Kaleidoscope, Fall 2017, Volume 52

Volume 52 | Fall 2017

PAGE 6

Looking Back, Looking Forward PAGE 14

Language Culture

PAGE 16

Paul Bjerk ’91, The Value of Risk-Taking

6 TABLE of CONTENTS

6 - LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD In her article “Looking Back, Looking Forward,” UWC-USA President

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SIGNATURE PROGRAMMING

The Ongoing Practice of Sustainability

movement. “On the ground at UWC-USA, our students, volunteers,

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FEATURE

and alumni make us more than spirited and hopeful. They make us

Looking Back, Looking Forward

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ON CAMPUS

Dr. Victoria Mora sets the stage for the future of our school and the

determined to ensure that this school, with its deeply important mission, thrives well into the future. Now is the time to ‘make our own luck,’ as our board Chair Steve Dichter is fond of saying.”

Change, the Only Constant 14 Language Culture 16

ONE OF US Chris Palm ’92, Surviving a 7.8 Magnitude Earthquake

18 VIEWPOINT

Paul Bjerk ’91, The Value of Risk-Taking 20

PEER REVIEW

27 CONNECTED

Reunions 28

ALUMNI IMPACT AWARD

29 INSPIRATION

Raul Romero ’18, Venezuela Uros Cvetkovic ’18, Italy Cover photo: Tara Evonne Trudell

14 - LANGUAGE CULTURE Mother tongue teacher Anne Farrell opens the box on the reality and complexities of language in our school and in the world in her article “Languaculture—It’s Not a Type of Pasta.” Communication competence is multilayered and doesn’t fit into the tidy categories of Language A and Language B. “The thread of culture is woven into a language. Over the years in the English B classroom, we’ve pulled at the thread and made sometimes startling discoveries.”

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16 16 - CHRIS PALM ’92, SURVIVING A 7.8 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE 2016, Chris Palm ’92 shared his story while here for the 2017

The magazine of UWC-USA, The Armand Hammer United World College of the American West

Montezuma Reunion. In One of Us, Gwen Albers writes about

Volume 52, Fall 2017

Surviving a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Ecuador on April 16,

the total devastation and how Chris’ survival is linked to his time at UWC-USA, rummaging through the abandoned Castle. Lifechanging, life-affirming, it’s a story of the bond between humans and animals and a shared journey of healing.

Vice President for Advancement: Christie Baskett Editor: Linda Seebantz Peer Review Editor: Jose Pablo Salas Rojas ’06 Copy Editor: Jeannine Santiago Designer: Firestik Studio Contributing Writers: Gwen Albers, Paul Bjerk ’91, Jason Brewer, Anne Ferrell, Dr. Victoria Mora, David Rogers, Raul Romero ’18, Jose Pablo Salas Rojas ’06, Linda Seebantz Contributing Photographers: Chris Corrie, Uros Cvetkovic ’18, Chris Palm ’92, Tara Evonne Trudell Contact: UWC-USA P.O. Box 248 Montezuma, NM 87731 publications@uwc-usa.org

Kaleidoscope is published biannually by the UWC-USA Advancement Office to sustain connection with alumni and the school’s extended community.

David Rogers practices writing and consulting from Las Vegas, NM. He currently serves UWC-USA as the ExEd Young Entrepreneurship Program sponsor.

BY DAVID ROGERS

The Ongoing Practice of

SUSTAINABILITY In the science of ecology, sustainability refers to the property of biological systems to remain diverse and productive indefinitely. For a great example of this, the next time you’re visiting UWC-USA, take a side trip to the Crane Lake overlook within the Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge.

Particularly in the spring and fall, you’ll likely see myriad species

accepted, original definition of sustainable development as

of waterfowl and wading birds feeding and socializing in the

“development that meets the needs of the present without

pond, surrounded by ancient, untouched high prairie, itself filled

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own

with massive populations of plants, insects, birds, reptiles,

needs” comes from the 1992 Brundtland Report for the World

and mammals, all of which have interacted sustainably for

Commission on Environment and Development and became part of

many centuries.

common language at the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro that

In nature, each member of the community plays a unique yet integral role in the sustainability of the community, in a complex

Since then, many variations of this basic definition have appeared.

web of relationships. The natural world accomplishes this in a

Some would argue that sustainability has been hijacked and

seemingly unconscious, effortless manner. To achieve this on a

twisted to suit businesses and governments that might prefer to

human scale, there must be a conscious effort made to create

continue the business of polluting as usual. Some argue for it as an

sustainable development encompassing not only ecology and

economic or political opportunity, while others view it as a utopian

environmental science but also economics, politics, and culture.

ideal, unattainable in the real world. In spite of all that, however, it

Of course, where there are humans involved, there will inevitably be different views on what constitutes sustainable development, how it can be achieved, and if it’s even necessary. A generally

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same year.

seems that worldwide awareness is growing as more evidence of the consequences of living in unsustainable ways accumulates in our daily lives.

