredibly special school with unparalleled opportunities, but it’s easy to lose sight of that due to the competition and pressure that come with attending an academically elite institution. This is a special community to be a part of, and every person here is lucky to have access to amazing opportunities. It doesn’t last forever—don’t let it pass you by.
unimaginably intelligent people I would meet and the indelible mark they would make on my story. Unknown unknowns: How much I would miss it. How nerve-racking it would feel to leave. What advice would I give? To appreciate the relationships made here. To cherish eccentric stories and laugh at corny puns, and share in one of Mr. Guèye’s incredibly contagious smiles. To be curious and ambitious and excited about the endlessly eye-opening ways this community will change you. To be compassionate. To be bold. To strive for the seemingly impossible and refuse to accept the status quo. To enjoy every single moment. Known knowns: Sidwell Friends is a community of thinkers, dreamers, and innovators from every creed, class, and walk of life. It is in every sense of the words inimitable and irreplaceable; there is truly no other like it. As my peers and I part ways and begin the next four-year chapters of our lives, I hope that we remember the memories and the friends that we made here.
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WELCOME grandparents
Grandparents and special friends visited our school on May 9 and 10 and spent the day with their beloved grandchildren. Some came as multigenerational families (accompanied by their own children and current Sidwell Friends parents), but all enjoyed a variety of classroom experiences.
Oh, What a
night
The David P. Pearson ’52 Athletic Center transformed once again for A Night for Scholars on April 13. Hosted by master of ceremonies and Sidwell Friends parent Eun Yang of NBC Washington, the annual event raised more than $383,000, most of which benefits the Fund-aScholar program for financial aid. Thank you to all the volunteers and donors who made this evening a success!
DAVID MILNER ’86 APPOINTED BOARD OF TRUSTEES CLERK
David Milner ’86 will become the clerk of the Board of Trustees beginning July 2019. David succeeds Meg Flax, who completed her two-year clerkship in June and will continue as a trustee for another year. David, a Quaker, is the chief executive officer of NuGen Capital Management, a market leader in developing utilityscale solar projects for the renewable energy and real estate sectors. He currently lives in Providence, Rhode Island, where his children attend the Moses Brown School. We also welcome Jeffrey Drezner (Michael ’03 and Dani ’06), Scott Nathan (Lia ’25), and Geoffrey Smith ’77 as new trustees. Thank you to May Liang (Jade ’17 and Marcus ’20), whose board service ended on July 1. May had served as a trustee since 2011 and played important roles, including clerk of the Governance Committee from 2014 to 2017 and clerk of the Strategic Planning Committee from 2017 to 2019.
Read more about our trustees at www.sidwell.edu/about/leadership.
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› SIDWELL SCENE
FROM FRAGILITY TO SUPERPOWER:
JOURNALISTS DISCUSS CHINA’S 40-YEAR TRANSFORMATION The 37th annual John Fisher Zeidman ’79 Memorial Lecture was an incisive and engaging discussion of China’s social, political, and cultural transformations over the past 40 years. As the evening’s program began, Head of School Bryan Garman reminded attendees that the Chinese Studies Program—and in particular, the Zeidman Memorial Lecture, which was established by John’s parents, Phil and Nancy Zeidman—encourages us to maintain our faith even in times of global conflict because it offers hope for future peace through understanding. This year, those new insights emerged through a panel of award-winning journalists who collectively have covered China and US-China relations for 40 years. Moderator Susan Jakes led Charles Hutzler, China bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal; Christina Larson, global science and environment correspondent for the Associated Press; and Edward Wong, diplomatic correspondent for the New York Times, on a journey through recent Chinese history.
Discussing a breathtaking scope of topics, these journalists offered new lenses through which to understand a complex and evolving global superpower. They debated how China has transformed in the wake of urban migration and its effects on traditional family relationships, the ethical and legal implications of technological developments, and economic deterrents to armed military conflicts. Charles described the “fragile” energy he perceived from a country on the cusp of momentous change during his first trip to China in the late 1970s—a trip he took with John Fisher Zeidman ’79, who passed away in 1982. John and Charles were among the first Americans to travel to China after the Cultural Revolution, and on the 40th anniversary of their inspirational trip, several of John’s fellow travelers joined the Zeidman family in celebrating John’s memory.
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THE
STAR FOX OF FOUNDER’S DAY SIDWELL FRIENDS ATHLETICS UNVEILS A NEW VISUAL IDENTITY
On April 16, students filed through the courtyard for the Founder’s Day gathering, not sure of who the tall, quiet, mysterious fellow was—a giant fox roaming around, intent on giving high fives to everyone. After the ringing of the bell, it became apparent that this was a fox to match all other mascots on the field. Athletic Director Keith Levinthal unveiled a new visual identity designed to build stronger visual cohesion among the School’s teams. The program included a new fox mascot, which was modeled by Head of School Bryan Garman. “The new identity provides a timeless yet modern look that will reflect the strength of our athletic program and honor our legacy of being the only Quaker school in our nation’s capital for years to come,” Keith said. “Our new visual identity will give us a confident, clean, and cohesive look that will be emblazoned on all new uniforms and athletic apparel.” While our team name will continue to be the Quakers, our mascot will now be the star fox, inspired by our very own founder of modern-day Quakerism, George Fox. “We have determined that there is room for some additions to our athletic brand. Going forward, our striking new colors will be Sidwell maroon, Quaker gray, and Friends red. We will use the same fonts and numerals on all uniforms, regardless of the sport, creating a unified and powerful presence on our fields of play. Most excitingly, we welcome a new face to our athletic identity.” This work was made possible by the kind generosity and support of alumni and parents who believe in the value of Sidwell Friends athletics and the benefit of a visual identity to inspire our community.
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OUR OWN BRAND OF ttt
WINNING CULTURE
ttt
Winning 11 championships in one year is a lot. Earning six Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAC) and Independent School League (ISL) titles and five District of Columbia State Athletic Association (DCSAA) championships means finding more space for their banners in the David P. Pearson ’52 Athletic Center. We will make no apologies either. After all, the goal in athletics is ultimately to win. We talked a lot about winning back in August, but we didn’t talk about winning games or championships. Our scoreboard was, and will continue to be, a bit different. Our goal was to have the best culture, something that doesn’t always show up on a scoreboard but eventually finds its way in the league standings or in a tough playoff game. It often results in early season losses and hard feelings when tough decisions are made, but it is the kind of work that is necessary to build a healthy athletic program, especially in a highly academic, mission-based school. Working on team culture means putting aside the singular focus on winning and instead turning your efforts to building relationships and modeling the values to which we should all aspire. This work is not easy, and I felt strongly enough about this focus that I shared my vision with the community in the “Back to School” letter to parents last August: 14
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“While ascending mountains and casting flies this summer I thought a lot about our workshop with performance coach Jeff Janssen. We spent an entire day with Jeff discussing how we can create an athletic culture of commitment, accountability, and ownership … We will need to make decisions that support our overarching culture and benefit our teams, even if it means sacrificing wins in the short term. It won’t be easy, but it is an important step if we truly want to see our program reach the next level. Creating a healthy culture is going to be a big part of our focus this year. In my experience, if we do that, then the wins will follow.” Looking back, I am proud that in one short year so many teams were propelled to championships. Great coaching and talented athletes are where it begins. We’re blessed with an elite group of coaches, staff, and students who dedicated countless hours in their pursuit of excellence in the athletic realm. These individuals have taught each other so much by focusing on something bigger than just the game at hand. Whether it was the girls’ tennis team’s unexpected DCSAA win or the boys’ basketball team’s overtime DCSAA championship, our students showed a ton of resilience under pressure. I’d
BY KEITH LEVINTHAL DAVID P. PEARSON ’52 DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS
like to think our work on team culture served as an added advantage in these tough moments. The year’s outcomes are validation to keep doing what we are doing.
Some of our proudest moments this year came from teams that did not win championships. I can see remarkable team dynamics forming in some of our other programs, and I’m excited to see what they will achieve in the future. I am proud of—and inspired by—what our teams are doing and where we are going. Going forward, we will stay the course and keep our focus right where it is: on our own brand of winning culture.
2019 Championships
This summer, three of our coaches are participating in a Lead the Leaders Program with Jeff. This training has provided us with the tools and knowledge to implement a cutting-edge leadership academy within our athletic department. Much of our leadership and culture work has been directed at coaches thus far, but this program will begin the process of engaging our students as key stakeholders and partners in our efforts to build a healthy and successful athletic culture. This is an incredibly exciting initiative and a tremendous opportunity to provide our students with leadership training that will serve them well beyond the athletic fields.
Our scoreboard was, and will continue to be, a bit different.
MAC Champions
Directors Cup (Overall Athletic Excellence) Golf Cross Country Track and Field Tennis
ISL CHAMPIONS Soccer Basketball
DCSAA CHAMPIONS Girls’ soccer Boys’ basketball Girls’ tennis Boys’ tennis Boys’ track and field
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Finding Beauty in Fractured Times By Olivia Choi ’19
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› SIDWELL SCENE
On April 8, the 2019 Peace Speaker Eboo Patel sat down with a group of student leaders for a conversation in the Zartman House's Bernstein Drawing Room. While the group discussed various social dynamics that young people face in schools today, he challenged them to go beyond seeing what is wrong in the world and to create solutions actively—and to remember to seek beauty along the way.
“When Mr. Garman shakes your hand as you cross the stage at Sidwell in June...what do you think you ought to know?” My companions and I sat in silence. This was the question Interfaith Youth Core founder Eboo Patel asked me and my fellow club presidents when we had the privilege of sitting down with him for a discussion. It was a far-from-simple question. My mind, dumbfounded, found refuge in the mundane: the citric acid cycle? Symbolism in Shakespeare’s King Lear? And, in a singular redemptive effort after a few moments’ thought: Quaker philosophy…perhaps that there is that of God in everyone? His answer? None of the above. Rather, Patel made apparent one chasmal hole in our knowledge base: faith. Did we know the origins of the “term” Judeo-Christian? The Flushing Remonstrance? The first president to host an Iftar? Of course not. And that was often the case, noted Patel, on the campuses of America’s most elite academic institutions. What struck me most about Patel’s words was not merely that I did not know the answers but that it had never occurred to me that one ought to know such things. As one proud to call our deep-blue District my home, I have become well accustomed to a very cynical liberal skepticism. Many scoff at religious fervor as a backward relic of less-civilized times, viewing it as the origin of much of the hateful dialogue we see on the news today. Ironically, we at Sidwell Friends, though at a Quaker institution, are in fact more culpable of this elite indifference than ever, as a notorious echo chamber of liberal thought. While the pillars of Quaker philosophy—equality, tolerance, peace—may guide the student body in our every action and aspiration, it is only in a highly secular sense. The reality that Patel impressed upon my companions and me is that faith matters. Whether one may personally believe in a higher power or not, the fact of the matter is that religion, to much of the world, is a guiding compass for all matters ethical and imperative. Faith has the capacity to bring about immense action, whether for the better or for the worse. Patel pushed us against our very best inclinations. Yes, we had identified an issue, but how do we solve it? He challenged us to provide specifics, details. To take risks, and to share something constructive before a criticism. He knew our propensities and every predisposition—because he had once held them as his own. “One of the things that you get a lot of points for as a student is criticizing,” he cautioned my peers and me, harking back to his days as a disaffected college student. Patel was, of course, no stranger to apathetic elite cynicism. It was once his signature trade. “I had a really well-developed muscle of ‘You need to do this,’” observed Patel. At committees, conferences, and congregations, criticism was his second nature. Until one day, noted Patel, someone simply pulled him aside and told him, “That’s a really good idea. You should do that.” “We are so good at finding things that are wrong” were Patel’s words of caution. “You can put all your energy into telling other people what they’re not doing, or you can figure out how to build that.” He challenged us to design a new curriculum—a class, even—that would incorporate interfaith dialogue into student consciousness. Patel was unapologetic in what worked and what didn’t, and with every added assertion, he moved us further toward ideological change. Above all, the words that have stuck with me since that formative Monday afternoon spent crowded around a little table in the Zartman Drawing Room come from a line from the Islamic tradition that Patel shared with us: “God is beautiful and loves beauty.” “I feel,” he remarked, “that there is something to showing people things that are beautiful.” That statement, in its exquisite simplicity, is little less than revolutionary. So often in today’s polarized society, we’ve come to accept enmity and estrangement as the status quo. But to have hope is a far more difficult endeavor—and one that few have the courage to undertake. Patel’s celebration of the seemingly unattainable in such trying times is what continues to stay with me, and will continue to do so, long after taking my final steps across the stage in June.
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DO WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS MOST: A STUDENT’S TAKE ON
LET YOUR LIFE SPEAK By George Wilson ’21
On April 16, the opening discussion on Let Your Life Speak Morning, a day when dozens of alumni return to campus to share where life and work have taken them, focused on education equity and the effect that socioeconomic status has on graduation rates. It was a painful reminder of the blessings that we as Sidwell Friends students have received, but it was capped off by an inspirational message: The best way to let your life speak is to do what the world needs most. A common theme among the speakers was how they did not choose their career paths; rather, the path came to them. In my first session, Hannah Bristol ’10 discussed an organization she was a part of, NextGen America. Hannah told us how her serious start in politics was just because of the environment at Sidwell Friends and a senior who asked her whether she was willing to skip school and knock on doors on Election Day. I too had been involved in a similar experience of campaigning in the lead-up to the last election. Listening to how she did exactly what I’d like to do inspired me to think about what’s possible. My second session was with Kate Chiappinelli ’03, who spoke about cancer and the progress on a cure. In just 20 minutes, Kate gave us an overview of the state of cancer research, the difference between hot and cold tumors, and what the future of anticancer drugs looks like. This knowledge was fascinating to me. Cancer is something mentioned a lot in popular culture, but I’d never been able to feel like I understood what the disease was and how it worked. My final session challenged beliefs I already held while motivating me toward action. Andrew Ferguson ’90 discussed police surveillance in America, particularly the lack of limitations on it and the issues that arise from it. I was shocked to hear how surveillance that I had never even heard of was being used in cities like Chicago, where cameras
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all over the city can monitor your every move. Furthermore, these cities have been attempting to use math to solve crimes— meaning they have been developing algorithms that attempt to identify likely victims and perpetrators to try to prevent crime before it happens. Unfortunately, this system in practice has resulted in a vast amount of power for the government that people barely know about. I had previously not really cared about how much the government poked into my personal life as long as I was safe, but to have the actual ramifications and damages laid out to me by an expert made me realize the errors in my thinking and gave me a new issue to think about for the next election cycle. My friends and classmates also found what alumni had to say intriguing. In her first session, Allison Barker ’21 listened to alumna Adrienne Sirken ’76 share the importance of classical music in everyday life. For Allison, “Adrienne’s compelling determination of spreading the importance of classical music struck a chord with me because I don’t normally listen to that particular genre. Her passion and thoughts about how vital classical music was made me think about listening more.” Allison also heard Audrey Boochever ’09 discuss a facet of the problem analyzed in our introductory session: “the inequity of schools in the United States.” Audrey, based in Oakland, CA, exposed Allison to another perspective: Dissuading oneself from delving into certain subjects prematurely can prevent one from discovering new and potential passions. Allison noted how, even at Sidwell Friends, she has heard
many students, especially girls, discouraging themselves from taking advanced math or science classes since they just “are not STEM people,” and now she sees how dangerous that is. Allison’s final session, led by Christopher Joyce ’03, furthered her education on what school systems are like outside our bubble. Christopher not only exposed how the prison pipeline in Louisiana is partly due to strict disciplinary tactics, but also illustrated another way to let your life speak: by following the Quaker tenets past your time on Wisconsin Avenue. When Christopher’s organization began prioritizing test scores over everything else, he, moved by integrity, left the organization. Eva Youel Page ’21 listened to Alicia Sams ’82, director of By The People: The Election of Barack Obama, which premiered on HBO in 2009. Eva explained that Alicia told “stories of following President Obama on the campaign trail from Illinois to the White House for two years and capturing some great moments along the way, out of which she produced and directed an Emmy Award–winning film.” Alicia showed a great deal of dedication to her craft, which made “her presentation really inspire me to follow my passions in the future and to work tirelessly to dedicate myself to them,” said Eva. Overall, these interactions with alumni left us—and the rest of the student body—with different outlooks and an undeniable excitement about our futures and the next time we would get to hear more alumni stories.
# Alumni returned to campus and shared their stories. ALUMNI MAGAZINE / SUMMER 2019
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REMEMBERING
Kieran On April 21, our community lost one of our own, Kieran Shafritz de Zoysa, son of Dhulsini de Zoysa ’85, in the Sri Lanka Easter Day bombings. Our community grappled to understand this event, most of all the teachers and classmates who knew Kieran, 11, from his earliest days in the Lower School. Counselor Richard Griffith shared many days with Kieran as a friend. At the request of Kieran’s family, he was one of three speakers at Kieran’s funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral on May 1. The following excerpt of his remarks captures the joy and spirit of a much-loved child.
If you knew him, you knew his smile. It didn’t matter what type of day you were having—that smile would make you forget, even if for just a moment. That smile was joyful, curious, uncertain at times, witty, and clever. You would see it in the passenger window of his mother’s car in the carpool line. You saw it when he greeted you first thing in the morning. Before you knew it, you would be smiling too, long after you saw him. Some days his smile was all I needed to see to let me know whether he needed a pep talk, check-in, or just some airtime to share his excitement. We all watched that smile grow to be confident, proud, courteous, kind, and caring. His smile was, and continues to be, a gift. Or perhaps the gift wrap to a very special package. Kieran had an innate curiosity and sharp intellect, along with a sound moral compass. He always questioned whether he was doing the “right thing” or whether he had made the “right choice.” He sought to be a kind and just person, which made him feel more mature than his age. He was focused, diligent, and took great pride in his work, holding himself to very high standards—sometimes so high that he would need reminders to cut himself some slack. He was sometimes hard on himself and was not fond of making mistakes. However, he made sure to learn from them. He would welcome the support of others in times of need and was always deeply reflective. It was how he sought to improve himself as a person—a mature leaning that you couldn’t help but encourage, nurture, and even become inspired by. He had a playful nature that made him easy to talk to, always seemed to be able to surprise you with his understanding of things, but also was humble in how he sought to gain
understanding from others. Kieran paid attention to the things in others that he valued, the things they found important, skills they possessed, or unique qualities in them he admired and sought to emulate. If you knew Kieran, you probably have a story of a conversation you had with him that brought you joy. He had this knack for sharing his deep wonderings and observations of others at just the right time. This is hard to explain, but his recognition of you could be as simple as him noticing a quality in you that you felt went unnoticed. Or it could be visible when he decided to offer help, how he chose to help, or his rationale and motivation behind his desire to offer help. Ironically, he rarely asked for help. But because of who he was, people never hesitated to offer help to him. Many have made comments about the tragedy of his life ending so quickly. This is, of course, true and very real. However, I believe dwelling too much on the tragedy of this loss occludes the gift of the time he spent with us. We are a community of people who will be forever shaped by his life. We are the fortunate recipients of his impact, influence, and deep regard for others. This is a testament to the power of his life, his impact and influence, and the universality of his humanity. We will forever retain the memory of him: who he was, who he wanted to be. He will continue to live on in our memories of him and the ways his life has impacted ours. In closing, I leave you with words from Kahlil Gibran’s “On Joy and Sorrow”: When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, ‘Nay, sorrow is the greater.’ But I say unto you, they are inseparable. Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
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› SIDWELL SCENE
Trading Places: 4th Graders Discuss
Gender Equity
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One day, coming home from soccer practice, Carys Kang ’27 got to thinking. “I love soccer and I play travel soccer, and I was thinking about how the women’s national team sued the women’s soccer league for not paying them as much as the men’s soccer team,” Carys says. “And what I thought was interesting about that is that the women have won World Cups and have played so much better than the men’s soccer team. I don’t think that’s OK.” To call attention to the gender-based disparity in the teams’ pay, Carys went to her 4th-grade class with a proposition: For one day, students would wear clothing that did not reflect their gender identity. “We were thinking there might be a slight participation,” says Kathryn Bauman-Hill, Carys’s teacher. “But everybody in the class participated in one way or another.” That meant that many girls donned men’s athletic gear or ties, while boys sported women’s jackets or sparkly headbands. Carys says she was surprised at how many boys participated in the exercise. “I brought in clothes and they wore them,” she says. “This boy named Evan wore my pink jacket. And a boy named AJ wore his sister’s leather jacket that had ruffles in the back.”
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”IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THIS. ... HOPEFULLY, WHEN I START GETTING PAID, I WON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT.” The exercise fit in with the larger academic goals of the class, Kathryn says. “We talk about gender awareness a lot,” she says. “What is the lens that we’re looking at history through? And we’re going to start a more intense study on what gender roles mean right before they go into middle school, when they start to feel more pressure to conform to gender.” As for Carys, she’s looking into the long-term implications of how gender affects pay. “It’s really important that people know about this,” she says. “Hopefully, when I start getting paid, I won’t have to worry about it.”
Secure the future for you and for Sidwell Friends
The Thomas and Frances Sidwell Society recognizes the more than 150 individuals who have made the thoughtful decision to include Sidwell Friends School in their estate plans. Modern-day bequests follow in the tradition of Thomas Sidwell, who survived Frances and left his estate in the care of the Board of Trustees in 1936. Bequests, charitable trusts, gift annuities, and other planned giving arrangements continue to ensure the School’s financial stability. Learn how a charitable gift to Sidwell Friends School can match your personal legacy goals.
Start today by downloading our Estate Planning Guide at plannedgiving.sidwell.edu/guide. For more information about planned gift options, visit our planned giving webpage: plannedgiving.sidwell.edu, or contact Mary K. Carrasco, Assistant Head of School for Advancement, at 202-537-8117 or carrascom@sidwell.edu.