SIGNATURE PROGRAMMING

A hawk takes flight from its perch within the Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge with Montezuma and Hermit’s Peak in the distance.

At UWC-USA, commitment to sustainability begins with the

Ben and his crew have made the center a place where students

mission statement, manifesting in the school’s individual and

are challenged to think about food in a more conscious way, to

institutional practices on campus and through students and alumni

seek creative, sustainable approaches to production issues like pest

who commit themselves to the long-term future of planet Earth

management, conservation, and waste management while not

and all its inhabitants, human or otherwise.

neglecting the cultural and social aspects of preparing and serving

The chain of sustainability begins, unsurprisingly, in the earth around the school, especially the 20 acres of land encompassing the UWC-USA Agroecology Research Center (ARC), just a short walk from campus. Ben Gillock oversees the operation of the center while also teaching classes in environmental systems and

it because, as everyone knows, a plate full of delicious food, grown at home, prepared with loving care, is a universal language of friendship and peace unto itself. Ben describes his work as “more than just a job; it’s having a role in a global movement for peace and sustainability.”

societies and serving as a trusted wilderness guide. Ben and the

The farm is productive enough to provide organic produce and eggs

ARC staff offer students and community members the opportunity

to the campus Dining Hall, where they’re used by Aida Samaniego,

to acquire skills needed to practice sustainable agriculture in the

the director of Food Services, and her kitchen crew to create

real-world setting of a working farm, complete with outdoor

nutritious fare. Additionally, most of the grains and beans they use

classroom and gardens, a large greenhouse built by students and

are regionally sourced from organic growers in Colorado.

employees, and a flock of chickens and ducks. (Rumor has it that there may be goats on the horizon, as well. Stay tuned!)

Students are also involved in menu creation, ingredient selection, and even the preparation process of some dishes, particularly those native to their cultures. They help ensure every meal is created and

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Ivor Frischknecht ’86

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Dr. Diego Perez Salicrup ’86

Ken Neal ’85

Are we walking our talk? delivered with the highest levels of quality, nutritional value, and

In particular, Diego works closely with the Monarch Butterfly

environmental sustainability possible.

Biosphere Reserve to protect the winter home of most of the

A basic link in the chain of sustainability is recycling. The kitchen sends much of its food waste back to the farm to be composted

world’s population of one of the more beautiful and popular insects on earth.

back into rich soil for another crop. Chemistry teacher Travis Day

While Diego went to the tropical forests, his friend from his UWC-

oversees the program, collecting non-compostable waste—cans,

USA days, Ken Neal ’85, went to the sea. He first became a ship’s

plastic, cardboard, etc.—for transport to recycling facilities

captain and instructor with SEA Semester in Massachusetts. He

elsewhere because no such facilities exist in the Montezuma area.

then co-founded Call of the Sea, a San Francisco–based maritime

Connecting the chain of sustainability at UWC-USA through the Agroecology Research Center, through the food students and employees consume and the waste they dispose of, through the classroom, ultimately connecting to the heart of all students, faculty, and staff is, after all, the ultimate expression of that aspect of the mission. “As we engage in these processes here, we prepare our students to engage the world in these processes when they leave,” Ben says.

education organization. Now back on dry land since 2011, Ken has turned his attention to alternative energy generation and transmission with NaturEner USA, a leading renewable energy independent power producer, which operates large-scale wind energy farms in Montana and Canada. Ken is based at the company’s state-of-the-art operations center in San Francisco, still close to the sea, where he first led the startup and development of the center before assuming his current duties overseeing the commercial operation of the generation from the company’s

Following are a few examples of this engagement by our alumni.

entire U.S. holdings: wind farms that generate 400 megawatts of

Ivor Frischknecht ’86 went on to receive degrees in law and

electrical power annually, enough to power 260,000 homes.