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LIVES THAT SPEAK
THOMAS KAIL ’95 24
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SPEAKING OF LIVES THAT SPEAK
When the ‘Who’ Matters More than the ‘What’ Thomas Kail ’95
By Kristen Page and Hellen Hom-Diamond
Thomas Kail ’95 once received a disciplinary note from then-Dean of Students Robert “Bo” Lauder for “chewing gum and talking constantly during Meeting for Worship,” recalls theater arts teacher John Elko. And when it came to his senior project, for which John was his advisor, Tommy wasn’t exactly at the top of his game. His project was acting in a two-person show, Jon Robin Baitz’s Three Hotels, which consists of three monologues by two characters, a husband and a wife. He has two; she has one. “When we got down to the third week of rehearsal, Tommy still had his script in his hand,” John remembers. “I said, ‘We need to wean ourselves away from this,’ and he never did. So we ended up doing ‘two hotels’ as opposed to three. To this day we still laugh at this.” Even though the lines were beginning to go sideways, a week later something revealing happened. “As we get into the fourth week of rehearsal, he’s sitting with me when I’m directing [the other actor] and he’ll throw out a comment now and then. ‘What about this? What about that?’” John says. “And we’re sitting there in the corner, right next to the windows, and he’s looking at it and says, ‘All these [scenes] take place in tropical places.’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ And he said, ‘Why don’t we put a light in the tree and shine it through the blinds?’” This hadn’t occurred to anyone. To John, it became apparent that Tommy’s attention to details and eye for pulling a production together were deeply indicative of something more. That, says John, was a moment when he knew Tommy wasn’t going to be an actor but that he was going to do something in the arts. And he did. After his graduation from Sidwell Friends School, Tommy earned a degree in history from Wesleyan University in 1999. Then some friends tipped him off to something—and someone—special: a young writer and performer named Lin-Manuel Miranda.
“OUR ALUMNI LET THEIR LIVES SPEAK WITH SERVICE AND SIGNIFICANCE.” — Head of School Bryan Garman, Lead in the Light: Strategic Action Plan
Beyond anything else, how we relate to each other as people matters. The depth of our relationships and the memories we make—as students, mentors, teachers, and friends— shape the heart of this community, more than any story about the campus facilities or academic work. How we learn from each other shapes a collective experience that can change the way each person sees the world. We created the “Lives That Speak” series to tell the stories of life after Sidwell Friends. The School’s story is that of all alumni. There is no better way to illustrate this story more vividly than through the lives of those who have gone forth and spoken through their actions. We hope you’ll enjoy the stories and take a moment to reconnect with others. If you have a story you would like to share, drop us a line at magazine@sidwell.edu. —HHD
“A couple of my friends from Wesleyan saw this very early version of In the Heights that he had written in 2000. And I said, ‘Well, I’m the professional—I’ll let you know if it’s any good,’” Tommy, who had since founded a theater company, says. “Lin had made a recording of it that he gave to them. They sent it to me and I remember thinking I had this secret. I was like, ‘Does anybody else know about this?’ And I said to my friends, ‘You’re right. There’s something here. When does he graduate?’ They said May of 2002. And I said, ‘Well, let’s go find him in May of 2002, and then let’s see what happens.’” What happened was an invitation to Lin-Manuel to join him in the basement of the Drama Book Shop, where his burgeoning theater company met. “We invited him to this basement ALUMNI MAGAZINE / SUMMER 2019
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in June of 2002, and the best way I describe it is we had a conversation that lasted for 16 years.” That 16-year conversation led to mounting the musical In the Heights, which opened on Broadway in 2008 and earned Tommy a Tony nomination for Best Direction of a Musical. What happened next was the start of what would eventually become one of the most important cultural phenomena in modern theater history: Hamilton. For that, Tommy won the Tony for Best Direction of a Musical, while the show garnered 16 nominations and took home 11 trophies. In 2016 Tommy helmed TV’s Grease Live!, which snagged him two Emmys. His FX network show, Fosse/Verdon, which he created with longtime collaborators Lin-Manuel, choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, and music director Alex Lacamoire, has been in the center of an awards-buzz storm since its premiere in April. Not bad for someone who, while at Sidwell Friends, wanted to be a sportscaster. “I didn’t know that directing was a job,” Tommy says. “And it really wasn’t until I was in [John’s classroom] that I started to get a sense that it was kind of a collaboration that I didn’t know existed. What I started to learn in this room was that the job of the director is to make sure that everybody knows what their own task is and their own responsibilities are.” Tommy wasn’t the only alum on the set of Grease Live! “There was another Sidwell alum, Ana Gasteyer,” who graduated in 1985. “[She was] someone that John taught and had introduced me to years ago. We would find ourselves looking at each other, and we’re like, ‘Remember when we were in John’s room?’” While campus buildings have changed over time, Tommy finds reassurance not only in the consistency of the program but in the changing of the campus; to Tommy, it symbolizes growth. “When I come back [to campus], I come to this room, and this is the room that—especially because there’s so much new construction—feels the same to me,” says Tommy. “This is the place that is the most significant in that way. Things should change and evolve. So when I walk over to the main campus with John and I’m in a room that wasn’t there, it feels like something is continuing to grow and change and evolve in a way that feels right. “It always has felt very easy coming back. I’ve met a few people that were in one of John’s classes, and then six years later I see them somewhere in New York or in an audition room...It is really meaningful,” he says. “Every time you come back there’s this new, incredibly hungry group of people who are coming up.”
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In recalling his days at Sidwell Friends, he appreciates that what he found in his classmates were people who “were excellent at different things” he says. “There were different ways to excel, and people had different passions. And so I think it was the first time I really bumped up against a student body that wasn’t all trying to do the same thing.” What he took from that experience and later honed at Wesleyan was how to rely more heavily on his intuition about people and their values. This skill can’t be taught in any formal training, he says. When he looks for collaborators, he seeks others who share a sense of what makes for good work and share equally his dedication and heart. “Your instincts are your instincts,” he says. “What happens as you get older and get more experienced is that you’re just able to silence all the noise around you. I had this group of friends whom I knew I trusted and liked, and then it was like, ‘All right, who else is like us? Who’s in our tribe?’ And so you find more people who are like-minded or on the same frequency that you are, and you seek them out. And then you keep them close. And then you keep growing. “The ‘who’ matters more than the ‘what,’” he continues. “And that’s something that I’ve felt for a long time.” When working with a cast and crew, he is always cognizant of differences—in motivation, training, sense of self—in order to find the most effective method of working together. “I had to learn how to make this group of people who had dedicated themselves understand that I was equally dedicated. When you’re responsible for a group or you’re standing in front of a room and people are questioning how you got there, you realize that what you do is you show them with your kindness and your hard work, ‘this is why I'm here,’ as opposed to trying to figure out a way to exert some kind of power that is manifest in creating tension or beating your chest, which occasionally can happen when someone gets put in that situation. “I think, as someone who didn’t formally study theater but found myself making a career in the theater arts, it came from being open to different ways of learning and allowing yourself to pursue your curiosity without always being results oriented,” Tommy says. “Surround yourself with people that do things you can’t do. Make as much as you can. And get ready for people to tell you no—because you only need one person to say yes.” Since sitting for this interview, Tommy and friends have continued producing impressive, creative work and receiving
Last winter at the Public Theater, Tommy directed Nia Vardalos in Cheryl Strayed’s Tiny Beautiful Things, a play that he describes as more about “ritual and catharsis” than about storytelling. In January, Tommy and Lin-Manuel swooped in to save the financially strapped and century-old Drama Book Shop, the place where it all started. In April, Lin-Manuel, Alex, and Tommy opened the exhibition Hamilton: The Exhibition, along with creative director and set designer David Korins, producer Jeffrey Seller, and Yale University historian Joanne Freeman. An interactive presentation of the life of Alexander Hamilton, it opened on Northerly Island in Chicago last November and will travel for later engagements. “Probably the most significant and moving part of any of this [exhibit] for me is watching these young audiences,” Tommy says. “Six-, 8-, 10-, 12-year-olds send pictures of themselves dressed up. And their parents say, ‘And she can’t stop talking about Crispus Attucks. And he wrote a thing about Valley Forge.’ They’re finding their way into the history through our show, but the show is just a portal.” Tommy Kail and Sam Rockwell, who played Bob Fosse, on the set of Fosse/Verdon. PHOTO BY: Michael Parmelee/FX.
deserved recognition. In December 2018, Tommy, LinManuel, Andy, and Alex were recognized with the rainbow ribbons of the Kennedy Center Honors—the first time for a team of collaborators—for their work on Hamilton. They were described as “trailblazing creators of a transformative work that defies category.” After receiving the award, Lin-Manuel, in an interview with John Dickerson ’87 for CBS News, praised Tommy for having “a way of setting a room where the best idea in the room wins.” Such a binding spirit explains why the award could not have been delivered to one individual but, rather, needed to recognize a team of equal contributors. In the same interview, Tommy said, “You can make excellent things with harmony. This can be proof that it’s possible to make something of high quality that didn’t result in acrimony or raising your voice. If nothing else, that’s one of the things that I hope becomes a legacy of the show.”
In April, the eight-part series Fosse/Verdon premiered, for which the team had adopted more collaborators into the “tribe.” The series, starring Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams, was based on a book by Sam Wasson, a fellow Wesleyan grad and friend of Lin-Manuel. Hamilton collaborator Andy Blankenbuehler, a Fosse dancer, choreographed. Tommy, Lin-Manuel, Steven Levenson, Joel Fields, and Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon’s daughter, Nicole Fosse, served as executive producers; Tommy directed five of the episodes. Tommy may have a varied résumé, but he says all of the works he has directed share one commonality. “Directing is directing is directing,” Tommy says. “On television, the job is still the same in terms of your responsibility to the group. My relationship with the lighting designer in the theater is very similar to my relationship with the director of photography on a film, because we’re talking about focusing the eye. It’s a different-sized canvas perhaps, and slightly different material. But you’re still representing something pictorially; you’re still trying to create images.” All of this from a gum-chewing, too-talkative student who didn’t learn his lines.
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LIVES THAT SPEAK
LARNIES BOWEN ’03 28
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Complex Histories
Larnies Bowen ’03 on the Experiences That Shaped Her Journey By Natalie Champ
Of the career options that Larnies Bowen ’03 imagined for herself after Sidwell Friends, museum curator was not on the list. Yet 15 years after graduation, as she began to develop the vision and interpretive plans for the Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx, she recognized that the path that led here began in Erika Berry’s Spanish class. “Erika Berry changed my life,” Larnies reflected. “During the summer of my junior year, Erika encouraged me to engage in independent language study to accelerate the development of my Spanish language skills. I skipped a level of Spanish so that I could be better prepared to participate in the School Year Abroad program in Spain during my senior year.” During that formative year, Larnies developed greater selfconfidence, independence, and appreciation for cultural and artistic expression as she studied art history and explored museums throughout Spain. Having successfully navigated a foreign country, Larnies found her next transition to New York City—where she began her undergraduate career at NYU—to be far less intimidating than she had expected. “I don’t think I appreciated the level of academic preparation I received at Sidwell until I started college,” Larnies says. “I was so well-prepared, and had been writing and thinking critically at such a high level for so long, that college didn’t feel like a significant transition. I was encouraged to do college-level work in 11th grade or earlier. When I think about Sidwell, what really sticks out to me are the confidence and skills that I had to complete that kind of work.” After graduating with honors from NYU, Larnies once again found herself immersed in another Spanish-speaking country— this time as a Fulbright Fellow in Panama, where she conducted ethnographic research on the intersection of race and national identity in Panamanian Spanish reggae music. She studied Panamanian reggaeton culture, interviewing local artists, and sharing narratives and audio playlists on national blogs. Today, Larnies draws on these experiences to develop exhibitions and programs for leading museums and cultural institutions as an interpretive planner and exhibition content developer at Ralph Appelbaum Associates. The majority of Larnies’s projects center on presenting underrepresented histories of African Americans and other African descendants. This work includes exhibitions for the Obama Presidential
Center in Chicago; the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina; the Universal Hip Hop Museum; and the Freedom Rides Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. Working with graphic designers, scholars, and architects, she is a part of a team that renders how exhibitions illustrate stories through physical space, ensuring that an array of historical voices speak through the exhibits. The International African American Museum—the first major African American historical museum to be built in the Deep South—will be located near a site where slave ships once docked. There, Larnies must consider how to elevate the voices of diasporic communities and highlight narratives that begin well before the nation’s founding. “It is a rewarding and challenging job to take complex histories of underrepresented communities and translate them into public educational spaces that present nuanced and accessible narratives.” After a recent conversation with Bob Zellner, a white activist from Alabama who was an organizer with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Larnies began to reflect on her time at Sidwell Friends and the responsibilities of educational institutions to address white supremacy in this particularly tense political moment. “Quakers have such a powerful legacy at the helm of antislavery and pacifist movements. Sidwell Friends can draw on this history to inspire students to challenge present-day injustices,” Larnies says. “Students should be encouraged to ask themselves, ‘Why are we a Quaker school, and what does it mean to be part of this legacy?’” Larnies sees great potential in initiatives Sidwell Friends has launched since she graduated over 15 years ago. She would have appreciated the Let Your Life Speak sessions on Founder’s Day because “it would have been helpful in my journey to hear at such a young age from someone in a nontraditional career.” After leading one of these sessions this year, she hopes current students of color can see her as a successful alumna counterpart and recognize that “you can pursue a unique career path based on your passions and still be successful.” j
For more, log in at www.sidwell.edu/magazine
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LIVES THAT SPEAK
CAT DAWSON ’04 30
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A ’Perfect and Weird‘ Path Cat Dawson ’04 on Finding the Courage to Leap By Natalie Champ
“I always envied my friends who knew what they wanted to do, because I never had a sure sense of what I wanted to be,” Cat Dawson ’04 explained to an audience of Upper School students. “I’ve taken a weird path to get where I am now. It’s been a life of guesswork.” In returning to campus for Let Your Life Speak Morning on Founder’s Day, Cat, who uses they/them pronouns, hoped to share a message about the complexities and possibilities of life with teenagers who are just beginning to imagine how they fit into the wider world. As Cat explained to the students, a journey that seemed at times like “chaos and chance” actually prepared them to jump courageously into their new entrepreneurial endeavor. Cat began their journey at Sidwell Friends in pre-K, and throughout their years here found opportunities to learn in nontraditional ways. “It was a miraculous thing to grow up here as a queer person. There were times that Bryan Garman and Melanie Fields gave me the sense that I was special, even when that wasn’t totally apparent to me,” they said. After graduating, Cat earned a degree in women’s and gender studies at Smith College. Their next stops? A bicycle shop and the National Portrait Gallery, both of which would unexpectedly shape their future. “I was mentored by the woman in charge of the bike store, and I learned a ton about how to run a company— mostly by making tremendous mistakes.” Working at the National Portrait Gallery while curators were mounting a queer-art exhibit, Cat began to appreciate the vital social function that museums can play. “Art can teach us about difference in a nonthreatening way. It can teach people... how to receive and engage with difference.” By considering the social context in which artists produce their work, Cat examined and curated art through an activist’s lens while pursuing a PhD in visual studies at the University at Buffalo. And through their early apprenticeship at the bicycle shop, Cat grew aware of the ways that museums could benefit from applying business principles to the visitor experience. “The way we are used to going to museums is out of step with what we expect elsewhere, and there’s a real need to close the gap between visitor demands and what museums have to offer.” Recognizing an opportunity to create better and fuller access to museums and other cultural institutions, Cat incubated their “Sidwell-oriented initiative” at the IE Business School in
Madrid while pursuing an MBA. This germ of an idea, which would become Cat’s business after graduation, was about “learning what you are interested in, at your own speed, and creating access for those who are currently not represented.” As the cofounder and managing partner of Diver Collective, Cat helps cities, festivals, and institutions use technology to engage a wider array of visitors and constituents. This includes targeting a multitude of learning styles, providing multilingual materials, and offering virtual tours for those unable to visit in person. Because technology can expand museum offerings beyond physical displays and lessen geographical and financial barriers, Cat’s work encourages clients to think critically about how they can welcome previously overlooked groups. For Cat, this work is a form of activism because it makes visible those individuals whose identities have historically been ignored or pushed to the margins. “I was surrounded by difference throughout my life at Sidwell Friends, and I saw it as an asset. We were all perfect and weird.” With their clients, Cat can create opportunities for people to learn about and appreciate difference—and in doing so, become more compassionate citizens. “Every step I’ve taken over the past 10 years has gotten me to this goal,” Cat says about their unusual path. “Exhilarating sometimes, but also at times terrifying.” They note that it has taken courage to be visibly queer, pursue a PhD, forge a new field, and launch a business, and that the strength to do so has come in part from the Sidwell Friends community that has long sustained them. “When I feel I’m lacking conviction or need inspiration, I turn to my Sidwell Friends folks for advice and caring,” Cat said. “Whatever you do in life is going to take courage, and you can rely on your Sidwell Friends bonds to support you. It’s something in how we care for and respect one another here.” To Cat, this is the constant in a world that continues to shift in incalculable ways. “I love knowing that the students I met will lay the bricks for the future, the shape of which we can’t even imagine. They just need to continue to draw on the resources they have here, to get the support they need to imagine the things that aren’t yet possible.”
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A Sidwell Network News staffer interviews another student.
Breaking the News: An Oral History of Sidwell Network News BY LIZ BOLTON WITH KRISTEN PAGE
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years ago, a group of Sidwell Friends students found themselves with access to a camcorder, VCRs, and a need to put something on their college applications. Nora Maccoby Hathaway ‘85, Bill Adams ’85, Jon Goldberg ’85, and Clara Jeffrey ’85 founded Sidwell Network News, which became required monthly viewing in the Upper School from 1984 until the early 1990s. Ben Shenkman ’86 and Andrew Aurbach ’86 took over the next year, followed by Dan Manatt ’87 and Greg Henry ’87. Last February, the creators and early leaders of SNN gathered to talk about their memories of the experience. What follows is an edited transcript of that conversation.
Nora Maccoby Hathaway ’85: I really remember this moment where Jon and I were chatting: “We’ve got to do something, we’ve got to do something.” And then we came up with this whole idea. Bill Adams ’85: I just remember I was looking for something to put on my college résumé. I was also very technical. I loved that stuff, hooking together the video recorders, figuring out the timing or whatever. The other thing I remember vividly [is] realizing that the person who edited the videotape had such power to make anybody look really stupid. Jon Goldberg ’85: I remember the year before our senior year trying to make a Super 8 film with a couple of our classmates as actors. And I sort of got the bug that this was really kind of fun. Nora and I were talking about different ways of making a film. We interviewed someone’s dad who was in the film business. And he said, “Don’t use film. Use this new format called VHS.” And somehow Nora and I got a video camera and started [messing] around with it.
Clara Jeffery ’85: We were going to show the whole Upper School, and they just let us run it. Astounding. Ben Shenkman ’86: When Andrew and I took over the next year, we definitely shot stuff in my basement. I remember cutting stuff in my basement very, very early morning [and] very, very late at night, just delirious. As SNN continued, it began to find its feet — not only on the technical side but by finding a unique voice to bring to Sidwell Friends. Ben: We were getting more adventurous and trying to lay different audio on the video, which was a feature that only a couple of [VCRs] would have. But it was very tough on the tape: They’re just being stretched and killed, and everything’s going “wooroorooo.” Those tapes were just getting mauled trying to do quick cuts. We were watching MTV and trying to get some of that, and you’re just killing the videotape trying to get that kind of stuff.
Nora: I started making short films in 9th grade. And then Sheila Johnson, who was my violin teacher, was creating Black Entertainment Television. So I was working at BET on the weekends, writing dialogue for Video Soul.
Clara: I thought one of the really interesting things that it seemed to develop right away was sort of this weird hybrid between CNN and SNL—neither particularly executed to the best of their ability perhaps, but it always had this slightly satiric edge to it.
Dan Manatt ’87: How’d you get the administration to buy in?
Dan: Basically, we were fake news before fake news was cool.
Nora: We said, “Hey, we want to do this.”
Ben: We understood that the mandate was to be like a school newspaper and to be legit on that level, but once you get in front of the camera and start aping the format, the fruit is hanging so low. And there’s very little news that you can actually go out and shoot that’s current and that is newsworthy.
Jon: I’m pretty sure we ran it by [then-Upper School Principal Clint] Wilkins before we actually did the first episode. And he said, “Sure.” He didn’t review it, nothing. It was just pure blind trust.
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Andrew Aurbach ’86: And then the other thing that became a constant was pairing a male and female as hosts and rotating that each episode. Clara: Yeah, I think that was a big part of its success. We had so many people rotating in and out of anchor spots and correspondent jobs that it really felt like the whole class was in on it. Dan: Are there segments from the first year that you guys particularly remember, that stick out? Classics? Bill Adams ’85: You know, I started thinking about some of the great stories, and one of my favorite stories is when Clara and I went down to [where] people were protesting the apartheid policy. We went down to the South African Embassy to film, and [thenboard member] Marion Ballard got up there and did a little speech, and she actually addressed Sidwell Network News in the press coverage. Of course, we were out of batteries. We ran out of batteries. I remember Clara yelling at me, like, “Just pretend! Just pretend!” So I’m looking at a black screen, and I thought I was filming this incredible moment. Andrew: There were definitely some pieces in [the recording of the first season] where I cringed a little bit, or at least winced, and thought, “Gee, maybe today we wouldn’t do that.”
Clara: The one I remember, I think it was Bill being the correspondent, but it was roaming around the School and just sort of asking, “What the hell is that?” It was just great, like, “What is this weird staircase? Nobody knows where it goes?” That one was dear to my heart. While SNN had a limited run at Sidwell Friends, for many of the early developers, its effects lasted a lifetime, sending them into careers in journalism or film production. Clara went on to become the editor in chief of Mother Jones magazine; Nora is a producer and a writer whose work includes the screenplay for the 2001 film Buffalo Soldiers. Andrew spent over 20 years in the field of video production; Greg is the owner of Lucky 8, the production company behind multiple award-winning television shows and documentaries. Dan is the director of Democracy Films and has directed documentaries, including 2017’s The Fort: 177 Years of Crime & Punishment at the Iowa State Penitentiary. Greg Henry ’87: I was a terrible teenager, so I really didn’t like school. [SNN] was probably the first time that I realized that hard work actually bears fruit—the whole editing until three in the morning and being delirious the next day. And for me, making television now, it’s really nice, because they can’t just put dead air up—you actually have to deliver on time. Jon: It seems like it touched everyone’s life enough to where it set them on a certain course. Andrew: Pretty much everyone can probably draw some line back to SNN, either journalistically or from a film and video production standpoint. I knew for me—spring of my senior year I did an internship at Channel 20—so I ended up working for the people that I worked for at Channel 20 for the next six years. Dan: I am doing some documentary films and consulting, and what I find kind of funny is I still am a total hack at doing it. Sometimes I’m directing and producing, writing and editing, and I have to change the names in the credits because it’s a little too embarrassing that I’m doing it all. I trace that back to SNN: total hackery and having to do it on your own. Nora: That’s not a bad thing. You should be proud of that.
A 1985 issue of Horizon featured a letter about SNN.