economics from the University of Sydney in Australia and an MBA and public management certificate from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In August 2012, he was appointed inaugural chief executive officer of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Widely acknowledged as an expert and innovator in the rapidly evolving energy industry, Ivor leads ARENA’s efforts

Ivor, Diego, and Ken are but three examples of the many, many alumni who have carried the heart of the UWC-USA mission with them out into the world. While on diverse paths to personal success, each is leaving a positive imprint for future generations to navigate by.

to accelerate the commercialization and integration of renewable

When asked how do you relate to the UWC mission, Ben Gillock

energy into Australia’s energy system as well as playing a leading

responded, “The mission is why I work at UWC-USA. We are

role in transforming the electricity sector. Before joining ARENA,

not just an international prep school. I feel like I’m working for

Ivor was a CEO and investor in the clean-tech sector in Silicon

a more peaceful and sustainable world here every day, in my

Valley, California.

own small way. Peace and sustainability are not destinations or

Dr. Diego Perez Salicrup ’86 went from UWC-USA to study biology at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, conducting

accomplishments; they are processes of learning and growth and of continual self and social improvement.”

postgraduate research in tropical ecology in Florida and Costa

In the final analysis, the essence of the UWC-USA mission is peace

Rica before receiving a master’s and Ph.D. from the University of

and a sustainable future, which boils down to caring for ourselves

Missouri-St. Louis and finishing with a postdoctoral fellowship at

and for one another today and every day. When we think of the

Harvard Forest managed by Harvard University. For the past 15

UWC-USA alumni as renewable resources for good in the world,

years, Diego has conducted and led research at the Institute for

we see clearly that a sustainable manifestation of that essential

Research on Ecosystems and Sustainability of the Universidad

mission has been carried out and will continue to flow out from the

Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, focusing on forest preservation.

UWC-USA campus into the world.

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LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD

BY DR. VICTORIA J. MORA, UWC-USA PRESIDENT

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FEATURE It has been more than three decades since the first class of intrepid UWCers arrived in Montezuma, New Mexico, to test for themselves the (then) mission statement: “Through international education, shared experience, and community service, United World Colleges enable young people to become responsible citizens, politically and environmentally aware, committed to the ideals of peace, justice, understanding and co-operation and to the implementation of these ideals through action and personal example.”

Attending the first and only United States campus of the United World College, the class of 1984 joined a growing movement. There were four UWCs when the U.S. campus took its place, along with Adriatic the same year. Each was dedicated to the educational principles of founder Kurt Hahn. Each focused on intentional diversity and international understanding in pursuing the UWC mission.

By locating the U.S. campus in northern New Mexico, UWC sent quite a message. The United States is not wholly represented by its cosmopolitan coasts and bustling economic centers. It includes untamed wilderness, culturally diverse communities reaching back centuries, sovereign nations enclosed in borders not of their own making, and struggling communities that have more in common with developing nations than with their more prosperous U.S. counterparts.

The campus was extraordinary: an awe-inspiring setting, a burned-out icon in the form of the Montezuma Hotel (fondly referred to as the “Castle”), 19th century buildings harkening back to a more prosperous era, Jesuit cells posing as dormitories. And there was mud. A lot of mud, as chronicled by the school’s first president, Theodore Lockwood, in his book Dreams & Promises: The Story of the

Armand Hammer United World College.

The world was different, too. The Cold War was entrenched even as it was during the founding of UWC’s Atlantic College in 1962, with the Soviet Union intact and powerful. There was no unified Germany, East and West divided by the Berlin Wall. Mexico was a hot travel destination for its neighbors to the north. Nelson Mandela was in prison in a segregated South Africa. The People’s Republic of China was just adopting the current constitution. The environmental movement was gaining early momentum, with 1981 recorded as the warmest year to date. And the computer was

Time magazine’s 1982 Man of the Year!

Fast-forward 35 years. The UWC mission remains, in revised form: “UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.” The UWC movement has grown, with our 17th campus in Japan holding inaugural festivities this year. Intentional diversity remains at the heart of what we do, as does our approach to students inspired by Hahn’s insight that “there is more in [them] than [they] think.”

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Northern New Mexico has changed slowly, the campus more quickly. The Castle remains iconic on campus. Now restored (except for the infamous fourth floor!), it houses the Dining Hall, the Bartos Institute for the Constructive Engagement of Conflict, two student dormitories, offices, classrooms, and a seemingly intractable colony of bats. The mud has been replaced by fields where students test their limits of endurance and cooperation as Hahn envisioned.