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Dan: I’ll own it. Clara: That mix of earnest, straight news and satirical pieces and then sometimes just the complete Venn diagram of the two, I think was really formative for me, and I definitely got to have that kind of mix at the alt weeklies that I worked at early in my career. I think a really fun thing now is coming back to video. For the last couple of years, Mother Jones has really been building out our video stuff. Getting that satiric, pointed quality off the day’s news events has been really fun to be a part of. Ben: It’s fun to just watch a bunch of teenagers being the teenagers they think they are or want to be. It’s so performative: the jokes, the attitudes, the snarkiness, the earnestness, the seriousness, the intelligence. All of it is just great. Everyone should have a grainy video of them at 16 dropped in their lap, just to ponder. Greg: It’s the entirety of my career, so it definitely was the thing that landed. It’s the most important educational experience of my life. It was the first thing that I ran into that I really got, and then I also really got that it was hard, and I enjoyed that it was hard. I’ve done feature docs, and I’ve done television and all that sort of stuff, and it just gets back to the fact that we were afforded the ability to do it on our own, to figure it out. SNN was a reflection of life at Sidwell Friends during the time it ran, but it also embodied the values that are central to the School’s mission.
Dan: And the faculty encouraged us to take risks, if only by not censoring us and so forth. It was an environment that really fostered student creativity because you didn’t have faculty looking over your shoulder. Clara: I mean, it’s kind of remarkable that even though there are some cringey moments, or certainly some fashioncringey moments, it’s kind of amazing that there’s not more horrifically embarrassing stuff. Jon: Just the mere fact that we’re all here is a testament and reminds me of what it felt like to be a part of SNN. Dan: And it’s a reflection of the team spirit I think we brought to SNN. Nora: I mean, that’s at the base of this whole idea of collaboration and making something with other people. It’s a lyrical endeavor and a joyous, fun thing. This is a great thing that came out of Sidwell values. Dan: Does anybody have any clue why SNN got shut down? Anybody know? Jon: It must have been something … But has there been talk of it starting again? It’d be kinda cool. Clara: Think how much easier the editing would be these days.
Greg: I think what’s remarkable is that we … did it and felt that it was normal for us to do. I guess that’s the thing, looking back on it, because there were no templates to look to. It’s pretty cool that we just kind of accepted it and did it. It wasn’t like, “Oh, that feels too far out there.”
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› RETIRING FACULTY & STAFF
fond farewells ADDIE WANG
Middle School Math Teacher 31 Years of Service
Addie Wang is retiring after 31 years as both a Lower School teacher and Middle School math teacher. In the memory book presented to her on the occasion of her retirement, students, alumni, parents, and faculty recalled Addie’s commitment not only to learning but to recognizing the individuality of each of her students and her drive to bring an innovative, fun teaching style into her classroom. “I can still recall the melody to the ‘y = mx + b’ song we made in your algebra class,” wrote Chris Stevens ’13. “Middle School was a difficult time for me, but it was made much easier because of the patience you had for me…You never gave up on me, and the positive classroom environment that you created and nurtured allowed me to find the joy in learning.” “I’ve struggled with math for as long as I’ve been taking it, but I believe that even the most difficult subjects can be easier to understand with a good teacher,” wrote Alana Barry ’17. “I may not remember the exact quadratic formula, but I definitely remember how you helped me through the problems that were challenging for me and how accomplished I felt when I was able to get to the bottom of a solution.” Michele Jeffery ’68 wrote of her unique perspective of Addie’s contributions to the School, as Michele is an alumna, a former faculty and staff member, and a parent of Laurea Tucker ’80 and Jason Jeffery ’98, who was one of Addie’s students. “I have such fond memories of you as my Lower School colleague,” Michele wrote. “You were such a thoughtful person, and that coupled with your sense of humor made it such fun interacting with you. I will always be deeply grateful for the encouragement and support you provided to Jason. I hope that the next chapter in your life will be as rewarding as your teaching experience has been at Sidwell Friends.”
ANNA URCIOLO
Lower School Music Teacher 36 Years of Service
Anna Urciolo has been part of the Sidwell Friends family as a Lower School music teacher for 36 years. Introducing music to the younger Sidwell students has had an impact that has lasted decades—and, for some alumni, has become a permanent presence. “Thank you for introducing the beauty of communal singing and sharing music,” Chris Stevens ’13 wrote in the memory book filled with testimonials from those who had the pleasure of working with Anna. “As an artist in the professional world now, playing music and singing with others has become an integral part of my life, and I am very grateful to you for introducing it to me in a way that fostered such positivity.” Anna was also an important part of Lower School performances, including plays and concerts. “I must be among the faculty who depended on you the most, year after year, to collaborate on class plays,” wrote former faculty and staff member Lindsay McAuliffe. “I loved joining your classes, learning from you along with my students, and sharing laughter and joy at their successes.” “You are an innovative and creative professional who cares deeply about the social, emotional, and academic well-being of young people,” wrote Douglas Tyson, parent of Spencer Tyson ’21 and Mackenzie Tyson ’23. “Students gravitate to your caring culture, warmth of personality, and your belief that all students can be successful with the fine arts.” Even the youngest among us felt called to share just how much of a positive presence Anna has brought to Sidwell Friends. Jack Minzner ’30 captured the feelings of so many people into seven words: “Thank you for being my music teacher." 36
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› RETIRING FACULTY & STAFF
JAMES SENGER
Thank you to the faculty and staff members who also retired at the conclusion of this school year and served less than 20 years or opted for less recognition.
Upper School History Teacher 23 Years of Service
James Senger has been an Upper School history teacher, specializing in the Middle East, since 1996. In his 23 years of service, James was a teacher known for his enthusiastic and engaging instruction. Though he has left the classroom, his lessons linger on to current Sidwell Friends students. “Mr. Senger was just chomping at the bit, waiting to pass on as much knowledge and love for the subject matter as possible,” wrote Dominic Lee ’00, a member of the Sidwell faculty, in the book of memories presented to James upon his retirement. “Now I try and do the same. If I can ever be half the teacher Mr. Senger is, that would be a great feat!” James didn’t just care about his students’ academic accomplishments but also about their overall lives at Sidwell Friends. “Recognizing high school as a stressful time, he reminded his students to enjoy life and look for humor and lightness wherever we could,” wrote Chloe Lansdale ’10. “He brought so much energy to every classroom and made learning so much fun,” wrote Carolyn Peyser ’11. "The world needs more teachers like Mr. Senger!”
NATHANIEL LEWIS
Lower School Maintenance Supervisor 47 Years of Service Nathaniel Lewis may have worked behind the scenes at Sidwell Friends for 47 years, but his presence was vitally important. Nathaniel started in 1972 and held a wide variety of jobs, finishing his time as the Lower School maintenance supervisor. “When the lights went out, the radiator was spewing steam, [and] the mice invaded Manor House, you were the calm, focused center of excellence,” wrote Lindsay McAuliffe, a former faculty and staff member, in the memory book presented to Nathaniel upon his retirement.
Diane Scattergood (40 years of service), in addition to other positions, has been an Upper School English teacher, a member of the college counseling team, and a ninth-grade dean. Readers who would like to wish Diane well or send regards may contact her at danescattergood@mac.com.
Steve Mann (13 years of service) has been a Middle School English teacher and department head of the Middle School English Department.
Burt Nadler (10 years of service) was hired as an interim teacher in 2009. He then served as a Middle School social studies teacher until this year. In 2016 he was the department head of the Middle School History Department.
Many members of the Sidwell community worried that the hole Nathaniel will leave will be more than a metaphor. “Your warm wisdom, masterful skills, and gentle manner have lain at the heart of this place for longer than anyone (except maybe you!) can remember,” wrote Clare Beeny ’96. “We’ll be hoping the school doesn’t fall apart (literally) without you!” ALUMNI MAGAZINE / SUMMER 2019
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› RETIRING FACULTY & STAFF
Farewell, Dude. T
wenty years ago, I was moving into my first DC apartment when I learned that a Mr. Turner from Sidwell Friends had called. I had applied for a job to teach African history, and while I was wisely overlooked for that position, I was seemingly a better fit to teach two sections of United States history. The Dude—Ellis Turner, that is—seemed affable enough. I suspected he was one of those effete, tweed-wearing, pipe-smoking prep school types I had seen in the movies.
I suspected I would never hear from him again. But I was invited in for an interview, and the Dude hired me, promising me that the position would be for one year only. Sounded good to me, as I was skeptical of this whole independent school proposition. My skepticism decreased as I came to know Ellis. He became a friend and mentor, teaching me things that I never knew were important.
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Illustration by Charlie Freeman ’82
By Bryan Garman
He taught me that the word “dude” could be conjugated as follows: dude, duder, dudest, with an irregular form used most frequently by former history teacher George Ovitt— duderonomy. To Ellis, everyone was a dude, a universal term of endearment and one that, depending on how it was inflected, could communicate a range of emotions. “Dude, come on, man” meant that we should stop taking ourselves too seriously. “Dahuuude” meant that something outrageous had taken place. The less enthusiastic “Dude, seriously?” conveyed concern.
› RETIRING FACULTY & STAFF
I learned that he was obsessed with Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, James Fenimore Cooper, the Kennedy assassination, and anything having to do with conspiracy. I learned that he had great nostalgia for the sixties. He had an unusual love of Jimi Hendrix—“Purple Haze” is his ringtone on his school phone—and he is able to quote Bob Dylan lyrics with great alacrity. I learned he does not like to drive over bridges—in fact, once when we were driving to the Eastern Shore for an administrative retreat, he stopped his car on the Annapolis side of the Bay Bridge and asked me to drive across it. After my first few months at the School, I found myself asking, “Is this guy for real? Do they really trust him to teach these kids? To chair the History Department? To be in charge of the crisis communication plan?” They did—and for good reason. The kids loved him. His courses captivated their imaginations and inspired them to engage in original research that would shape their lives for years. He stayed in touch with his students, engaging them with Facebook posts that were at once witty and erudite. Jeff Himmelman ’94 explained that Ellis was a remarkably rigorous grader, but he had a sense of humor that cut the tension of the place and engendered a deep loyalty to students. “He would run through a wall for you,” Jeff remembered—and they would do so for him as well. Former student Ed Dixon ’82 was so devoted to Ellis that he drove Ellis’s wife, Helene, home from the hospital after the birth of their daughter, Marie ’02. And when alumni heard he was retiring, they rallied to throw a farewell party and establish an endowed scholarship in his name.
He abided by an ethos that enabled him to understand the workings of the adolescent brain. He abided by working dutifully with faculty to develop projects that promoted professional growth and stimulated their imaginations. He abided by a love for the School’s history and an unmitigated determination to protect it from an overinquisitive media. He abided by an unusual sense of duty to the institution, one that enabled him to serve brilliantly as interim Upper School principal and interim Head of School and to be entrusted with managing the media and interaction with outside dignitaries. He abided by a generosity of spirit, an edgy sense of humor that helped him—and many of us— navigate the seriousness and weight of this place. After 37 years, the Dude still abides. And as he prepared to leave, I found myself asking, “Dude, what are we going to do without you?”
But Ellis did more than earn the trust of his students. The Dude could be trusted because he abided by an authentic code, one that mixed fun with professionalism, one that bridled a healthy irreverence with unwavering fastidiousness, one that enabled seemingly whimsical inquiry to take place within a scholarly context. ALUMNI MAGAZINE / SUMMER 2019
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› RETIRING FACULTY & STAFF
Poff Leaves the Field
H
aving served Sidwell Friends School for 38 years, Anne “Poff” Renninger retired at the end of the 2018-2019 academic year. As the head coach of the Sidwell Friends girls’ basketball program, she led the team to more than 570 victories and numerous league championships. She also was head coach of the golf, girls’ tennis, and girls’ track and field teams; under her leadership the track and field team celebrated eight championships.
“Poff had such a huge impact on my development as an athlete, student, teammate, and just overall person,” writes Lillian Lardy Brownstein ’99. “She taught me the value of hard work, how to come together as a team, how to learn and recover from loss, and how to be a team leader. Most of all, she really believed in me and supported my abilities before I had the confidence in myself.” At the University of Maryland, Anne was a three-sport athlete, competing in basketball, tennis, and track. She then pursued a career in collegiate coaching, serving as an assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of Maryland, the head coach of George Washington University’s women’s basketball team, and the head track and field coach at the College of William & Mary. She joined Sidwell Friends in 1981. 40
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From 2001–2017, Anne was the David P. Pearson ’52 athletic director; under her leadership, Sidwell Friends won 11 Directors Cups for the best overall athletic performance in the MidAtlantic Athletic Conference. She also worked with the District of Columbia State Athletic Association to establish the DCSAA championship tournaments, in which Sidwell Friends won championships in seven sports. Among other honors, Anne has been inducted into the Frederick County, Maryland, and the DCSAA High School Halls of Fame; was recognized as the Maryland State Athletic Director of the Year in 2017; received the Patsy T. Mink Equity in Education Award; earned the Knights of Columbus Coach of the Year Award; and has twice received the Sidwell Friends Goldberg Family Award, which celebrates outstanding work by the School’s faculty members. Anne is the parent of Steffi Renninger Stiefel ’06 and Chris Renninger ’04, both of whom were student athletes at Sidwell Friends. Chris graduated from the United States Naval
› RETIRING FACULTY & STAFF
Academy and is now on active duty as an orthopedic surgeon with the Navy. Steffi will complete her PhD in psychology at George Washington University this year. Alumni, students, coworkers, and parents speak of Anne’s humor, dedication to her students, and drive to win. “Poff tops a select list of my daughter’s teachers who stand out in my memory as particularly influential,” writes Arik Levinson, parent of Kira Ullman ’11 and Derek Levinson ’13. “I have always admired Poff’s combination of intensity, humor, and perspective on basketball, academics, and life.” Lauren Smith-Papke ’84 writes of Anne’s impact on her “not only as my tennis and basketball coach at Sidwell, but in helping me develop an identity as an athlete, team member, and more confident person overall.” “I found my home and sense of self on the sports fields,” writes Megan McConagha ’86, who played for Anne during Anne’s first year at the School. Anne “transformed a small, inexperienced group of girls into a winning basketball team— and fostered a love of the sport that still makes me ache to go back in time and play one more game.” Anne’s effect on those she taught and coached extends beyond the grounds of Sidwell Friends. Jane Farmer, parent of Christa Farmer ’90 and Matt Farmer ’93, illustrates how Anne’s legacy touches even those who do not know her. Jane writes of Christa, now an associate professor in the Geology, Environment, and Sustainability Department at Hofstra University, that “being part of a track team that was truly a
team, rather than a group of individual competitors, showed her a way to be competitive while still being generous and supportive of her teammates,” Jane writes. “I know she tries to pass that perspective on to her students and her son.” “It is hard to put into words the impact that Poff had on my life,” writes Casey Coleman Hassenstein ’93. “She brought out the best in each and every one of her players, pushing us to do our best and work as hard as we could at all times. She was incredibly tough, but supportive as well—she believed we could do things when we did not think we could.” After Anne's nearly 40 years on the sidelines of the basketball court, her absence will be felt throughout the Sidwell Friends community—past, present, and future. However, the space she leaves behind will be filled by the memories of all of those she touched during her long tenure.
“Poff’s dedication to her craft and to her players shone,” writes Kira Ullman ’11. “Poff set the standard in my life, not just for coaches and educators, but for humans.”
ALUMNI MAGAZINE / SUMMER 2019
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› ALUMNI ACTION
FROM THE CLERK OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ALI MOHAMADI ’94
Dear Friends, How do you bottle up a feeling? I asked myself this very question this past May as my 25-year reunion drew to a close and the reality of waiting another five years for the next one hit me like a ton of bricks. For the better part of 48 hours, memories came flooding back: moments that made me laugh, ones that made me cringe, and even a couple that lift me up to this very day. And then, just like that, it was over. Or so it seemed. Just two weeks later, there I was again sitting among a group of classmates, this time on the opposite side of the country in San Francisco, continuing the conversation from reunion weekend. And with it, the good vibes we had built back in DC. How we bottle up those good vibes is a concept that Cate Fernandez ’76 and Nina Santiago ’98 have been working to understand this past year as co-clerks of the AAEB’s Alumni Experience Task Force. The team has assessed the School’s current engagement opportunities, with an eye toward determining how they might be personalized to meet the diverse needs of the alumni community. While admittedly it’s unlikely the Class of 1994 will be able to continue holding in-person mini reunions every other week going forward, the work Cate and Nina have led will help make sure alumni have ample opportunities to reconnect in ways that speak to them, both through modern technology as well as through tried-and-true methods. So here’s to reunions. And not just those that happen every five years in DC, but all the ones that take place in between, in whatever form they may take.
Ali Mohamadi ’94 and Tijan Watt ’94 hanging out in San Francisco.
Best wishes,
Ali
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› ALUMNI ACTION
REUNION WEEKEND 2019
Clockwise from top: The Class of 1969 at their 50th Reunion Luncheon; Keen Stassen Berger ’59 and Joan Zweben ‘59; the Class of 2004 celebrated Reunion with a baby brunch. Adama Hamadi '04’s son showed some Quaker pride; Members from the Class of 2009 capture a moment together in the photobooth; Mara Bralove ’89 shares a laugh back in class with English teacher Susan Banker; Melissa Lu ’14 and Ana Wong ‘14.
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THE 2019 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS This year marks the 25th anniversary of the DAA. Each year the Alumni Association Executive Board reviews nominations from returning alumni classes at Reunion Weekend. Video presentations are available at www.sidwell.edu/alumni/volunteer/reunion/distinguished-alumni-award Congratulations to our 2019 recipients!
James Boyer ’54 One of our nation’s foremost hepatologists, James is the Ensign Professor of Medicine and Emeritus Director of the Liver Center at the Yale University of Medicine. For more than 50 years, James has collaborated on projects related to liver injury. After founding the Liver Center at Yale, James directed the Center for Membrane Toxicity Studies at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, where he is an honorary trustee, and served as chair of its Board of Trustees for 11 years. He has also chaired the Board of Trustees of the American Liver Foundation. His laboratory has pioneered new insights into the molecular and cellular basis for the bile secretory function of the liver. James’s groundbreaking body of work has enabled other researchers to pursue innovative hepatological investigations, advances, and therapies.
Marilyn Hornbeck Mellowes ’64 Marilyn has dedicated her career to providing public education and programming through national radio and television. A producer and writer for WGBH in Boston, Marilyn developed the ongoing PBS series American Experience and produced From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians for Frontline. In 2004, she created and produced the PBS series God in America to provide historical perspectives and frameworks that would illuminate the United States’ long history of religious freedom and liberty. Her work underscores the complexity of key figures and movements in American history, creating tools for citizens to define civic values and make political decisions.
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Douglas Rogers ’64 Doug has provided critical legal services for individuals in need since graduating from Yale Law School in 1971. Doug began working at the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland before directing teams serving low-income communities at the Ohio Legal Rights Service and the Legal Aid Society of Columbus. After entering private practice, Doug continued to advocate for the economically disadvantaged by heading a state investigation into services for individuals with intellectual disabilities and by taking pro bono cases at the firm. Since retiring, he has volunteered to help Legal Aid lawyers in foreclosure cases and has advocated for lifesaving medical services otherwise denied to low-income individuals.
Edward Cornwell III ’74 Eddie has saved the lives of thousands of patients through his work in some of the best emergency rooms and trauma centers in the country for over two decades. Eddie is a leading advocate for violence prevention in American communities. Currently the chair of the Department of Surgery at Howard University’s College of Medicine and surgeon in chief of Howard University Hospital, he works to establish the university as a top training site for surgeons and to develop centers of excellence in trauma and critical care, transplant surgery, and cardiovascular surgery. Eddie sees his most important work as voicing a message that will fundamentally change the way Americans think about and portray violence.
Tracye McQuirter ’84 Tracye is a best-selling author, speaker, public health nutritionist, and activist who has dedicated her career to teaching people how to live longer, healthier lives through plant-based nutrition. After earning her master of public health from New York University, Tracye directed the nation’s first federally funded vegan nutrition program and served as a nutrition adviser for the Black Women’s Health Imperative, the Coalition for Healthy School Food, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and others. Tracye also cocreated one of the earliest vegan websites, wrote the first vegan diet book for African American women, and cocreated the free African American Vegan Starter Guide, with nearly a half-million copies in print and used by healthcare agencies, colleges, faith-based organizations, and more around the country. ALUMNI MAGAZINE / SUMMER 2019
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› CLASS NOTES
class notes SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Please limit updates to a maximum of 200 words. Entries will be edited for length, clarity, and style. Photos are welcome but must be high resolution–ideally 1 MB or larger. If sending from a smartphone, be sure to click on “original size.” Photos copied from social media will not be large enough to print.
1944
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
Jane Coursin: I happily live in La Jolla, California (one block from the beach) and am still in touch with classmate Florence Montfort. I did attend the 50th reunion of the 1944 class. I enjoy cruises and spending time at my property in Baja California. I would love to hear from classmates!
1948
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
George Gowen: I well remember my years at Friends and utilize what I learned then in the continuing practice of law in New York City. I’m blessed with Marcia, my wife for over 60 years, two daughters, and four grandchildren— graduates of Michigan, Colgate, and Virginia, and the youngest is studying pre-med at Virginia. I’ve been very lucky. Sidwell Friends was part of the luck.
1949
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
Ann Janes-Waller and Fletch Waller on the Dubrovnik city wall.
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William Monroe: I lost my beloved wife, Jean, of 60 years last March. Jean and I met in Peter Dowdall’s restaurant beside a beautiful bay in Birzebbuga, Malta, 61 years ago. Jean was then serving at the Royal Naval Phoenicia hospital on Sliema Bay, while I was flying from Royal Naval Air Station Hal Far with a maritime patrol squadron during my 26-year career in the Navy. Jean was born in 1935 in
Sheffield, England. We fell in love almost instantly. I flew her here in January 1959 in one of the first Pan Am Boeing jets as soon as she was discharged. We were married in Middleburg, Virginia, nine days after she landed. Our eldest son, William D. IV, rests in the columbarium at Arlington following his naval service. Our second son, Tom, our daughter, Janine, and Janine’s son, Patrick, live in Brunswick, Maine, with me. They are taking good care of this creaking old body in our shared grief. Our third son, David, lives near the Naval Air Test Center Patuxent River, managing support for its computer systems. Greetings to my remaining classmates. I enjoyed all of my valuable K-12 years at Friends.
1950
Toby Riley tobyrileyq@gmail.com
Sally Rosenthal Brody: Still in good health, I’ve been living in Brooklyn, New York, for the last 63 years and am still painting and exhibiting my paintings and prints.
1951
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
1952
Carol Black carblack@comcast.net
Fletch Waller: Ann and I were recently in Dubrovnik, trying to grasp and appreciate the intricate and interwoven histories of the Balkan peoples. This trip has led me to Rebecca West, whom I had never before
read. Her Yugoslav insights from 1939 and 1940 (Black Lamb and Grey Falcon) still can be seen playing out today, which leads to the discouraging thought that the deeply rooted resentments might, in this time of growing populist nationalism, bring these folks into open conflict once more. A farmer from the Konavle region whom I asked about his use of “my enemy” responded that “we might be neighbors today but never friends.” Such matters and concerns still command my attention. I find respite in my rowing and stone sculpting, in our hiking and skiing trips, and in grandchildren. I am twice a greatgrandfather now; becoming a great-grand didn’t bother me much until I realized that I have a grandfather for a son!
1953
Gloria Girton ggat58b@orange.fr
Gloria Girton: Spring came to the south of France; I was still wearing my down jacket. Notre Dame suffered; more and more antiSemitic attacks on cemeteries are taking place. France is changing. The far right is moving ahead in Europe. The distaste for immigration continues to grow. I am still studying Italian— learning a foreign language is not as easy as it used to be for me. Living in Avignon, I can follow the seasons—first asparagus, then strawberries, and then apricots, all local. I will be off again to Naples and Rome. The last time I was in Rome, I took a real and a virtual trip through Nero’s Domus. The man had quite an ego. The world is still quite sexist—women are still changing their last names to those of their husbands.
1954
Richard Nicklas rnicklas@mfa.gwu.edu
1955
Nancy Abolin Hardin nahardin@aol.com
1956
Charlie Holland sshrink@cox.net
1957
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
Mary Jo Peterson Culver: I am happily living in a retirement community in the hills outside of Austin, Texas. One of the residents was a classmate of Phil Mallory’s at West Point, and Phil’s first cousin just moved in recently. Would love visitors if you come my way. James M. Hughes: After I graduated from Harvard and from the University of Pennsylvania, my wife, Betsy, and I moved to Ohio in 1964. As founding faculty at our respective educational institutions, we devoted our teaching careers to the Miami Valley School and Wright State University. At WSU, I taught American literature and popular culture, women’s literature and gender studies, urban studies, composition, and business English. I retired in 1996 but continued to teach for over a decade, first in Lisbon, Portugal, then back at WSU as an adjunct, and then for the University of Dayton Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Now I enjoy the life of a student at the UDOLLI. Daughter Hilles graduated from the College of Wooster, and son Brad graduated from Kenyon College. Hilles worked first as a career counselor at Marietta College and is now deputy director of the Washington County Behavioral Health Board. Brad lives in Columbus, where he practices law. Three of our four grandchildren reside in Ohio. A series of serious illnesses put me in the hospital a few years ago, but I have recovered, and I celebrated my 80th birthday in 2018.
1958
Craig Morgan craighmorgan@gmail.com
Larry Aaronson: I finally retired to my “retirement.” Meanwhile, I’m madly writing my memoirs, tentatively titled The Life and Mind of a Crazy Radicalized Public School Educator. (Hint: I’m naming names!!! LOL). I continue to work at Camp Shohola, alongside Kit Barger’s amazing son, Duncan Barger, now the camp co-director, along with his wonderful wife, Holly. I’m camp photographer. I manage the Cinema Club of Boston. We preview and then critique independent films before they are distributed. Membership is about 230! I continue to manage the frailties of this rapidly aging 79-year-old body and
still maintain my cognitive agility. My physical agility is a whole other story. I enjoy reading the Class of ’58’s online exchanges. With much love and appreciation. Reid Chambers continues to practice law and was recently honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Federal Bar Association’s Indian Law Section. He shared this award with his longtime law partner and friend, Harry Sachse, who in 1976, along with Reid and the late Marvin Sonosky, founded a law firm to protect and advance the rights and interests of Native Americans. The firm now has over 20 lawyers and offices in DC, Albuquerque, San Diego, Juneau, and Anchorage. John Coffman: Bobbie and I are living in Julian, North Carolina, across the fence from Martha and John, Bobbie’s daughter, and their family. Bobbie’s little horse and goat are on the farm, and we are becoming accustomed to the downsized lifestyle. We are up to three great-grands, and it looks like our kids’ and grandkids’ families have called for a temporary halt to further growth. I continue with rehab for my aortic valve replacement last year, and I am almost back to normal strength. I am no competition for Steve Stovall’s run, but I did help with a small building project this spring. I hope to participate in another boat-building project before the year is out. Class rep note: John and I recently had a great evening together, and John is looking lively indeed. His replacement valve is from a cow, no doubt higher capacity than mere human valves. Geoff Huguely reports that he and Sue Peterson Huguely ’59 now have three granddaughters who are married. In addition to their 10 grandchildren, they have two great-grandchildren, with another on the way. Geoff is still working, but he and Sue are enjoying some travel in between. Recent trips include Australia, New Zealand (dinner with Mary Myers and Robert Myers), South Africa, Israel, and Switzerland. Craig Morgan: Our son, Nathaniel, recently married—the last of our four children to do so. It was a beautiful wedding, and the groom’s parents are still aglow. And another piece of great news is that our class continues to use its chain email (a poor man’s listserv) to discuss all sorts of things: memories of our days at Friends, plus news of our current lives, of course, but also politics, healthcare, climate change, nuclear power, nuclear disarmament,
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inequality, Colorado firefighting, and, finally, how to play the age card with our kids, as in “We need to get together this year, because who knows about next?” Dave Price has received a wonderful, surprise honor from his two children and has once again been honored by Pinewood Preparatory School as well, which he has tirelessly supported for 45 years. Working with the school for almost a year and without Dave’s knowledge, his children established and funded an ongoing scholarship at Pinewood in his name. The scholarship is for a rising senior who has achieved strong academics and has an interest in a career in medicine. They announced the scholarship to Dave a mere ten days before the first one was awarded. Annette Eisenberg Stiefbold: My husband, Ed Bell, and I are still enjoying life in the Rossmoor active adult retirement community in Walnut Creek, California, and in Coral Gables, Florida. I recently had the great pleasure of attending my oldest granddaughter’s graduation from Carnegie Mellon University. She graduated with honors with a double major in biomedical engineering and materials engineering. Her plan is to work for a few years before going to graduate school in her field. Steve Stovall is still running, and your class representative—green with envy—has been following his adventure closely. Steve gets the Die Hard Road Racer Prize, awarded each year to an individual who breaks two ribs, punctures a lung, and yet a mere six weeks later enters and completes a 5K race. Some months after that, he completed another 5K, finishing 830th out of 3,277 participants and 3rd out of 14 in the age class 70–79. (Might it tell us something that of the 3,277 runners, only 14 were over 69?) And then Steve got to bond with his 9 year-old granddaughter in yet another 5K. This one was the ending event of Girls on the Run, a 10-week program tied to Denver-area schools to encourage young girls to run.
The CLASS OF 1959 celebrates at the class party during Reunion Weekend 2019.
1959
Clark Griffith ccgpa@ccgpa.com
REUNION RECAP By Clark Griffith The Class of 1959 celebrated its 60th Reunion. Of 51 members of the class, 27 attended. That’s 53 percent after 60 years. We hope that those who didn’t attend are well. The reunion began at Zartman House’s beautiful lawn near the ancient boxwoods. We remember when the School traded the land across Wisconsin Avenue for the Zartman House property, and we were the first group to play on the new athletic fields. We won the first football game played there, against Baltimore Friends, in a pouring rainstorm. We also won soccer games, field hockey games and were IAC champions in baseball for the first two years (1958-59). Matty Walton perfected the 880-yard dash on the track. Zartman House was where we studied Spanish, French, and Latin from the three master teachers: Sra. Supervia, Mme. Port, and Dma. Rosebrook. Of course, it was also where Headmaster Robert Lyle kept his office. I visited him there several times, once after he caught me with chewing tobacco during a baseball game. It was a different time. Mr. Lyle especially liked beating St. Albans, Georgetown Prep, and Landon.
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What was most striking is how well the attendees looked and behaved, mostly. We really enjoy being together and regaled each other with tales of our interesting lives. As the song says, “Round the girdled earth they roam.” That has certainly been the case. We’ve been everywhere and number artists, authors, master social workers, several doctors, a gaggle of lawyers, and a spy or two among the class. We enjoyed dinner at Carolyn Mulliken Dubuque’s house on Friday night. Sue Kroeger gave impeccable directions to the house near Tenley Circle, which is where Carolyn lived during her ’SFS days. She walked to school! We were guests of Sue Peterson Huguely and Geoff Huguely ’58 on Saturday night. Eve Josko de Gueron made the trip from Venezuela with her daughter, and Bernhard Glaeser traveled from Berlin. Bernhard made my day by admitting that Upper School Head Perkins had suspended his senior privileges. For 60 years I thought I was the only one whose privileges had been suspended. Thanks, Bernhard. I wonder what I did? We will meet again in five years and enjoy another wonderful reunion. I told the group that they are my indispensable people as each one contributed to my life. That can’t be said for any other group.
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Terry Eakin: My wife, Lindsay, and I spent nine months as Stanford University Distinguished Careers Institute fellows. We rented a small house in Palo Alto and rode our bicycles up Palm Drive every day to courses throughout the university. A favorite course for me was An Entrepreneurial Approach to Education Reform, but we also appreciated other courses—such as Abstract Art, The American West, and Rock, Sex, and Rebellion— that I somehow missed before this year. Mike Gonnerman ’61 and wife Betsy hosted alumni for a Dartmouth Dinner. First Row, Left to Right: Tatiana Lamia ’95, Pippa Gage ’95, Kenny Coleman ’16, Betsy Gonnerman, Mary Carrasco, Mike Gonnerman ’61 Second Row, Left to Right: David Van Remoortere ’06, Evan Honnold ’14, Gyorgy Brevnov ’16, David Hauge ’16, Sebastian Carter ’17
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Jody Hutchinson mjodyh@yahoo.com
1961
Linda Deming Ratcliff ldratcliff@comcast.net
Michael Gonnerman: In March, Mike and Betsy Gonnerman hosted the second annual dinner at the Hanover Inn for Sidwell Friends alumni attending Dartmouth. We were also joined by several other alumni living in the Hanover area. In May, Mike represented the class at the celebration of Señora Supervia held at the School.
1962
We enjoyed getting to know the other 33 fellows in our program and being able to hear numerous speakers during our stay. Fortunately for me, we received no grades and were not required to write papers—unlike at SFS! Other high points during our California adventure were seeing our five grandchildren living in the state and meeting Meme and Peter Enemark at one of their favorite local restaurants. I look forward to catching up with many of my classmates this fall. Meme Lund Enemark and Peter Enemark: We came to Washington, DC, in May to see friends, family, and some of our high school classmates: Jeff Fletcher and his wife, Tara, at the District ChopHouse; Miles MacIntyre, Chett Breed, and his wife, Suanna, at the Phillips Collection; and Tracy Mullin Moroney and her husband, Bill, at Guapo’s in Georgetown. Meme had lunch with Jan Bernhard Phalen at Le Chat Noir. We also drove down to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to see our nephew, Barton, son of Judy Lund Biggs ’53. On the way home from Harrisonburg, we drove along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, which added only five miles—but three hours—to the trip home.
Ellen Gay: My husband, Gary, and I are retiring at the end of June. This is a big deal for us, since we have worked and worked and worked! We are both clinical psychologists in private practice. I am soon to be, I don’t know—what? A pianist? A student? Certainly an activist. And certainly a creator of stories that I hope will entertain my 4 year-old granddaughter, Aurelia. Many new avocations are intriguing to contemplate! I am planning a reunion for our class of 1962 on the weekend of November 9 and 10, 2019, in Washington, DC. I’d be delighted to hear from you about any ideas you have. Certainly we will have a couple of meals together. Maybe we’ll do something at Sidwell Friends—possibly a hockey game or a football game. Please, please, please consider this get-together a must! I look forward to seeing all of you. In peace and with love. Jill Robinson Grubb: As I watched Trump roll back the protections Obama had tried to install, withdraw from the Paris Accords, and put predators in charge of the EPA and Energy Department at the same time the effects of climate change were accelerating, I thought I must do something. The Citizens Climate Lobby has been pushing the passage of HR 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act—a bipartisan bill—aimed at driving down carbon pollution while encouraging American technology and ingenuity. It is up to each of us to do what we can to wake people up to the urgency of climate change and to be active ourselves. Lana Harding: I just finished the best book I’ve read in a long time (maybe ever) and wanted to mention it to you all before I forget. It’s called Lab Girl by Hope Jahren. I don’t want to try to summarize what it is about because
Peter Enemark peter.and.meme@gmail.com
Roland Milton Chubbock: This was the last year of the annual Rolling Thunder ride on Memorial Day weekend in Washington, DC, and I felt I had to make the 1,650-mile trip from Lubbock, Texas. I got on my 2009 Harley-Davidson XL Sportster and arrived in DC on Friday in time for the Blessing of the Bikes at the National Cathedral. I’m getting too old for the 6 a.m. reveille at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the 7 a.m. rally at the Pentagon parking lot on Sunday, so I skipped the ride across the Memorial Bridge and started back to Lubbock on Monday morning. I’m really glad I came. Friends forever!
Left: The Rolling Thunder ride on Memorial Day weekend in Washington, DC, attended by Roland Milton Chubbock ’62, who rode all the way from Lubbock, Texas. Right: Meme Lund Enemark ’62 and Peter Enemark ’62 at Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park
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I couldn’t do it justice, but the writing is so beautiful. I read it on my Kindle but bought a paper copy to read again and again. I also enjoyed The Secret Life of Trees by Colin Tudge, which was both interesting and informative. Hi to all. I hope you are well and happy. Ellie Duffey Hayward: My oldest grandson, Noel, will be going off to college this year. He is the first child of my son, Jeff, and my lovely, charming daughter-in-law, Beth. Jeff and Beth lived in the South for many years before moving to Edina, Minnesota, less than 20 minutes from our home in Minneapolis. Noel was accepted at several colleges, including Emory. But he wanted to experience something different and just liked the feel of California and Berkeley. Ed. note: the big game between Stanford and Berkeley should be interesting for the Hayward family this year; Noel’s grandfather Ed went to Stanford. Art Hill: For the past two years, I’ve been living out a dream I’ve had since college—to own and operate my own small-town newspaper. Well, sort of. I don’t own the publication, and it’s a magazine, not a newspaper. Perhaps that’s a good thing, given the perilous financial state of newspapers these days. But I am the editor, so I guess I’m realizing the pleasure I envisioned with none of the downside. Cat-Tales is a monthly publication sent to the nearly 6,000 property owners living near Southport, North Carolina. Since most magazines—even monthlies—are full-time operations, you might say I’ve emerged from retirement. Of course, it’s a volunteer position, so like many publishers and editors of small-town newspapers, I’m not going to get rich. But it’s keeping me busy. Glenn McClelland: I have enjoyed hearing about informal attempts to get together in Washington but unfortunately have been in either New Hampshire or Connecticut at the time and have a limited ability to travel due to spinal stenosis, which makes it painful. I made it through my Senior Society’s graduation ceremonies this weekend, which I have orchestrated since 2001. This morning I had a meeting with one of my neurosurgeons who is advising me on how extensive an operation I should have in June. Luckily, this is one of the few health issues I currently have. I look forward to reconnecting when I am in my recovery phase. Best regards.
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Erik Thorson reports that Judy McGregor Caldwell was in Nashville a couple months ago and stopped by with her cousin and her cousin’s daughter for an early Sunday brunch. Rhonda makes the most wonderful biscuits, big and fluffy, so we had a typically low-cal Southern breakfast—biscuits and bacon with the usual spreadable accoutrements. We got jacked up on coffee and talked and laughed and had a grand old time. It’s always great to see old friends and to make new ones. I still haven’t lost those five pounds. Ed. note: It has been said that sooner or later everyone travels through the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. We asked flight attendant Judy Markley Wastler for some suggestions about where to eat if you find yourself in the Atlanta airport. Here is Judy’s reply. Judy Markley Wastler: My favorite places to eat are takeout, for the most part, since I’m usually on the run between flights. I like Bobby’s Burger Palace in Concourse B. I like the burrito bowls at Willy’s Mexicana Grill in the middle of Concourse B. Atlanta Bread Company is in Concourse C and has very good sandwiches, soups, and salads and tables in the back. El Taco, also in Concourse C, is known for its tortilla soup. Concourse C has tables in the middle for all of the restaurants there. Five Guys is always good (especially the fries) and is in both Concourses C and D. I’m flying a lot this summer, and I still really love it. I don’t like international flying, but I love domestic flights—the closer to home (Atlanta), the better! Anything over two hours is too long. That’s when passengers start getting antsy, and use our galley for a gym and push their call buttons. When I’m not flying, I’m walking my golden retriever, Breck, who is finally aging out of the puppy stage. I hope this finds everyone doing well! Steve Woolpert: I’ve devoted a lot of energy during my years at St. Mary’s College to promoting environmental sustainability. I helped establish our Environmental Science and Studies Program, taught courses on environmental law and politics, established a student-run organic garden, and got campus sustainability included in the College’s strategic plan. Now, as I gradually move towards retirement, I’m waging one last campaign: to convince the Board of Trustees to divest fossil fuel stocks from its endowment portfolio, joining about 150 campuses worldwide that have already committed to fossil fuel divestment. This year I began the process of getting support from campus
groups representing the faculty, staff, and students. My goal is to present a resolution to the president next year for submission to the trustees’ investment committee. The fact that Chevron has donated funds to the college may give them pause. But I hope they will consider what we are teaching our students by counting on fossil fuel producers to deliver a steady profit stream to our endowment, regardless of the deleterious effects it may have on the world’s climate. Cheers.
1963
Margo Lee Hofeldt margo10022@aol.com
Walter Ailes: I am blessed with a longitudinal benchmark. I spend the growing season on the farm in West Virginia that has been in the family my whole life. I worked by my father’s side, then side by side with him, and then he worked by my side until he couldn’t, and then he was gone. The jobs don’t change, although some tools do, but in the end you lift, bend, problem solve, sweat, and fade after 4 p.m. My days are shorter, but I am retired, so that is compensated for. My balance is an adventure, so ladders have come off the list, and as you can imagine, the lists are longer. We used to be a family of six, and now are down to two, but thankfully little ones have surfaced on the other side. This is life and my only rule is to have lunch with age mates and dinner with the young. Since I fell back a grade from you guys, I assume that makes me at least a year younger, so I will listen to my elders. John Bralove: Anna and I just returned from Spain after a ten-day trip. Spain has just tied or replaced Italy as my favorite European country. I was reminded of my trip with Bob Goldman in the summer of 1963. Franco was still in power. Bob’s Spanish was so good they thought he was a native—56 years ago! Anna and I both are doing well. I have retired from the Captiva Erosion Prevention District again. They keep calling me back to replace my replacements, who for one reason or another just don’t seem to last very long. But this was the last time. We both continue to play tennis three or four times a week (doubles), have coffee or lunch after tennis with our friends, and generally enjoy life. Rosaura Eichenberg: I was an exchange student, and the aim of the AFS program was to improve the understanding among different cultures. I think now we are living in dangerous times, so I write you to exchange ideas to gain
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Vietnamese instruction, followed by a year in Vietnam. All returned. I was lucky enough to spend 18 really great months in the Canal Zone. The night of my return to La Jolla from Chicago, Food Network aired a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives episode taped several months earlier at Grand Ole BBQ outside El Cajon. An old acquaintance, a producer of the show, invited me to the taping, and I made the cut, with two brief appearances raving about the really delicious lamb tacos!
Pete Rice ’63 recently found this photo of his kindergarten class at the McLean Gardens campus in 1950. He remembers sliding under the white picket fence and running away at least once a week. We would love to know all the names of everyone in the photo. If you have ideas, please email us at magazine@sidwell.edu.
strength in our daily battle. After all, we are in the same boat and on the same side, and we must be together to keep the danger at bay. We have great political turmoil in Brazil. The new president is under constant death threats. I was very glad he did not go to New York, because that visit looked like a trap, and he was already stabbed before the election. Anyway, life must go on, and the most beautiful season in Rio, the winter, started in June. And my Dickie is still by my side. This month I will take part in another demonstration trying to provide some support for our new president, who is relentlessly attacked by the corrupt politicians in Congress. I was delighted to receive an email from you with an article on old age. And it was a treat to read many of your comments on the subject. It is nice to hear voices from the past. Lucy Hilmer: I still remember being in the back seat of my mom’s car with a friend on the way home from school one afternoon, when we all heard news of Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper’s way-too-early demise. How lucky we all are still to be on the planet, learning as we go. Margo Lee Hofeldt: It’s beautiful in Miami and wonderful to enjoy every day! My garden club had its annual standard flower show in March. The theme was “Dancing in the Garden,” and my category was “Tango” and I did a pedestal design. I received a second-place ribbon, and I’m especially proud since the first-place ribbon went to the person who also won Best in Show. My two years as garden club president are now over, and new club officers were installed at our annual Spring Luncheon in April. I’m still very involved but in a different way. Other activities
of the last several months include the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. There are dinners, wine tastings, and food tastings. We took a pizza-making class, and then we ate our pizza for lunch! I went on several house and garden tours and saw some of the beautiful gardens that were just beginning to bloom. We also went to Dallas and Fort Worth for a long weekend to visit friends. Now we are getting ready to drive up to Connecticut for the summer. We will also do some traveling to Oregon, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. It’s going to be a busy summer for sure! Jeanne Perkins Hofferkamp: Last fall, Steve and I went to San Diego and had a wonderful time. We stayed at the Hotel del Coronado, where the movie Some Like It Hot was filmed with Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. We also went to see the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier that is permanently docked for visitors to see. Truly amazing! Lunch at Torrey Pines was wonderful! Then we spent the holidays at home. In February we went to Scottsdale, Arizona—nice to go somewhere warm! Other than the usual infirmities with aging, we are both fine. Hard to believe how fast the time goes. Our grandchildren are now 16 (yes, driving!), 14, and 5. We wish good health and happiness to everyone! Some of my best times are remembering all of the fun and excitement had during our times together at Friends! David Ogilvy: I was in Chicago for the 50th reunion of my Military Intelligence class from Fort Holabird, which 16 of the 24 members attended. Half of the class went to 52 weeks of
Sandra Robertson: I’m going back to graduate school in the fall for an MFA in creative writing from San Diego State University. I’ve published four stories, but there’s always more to learn. And this time (unlike my other degrees), if I find it’s too much for me, I can quit. After years of drought, the melting polar ice cap has brought rain to San Diego. Everything is in glorious bloom for all the wrong reasons. How can we be glad? Diana Willis Rothman: On a good day, Mary Pipher’s article fits me well. On a tired day, I can appreciate friends and family and experience golden moments, but my brain can’t do demanding tasks (like going through Don’s papers with an eye to what to keep for children and grandchildren) and I gripe about having to check my posture every time I stand up so my scoliosis doesn’t affect my back and right knee. A friend who is living with terminal cancer helped me reframe those days as “gentle days,” but I still experience them as less desirable than the energetic days. I loved the echo of “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” in the Shay (sorry, my aging brain can’t call up that title). Wouldn’t it be wonderful to run until suddenly turning into dust (or stardust)! Too late for me,
David Ogilvy '63 with a producer from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
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as I prepare to go off to rehabilitative pilates. George Smith: I retired from a commercial insurance career in 2012. That same year, I made a trip to Israel and was amazed by what I saw. My heart has been with both the land and the people since I knew classmates at Sidwell Friends. In 2014, I returned for an annual worldwide ecumenical celebration in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. In 2015 I created a “helps” ministry to Israel, “His Hands in Israel.” Last year I spent two weeks in southern Israel, close enough to see buildings in Gaza from which Hamas fires rockets and mortars at its neighbors. This fall I will spend time with a seventh-generation rabbi whose family arrived in Jerusalem over 325 years ago. I will also volunteer to care for and feed the needy in Tel Aviv, as well as return to Sderot to assist preparing and feeding local children in their schools. In February I will celebrate my 20th year as director of my church’s food outreach to those who need help. As I close, I can remember different projects I did as a student at Sidwell Friends that likely helped guide me to be someone to help those who can’t always help themselves. Blessings!