An impressive field house allows dance,

find ways to be fully present to one another

On the ground at UWC-USA, our students,

athletics, and play to continue late into

during our time together in Montezuma.

volunteers, and alumni make us more

the evening and on the occasional rainy day. Previously the Dining Hall, or “Caf” as it was known, the Geier IT Center remains crucial for campus connectivity. Our Kluge Auditorium is a focal point for the many ways in which arts and cultural expressions bring us together, and the Dwan Light Sanctuary is a space to practice being at peace with ourselves and one another. The Poole House has waxed and waned in its use, with its future yet to be determined.

The world has changed, too, though in some ways it is too much the same. The Cold War has long been over. The Soviet Union is a distant memory, but tensions between the United States and Russia are worse than they have been in decades.

The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, though “walls” haven’t lost their political cachet; one is currently being contemplated between the U.S. and Mexico. Nelson Mandela found his

too much a part of the daily lives of people worldwide. We are watching massive migrations of human beings from droughtstricken, war-torn areas, along with the culture clash that ensues. Nationalism,

than spirited and hopeful. They make us determined to ensure that this school, with its deeply important mission, thrives well into the future. Now is the time to “make our own luck,” as our board Chair Steve Dichter is fond of saying.

protectionism, and isolationism are rearing

The past year has been one of listening

their heads. Populist movements with their

and learning. Conversations with students,

polarizing politics are on the rise.

alumni, faculty and staff, friends, and

I offer this snapshot of history to make what should be an obvious point: Our mission is more important than ever. We are more inextricably connected than at any other time in human history, yet the disconnects among us are on full display.

We seem to be going backward rather

trustees have identified many challenges.

They converge on 1) mission alignment and delivery and 2) financial sustainability.

These two challenges are neither sexy nor surprising, but they are real, and they will require attention from all committed to UWC-USA and its future.

peace and a sustainable future. It would be

MISSION ALIGNMENT AND DELIVERY

easy to find ourselves dispirited and maybe

The educational experience we offer and

even discouraged. And yet …

the mission it serves is more relevant

than forward on too many fronts crucial to

way from prison to the presidency of South

The students keep coming. They come

Africa (and the honorary presidency of the

with high ideals and shared aspirations

UWC movement)! China is among the most

for a better world. National committees

important international players. Scientific

continue to proliferate; the movement now

evidence for climate change continues

boasts 155 of them driven by more than

to mount, but political solutions remain

3,000 volunteers. And, most important,

elusive. The computer has continued to

our alumni keep finding ways to live the

evolve, and most of us on campus carry

mission every day in what they do and how

one in the palm of our hands, connecting us

they do it.

to a global society while challenging us to 8

And we share new worries. Terrorism is

than ever. Yet we have become less distinguishable given the growing number of schools dedicated to global education, peace, and sustainability. We celebrate the increasing number of schools recognizing education as a force for a better world. We also need to be clear and intentional about what sets UWC-USA apart.

We could distinguish ourselves by going in a wholly new direction. Or we can acknowledge that, while we have all the

UWC Day, September 21, 2016

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ingredients for a truly excellent student

But our students’ navigation challenges

experience, we aren’t yet there. “Getting

go beyond their face-to-face communities

there” is the goal that will guide our efforts

to include virtual communities, far-flung

over the next several years.

and near. Where does one start in trying

Essentially, the first part of our strategy will be to align more intentionally with the UWC mission and values in our programming, our campus, and our reach.

We will do it with a view toward realizing our potential at a new level, including innovation in response to the world inherited by our students. Our approach will be multi-pronged and will adapt according to our resource base—human and

to make a difference? These virtual communities also present new kinds of challenges around personal responsibility, mutual understanding, and empathy. We will work to create the conditions for our students to have a powerful two-year experience in thinking globally while acting locally, in thinking ethically while acting virtually. Student-driven programming will be our aim.

Our location has been, and probably always will be, a subject of much discussion.

Our strategy builds on a commitment to leveraging it more intentionally. Northern New Mexico provides a rich intersection of many of the hot-button issues in the world today: border disputes, cultural conflict, income and access inequality, and tensions between religious and secular traditions.