1964
Louise Berry Strait lbstrait@gmail.com
REUNION RECAP By Louise Berry Strait
reach the Reunion Lunch in the Kenworthy Court of the new Pearson Athletic Center caused me to wonder if we would be eating in a bunker, but the court’s spectacular wall of windows was a welcome surprise. We were very pleased to meet Doug Rogers’s wife, daughter, son-in-law, and three of his grandchildren, but were dismayed to hear that Marilyn Mellowes would not be attending for health reasons. Doug was honored for his extensive work for Legal Aid Societies of Cleveland and Columbus and his lifetime advocacy for the disadvantaged. Marilyn’s long career as a producer at Boston public television station WGBH included her initiating the PBS American Experience series.
was concluded with a cake cutting, presided over by our attending honoree, Doug Rogers. The 20-plus guests came from near and far: They included several who have been meeting monthly in Bethesda (see description in Class Notes) and, from the West Coast, Toni and John Schulman and Rich Fisher.
Following the lunch, the serene Robert L. Smith Meeting Room was an appropriate place to be together in silence to honor the members of the 13 celebrating reunion classes who have passed away. Their names listed by class were displayed on the wall of the Meeting Room; the names for the Class of 1964 included all of those honored at our 50th reunion five years ago, with Addison “Chip” Greenwood added.
Bonnie Eisenberg: It was a pleasure to see and visit with our classmates who attended the 55th class reunion. Kudos to Henry Masur and his wife, Grace, for hosting the lovely class dinner. My news is that my oldest daughter, Becky, is getting married in Atlanta at the end of June to Steve Davis. We love Steve and are very happy for them. When not at wedding events, my family will stay together in a beautiful house in Buckhead and have our usual fun time together, not doing much of anything but laughing, joking, and enjoying each other. The family includes (in addition to Becky and Steve) my husband, Frank; my younger daughter, Susie; her husband, Nick; and my son, Andy, his wife, Lauren, and their two girls, Ellie, 6, and Maggie, 2, my beloved granddaughters. Norm Elrod: My grandson, Lennox, graduated
The home of Grace and Henry Masur in Bethesda proved to be the perfect setting for our dinner Saturday night. This was the second time that the Masurs have hosted our class dinner; this time we especially enjoyed a large addition and deck reaching into their extensive shaded yard. The buffet dinner offering an unusual variety of food
Thank you, Sidwell Friends, for continuing to host these occasions that allow us to support each other through the landmark events of our lives. And also thanks to other members of the reunion committee: Bobbie Seitz Turnbull, Norm Elrod, Bonnie Eisenberg, Richard May, Rich Fisher, Henry Masur, and our Sidwell Friends liaison, Ashley Doherty.
Members of the Class of 1964 attending our 55th reunion were treated to many memorable experiences. Beyond renewing friendships and strengthening long-standing ones, we toured a totally transformed campus, with only three buildings surviving from our era; additionally, we witnessed two of ours, Marilyn Hornbeck Mellowes and Douglas Rogers, receive this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award. We started the weekend on Friday evening at one of the buildings from our memory, Zartman House, for the Half-Century Club Happy Hour in the Bernstein Drawing Room. The next morning we were impressed by the Upper School building—especially the renovated library, prompting some memories about its location in a Quonset hut in our day. Some of us took in one of the alumni classes; I heard several glowing reports on Language and Identity, taught by Upper School Principal Mamadou Guèye. Our long descent beneath the football field to 52
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The CLASS OF 1964 celebrates at its class party during Reunion Weekend 2019.
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recently in the top 5 percent of his class at Wheaton High School. He was in the engineering magnet program of Montgomery County’s STEM program and is a member of the National Honor Society. He will attend Oxford College of Emory University this fall, where he will pursue a pre-med curriculum. He had also been a starter on the Wheaton soccer team and has been offered a place on the Oxford College team. Henry Masur is still working as the chief of critical care medicine at the NIH Clinical Center. A major focus of his in addition to the NIH intensive care unit is improving HIV care in Washington, DC, with emphasis on new programs to reduce the impact of opioid use disorder on persons with HIV. Much of his DC work is with two other Sidwell Friends graduates, Amanda Derryck Castel ’91, from the GW’s School of Public Health, and Maryland Pao ’80, clinical director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Henry and Grace have three children, all of whom will be out of school and gainfully employed in Bethesda, Baltimore, and Nashville as of this summer. Henry was especially impressed to view the video at the reunion lunch that interviewed Doug Rogers about his life accomplishments with Ohio Legal Aid—one of many 1964 SFS graduates who has made a difference. George McClelland: I am sorry I could not attend our reunion because of a family memorial. A lot has transpired since graduation: economics degree, graduate degree, Air Force service, and the process of creating a difference. I’m now investigating medical fraud. Also, I have long been interested in stopping generational poverty and am a founding director of Friends of the Children Boston, which works with five-year-olds identified as most at risk. We have professional staff who stay with our “Achievers” until they graduate high school. Last month Jacquie and I celebrated our 50th anniversary, and we have two married children and four grandchildren. Doug Rogers: I enjoyed the reunion a great deal. One member of the Class of 1964 mentioned it was great to talk not just with classmates who had been our closest friends at Sidwell Friends but also with other classmates whom we had not known as well. That was true for me, also. The ’64 class members who meet together periodically in the DC area have established a great practice and can keep us in periodic communications with each other,
exchanging views and interests and avoiding unnecessary isolation in retirement. Diana Willis Rothman: I’m living in Queens, retired but still writing articles (Jacobin, Monthly Review, Salon, Truthout), mostly about immigration. A colleague and I also occasionally moderate informal dialogues on immigration, both here in New York and in other cities. For the past year I’ve volunteered with the New Sanctuary Coalition, which helps asylum-seekers complete and file their asylum applications. My most recent experience concerned a woman who was separated from her child last year under the administration’s zero-tolerance policy. At least one other Sidwell Friends graduate also helps out with the coalition. I’d love to hear from other alumnae and alumni who do similar volunteer work in New York or elsewhere in the country. Louise Berry Strait: The two-day celebration of the 55th reunion of the Class of 1964 was attended in whole or in part by Steve Aylor, George Bernstein, Chris Brown, Marika Moore Cutler, Bonnie Eisenberg, Norm Elrod, Rich Fisher, Sandy Behlow Fowler, Henry Masur, Richard May, Doug Rogers, Van Schenck, John Schulman, Louise Berry Strait, and Bobby Seitz Turnbull. Our gathering was diminished by at least three who had hoped to come but were in the midst of relocating, but we were blessed by the presence of 12 (very patient) spouses. Our Bethesda monthly luncheon in May included Bonnie Eisenberg, Norm Elrod, Sandy Fowler, Louise Strait, and special guest Ashley Doherty. Other attendees have included Scott McCulloch, Richard May, Marika Moore Cutler, Lea Jablonsky Uhre, Diane Hall Wolf, Van Schenck, Steve Aylor, and Sandy Schinnerer Wolfe. All Class of 1964 members are welcome and appreciated. To be included, please notify Bobby Turnbull at bobbyturnbull@comcast.net. Bobby Seitz Turnbull: Last fall Don and I went on a wonderful Ancient Empires cruise from Rome to Malta. Following three days of a pre-tour in Rome, where we saw the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Vatican, we boarded the Le Laperouse, a lovely small ship holding only 160 passengers. For us the highlight of the trip was Pompeii; it is amazing how much has been uncovered. We also enjoyed the Amalfi Coast, Capri, Sicily, and Malta, where we spent an extra day on our own.
1965
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
Juliet Cunningham: On May 17, the Cambridge Chamber Ensemble premiered my edition of Handel’s opera Silla, based on the life of Lucius Cornelius Sulla (if Miss Rosebrook could only have been there!). I reduced the orchestration from 15 players to four, added choral parts to the dream sequence, composed a scene Handel omitted, added the producer’s (Martha Birnbaum) singing translation, and wrote the harpsichord part’s right hand. I did this so we could avoid paying 325 euros per book for the Baerenreiter edition. It was enthusiastically received by the audiences. We will be publishing online. Woodruff Halsey: My family and I are back in the United States now while our twins finish secondary school. The stars did not align for them to attend SFS as I’d hoped, so they enrolled at Loomis Chaffee and we moved to Connecticut last year. As soon as they enter college in 2020, I hope we can return at least part-time to France, where we have kept our house in Avignon and I have applied for citizenship. My grown daughters, two in Northern California and one in Vermont, have blessed me with six grandchildren so far, so I have lots of reasons to spend time in this part of the world too. Perhaps I’ll see some classmates at our 55th! John Reeside: Out of retirement, I’m teaching aerodynamics and flying four days per week at California Aeronautical University. I sold a medical device company, Endoclearinc.com. To avoid boredom, I translated six chapters of Job from Hebrew and learned to read Mandarin—still need help with the tones but improving. Philip Todd: Philip “Flip” Todd drove 750 miles from Anchorage to Haines, Alaska, at the end of May to meet the ferry for the ride to Juneau, which is not accessible by highway. He is still running his publishing company, Todd Communications, which publishes and distributes books about Alaska. This is a great trip with lots of returning swan pairs in small lakes along the Alaska Highway and plenty of black and brown bears. Flip and his wife, Wiranda, survived the 7.1 Anchorage earthquake in November by being in Hong Kong at the time. Only a few bookcases and china cabinets tipped over with minimal
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damage to their home, which also had survived the 9.1 mega-earthquake of 1964, the largest ever recorded in North America.
1966
Chris Dematatis CDematatis@aol.com
Deborah Fosberg Nelson: Turning 70 years old and being a grandma seems impossible! But three surgeries in three years tells me I have aged. Once I have my total knee replacement after Memorial Day, I plan to teach an adult education course on Don Quixote, continue with International House Spanish Conversation and Book Club, and return to volunteer translating at a free medical clinic and teaching ESL to immigrants.
1967
Steve Batzell swb.abacus@gmail.com
1968
Rollie Frye rolliefrye@gmail.com
Ernest Evans: I continue to teach in the political science and criminal justice programs of the Leavenworth Center of Kansas City Kansas Community College. Also,
because the US Army’s Staff College is also in Leavenworth, I guest lecture there 15 to 20 times a year. The 50th reunion reminded me of how much I owe to my classmates of 1968! As everyone who was in a class with me at Sidwell Friends remembers, I tended to dominate the discussions too much. Fortunately, there were three wise, thoughtful women, Susan Slack Skinner, Joan Lewis Bunning, and Debbie Smith Hechinger, who had a lot of classes with me and who soon learned how to keep me in line. Specifically, they were all masters of “the look”—when I was talking too much they would give me the look—and I would know that it was time to pipe down and let someone else have a chance to say something. So, many thanks to Susan, Joan, and Debbie for teaching me at a young age that I did not have all the answers!! Rollie Frye: The big news since our 50th reunion is that our son, Jody Frye ’12, just received his master’s of education in teaching from American University. Catherine O’Neill Grace: I just celebrated my five-year anniversary as a writer and editor for the Wellesley College alumnae magazine (magazine.wellesley.edu) and have no plans to retire anytime soon. I love the work, and the college students keep me as hip as it is possible to be at 68. Let me know if you’re in the Boston area. I’d love to see my Friends friends. Kate Waits welcomed granddaughter Shoshana Belsky on Thanksgiving Day 2018. She was born here in Akron, Ohio, because
The CLASS OF 1969 celebrates at the class party during Reunion Weekend 2019.
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Kate Waits ’68 with husband, Marty Belsky, and grandchildren Ari Belsky and Shoshana Belsky.
in October our son, Allen Belsky, moved here along with his wife, Alex Sweatt Belsky, and son, Ari Belsky. They LOVE it here, and we love having them here. It’s amazing having kids and grandkids a five-minute drive away, compared with nearly 1,000 miles away in Oklahoma.
1969
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
REUNION RECAP By Ellen Carter Woodbridge As I stood on the steps of the Zartman House for our class photo, I remembered walking down those steps 50 years ago. For just a minute, I felt 17 again. All around me were those good friends who had helped guide me through my younger years. We had just come from the first event of our reunion, a luncheon with Head of School Bryan Garman honoring our class. We enjoyed a delightful buffet, caught up with old friends and passed out the 50th Reunion yearbooks. Later in the afternoon, we got to meet our 5th Grade Buddies, with whom we had been corresponding. We spent almost an hour with them, hearing about their projects and sharing lemonade and cookies. One of the highlights of the weekend for me was when members of our class met with Robbie Gross, an Upper School history teacher, to talk about our meaningful and diverse experiences in the 1960s. Saturday morning, we met for Remembrance of Classmates Lost, organized by Sara Irwin, and shared our stories about the 11 class members who are no longer with us. Linda Morgan’s daughter, Meredith
› CLASS NOTES
Karam ’03, and her husband, Craig Nilson, joined us, as well as Phil Dibble’s sister, Sandra Dibble ’72. On Saturday night, Roger Ferguson and his wife, Annette Nazareth, welcomed us to their lovely home for a delicious class dinner, and we continued the many conversations we had started earlier in the day. Suzy Hawes even joined us from New Zealand via Skype. There are many photographs from the weekend that express more than I can say here, so I hope you have a chance to look through them. Thank you to Ashley and Polly Rodriguez for helping to create the yearbook. If you were not able to send your page for the yearbook but would still like to, please email me at ecarter@gwu.edu. Ashley Doherty has kindly offered to create a PDF file of the book and send it out to everyone. Evelyn Feld: Our 50th class reunion infused me with the energy of our high school years. It was surreal and wonderful to see classmates again, some whom I had not seen since graduating, and to get caught up. I learned a lot from my classmates at all the reunion events and felt renewed and recharged from our conversations and hearing about all the things that everyone was doing. Walking around the campus evoked many memories, and seeing all the changes that have been made over the last 50 years was a good way to reacquaint myself with all that has happened there since graduating. I am grateful that our class continues to stay connected with each other, and I hope that we will keep making an effort to reconnect.
1970
Margaret Weaver Krull mwkrull@me.com
Cathy Moreno Bodine: I am moving to Dallas this summer with my daughter, son-in-law, and two beautiful grandsons. Jenny is starting her internship at UTSW hospital. We will be living in Grapevine. I still have to sell my house in Portland, Oregon, and buy one in Texas, but I am excited to be on a new journey. Katie Bennett Evans: Hello to everybody in my class! I have retired from teaching and am doing a little moonlighting at Electronic Arts. Palo Alto is a lovely place to be, but my husband, John, and I have some future plans to relocate in the next few years (WHEN WE GET OLD) and downsize in Sacramento, where our daughter lives. I keep busy book clubbing and volunteering at Project Read and at Stanford at the Bechtel Center. Our
Pomeranian is our only baby these days. Best wishes to all. Palmer Foret: I went to my Colgate reunion: 45 years, how time flies! Colgate is celebrating its 200th anniversary, so the university made this an all-class reunion. Sarah Andrews Herman: Two of our three sons were married this year, and my husband, Doug, and I both retired (I was a partner with the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney LLP; he was a district court judge). Since our retirements, we have traveled to the Bahamas, Gasparilla, and Maui and spent time with kids and grandkids. Ellen Hopman: My next book, The Sacred Herbs of Samhain, comes out in August. The book explores the identification, harvest, and safe practical and ritual use of more than 70 plants and trees sacred to the Celtic festival of Samhain, the origin of Halloween. I have been enjoying the cold and rainy spring here in western Massachusetts and finding bear prints in the yard (haven’t seen a bear yet this year). I am proud to be a New Englander now. We just had our annual town meeting and voted to stand up to developers so they can’t clear cut our forests at will. We also voted as a town to align ourselves with the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (which the current US government refuses to sign and ratify and is also trying to prevent NATO allies from signing). We have officially barred research and work on nukes in our township, will be divesting any town finances, and will be preventing contracts with the 25 companies involved in nuclear weapons. Your town can do this too; go to NuclearBan.us for details. Juliette Kendrick: Two short years changed my life forever—junior and senior years of high school at Sidwell Friends. I was the new girl and “diplobrat” who was accepted and loved right away. From the Virgin Mary in the Christmas play junior year to Laura in The Glass Menagerie senior year, with our beloved Lyzzie Norment and Mr. Crow—I got to perform! Chem Thermo was my all-time favorite class: We were detectives who had to figure out the chemical mystery. It led directly to my 30-year career as a disease detective at the CDC in Atlanta. Peter Buttrick and Peter E. Kenmore taught me how to live. I am forever grateful to the school and the friends who healed my soul. Single again, two great adult kids, living in Atlanta. Come see me— you are all welcome!
Top: Sarah Andrews Herman ’70 with husband Doug, three sons, three daughters-in-law, and three grandchildren. Bottom: Richard Murray ’70 enjoying life in Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Richard Murray: Celebrating life in Maastricht, Netherlands! Good beer, good 13th-century architecture, and great science at the European Atherosclerosis Society. All is well, but I came out of retirement for an interesting approach to preventing heart disease. Janet Perry: Here’s what’s going on at my house: New kitten continues to jump into the toilet; we survived prom, driver’s ed, senior pictures, and a class trip to Spain. Yoga is saving me! As is weekly family therapy. I have cataracts and may also need a new hip. Alan got on the wrong bus leaving work; he takes the bus EVERY DAY! David Schleit: I am still working as a financial analyst for the Insurance Department of the DC government and living in DC. I probably won’t be retiring any time soon! I just had my first grandchild, Zoe, last year.
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The twin grandson and granddaughter of Chris Strudick-Turner ’70 were born in October 2018.
Chuck Sternberg: Still alive and kicking! Louise, my wife, and I are enjoying retirement in the mountains of Hendersonville, North Carolina. We play pickleball and tennis, as well as a few games of bridge from time to time. I hope to receive some recent news from our classmates. Looking forward to our 50th reunion next year. Chris Strudwick-Turner: I am officially “Nana.” Our daughter had twins—boy and girl— in October 2018. All of the family is doing well with little to no sleep. I’ve been spending as much time as possible in Toronto to help. If you know anyone in that area of Canada with young children, please let me know. Completely besotted and loving this life. But goodness, where did the time go? It was just yesterday we were running up and down the hallways of Sidwell Friends, right? Chris Tufty: The latest news is my film, Danger Diva, screened in Cannes in May! Although I was asked to go, I didn’t. Other news is my desert documentary, Refuge, has won two silver awards, one in Palm Springs and one in Las Vegas. It’s headed for more festivals later this year!
Michele Thoren Bond: Two years into retirement from the Foreign Service, I am enjoying a new mix of volunteer activities, part-time work, and lots of travel. We are excited to welcome our first grandchild this summer (she will be born in London) and a wonderful new daughter when our older son marries (in New York) the same week! Our other daughter and son live in Berlin and DC. I recently completed my first assignment as a CASA (court-appointed special advocate) for a DC child in foster care and look forward to continued active engagement with this fantastic national program. Cliff and I celebrated Thanksgiving in Estonia and Easter in Sweden with almost all our kids while he was on temporary assignments to our embassies there. Life after full-time work is good!
1972
Joyce Jacobson joyce@brastedhouse.com
1974
Paul Markun pmarkun@gmail.com
REUNION RECAP By the Class of ’74 Reunion Committee Bags were packed in Connecticut, New York, Seattle, and San Francisco. Business trips brought to conclusion and jets hopped in Hong Kong, Texas, and Chicago. Lives and work were put on hold so the Class of ’74 could converge. Time for our 45th reunion! We kicked off Saturday with our classmate Eddie Cornwell receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award at a packed noon luncheon on campus. Four tables held the ’74 attendees and Eddie’s family, and as video interviews described the achievements of the handful of recipients, we were proud and loud for our man. For those of us who hadn’t been on campus for many years, the improvements amazed us, seeming at the collegiate level.
1973
During the afternoon some hiked, others napped, the pros went shopping, and the hosts prepared the party venues for that night and next day.
Regina Kessler reginadkessler@gmail.com
By 5 p.m., the Chanock estate in Potomac was open for the Kentucky Derby and our class. The bell rang, and off we went. We cheered on the record field, sipping mint juleps and enjoying healthy fare. By the party’s full swing, we had 40-plus attendees, nearly double the average
Aprille Sherman shermaner@msn.com
Tom Yondorf: My mind is laser-focused on dos equis. One, a looming conflict with our neighbor, who is tired of picking up branches from our cottonwood tree that land on HER lawn. Two, the profoundly puzzling kinship I feel with biblical prophets, who felt compelled to rant, warn, and lament.
1971
Mary Reyner mary.reyner@gmail.com Brian Steinbach bsteinbach@ebglaw.com
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The CLASS OF 1974 celebrates at the class party during Reunion Weekend 2019.
› CLASS NOTES
Left: Classmates Paul Markun ’74, Barky Jones ’74, Tony Fleming ’74, Donna DeMarco ’74, Matthew Gamser ’74, and good friend Elsa Newmyer ’72 take a “friendly” hike in the C&O Canal park before the reunion soiree. Center: John Marcou ’74 poses with Andrew Shaw ’83 at the US Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 5. Andrew is the counselor for economic affairs at the embassy and was a speaker at a workshop on liquefied natural gas that John attended. Right: Leslie Wolf-Creutzfeldt ’74, Tia Powell ’75, Adrienne Sirken ’76, and Christina McGuire at a talk for Tia’s book, Dementia Reimagined. Tia shared insights about dementia and her vision of growing old with dignity and joy.
for a 45th, some staying until midnight. Karl Bostic was our virtual attendee, effervescent in a canary shirt on our Skype screen as he sat in the Congo on a UN assignment. Stephen and Lizette were the consummate hosts. As expected, no longer being 18, the conversations were rich with reflection, appreciation, some tragic loss, and the joys of new births and relationships. We actually might be growing up. More generous. And kinder. On Sunday, in spite of the rain and flooding Shenandoah River, 15 of us converged on Anny and Scott Meza’s country house, cohosted by Sara and Barky Jones. We laughed among the raindrops and feasted on delicious home cooking. There were intrepid trips on ATVs, hikes with the dogs about the beautiful countryside, and frolicking about the waters. In the end, the feeling was unanimous: Let’s continue to live, give, and share with each other, and see everyone at the 50th. Donna DeMarco: A new chapter in life—after recovering from cancer, I have opened a World Dance studio in the Woodmont Triangle district of downtown Bethesda. We offer Zumba, samba, belly dance, Bollywood and bhangra. Hopefully, African will be next. Come join us! So enjoyed our class reunion and reconnecting with everyone there. John Marcou reports that Andrew Shaw ’83 is the counselor for economic affairs at the US Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. Andrew was one of the speakers at a March 5 workshop on liquefied natural gas that John attended. John is a petroleum engineer residing in Jakarta and is consulting to Mitsubishi Corporation on gas development in Indonesia. Later, they posed for a picture outside the southern entrance to the embassy.
Chris Nordlinger: I recently moved back to Palo Alto from two years in Dupont Circle, where I spent a great time with my old Sidwell Friends pals. My oldest son, Nick, works as a teacher in a low-income charter high school in San Francisco’s Outer Mission. He teaches special education and AP English, and the school is paying for him to get a master’s in education at night. In July, he’s getting married to his college sweetheart. I’ve also been lucky enough to leverage myself into two start-ups and am hoping the latest one will be one of the winners in AI/robotics. Meanwhile, I continue to publish in the area and am looking forward to seeing friends at our 45th reunion in May.
1975
Alan Drummer alandrummer@hotmail.com
Nicole Fall: I have had a lifetime in the visual arts and education. I am currently managing community arts programs for Baltimore Clayworks. We inaugurated a workforce development program for students with disabilities in partnership with Baltimore City Public Schools. We also provide clay-arts classes for social service agencies such as House of Ruth and addiction recovery centers, and for youth awaiting adjudication. I am also doing public art projects myself for schools and recreation centers.
1976
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
Tim Maudlin: I have recently become the founder and director of the John Bell Institute
for the Foundations of Physics. We will hold our first events this summer at our campus on the island of Hvar, Croatia. Information about the institute can be found at www. JohnBellInstitute.org. I gave a public, twolecture course on quantum theory at the HowTheLightGetsIn Festival in Hay, Wales, in late May. Also this year I published Philosophy of Physics: Quantum Theory from Princeton University Press. Frederic Thys reports that Mark Ozer, the father of our beloved late classmate Kathy Ozer, passed away on April 15. Present at memorial services in Washington were Kathy’s brother, Mark Ozer ’82; his wife, Ava Huang; their children; Kathy’s husband, David Battey; Kathy’s sisters, their husbands and children; and Cate Livingston Fernandez and several of Kathy’s other friends.
1977
Adam Stern adamcstern@aol.com
Alex Doty: I have been living in London since 2003 and have been content to observe the United States from afar. Increasingly, I now find that the UK and Europe no longer serve this purpose so well, although even Brexit and Boris are hardly a match for what you have there. My father was buried at Arlington two years ago—for me, the end of an era with many proud and happy memories. Brian Muys: Siobhan and I enjoyed some of Chesapeake Bay’s finest blue crabs with our classmate, John Ross; his wife, Diana; son, Forrister; and a family friend. I recently marked nine years as head of communications for American Public University System. ALUMNI MAGAZINE / SUMMER 2019
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We’re looking forward to our annual week in Maine over the July 4th holiday at the Muys compound in Rockland. We’re also enjoying some extended quality time with my daughter, Dierdre, who is taking a hiatus from vet school in Oregon with her new husband, Brendan. Linda Sheffield: I am very proud of our son, Noah Lehrecke, a previous Sidwell Friend soccer summer camp counselor, who graduated magna cum laude from Skidmore with departmental honors in economics and French. Beginning in August, he will work for BlackRock in New York and would greatly appreciate a home-cooked meal. It is wonderful to have a reason to visit NYC more often and reconnect with Sidwellites.
1978
Peter MacDonald pmacdona@skidmore.edu
Scott Gelband retired from his job as executive director of Seattle Music Partners last fall after 12 wonderful years. He’s not sure what comes next! Chris Kramer was named chief of the cardiovascular division at the University of Virginia, effective August 2019. Meanwhile, son Alex was the lead guest star and villain on a Law and Order: SVU episode on January 31, “A Tale of More Woe.” He also plays a naval officer in Tom Hanks’s Greyhound, a WWII naval battle epic, due out in May 2020.
Top: Brian Muys and John Ross enjoy Chesapeake Bay crabs. Center Left: Diane Thaler celebrates her 60th birthday. Center Right: Linda Sheffield and her son, Noah Lehrecke, at Skidmore College. Bottom: Stephen O’Neill, Bill Hyun, Jeff Pierson, and Adam Kolker in Panama.
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Missi Pelham is now working for Sea Bags Maine and managing a new seasonal store for the company in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. It’s a beautiful location, with a booming summer season. It promises to be busy but fun! She still is teaching yoga and writing on the side—and loving living along the Connecticut shoreline, where the best summers can be experienced. Nicole Alfandre Halbreiner reports that it is the end of an era. The Alfandre Dynasty at Sidwell Friends finally comes to a close. Daughter Claudia Halbreiner ’19 will be graduating on June 9. Son Carl graduated in 2014. Mother Priscilla (aka “Mrs. Alfandre,” may she rest in peace) retired in 1994 after 27 years of teaching. Sister Dominique graduated in 1975. That’s a lot of years devoted to the school, but each one was worth it. Many thanks for a fine education and an extraordinary experience.
Carinthia Grayson has “graduated from college”—that is, she just graduated her youngest. “So, I am officially done. I am still teaching middle school in southern Vermont and trying to get students learning outside as much as possible. Although they are rural kids, they spend way more time on screens instead of out their back door. I am very much looking forward to summer. We had seven snow days. We are also feeling the effects of the changing climate. I’m looking forward to the next phase of life when work is a choice not a have-to. Best wishes to all.” Peggy Mason: I’m happily ensconced in a Jeanne Gang building in Chicago while my darling Gisele is enjoying the Sunshine Coast. I get to go there often. The arrangement is working very well—would be better, of course, with a carbon-free teleporter. I am stepping down from leading the undergraduate major in neuroscience at the University of Chicago. I will miss the wonderful students, although I will continue to teach them both on campus and at our Paris center. I made this move in order to devote far more of my energy to my next project, which has me atwitter with excitement. Stay tuned. The biggest happening in my life is my father’s death. It was fast and painless and filled with family and love, but now he is gone, a reality that I rage against each day. I miss his joie de vivre and his love and his ever-so-surprising quirky thoughts; the man was always thinking. See my blog, thebrainissocool.com, to read more about Arthur Mason. Jonathan Southard and I met up in Chicago with Jonathan’s mathematical prodigy son. Super fun to catch up, I also saw Bing Shaw, Bill Peyser, and Larry Ottinger at my beloved father’s memorial service. Chris Kramer and I caught up at Sidwell Friends Founder’s Day. Deirdre Finney Boylan: I’m not sure how it can have already been a year since our 40th reunion! Since then, I went to see Susie English’s show of her paintings, Periphery, at the Catherine Merkel Gallery in Chelsea in April. And I will connect with Zoe Carter in Vermont in August. My family is all well, and I am adjusting to having young adult children. After over 25 years as an licensed clinical social worker in community mental health, and more than 15 years as a faculty member at the UMaine School of Social Work, I am planning to retire next year. Hope to see some of you soon! David Garrity: The past year has been a bit of a blur. In July 2018, my colleagues and
› CLASS NOTES
I formed BTblock, a consultancy focused on emerging technology assessment and implementation for enterprise clients. Our work has involved advising clients on the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT), cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence (AI). During May, BTblock was in South Africa working with a client to develop a voice datadriven AI application for identity management that will use DLT to protect individual privacy. While we are a small team, I am proud to say that I have the good fortune to be working with young, highly capable partners. Away from work, life has been busy with my 12-year-old son Will finishing sixth grade at Friends Seminary School in New York. I will join the school’s board of trustees in September and look forward to giving back to Quaker education. If any classmates in NYC would like to catch up over a meal or coffee, please reach out. I’m buying.
1979
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
REUNION RECAP By David Thurston Nearly half of the Class of 1979 turned out for our 40th reunion. Classmates attended the Friday welcome reception at the Sidwell Friends campus, and on Friday night we gathered at the home of Giulia Adelfio, who has generously hosted us in the past. At least one classmate was attending a reunion for the first time, and people commented on how much of a treat it was to reconnect after so many years. As the night went on, classmates picked up where they had left off at last sighting, and the years fell away quickly. After the Saturday campus events and Meeting for Worship, we met in the evening at the home of Eliza Newlin Carney’s parents, Louisa and Bill Newlin. They welcomed us to their house in Cleveland Park, where they have been since the early 1960s. Rain interfered with the Sunday walk around the Sidwell Friends neighborhood, but several classmates relived their high school trek. Jen Hyde and Leslie Mayers Shroyer stepped back in time and walked their twice-daily route between home and Sidwell Friends. They were joined by Jamie Lehrer (also part of the Macomb Street Mob—unscientifically the street at the time with the highest concentration of
The CLASS OF 1979 celebrates at the class party during Reunion Weekend 2019.
Sidwell Friends students in DC) and Laura Falk McCarthy. All that was missing were heavy backpacks, Jen’s younger sister, Andrea Hyde ’83, teenage angst and gossip, and the inevitable rush to avoid being tardy. Several motifs ran through the weekend. A number of classmates remarked on the significance of the number 40 and how this reunion made them value all the more the deep connections we share as the years grow more precious. People also asked after the classmates who were not in attendance and included them in their updates about lives, families, interests, and careers. We remembered the friends whom we have lost, who remain in their youthful vitality in our memories. On departing, a friend commented on the paradox of being made aware of the decades that have passed while feeling rejuvenated by seeing one another through the eyes of our younger selves. Jennifer Hyde: How awesome it was to reconnect with so many classmates at our recent 40th (gulp) reunion. We were a closely knit class with much goodwill, and that spirit is still there. As for me, I’ve taken a few zigs and zags in my professional trajectory. I am now running a small nonprofit called OneDollarGlasses USA. We work to provide affordable eyeglasses to individuals in some of the poorest countries of the world with a unique social business model. Lack of eyeglasses is an enormous public health problem globally. Otherwise, I live in Newton, Massachusetts, with my husband and two lively and interesting, almost-college-bound
kids, Sam and Lucy. Looking forward to the next reunion!
1980
Arshad Mohammed arshad.a.mohammed@gmail.com
Elizabeth “Betsy” Carter: Nothing and everything is changing. I continue to find ways to incorporate art, writing, psychology, biology, and trying to save the world into my life. We still live in a solar house, and I drive an electric car. Our daughter is graduating from high school with the rest of my Girl Scout troop and going off to the University of Rhode Island. Our oldest goes into his senior year at Brown. My work continues as a therapist working with families and people of all ages. I am seeing more children now and incorporating more expressive arts therapies. No books or publications. As we learned in our Sidwell Friends seminar on leadership and social change, we all lead in different ways. My goal is to inspire and empower others. This year I am proud to have seven Girl Scouts graduating as ambassador Girl Scouts and heading to universities to study engineering, pharmacy, computer science, international relations, speech pathology, and more. I am honored to have been a part of that and to have written them letters of recommendation for schools and scholarships. We have a big vegetable garden, wild plants, and chickens, and I delight in taking photographs with my cell phone.
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Alice Clark Coogan: I am currently professor and vice chair for anatomic pathology in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. I have a lot more administrative responsibilities, but I still get to teach medical students and residents and practice pathology, which is probably the best part of my job. One of my kids got married last week, so I had my first experience as mother of the groom and it was wonderful. I am still living in Nashville, which has become quite the destination (just ask the 600,000 people who attended the NFL draft). I hope to see everyone at our next reunion. Christine Cox-Hill: I am proud to announce that my son, Christian, is to graduate from the University of Chicago this year. My daughter, Anna, lives in Vermont and works for a private lab that develops antibodies for larger pharmaceuticals. I am currently employed by Martin’s Tavern in Georgetown. I see Lindsay Luke frequently during the Caps season, and Andrea Meaney Donohue and I are always on the phone as well as visiting each other’s abodes. My mother is in good health and lives in DC. I wish everyone well. Visit me at Martin’s! Anne Haley: I am entering my 18th year at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, where I manage a $25 million budget in outside counsel partnering contracts. I am also involved with the office’s Community Police Unification Project, where I help mediate disputes between community members and police officers. I hope to retire in about three years, at which time I plan to put away my lawyer self and let loose the artist! I’ve recently joined a writing group to jump-start that effort and am working on a memoir and a midlife humorist tome (and will be happy to have Tom MacIsaac put both on audio). [Editor’s note: see below.] My magnificent children, Evan, Morgan, and Brandon, continue to be the joy of my life, even as I am constantly reminded that the work of parenthood never ends— the lessons of Silent Meeting continue to serve. Looking forward to our 40th next year!! Lisa Iannucci: I am entering my third year as an academic librarian at Monmouth University at the Jersey Shore. I have a short commute, so what’s not to love? I have also been working with some community activist groups in my area and am still busy checking out (and writing about) the local music scene when I can. I recently visited the new
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National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, and was pleased and proud to see our own Elizabeth Alexander’s poetry included in the memorial. I look forward to our 40-year reunion, which will be here before we know it, and hope all are well.
years, because Danny’s son, Karl, will be a freshman at Rice University in the fall. Jane McPherson works as an assistant professor at the University of Georgia’s School of Social Work. Jane focuses on training social workers as human rights practitioners.
Emily Klayman Jacobson: Hurry on down to the Freer Gallery of Art to see Whistler in Watercolor, cocurated by yours truly and on view now through October 3. These watercolors have not been on display together since the 1930s, so this is a once-in-alifetime opportunity. Show your support by buying the book Whistler in Watercolor: Lovely Little Games, which includes the results of four years of technical research that I undertook on the watercolors. Let me know if you come to the museum, and I’ll meet you in the show.
Finally, I was honored to be a guest on Vidisha Dehejia Patel’s radio show in May, talking about memoirs: what it’s like for me to help people write them and how they both shape and reflect American culture.
Campbell McGrath: I have just published my 11th book, Nouns & Verbs: New and Selected Poems. This time there is an audiobook version, so you can fall asleep at night and work out at the gym listening to me! You can’t put a price on this kind of entertainment, in all honesty. Tom MacIsaac: I am the CEO of RBmedia, the largest publisher of audiobooks in the world, and my friend Campbell didn’t offer me the audio rights to his new book, even though I love both nouns and verbs. William Rice: My wife, Cathy Robertson, continues to build her awesome nonprofit DC Peers, which promotes neurodiversity while offering social opportunities and social skills training to young people on the autism spectrum. Stepdaughter Sophie will this fall trade the bucolic beauty of Kenyon College for the crowded bustle of the University of Michigan, while stepson Walter is moving closer to realizing some of his brilliant movie ideas as short student films. I keep impatiently demanding higher taxes on the rich and corporations through Americans for Tax Fairness, but now have a less polemic sideline occupation writing occasional pieces for the Washington Independent Review of Books.
1981
Vidisha Dehejia Patel drv4kids@yahoo.com
Danny Abramson is on sabbatical this year from Boston University, as thoughtful and kind as ever, and expecting to see more of Howard Epps in Houston over the next four
Adam Bernstein: I have three graduations (out of my four) this year: my son, Brenner, from the University of Michigan, my daughter Liza from Cardozo Law School, and my daughter Thea from Maret. She is off to Tulane next. Also, my eldest daughter, Danielle ’10, is moving home from New York to teach at the GDS Lower School. Hope the rest of the Class of ’81 is thriving. Alison Schafer visited Maiti Nepal, an organization that helps trafficked women and girls, in Kathmandu in November. Ainslie Binder’s son, Ian, is an impressive vocalist studying at the Hartt School at the University of Hartford. He recently ended his sophomore year with an impressive performance of “Hostias” from the Faure Requiem. John Gregg, who once worked as chief speechwriter for Massachusetts Governor William Weld, now lives in Vermont and recently interviewed Bill Weld at a public event as Weld bravely prepares to challenge President Trump in New Hampshire’s Republican primary. Ethan Nelson is happily embedded in Las Vegas and has an exciting new job there as a partner in a major architecture firm. His daughter, Phoebe, graduated in May from Boston University, when I was able to catch up with Ethan and some of his family. Vidisha Dehejia Patel has recently started hosting a radio show on VoiceAmerica.com on its Health and Wellness channel. She enjoys interviewing various authors and specialists to help educate the public on ways to improve emotional and mental health. Toria Stern lives on through the writing of her older brother, Jody Stern ’79. He wrote a beautiful piece for the New York Times called “Grief as My Guide: How My Sister Made Me a Better Doctor.”
› CLASS NOTES
Andrew Szanton writes in about the following classmates: Charlie Watts lives north of Boston and has started work on a new novel. I feel lucky to be able to meet Charlie every so often in Wells, Maine, or Exeter, New Hampshire to catch up, share memories, read short pieces to each other, and exchange writing feedback.
1982
Ted Morrow-Spitzer tspitzer@marketventuresinc.com
Adam Colson sent photos showing his beloved dogs, Eleanor and Phoenix, and another standing alongside his students at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, a community college where he teaches solar power, energy storage, electricity, and math. Adam writes that he lives in West Hollywood with his dogs and wife, Jeannie, who is a landscape designer for private and public projects. “After completely remodeling our 1940 home into a mid-century modern one seven years ago, we’ve now taken on the stressful job of remodeling our garage into an apartment, which we managed ourselves without a general contractor. I did all the elaborate, overengineered electrical work.” Diana Dibble notes that her company, Design To Delivery Inc, will be 18 years old in September. She’s keeping busy on the board of directors of two companies: the ART Fitness LLC and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Greater DC Chapter, for which she becomes president in July. John Durfee: I live in Newton, Massachusetts, with my wife, Preeti, and our two sons. I am a gynecologic cancer surgeon, working in Boston for 15 years now. My most interesting and gratifying work is in the global health domain; for many years I have been doing intermittent visits to Saint Lucia and Guyana to assist with treatment of cancer patients and training of local doctors, as there is no gynecologic cancer specialist in either country. Soon I will be returning to Belize to ramp up a similar program there. Best wishes to all of my classmates. Pam Shaughnessy: The green life in Kentucky is quite serene, which allows brief respite from the most unfortunate political climate. Four spacious trips in four years to Paris show me how we’re not all that different in some respects. I love these vacays, reminds me of
growing up in DC. Art motivates me being a patron and closet creator. Son Max and his wife have three daughters. I hope they’ll always know that museums, government institutions, art, and the planet all belong to them. Thanks, Sidwell Friends, for defining what’s important in young lives. Rebekah Edminster Weisskopf: In addition to being mom to Mari (age 13) and Dan Edminster ’11, I released two albums over the last two years: Rowing in Eden for voice and orchestra and We Have Only Come to Dream with composer Terry Lee Nichols, which explores the stories of human migration to the Americas over the millennia. Somehow I seemed destined to continue with the theme of immigration and also sang on cellist/ composer Dave Eggar’s soundtrack to the heart-wrenching independent film This Teacher, which highlights Islamophobia in the United States. I live in DC with my husband, Michael, two of our four kids, two cats, and a dog. We walk at Battery Kemble Park every day. On occasion I see Art Linde, Hadley Boyd, Christine McMaster, Susan Popkin Cahn, Jenny Bryant, Mark Luthringer, Amy Thaler, Will Warshauer, Eric Adler, Diana Dibble, and Desa Sealy-Ruffin. But not often enough! I would be delighted to see anyone who comes back to town and would like to say “hi.” Mac Canby: I’m still with Freeport Minerals Corporation after 32 years and actually love my job! Now senior VP of exploration, I took the role a year ago, based in Phoenix, live in Denver, and work in the US plus Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Zambia, the DRC, Serbia, and Kazakhstan. My older son, Dawson, just graduated from Colorado State University in computer science, while Ben starts his senior year of high school next year. My wife, Amy, is an early childhood caregiver, doula, lactation
consultant, and generally anything to do with supporting early childhood! Macon Morehouse: I am writing this from Dartmouth College, where I am up to see my daughter defend her PhD thesis; coming back in two weeks to see her graduate. Phew! I am proud of her (but of course!), and her pursuit of space physics has created some interesting intersections in my life. After 30-plus years in mostly nonscience journalism, I am currently the news director at Science News, responsible for guiding our online, daily coverage of emerging research in everything from the life sciences to, yes, physics. I feel like I am back in school on a daily basis! I had the unanticipated pleasure of going with my daughter to the American Geophysical Union meeting in DC last winter, her as a researcher and me as a journalist. It was really cool to share the experience. Bonus, we got to see Manuel Lerdau, who was up from UVA presenting some of his research. I am still in the DC area and about to feel the empty nest anew, as my daughter heads to Berkeley for grad school. But I am excited about the opportunity to explore a new part of the country, so would welcome any advice from West Coasters! Will Warshauer: I saw lots of old Sidwell friends (Sidwell Friends friends?) at the leaving party for Ellis Turner. Truly the end of an era! My wife and I are getting ready to send our only daughter (Sophie) off to USC in Los Angeles in the fall and are bracing for the empty nest! I continue to enjoy my work at TechnoServe (business solutions to poverty in about 30 countries) and travel a lot for that. I’m training for a weeklong bike ride in Italy with friends next month and so am organizing rides around DC every weekend. Ping me if you want to ride with us!