We will focus on bringing these global issues forward in the most immediate

Through reinvigoration of the Bartos

ways we can, emphasizing dialogue from

Institute, we will focus on experiential and

multiple perspectives and action at the

residential practices and programming

local level and through virtual means. To

to deepen our students’ constructive

extend our reach and increase our visibility,

engagement with conflict, citizenship,

we will form intentional partnerships

and leadership in real and virtual

locally, nationally, and internationally with

In the early days of the movement,

communities. By focusing on wellness, we

a multi-generational, multi-perspectival

international understanding was at the

will develop an integrated approach to

focus on the issues our students face as

forefront. Students were brought together

sustainability—starting with the individual

change makers.

largely for the purpose of opening the

and fanning out to encompass human

world to them. We were an international

communities and the environment. By

school in the literal sense, creating bridges

targeting our efforts, we will work to

Align our campus with the mission

between nations by creating bridges

increase the impact of our community

Our campus needs significant attention.

between students.

and cultural engagement with Las Vegas

The restoration of the Castle has added

and surrounding communities over time.

new challenges to the circulation and

Through short courses, we will stretch

unity of the campus and community. Our

our reach to those who would develop

deferred maintenance is extensive. We have

leadership skills, teamwork, and respect

buildings that raise the question of whether

for the environment through wilderness

we are throwing good money after bad

experience and exploration of New Mexico.

with ongoing repairs and retrofits.

financial—over time.

Focus on strategies and skills that empower students to effectively navigate a global world

A majority of today’s students have the world at their fingertips. If they don’t before they get to UWC, they certainly do upon arrival. It is not for us to connect them to the world. They are already connected. Our emphasis needs to shift.

Through targeted partnerships, we will

Our students’ ability to effectively navigate

expand the opportunities for our students

a globally connected world, while being

to engage in social entrepreneurship that

agents of change in their own immediate

makes a difference locally and can be

communities, will guide our direction

replicated in other communal and cultural

going forward.

contexts. And in living our mission, we will create opportunities for all members of our

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Leverage our unique location in the United States

Our commitment to diversity makes us a

community—students, staff, and faculty—

microcosm of the world (representatives

to experience their efficacy in making a

of 94 countries this year, most groaning

difference. Across this programming, we

in assembly when I say “microcosm of the

will emphasize development of skills tied

world”!). As such, our living environment

to character and communication that

is, and always has been, an education in

empower our students’ to be effective

navigating a globally connected world.

citizens, change makers, and leaders.

We will develop a master plan to guide our fundraising and resource allocation in making campus improvements and changes. We will be guided by our mission and values. We will be guided by a commitment to inspire our students with sustainable building and living. We will focus on the environmental challenges and opportunities unique to our part of the world; water catchment as well as solar, wind, and geothermal power are all on the table. More effective integration of our farm into our curricular, culinary, and community programming is also an exciting area of commitment for us.

Alumni Of course, our mission isn’t completed in the two years that students are on campus. Our alumni carry it with them—in the lives they lead, the careers they choose, and the influence they exert. We need to fully engage our alumni network on behalf of

legacy by presenting us with a generous and timely challenge grant of $10,000,000 over the next five years to address both pressing campus needs and the need to lay the foundation for taking UWC-USA to a new level of excellence. And yes, we have more to do if we are to be financially sustainable.

current students and recent graduates if we are to be successful.

To achieve financial sustainability, we will need to operate on

We need to make it a priority to create multiple mechanisms

multiple fronts. Careful stewardship and allocation of resources,

through which our exceptional alumni can give of their time and

in line with our mission and values, is crucial. We have already

talent to further the mission. And we will.

begun to move in this direction, with good results. But the crux of

FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

our strategy will need to be on the revenue side. We cannot cut our way out of the projected structural deficits that we face. The

Of course, all this will take investment. The second part of

success of our strategy depends on all of us. It will require a multi-

our strategy will put UWC-USA on a path to greater financial

pronged approach.

sustainability. We need to make sure our resources are sufficient to secure not only our operations but also our aspirations. Our challenge increases with time. It may come as a surprise to some that this is even an issue, so I want to be very clear.

Yes, we are among the financially strongest campuses within the movement. Yes, the Armand Hammer Trust was a cornerstone of our financial health until 2014, when it was slated to be depleted.

Yes, Shelby and Gale Davis have continued to be tremendous and generous supporters of UWC-USA. Yes, Shelby’s children have just committed to honor their father and extend the Davis family

Broadening our base There is no sustainable future for UWC without broad-based support from our alumni. Friends have been the largest source of support over our first 35 years, and we’re grateful. But we are getting to the point in our history when friends and foundations ask one common question: What percentage of your alumni give?

They ask because this percentage is shorthand for the value of the education we offer. This is the right time in our history to develop a broad culture of giving forward.

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Comprehensive campaign The last major fundraising campaign for our school ended in 2001.

We are overdue. While we haven’t settled on a number yet, the campaign will be the most substantial in the history of UWCUSA. It will address programming and capital needs. It will build endowment for scholarships to ensure national, economic, and social diversity. It will address our move to being a sustainable campus through use of alternative energy, green building, and incremental changes in maintenance. It will lay the foundations for the next 35 years of UWC-USA.

Leveraging the campus for increased revenue streams

core student experience. It will create opportunities in everything we do with mission alignment, execution, and extension.

Final thoughts (for now!)

Let me end by saying that some of what I have laid out above is underway or has been done in some form in past years. This strategy is not meant to suggest otherwise. The innovation is in the intentionality with which we take stock of what we are doing and align with our mission at a new level of aspiration.

We can’t settle for anything less than excellence if we truly believe the education we offer is a unique force for peace and a sustainable future. Too much rides on our success.

Our campus is beautifully situated and has significant potential to

With all the turmoil in the world today, what better time to focus

generate revenue. We have over the years done some renting out

our efforts on making sure that this school, which is surely part of

of our facilities. For more than 20 years, we have provided teacher

the solution, has what it needs to thrive? UWC-USA is a part of

training for thousands of International Baccalaureate schools and

the world that is actually in our hands. Together, we can take it to

teachers, though in recent years, we have taken this training off

a new level of excellence and efficacy. Together, we can make sure

campus. We will focus on significant revenue opportunities that

that students leave with a broad and deep experience living the

expand or align with our mission while raising our visibility with

UWC mission and values. Together, we can make sure we provide

influencers and potential donors. This part of our strategy will

an experience they can carry with them confidently as citizens of

require investment in deferred maintenance and improvements in

the world and as leaders focused on its future.

campus infrastructure, which is needed in any case to improve our Students from classes 2018 and 2019 gather for a photo-op with President Dr. Victoria Mora in the Peace Garden overlook at UWC-USA.

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ON CAMPUS

CHANGE,

the Only Constant

BY DAVID ROGERS

Although the world is always changing, memories of crisp autumn mornings in Montezuma, New Mexico, remain a constant inspiration for those fortunate enough to have them—memories the incoming class of 2019 has already begun gathering.

According to Melanie Brennand, dean of admissions and college

and implemented a process for reporting incidents and resolving

counseling at UWC-USA, 114 “firsties” entered the fall term as the

problems that is clear, fair, and compassionate. Increased training

class of 2019. These students represent 70 nations from around

in and utilization of restorative justice is being offered on campus.

the world, including six—Haiti, Greece, South Sudan, Lithuania, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—from which the school hasn’t seen students in at least five years.

New classes that provide students with more options and reflect the needs of a changing world have been introduced into the curriculum, including Arabic ab initio, computer science,

Nine new faculty members joined UWC-USA this term. They

design technology, and global politics. Additionally, Experiential

bring exceptional backgrounds and skills in language, science, and

Education tracks (formerly CAS) are expanding to encompass

culture from five different nations and six American cities. Several

the arts, Campus Service, Community Engagement, Constructive

are local New Mexicans, with strong connections to the area.

Engagement of Conflict, Sustainability, and Wilderness.

With new arrivals came departures. UWC-USA bid fond farewells

And finally, each year a few students approach the dean of

to 17 faculty, administrators, and support staff with best wishes

students or the dean of admissions to request an increase in their

for their future endeavors.

financial aid because of a change in circumstances. To consistently

Changes across the spectrum have been implemented on campus this fall: The number of resident tutors (RT) and assistant resident tutors in the dorms has increased. Lower dorms are now divided into two units, by floors, with a resident tutor and assistant resident tutor on each floor to enhance student support and relationship building. Each RT team will be in charge of 20 to 26 students.

After a thorough review of the policies and procedures related to personal conduct, UWC-USA staff and faculty have created

and equitably address these appeals, a formal process is being established that will allow students, families, and national committees a course of action toward potential relief in response to unexpected circumstances.