The Sidwell Alumni Dinner at the University of Chicago. Top Row: Luke Oh ’17, Casey Dorfman ’17, Rahul Gupta ’18, Harry Weinstein ‘17, Maddie Wonneberger ‘18, Alicia Sams ‘82, Audrey Fritz ‘15, Sophia Cai ‘16, Naomi Weiner ‘15. Bottom Row: Marwan Lloyd ‘16, Alexandra Zhang ’18, Nicole Willing ‘18, Maya De Jonge ‘16, Jake Gosselin ’15. ALUMNI MAGAZINE / SUMMER 2019
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Ted Morrow-Spitzer: Speaking of Ellis Turner, in April I visited him in his office, surrounded by bizarre Americana, including some disturbing sections of barbed wire. Many of my best memories of Sidwell Friends involve Ellis, including his agreeing to chaperone our trip to the Harvard Model UN (where Jenny Bryant, Jonathan Levine, and others from the club sorely disappointed him with our hyperseriousness), his enthusiasm for teaching the dark arts of archival research while leading a small band of aspiring authors tasked with documenting the history of Sidwell Friends for the school’s 100th anniversary (a never-read book written along with classmates Jim Bourg, Ed Dixon, Sarah Hutt, and Susan Popkin Cahn), the famous Giant Rabbit dance, and his ongoing obsession with The Fish Incident. He’s a big reason I feel connected to Sidwell Friends after so many years—thanks, Ellis! Life-wise, all three of my kids are starting university programs this fall—Rikki pursuing an MSW at the University of Michigan, Jacob a PhD in American history at Yale, and Lilah beginning her college experience at Skidmore. So proud of them all, and rejoicing that Elena and I are paying only for the youngest!
1983
Linda Gaus gaushaus1965@verizon.net
1984
Sarah Williams sarah@propelcapital.org
Ann Espuelas aespuelas08@gmail.com Liz Norton lizbnorton@gmail.com
REUNION RECAP By Ann Clark Espuelas, Sarah Williams, and Liz Norton What a difference five years can make! The Class of 1984’s 35th Reunion Weekend was decidedly calmer than our 30th—let’s agree that it was the rainy weather Saturday night that slowed us down and not the fact that we are five years grayer and creakier. About 25 of us came from near and far—San Francisco, Berkeley, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and … Bethesda. Some of the usual suspects showed up, plus a bunch of reunion newbies. Good news: Everyone recognized everyone! Nicole Werner Cordan is fighting for the environment, Jon Weiss is designing green buildings, and Amy Rubenstein wowed us with stories of caring for manatees in the Amazon (no joke!). Some of us have children graduating from college, and some of us have a long way to go until then.
The CLASS OF 1984 celebrates at the class party during Reunion Weekend 2019.
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Saturday’s on-campus highlight was a Distinguished Alumni Award given to Tracye McQuirter. Tracye is a rock star on so many levels. A trailblazer in health, veganism, and nutrition, she has several published books to her credit. Go, Tracye! Then the day turned to honoring Ellis Turner as he nears retirement (Mr. Turner, as may be more comfortable to you). The school threw him a big goodbye party at Cactus Cantina, and many of us gathered there to raise a glass to the man who was so influential to our class for his irreverence, camaraderie, quirky take on teaching, and ability to connect at a totally different level than we were used to. It’s hard to believe that he was only 27 when he started teaching. It was clear that he wasn’t entirely comfortable with all the praise heaped his way, but that didn’t stop the toasts and accolades. The party moved over to Ryan McGrab’s house, and he and his wife were just as welcoming as they were in 2014. The food and drinks were great, and their beautiful house was the perfect place for everyone to relax and reminisce. At some point, a few people brought out copies of our senior-year Philos (circus theme, remember?). Photos of our younger, less-wise selves proved irresistible, and we huddled over them and had a great time laughing and remembering the old days. If you couldn’t make it this year, please consider joining us at our next reunion. We really missed you. (And we promise: It’s not scary at all. We’re ALL older and wiser.) Life may have been simpler then and things may have changed a lot, but one thing stays the same: the bonds of friendship, laughter, and memories from our time at Sidwell Friends. Jennifer Janke Lindsay: It was great to see our classmates at our 35th reunion! Thank you to Ann Clark Espuelas, Liz Bernstein Norton, and Sarah Williams, who got us organized. A special thanks to Ryan Magrab and his wife, Molly, for hosting the party again at their beautiful home. So proud of ageless Tracye McQuirter, who was recognized as a distinguished alumna for her work in vegan nutrition. The Lindsays have had a busy year so far in 2019. My daughter Mary graduated from American University’s School of International Service. My youngest daughter is headed to Worcester Polytechnic this fall. Preempting empty-nest syndrome, I launched a Bethesda-based home, auto, and life insurance agency after working for insurance carriers most of my career. I can
› CLASS NOTES
Left: Deborah Colson ’87, Wendy Kline ’87, and Jennifer Lloyd ’87 at Wendy’s wedding in April. Center: Ben Cooley, Jemma Mariner (daughter of Brigette), Ben Mariner (son of Brigette), Brigette Freeman, Wendy Kline ’87, Emily Paula (daughter of Wendy), Aditi Acharya, and Max Paula (son of Wendy) at Wendy and Brigette’s wedding in April. Right: Julie Silard Kantor ’87 doing yoga with goats in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
also attest that we do have copperheads here in Maryland! My husband, Steve, has fully recovered after his gardening encounter, 14 vials of antivenom, and Poison Control. Safety hint: Use your leaf blowers!
1985
Hilary Dayton Busch hcdayton@gmail.com
Meg Elliott Smith: With profits of my Fitness Bitsy business, I am launching a new business called CapeIvy.com. As a parent of a child who spent years in and out of hospitals before he lost his 12-year battle to a rare form of CVID (common variable immune deficiency), I know how difficult it can be for patients to stay warm while hooked up to IV and PICC lines. Robes, sweaters, and jackets don’t work with the lines. I came up with a solution when my son, Gavin, was 6. I created fun fleece poncho capes to slip over his head. He was cozy in bed and no more cold walks down hospital corridors. In Gavin’s memory, I started Cape Ivy to provide as many capes as possible to children who courageously fight for their health in and out of hospitals. With the help of my business partner and friend, Cindy, I hope to sell as many capes as possible in an effort to give capes to frequent-flier children in hospitals. If you know a child or adult in need, please consider purchasing a cape as a gift. For each cape purchased, we will donate one to a child in the hospital.
1986
Laura London lauramlondon@yahoo.com
1987
Tip Coffin tip@teamcoffin.com
Evangeline Lynn Calland: Last fall I began a rewarding new job as a palliative chaplain at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital and moved into a cute home in a damp little holler on the outskirts of town. I practice self-care in the amazing 2000-acre, old-growth state park that is a five-minute walk from my backyard. I also enjoy making music with my awesome band, Side Hustle. Come and hear us! Tip Coffin: Tip Coffin celebrated the graduation of daughter Sadie Coffin ’15 from Middlebury College in May. Daughter Hannah Coffin ’17 finished her second year at Vassar College. While neither has lived up to their father’s legacy as a member of the prestigious Juggling Club in the Upper School, they are both nonetheless making him proud of their stellar post-Sidwell Friends endeavors. Alex Daniels: Happy news to report. In March, Chris Bergman and I welcomed our son, Gabriel, into the world. We live in College Park, and I am taking classes in nonprofit management at the University of Maryland Do Good Institute. After covering Arkansas politics for a decade for the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, in 2013 I began working as a reporter at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, where I cover foundation giving and public policy. Julie Silard Kantor: Hey, everyone. After 20plus years living in DC, I moved last July with my family to Boca Raton, Florida. My company (Twomentor.com) takes me traveling all over the country building mentoring initiatives,
so it seemed like a good time to move closer to family. Lori Bulman, Alessandra Desoff, Lloyd Webber ’83, and Lisa Bulman ’85 all live close by. I joined Entrepreneurs’ Organization Accelerator, which has been phenomenal (happy to discuss), and head to Silicon Valley to be MC for Women in Technology international. I’d love to hear from you: julie@twomentor.com. Wendy Kline: On April 14, I married my longtime friend, Brigette Freeman, (whom I first met in 1986 when we were both camp counselors in New Hampshire). We were married at the Drake Hotel in Chicago. Sidwell Friends alumni present at the wedding included Stephanie Kline Desjardins ’80, Maureen Kline ’82, Jennifer Lloyd, and Deborah Colson.
1988
Louise Andrews louiseandrews@me.com
Doug Bradshaw is cowriting/directing/ producing a play called 19: The Musical. It is the dynamic and little-known story of the suffragists and their fight to get women the right to vote—the 19th amendment. After 30plus workshop mini-performances around the D.C. area and beyond (including the Library of Congress), the world premiere is at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in November 2019. For more information, to make a tax-deductible donation, or to become an investor, go to 19themusical.com.
ALUMNI MAGAZINE / SUMMER 2019
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1989
Elizabeth Wyatt ebwyatt@aol.com
REUNION RECAP By Mara Bralove and Carminda Cuadro Passino The Class of 1989 drew together more than 50 classmates to celebrate our 30th class reunion! Some traveled down the coast from Portland, Boston, Providence, New York, and Philadelphia, while a few managed to make it all the way from the western half of the country—Seattle, Los Angeles, and Denver! It was also amazing to see how many of us are still in the area—especially those who have not been able to attend past reunions. It was a wonderful weekend of events that brought out stories and memories and reconnected many of us. Reunion Weekend started for some of us at the reception held Friday night at Zartman House. Nearly two dozen of us reunited: M.J. Berman, Katie Craig Bocock, Mara Bralove, Ethan Brown, Pipo Bui, Justin Cashman, Natasha Sinel Cohen, Tom Davidson, Amy Dine, Marta Ferro, Meredith Godley, Mary Quillian Helms, Robert Hickey, Skip Holmes, Thayer Jacques Lavielle, Richard Levy, Jair Lynch, K.K. Ottesen, Erin Sheehy, Shannon Prothro Welch, and Ashley Wivel. As we stood next to the Zartman steps, we reminisced about how we were allowed to do the traditional walk down the stairs during graduation for photo ops even though we were celebrating inside due to the rainy day. We swapped “remember when” stories; caught up on career, family, and life stories; and realized how much we all still have in common. When the evening ended on campus, many of us wanted to continue our conversations and headed over to M.J.’s home, where we stayed until nearly midnight catching up. Saturday was a day full of campus events including classes, lunch, and Meeting for Worship. For those of us who hadn’t been to campus recently, it was an eyeful to see all the amazing changes. Lunch was held inside the fantastic Athletic Center with a couple of dozen of us attending, including some new faces: Ranjiv Advani, Ayanna Cooke-Chen, Alex Kern, Charles Lockyer, Kelly McBride, John Mathews, Erik Meers, Juan Mendez, John Salzberg, and Korie Twiggs. For many of us present that day, the Meeting for Worship was a beautiful reminder of what makes Sidwell Friends unique, and we treasured the shared silence that we all experienced for so many years growing up. 64
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The CLASS OF 1989 celebrates at the class party during Reunion Weekend 2019.
On Saturday night, Rennie Crocker Anderson graciously hosted our class party, which brought even more classmates out to join the festivities, some regulars to reunion—Robert Brunner, Erika Atkeson Carere, Eric Carter, Alison Crockett, Mike Krasnow, Leigh Lambert, Nick Lamia, Aaron Lloyd, Carminda Cuadro Passino, Gustav Peebles, Lucy Roberts, and Kim Yates—and some firsttimers, whom we were all happy to see: Charlie Emmons, Salim Haji, and Sarah Taylor. Rennie and Erin set the mood by putting together an excellent ’80s playlist—Flock of Seagulls, Duran Duran, Guns N’ Roses, just to name a few—bringing us all back to the days we shared. It was an unforgettable evening of reconnecting and making “new” old friends. Pipo Bui: Since 2004, our family—that’s me, partner Sebastian Simsch, and children, Blair LaCroix, 19, and Elie Simsch, 16—have lived in Seattle, Washington. I never thought I’d end up in the other Washington, but we love the snow-covered mountains, conifer forests, and Puget Sound. And the people are pretty nice too. I work for EarthCorps, which is an environmental leadership organization that’s like a Peace Corps for the earth. You may know some of our supporters: Sally Jewell, former US secretary of the interior; Jay Inslee, Washington’s governor and a longtime climate advocate and apparently a presidential candidate; and Gary Locke, the first Chinese American state governor, who later directed the Department of Commerce and was US ambassador to China. So sometimes the other Washington doesn’t feel too far away. I ran
into David Dicks ’90 a few years ago when he headed the state’s Puget Sound Partnership. Ashley Wivel and family came out for Thanksgiving last fall. And I’m hoping to get together with Catherine Parker for coffee one of these days.
1990
Justine Wruble Fahey justinewfahey@gmail.com
1991
Tim Hanrahan tim.hanrahan@gmail.com
Jonathan Goldman: I am living in Los Angeles with my wife, Sarah, and our two daughters, Esther, 11, and Mira, 10. Yes, that is closer together than you would plan to have children, but now we have a fun time. I work at UCLA as a doctor and cancer researcher. LA has been good to us and there is a lot to love here, but I do miss DC and Sidwell Friends. Sam Rigby: I am living in McLean, Virginia, and teach middle school science, so I can give 6th graders extra credit for writing my Class Note. “Mr. Rigby teaches science at Saint Luke School. He tells many stories about his wacky life and how he wants us to not do what he does. He teaches us about very important, but interesting topics about our wonderful world.” “Mr. Rigby scares his students with his
› CLASS NOTES
1994
Betsy Stoel estoel@gmail.com
REUNION RECAP
Ben Brashares ´92, Porter Montgomery ´92, V.W. Fowlkes ´92, Charles Ince ´92, and Nathaniel Carroll ´92 met up for some spring skiing this April in Colorado.
terrifying science class. He drinks too much coffee out of his mug that he stopped washing a few years ago. Making healthy decisions is one of Mr. Rigby’s strong suits.”
1992
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
C. Moyo Myers: I am here to report from the trenches that being single and approaching empty-nest stage doesn’t make your 40s any less confusing or frustrating, just different. Happy to host friends and classmates (and families) visiting DC, with as little or as much chatting about life as you wish.
1993
The Class of 1994 had a fantastic time catching up at our 25th reunion! We met up at the Friday night reception, introduced our children to one another at the Saturday morning breakfast, enjoyed classes with some of our favorite teachers, stayed up until 4 a.m. at a wonderful and slightly misty (the weather and maybe our eyes…) evening party at Mia Cutler Meyer’s house, and attended Meeting for Worship in honor of Richard Lodish on Sunday. Here are a few more detailed thoughts from some of our classmates: Welcome Reception and Saturday Lunch By Ali Mohamadi When I think of my Sidwell Friends experience, the first thing that comes to mind is the food. OK, maybe not. But gathering for lunch was prime time to socialize, as it was 25 years ago, and the Friday night welcome reception outside Zartman House and Saturday’s lunch in the Athletic Center allowed friends to catch up, share stories about days past, and trade secrets of how none of us has seemed to age a day since 1994.
A small group of classmates attended the welcome reception, bonding over family, career, and the expected and unexpected benefits of moving to Canada (eh, Jessica Green?). The next day, a larger group took over the back of the athletic center for lunch, listening to the presentations for the newly minted Distinguished Alumni Award recipients, all amazing in their own right. In another, more accurate description of the hour, we spent the time talking over the presentations and reminiscing about our time together and how our lasting memory of the sparkling new facility is that it used to reek of sweaty socks. Mamadou Guèye’s Class By Lisa Milton Mamadou Guèye gave a lecture about how language shapes identity. He spoke of his own experiences in Senegal, where he was not allowed to use his first language (Serer) in his francophone school, and how he had to learn a new language in order to pray (Arabic). He opened up the conversation so others could share their own experiences and, for me at least, it felt like we were in Meeting for Worship, as many of us shared how language has shaped our lives. Tijan Watt spoke of learning his grandmother’s language in Senegal, I spoke of the challenges of raising children in another language, and Graham Bullock spoke of how the reaction to the phrase “you guys” (when referring to women) has changed over time.
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
Lindsay Davison: Life in Northampton, Massachusetts, is proceeding at a moderate clip heading into the summer. Our twin 5-year-olds are finishing up preschool and getting ready to start kindergarten this fall, each in their own classroom. We’ve got a few first loose teeth and some excited anticipation about the tooth fairy. The kids and I took a road trip to DC over April break and were able to meet up with David Vine for a morning and spend a relaxed day with Hope Harrod ’94 and a puppy she was dogsitting. Another highlight was visiting with SFS classmate Melisa Bennett Rawles, her daughter, Myla, and her mother (and our former middle school counselor), Emyrtle Bennett.
The CLASS OF 1994 celebrates at the class party during Reunion Weekend 2019.
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Saturday Night Party By Jojo Blaxall Longnecker Mia Cutler Meyer and her husband, Mike, were the gracious hosts of our Saturday night reunion party at their lovely home in Bethesda. We showed up in full force with 57 people—43 alums and 14 guests. There was plenty of food and drink, and the rain held off so we could enjoy the warm spring evening…and night…and early morning. From the reports I heard, the party didn’t stop until 4 a.m. in the morning! I spent the weekend staying at Stephanie Gross Julian’s parents’ house in Bethesda with Ashleigh Davis Donovan, so it felt just like high school. Here are a few recaps on what people are up to: Stephanie Gross Julian owns her own design and textile firm. Others who are still in the DC area include Charlie Speth (lawyer), Bruce Altevogt (pharma), Alec Phillips (finance), Andrew Phillips (economist), Jeff Himmelman (writer), Ali Mohamadi (doctor/pharma), Hope Harrod (DC Public Schools teacher), Ivan Petrovitch (doctor), Yasmine Sandhu (pastry chef on sabbatical), Dan H. Goldman (lawyer/public defender), Becca Bloch (lawyer), Cary Lewis (lawyer), and John Gillanders (marketing). Brett Dakin came from NYC, where he is the general counsel at the Child Mind Institute. Also from the NY area: Amanda Werner Gomez (advertising), Amy Terry Sheehan (lawyer), Tali Woodward (writer/editor), Betsy Stoel (architect), Ashleigh Davis Donovan (retail consultant), and Nick Arons (lawyer). David Goldman is a psychotherapist focused on mind-body connections practicing in the Bay Area—fascinating story of how he ended up in this career. Also making the trip from California: Tijan Watt (finance), Nick Moss (public health and HIV), Maya Lodish (doctor), Stephanie Julian (retired), and Amanda Stevenson Greene (AirBnB). I witnessed David Polmer (marketing, Chicago) and Ryan Dicks (environment, Seattle area) engage in an impressive sequence of pass a lemon. Something tells me they spent many hours back in the ’90s perfecting such actions. Jojo Blaxall Longnecker (marketing) and Maria Barton (teacher) had strong representation of the Boston contingent. Faye Walsh Drouillard and Lisa Milton win the travel awards. Lisa came from Mexico, 66
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where she has twin babies and founded and runs an e-commerce platform. Faye came from Ireland, where she has three kids born in three different countries and a French husband. Helen Kraft is a nurse, Genny Fulco is a farmer, and Jessica Lennon Whitney is a psychologist. Graham Bullock is a professor of political science and environmental studies in North Carolina, and Jessica Green is a professor of political science in Toronto. Cliff Forlines and Kate Dowd used to live in Canada but now live in Portland, Maine. Adam Huttler is about to move from New Jersey to Hawaii! Meeting for Worship for Richard Lodish By Maya Lodish I was so grateful for the outpouring of support in memory of my dad, Rich Lodish. It was meaningful to hear stories from his former students, parents of students, and faculty whom he mentored and taught with over the years. I spent a lot of my childhood being embarrassed about my dad’s unique sense of humor and crazy antics. Now I realize how much of his zest for life and independent spirit live on in my kids… He had an amazing gift of seeing the potential in people and encouraging them to achieve their dreams. He brought so many people from different walks of life together and understood the power of sharing each other’s stories. Thank you to my classmates for dedicating our class gift to a scholarship fund in his memory. Thank you to Sidwell Friends for honoring my dad and his legacy at the school. He would have wanted nothing more than to know that he made a difference in the lives of others. I am so lucky to be part of such a wonderful and supportive community. Hope Harrod: This weekend was my 25th reunion of the place that grew me. I started at Sidwell Friends when I was barely 4, and before it was fancy. At that time, it was just an awesome place to send your kids. I am grateful for the years I spent there and for the people whom I learned with. I was also so fortunate to be present for the Meeting for Worship that memorialized Mr. Lodish, our elementary school principal. He was the one who taught me about what it really means to love kids and how to always let light and humor in. It was Mr. Lodish who followed me closely in my early years of teaching and never let me forget that my first home was at Sidwell Friends and that I could always come back to teach alongside the people who shaped me to be the teacher that I
Nicholas Arman Mohamadi, born on February 5, 2019, to proud parents Sara and Ali Mohamadi ´94.
am today. That love and security took me far. Ali Mohamadi: Sara and I, along with big sisters Madeleine Mohamadi ’23, Caroline Mohamadi ’26, and Natalie, are proud to announce the arrival of Nicholas Arman Mohamadi on February 5, 2019. While the child-parent ratio continues to skew heavily in one direction, here’s to a little more testosterone in the mix at home.
1995
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
Johnisha Matthews Levi: My husband and I made a huge move from Boston to Nashville eight months ago, and we are loving the change to warmer weather (and warmer people). I’m working as the small business coordinator of the Nashville Farmers’ Market, a role that is never dull and allows for ample sampling of some of the best food and produce in the region. We also had a fun visit with classmate Manda Goltz this year!
1996
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
› CLASS NOTES
1997
Health. She will be adding acupuncture and Chinese herbalism to her current practice as a naturopathic physician and homebirth midwife in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.
William Black: The Black family welcomes our second daughter, Zora “Zoey.”
1999
Ellen Cornelius Ericson eccornie@gmail.com
Jon Chananie: I’ve been in New York almost 13 years now, serving as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Karate is still a hobby, and for my 40th birthday I fought a 40-man kumite – one round with 40 fresh opponents in a row. I was pretty bruised up by the end, but I survived. Nicole Davison Fox: Nicole and her husband, Michael Fox, are thrilled that starting in the fall, their son, Henry, will attend Friends Seminary in Manhattan, where Bo Lauder is head of school. Janée Hayes: My daughter, Nalani Lyde ’19, will be graduating from Sidwell Friends on June 9 and will continue her playing career at UNC Charlotte. Zachary R. Scholz: I was recently featured and interviewed by the San Francisco clothier Taylor Stitch for a new line of work pants it has been developing. Taylor Stitch has been making double-reinforced “chore pants” and unreinforced “camp pants” for the past 10 years, but has newly developed a sustainable hemp fabric it calls Tuff Duck for these new pants. The fabric is harder wearing than cotton canvas, but super soft; Taylor Stitch even added a little stretch to make the pants nearly pajama-level comfy! It did a little feature on four different makers, one for each of the pants that are part of the initial launch.
1998
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
2000
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
Margot Lowenstein Simmons: This spring, Jon and I were crazy enough to welcome a third child, Faye Louise, into our family. Big siblings Graham and Whitney have delighted in this new addition, while mom and dad are remembering what it’s like to thrive on little to no sleep. Because crazy seems to be our theme this year, I have also started to take steps toward pursuing my nursing degree and IBCLC certification while still taking lactation clients in Connecticut and NYC.
2001
Eliza Orlins eorlins@gmail.com
Lauren Brownlee: This summer I will be leaving DC, which has been my home my whole life (except for my four years at Wellesley), and moving to Durham, North Carolina, where I will be head of the Upper School at Carolina Friends School. I would love to connect with alums in the area!
2002
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
Camilo Acosta cbacosta@gmail.com
Kai “Gandy” Parker: Kai “Gandy” Parker and Jason Parker welcomed their second child, Judah Harlis Parker, in the living room of their home on April 3. Judah was born in a perfect water birth and was received by his father’s hands. Big sister Charlie (18 months old) was present to assist dad in the birth of her little brother. Kai was awarded her second doctoral degree in Oriental medicine on May 19. To obtain this degree, she completed a master’s program in acupuncture and a postmaster’s program in Chinese herbal medicine at the Maryland University of Integrative
Maya Soble Winkelstein: I continue to work as executive director of Open Road Alliance, where our innovative loan fund, Open Road Ventures, was named one of Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas for 2019. Life outside work is full of adventures as a mom of two boys (4 years and 20 months). My husband, Devli, is now a US Army major, which adds even more adventure, with frequent moves around the country. To that end, we are moving to Augusta, Georgia, this summer. So if anyone comes to town for the Masters golf tournament, look us up!
Top: Jon Chananie ´97 with his two sons after a karate match where he fought 40 opponenets in a row. Center left: William Black ´97 with his family welcoming their new daughter, Zoey. Center right: Kai “Gandy” Parker ´98 receives her second doctoral degree in Oriental medicine on May 19. Bottom: Kai and her husband, Jason Parker, welcomed their second child, Judah Harlis Parker, on April 3.
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› CLASS NOTES
2003
Naabia Ofosu-Amaah n.ofosuamaah@gmail.com Katie Mathews katiecmathews@gmail.com
Asheesh Siddique: In September, I’m joining the University of Massachusetts–Amherst as an assistant professor of early American history. I owe this success to many great teachers, especially the fabulous historians who taught me at Sidwell Friends, including Jim Senger, Ellis Turner, and Jon Zeljo.
2004
history classes, and mix and mingle with the next generation of adorable Quakers. The champion new-parent award goes to Sonia Weil and her husband, Joe, who made it to brunch with their adorable 4-week-old baby, Eloise! Many of us continued the day on Saturday with a stroll around campus, which looks more beautiful than ever (and boasts quite a few upgrades since our days on Wisconsin Avenue). We caught up with Bryan Garman at the all-class reunion lunch in the Pearson Athletic Center, which we were moved to see has a lovely tribute to Tyler Rusch. The day’s events concluded with Meeting for Worship in the Meeting Room.
REUNION RECAP By Anna Thompson Pearson and Ariel White
On Saturday night, classmates gathered at Dacha Beer Garden to toast to 15 years. Friends caught up while enjoying heavy hors d’oeuvres and signature cocktails. The festive spirit of the evening served as a fitting end to a memorable weekend.
It was a fantastic weekend for the Class of 2004! We had a great turnout for our 15-year reunion, with people traveling from Colorado, Chicago, and up and down the East Coast to be part of the festivities. We missed those classmates who weren’t able to make it and look forward to being together again soon at our annual Thanksgiving reunion.
Jaysen Lee-St. John: Last fall, my wife gave birth to our first child. She is a wonderful little girl who loves eating, sleeping, and playing. Her easygoing disposition has made life for her parents as good as we could have hoped for. I look forward to seeing old friends and having baby meet-ups this July, as we will be back stateside for the month.
Undoubtedly the cutest event of the weekend was our Class of ’04 Baby Brunch on Saturday. It was fun to be back in Upper School room 104/106, where many of us took English and
Sean Mattison: I won a 2019 Webby Award for branded documentary for a film about the life of Fulton Leroy Washington, a formerly incarcerated, self-taught artist whose
Cat Dawson catherine.v.dawson@gmail.com
Top: Members of the Class of ‘04 gathered for a Baby Brunch during Reunion Weekend 2019. Bottom: Jaysen Lee-St. John ´04 with daughter Umbria Jane Lee-St. John in April at Xuhui Riverside Park in Shanghai, China.
sentence was commuted by Barack Obama in 2016. I’m currently living in Brooklyn and would love to connect with alumni in New York on a more regular basis. Julie Rowney: I’m finishing my 10th year of teaching and leaving my job to pursue graduate study. I’ll be working on my master of education in learning and teaching at Harvard, and I can’t wait to be a student again! Before moving to Cambridge, I’m going to spend a good portion of the summer hiking on the Appalachian Trail (and I am also excited to attend Neha Kumar’s wedding). Cat Dawson: On May 18, I married Caroline Mullen (Holton-Arms ’02) in a Quaker ceremony at the Standard Hotel —High Line in the Meatpacking District in New York. Among the attendees for the weekend were other members of the Class of ’04: Hilary Harp Roberts, Jasmine Wahi, Anna Thompson Pearson, Bradley Pearson, Meg Brown, Allan Eakin, and Laura Cottingham. In lieu of gifts, the couple asked for donations to the Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBTQ+ youth and to Refugees International.
The CLASS OF 2004 celebrates at the class party during Reunion Weekend 2019.
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› CLASS NOTES
Left: Allan Eakin, Jasmine Wahi, Hilary Harp Roberts, Bradley Pearson, Meg Brown, Cat Dawson, Anna Thompson Pearson, and Laura Cottingham at Cat’s wedding in May. Right: Madeline Morin, born on September 27, 2018, at NYU Langone-Tisch Hospital to proud new parents Chantée Dempsey and Nicholas Morin ´06.
2005
Randa Tawil randa.may.tawil@gmail.com Nasser Muhammad Nasser.Muhammad.1@gmail.com
Matt Bernstein graduated from NYU Law in May and will be starting in the New York City office of Dechert LLP in September. John Daise: After working as an elementary school teacher for about nine years, this past year I made a career switch. In January, I landed my first gig as a software engineer. Outside of that, I’ve been making music with a few bands, all of which have albums coming out this year. John Michael Geise: My wife and I just bought a house in Northeast DC. Would love to catch up with anyone who is in town. Feel free to email me at johnmgeise@gmail.com. Jason Gray: I’ve spent the past few years teaching and managing programs at Stella Adler Studio in NYC. Most recently I got to serve as founding director of the Black Arts Institute, a partnership between Adler and the Billie Holiday Theatre. BAI is a platform for artists of color to study the Black theater tradition and Black Arts aesthetic with as much rigor as conservatories that teach the Western canon. At the end of the summer, I’ll be heading to get my MFA in theater management at Yale. It’s bittersweet to leave the amazing work I’ve gotten to be part of, but I’m very excited to continue growing and expanding in a new environment.
Adam Hart: We recently welcomed the newest member of our family into the world. Weston Alexander Hart was born on April 22, weighing in at 7 lbs., 5 oz. His big sister is thrilled and just loves him to death. Allie Levey: Robin Eyster Levey was born on May 27 in Washington, DC. Allie and his wife, Katherine, received many lovely messages from Sidwell Friends alumni, including Ben Hunt’s chant, “King of the North,” and Ben Zweifach’s well-timed meme of Brian aka Baby aka Birdman Williams demanding respect. Times, they are good. Katie Logwood is finishing the first year of her residency in veterinary radiology at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. She lives in the Worcester area with her wife, dog, and two pet rats (named Hitchcock and Scully, for the Brooklyn Nine-Nine fans out there). Modi Oyewole: I’m pleased to announce that I’ve joined the Sony Music team as director of marketing at Epic Records. Epic’s extensive and diverse roster of talent ranges from established talents such as Mariah Carey and Busta Rhymes to emerging superstars, including Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, and DJ Khaled. I’ll be working on bringing our priority developing acts to market. I was brought into the Sony family by industry trailblazer Sylvia Rhone, who recently made history as the first woman of color at Sony Music to hold a chairmanship title.
Joanna Sloame: Inspired by the insane cuteness of my rescue dog, Monty, I recently started my own pet portrait business, The Painted Bark. I create custom acrylic pet paintings, as well as coasters and greeting cards. In June, I’ll be starting a new job as a creative strategist at TubeScience, an advertising start-up, where I’ll be producing video ads for companies that are making a positive impact in their fields.
2006
Randa Tawil randa.may.tawil@gmail.com
Nicholas Morin: Nicholas and his wife, Chantée Dempsey Morin, welcomed their first child, Madeline Blake Morin, on September 27, 2018.
2007
John Sanders jsanders36@gmail.com
SaraEllen Strongman: SaraEllen will be starting the second year of her postdoctoral fellowship this fall in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan. She will be starting as an assistant professor in the department next year. Doug Proctor: Doug still works at Palantir, where he leads teams in the national security and defense business. Doug and his girlfriend, Katie, recently moved to New York.
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› CLASS NOTES
infrequent and our 10th reunion was a sign that, although we’ve come a long way, our Sidwell Friends experiences continue to keep us ever connected. Frank Shaw: I married Taylor Walston on December 29, 2018. Thank you to Sidwell Friends for giving me the tools to get a job where I met my dream girl and best friend (other than Sam Hart)! It was great to have my Sidwell friends at the wedding!
2010
Kai Zheng kaihuazheng@yahoo.com
The CLASS OF 2009 celebrates at the class party during Reunion Weekend 2019.
2008
Delaney Kempner dckempner@gmail.com
2009
Marielle “Elle” Young xmalielex@gmail.com
REUNION RECAP By Bryan Stabbe The Class of 2009 celebrated a phenomenal 10th reunion, with nearly half of our former classmates making the trip back to campus to reconnect. We had a tremendous showing of ’09ers who came from far and wide and featured a strong contingent from our class West Coast enclave. We kicked things off with the lovely reception behind Zartman House and took the opportunity to reconvene with our classmates and the campus. Despite some slight changes to both, there was a feeling of fellowship and a sense of connectedness that had not diminished now 10 years separated from daily trips to Wisconsin Avenue. The following day we felt extremely at home visiting classrooms of our favorite teachers from our time in the Upper School, cracking wise with Justin Heiges in his activity-based statistics course, stretching our minds in Susan Banker’s English Class Revisited, and diving into Language and Identity with Monsieur Mamadou Guèye. 70
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2011
Kiki Ochieng akinyi.ochieng@gmail.com
We capped off a wonderful evening at the home of Audrey Boochever and her family, who generously agreed to host our increasingly cacophonous gang of pterodactyl impressionists. We enjoyed a fabulous catered spread, snapped characteristically goofy group pictures in the photo booth, and dusted off our dance moves to Cotton Eye Joe. It was a tremendously endearing experience to see the sweat equity of our class committee, including Taylor Stewart, Vanessa Robin, Ashley Speyer, and Colin Harris. One of the themes of the weekend as was expressed by reunion alumni at Meeting for Worship was the idea of “becoming.” This notion was articulately restated by one of our reunion committee representatives, Sam Kernan-Schloss, as part of a predinner toast. He summarized that we are not who we may have been when we walked the halls at Sidwell Friends, but that Sidwell Friends unquestionably played a role in shaping who we have become today. As we sat in the astonishing new (to us) meeting space, a far cry from the folding chairs in Kenworthy Gym that our class was so familiar with, the idea resonated that just as we have changed and grown, so too has the school that carries enough significance for us to return to and gather together again. In the same way, the camaraderie and familiarity that we felt with each other and our alma mater continues to be palpable. With many hugs and high fives, we left the weekend’s festivities with the conclusion that opportunities to assemble as a group are too
2012
Salena Hess salenahess@outlook.com
John Verghese jjv2116@columbia.edu
2013
Cecilia Laguarda xenia.cecilia.laguarda@gmail.com
2014
Avikar Govil avikar.govil@gmail.com
REUNION RECAP By Kyndall Ashe Our Sidwell Friends fifth-year reunion was a great time for all! It was great to see old friends and learn about what everyone’s up to in our recent phase of newfound semi-adulthood. Friday was a great start to the weekend, as many of us began our reunion journey at Zartman Garden for a lovely reception with members of all reunion classes in attendance. We came together under the canopy of trees behind Zartman House to see many of our classmates for the first time in five years, though despite this, we quickly joined in sync together.
› CLASS NOTES
Following the Sidwell reception, we made our way to the after-party at the Kimpton Hotel in Dupont Circle. It was incredible the way that the eight of us in attendance on Friday laughed and enjoyed ourselves as if no time had passed! We enjoyed some light food and beverage before ending the night in good spirits after some quality time with our fellow classmates. On Saturday, we were able to absorb the nostalgia of our beautiful campus by attending classes taught by favorites Mamadou Guèye, Susan Banker, and Justin Heiges or attending the alumni Meeting for Worship in Sidwell’s beautiful meeting house. Meeting for Worship was beautiful and transformative and was extra special as we were joined by members of all the alumni class years in attendance and got to hear messages about the unique nature of the Sidwell community and the mark it had left on our fellow alumni so many years later. Saturday night was our class party at Dirty Habit, a new bar in the Chinatown area of DC. We had 25 members of our class and friends in attendance and had a spectacular time learning about everyone’s lives, eating and drinking together and even opening our time capsule letters from senior year! Finally, we ended the weekend with brunch at Silver, a few blocks from Sidwell—those of us there ate French toast and pancakes while reflecting on the weekend and even more on our high school experiences, and we left feeling full of friendship and great memories.
The CLASS OF 2014 celebrates at the class party during Reunion Weekend 2019.
2015
2017
2016
2018
Emily Miller emillerusa@gmail.com
Talha Jilani jilani-talha@live.com
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
Want to be a class representative? Email dohertya@sidwell.edu.
All in all, fun was had by all! It was great catching up with old Sidwell friends and seeing how far we’ve all come in just five years. Can’t wait to do it again in five more!
Left: Kylie Hiemstra ’09, Sam Hart ’09, Frank Shaw ’09, Chris Williams ’09, and Kirk Benson ’09 celebrate at Frank’s wedding at Pearl Street Warehouse at the Wharf DC in December. Right: Left to Right: Justin Young ’11, Mark Ossolinski ’11, Chris Lu ’11, Peter Estes ’11, Riley Davies ’15, Nicole DeSousa Davies, Michael Davies ’11, Harry Webb ’11, Thad Jones ’11, Thomas Esch ’11, and Chloe Sabarwhal ’11. ALUMNI MAGAZINE / SUMMER 2019
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retired & former faculty & staff notes Diane Alavi History Teacher and Community Service Director I deeply miss the folks at Sidwell Friends School, though I manage to watch some of you from afar via my daughter, and SFS alum, Sepi Alavi ’97. I’ve lived in the small village of Abiquiu, New Mexico, (think Georgia O’Keeffe) for 24 years. I retired recently from teaching humanities, creative writing, and world history at the New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe. I’ve been lucky enough to travel to Thailand (where my son, Jason, lives), Belgium, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey, and other places. I’ve also lectured in Iran for two “teacher tours.” It was great to go back to that beautiful country. Now that I’m retired, I hope to spend more time with my grandchildren, Jedi and Lookham, in Bangkok, and Sepi’s son, Felix, in Vermont. Blessings to all of you.
Diane Alavi enjoying another odd day in paradise in Chiang Mai, Thailand
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George Ovitt History Teacher I am still teaching history—year 42 is coming up—at Albuquerque Academy. I have recently published my second book of poems and my first novel, with a second novel due out this summer—writing is an excellent way of remembering the past and forgetting the present. I remain an unabashed progressive Democrat, that is, one who admires FDR, MLK, Bernie Sanders, and the remarkable AO-C. Once in a while I attend Quaker Meeting here in Burque, and I often think about Earl Harrison’s calm wisdom articulated, from time to time, in Sidwell’s gymnasium on Thursday mornings. And, even more often, I think about the remarkable young people from whom I learned so much during my decade at SFS. I wish all of you peace and hope and activism as we move into yet more uncharted waters. There’s a nice local watering hole near my house—Two Fools From Ireland—if you’re ever in town, I’ll buy you a pint.
Denise Ann Terry Middle School Teacher Don and I spend the school year in an apartment in New Haven, Connecticut, near daughter Amy ’94 and her family. With seven grandkids in three cities, we spend our time watching sports, dance recitals, and plays. We babysit and shuttle kids to their lessons. And we have never felt younger! I am active in our Episcopal parish, where I coordinate Sunday school and serve as junior warden. I tutor for New Haven Reads, a great organization that serves 500-plus local students. This spring I visited a 6th-grade classroom to talk about my memories (as a white resident of New York) of the civil rights era. Don is a fellow at Jonathan Edwards, his college at Yale. He enjoys weekly dinners, meeting and mentoring current students.During the summer months, we are in Falmouth, Massachusetts, where we enjoy family time. Don and I are both on the board of a historic carousel there. He opens it up every morning! I have written a children’s book about the carousel, illustrated by a local Falmouth artist. We will launch at her studio in July. Our four daughters are our treasure: Elizabeth ’90 celebrates her 25th Yale reunion this year; Meghan ’92 and Andrew have two boys at Shady Hill School; Amy ’94 and Colin have three girls (two at Foote School and one a preschooler); and Eleanor ’01/Maret ’01 and Tim have two little ones, a 2 1/2-year-old girl and a 2-month-old boy. I am also fortunate to still have my mother, who is 93. She lives alone in her own house next to the Hudson River in Kingston, New York. We have fit in some travel. We spent Easter in London with Meghan ’92 and her family, and we visited the San Francisco Bay Area with family and celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary!
› LIFE CYCLES
IN MEMORIAM Betty Cobey Senescu ’43 April 14, 2018
Mary “Polly” Nooter Roberts ’77 September 11, 2018
William “Bill” Hinshaw ’52 March 2, 2019
Molly Ann Ryder ’58 April 21, 2018
Thomas Gates ’54 September 23, 2018
Florence Holleman Schoenfeld ’47 March 2, 2019
Joan Read Calhoun ’46 April 24, 2018
Helen Brooks Druva ’44 September 26, 2018
Nancy Kehne ’73 March 28, 2019
Neill Roe ’68 May 24, 2018
Bayo Alakoye Sharp-Johnson ’89 October 29, 2018
Thomas Robinson ’64 April 16, 2019
Albert Warner ’76 June 23, 2018
Edith Friedman Grant ’52 December 18, 2018
Kieran Shafritz de Zoysa ’26 April 21, 2019
Nicholas Suardiaz Boitel ’16 August 5, 2018
Nancy Grabill Sherman ’62 December 23, 2018
Patricia “Pat” Meyer Battin ’47 April 22, 2019
Mary Cousins Paterra ’44 August 8, 2018
Henry Willard ’44 December 23, 2018
Marian “Mimi” Ambrose Smith ’76 May 2, 2019
Kenneth “Ken” Taylor ’48 August 11, 2018
Carla Freeman ’67 January 2, 2019
Anthony “Tony” Horwitz ’76 May 27, 2019
Virginia de Ganahl Russell ’49 August 16, 2018
Michaela Miller ’02 January 2, 2019
Ann Blake ’73 June 2, 2019
John Valentini ’48 August 30, 2018
Guy Lewis III ’56 January 9, 2019
Howard “Bart” Myers ’57 September 5, 2018
Dan Pinck ’42 February 10, 2019
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FROM THE
archives
SAYING THEIR PEACE: VISITING SPEAKERS CONTINUE TO INSPIRE Charles Clements, Sidwell Friends’s first Peace Speaker
by Loren Hardenbergh
In 1984, while the world grappled with the threat of nuclear war, the Sidwell Friends Board of Trustees released its Long-Range Plan. “We recognize that peace is the central issue of our time,” they declared, “and we welcome the challenge of educating peacemakers.” Then-Headmaster Earl Harrison set to work, meeting with foundations and members of the School community, to develop what became the Peace Speaker program. Thirty years ago, the School hosted its first Peace Speaker: Charles Clements, physician, author, and human rights activist. Over the course of three days in the spring of 1989, Clements met with students from all three divisions as well as parents. He shared his experiences as a former Vietnam War pilot who traveled to El Salvador to provide medical care during that country's civil war and then dedicated his life to promoting peace in Central America. (Reflecting later on his visit, he told Earl, “It nurtures my spirit to know that a place like Sidwell exists.”) William Sloane Coffin Jr. served as the School’s second Peace Speaker. Shown here with Lower School students, the former peace activist and former Yale chaplain visited classrooms and delivered an evening lecture to the adult community.
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The Peace Speaker soon became part of Founder’s Day and Peace Week. Many faculty members and
students have never forgotten hearing folk hero Pete Seeger sing and share stories with students and parents in 1994. (Some may remember the dinner afterward at Rich Lodish’s house, while others recall the two standing ovations parents gave.) The following year, “Hiroshima Maiden” Michiko Yamaoka told her story of surviving the atomic bomb attack on her hometown. For many years before and after her visit, touring Hiroshima with Yamaoka-san was the most meaningful part of the annual Upper School trip to Japan. A few years later in 1999, Holocaust survivor Gerda Klein shared her own moving World War II story. As the program continued, students explored the concept of peacemaking through many lenses. Months after Hurricane Katrina, community organizer Stephen Bradberry spoke of his grassroots efforts to rebuild New Orleans. Two years later, Sister Janet Harris, pro bono attorney Ian Graham ’93, and Sidwell Friends parent Susan Koch, the filmmaker behind the awardwinning documentary Mario’s Story, shed light on wrongful imprisonment. In 2010, primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall reminded the audience to “break down the barriers between us and Mother Earth.”
Jane Goodall was the 2010 Peace Speaker.
Lawyer, professor, and public servant Peter Edelman was the Peace Speaker in 1991.
While the School has always continued to bring enlightening speakers to campus, the term “Peace Speaker” fell out of favor in the late 2010s. But then this spring, without any great fanfare, Head of School Bryan Garman quietly restored this long-standing tradition as he stood up at the podium and introduced interfaith leader Eboo Patel as Sidwell Friends’s 2019 Peace Speaker. For a student's perspective on the 2019 Peace Speaker, see page 16. In 1995, Peace Speaker Michiko Yamaoka shared her story of surviving the Hiroshima atomic bomb attack.
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Students get to know the School’s new mascot on Founder’s Day.