So while comforted by the certainty of another crisp autumn morning to come in Montezuma, one can reflect on the observation by ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, “Change is the only constant in life,” and know that dynamic and positive change in service of its mission is a certainty at UWC-USA. 13

LANGUAGE CULTURE

BY ANNE FARRELL, UWC-USA ENGLISH AND MOTHER TONGUE TEACHER

Languaculture It’s not a type of pasta.

If there was ever an indicator of just how complex the language situations are in a community like UWC, it can be seen in the challenge we have with simple questions. “What’s your mother tongue?” may seem like a simple question. But the answer isn’t easy if your parents have different backgrounds and you speak different languages to family members on both sides and maybe a third at home.

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ON CAMPUS

Nor is it easy to answer, “What’s your best language?” “Do you mean the language I use at home or the language I use at school?” Distinctions such as “first language” and “second language” are simplistic if you’re multilingual and can communicate in several. This need to categorize, to help students select a tidy International Baccalaureate Language A and Language B focuses on what is actually a superficial level of language, the verbal competence.

It’s practical and purposeful, but in terms of the dream of the UWC mission— bringing people together through a shared language—it’s missing the essence of communicative competence.

The necessity for a lingua franca, by default English here in Montezuma, puts the onus on nonnative English speakers to acquire this verbal competence as quickly as possible.

It’s a daunting task complicated by the remarkable variety of accents, idioms, and registers. The grammar, the syntax, and the shifting between the Anglo-Saxon lexicon and the Greco-Roman are all obstacles to communication. Anxiety about making errors and the frustration of a gap in vocabulary or grammatical structure are frequent experiences for the English B student. Even being labeled “B” is redolent of second tier.

But this is not a tale of woe, a pity-thepoor-B’s tale. It’s time to declare that the measures of fluency in English—the IB grade, the TOEFL score, and the SAT Verbal numeral—are mere window dressing.

The past and present inhabitants of our Montezuma English B world, the current students and the alumni, know that Languaculture is where the action is. It’s here that cross-linguistic communication falters, that miscomprehensions become more and more deeply rooted. All the structural minefields of pronunciation, subjunctives, and negative inversions are insignificant compared to the negativity that can be generated when there are underlying differences in languaculture, in “who” may say “what” to “whom” and “when.”

The thread of culture is woven into a language. Over the years in the English B classroom, we’ve pulled at the thread and made sometimes startling discoveries. Do any alumni remember the uproar when X from Albania informed us that “please” and “thank you” were not used in his language unless you wished to speak down to someone, to indicate you were of a superior class? To him, using those words in English as often as he observed on campus smacked of insincerity, and he would not do it.

Still, on the topic of perceived insincerity, what about the insight into the languaculture of expressing gratitude for a gift in Japanese? Were you there in the Old Stone Hotel classroom when your two peers from Japan explained that anything more than “thank you” and a slight bow would be most inappropriate? Compare that with the languacultural procedure in English: First, make a generic comment of pleasure. (Oh, it’s lovely!) Next, insist on the virtue of the giver. (How thoughtful of you! You’re so generous.) Move on to a specific attribute of the object. (What a gorgeous color!) Now you can begin the statements of gratitude.

(Thank you so much. You shouldn’t have.) It all seems rather exhausting doesn’t it? What if we superimposed Japanese languaculture on to the English linguistic code? Or the Albanian? Would we global citizens see past the apparent ingratitude?

Exhaustion reminds me of Ms. Y from China, weighed down with a heavy package at the post office and dismayed every time she declined help from a native English speaker, they walked away and left her with the box.

Didn’t they know that they should insist at least three times and then she may accept?

“It would end with them carrying the box and me walking next to them saying thank you many times.”

However, there’s one piece of U.S. languaculture that my decades of English B students have all agreed is the most disconcerting. In the interest of global harmony and world peace, we nonAmerican English speakers [editor’s note: Anne is British] would like to remind you Americans that saying “Hi! How are you?” as you pass us, and not stopping to hear our answer, is making us all very nervous.

None of this is to say that we should add yet another academic requirement to our UWC workload—Theory of Cross-Cultural Communication (TOCCC?). Rather, it’s to suggest that here in the rarefied air of UWC, we could generate a prevailing mindset of questioning curiosity, a strategy of “opening the box” on our many languacultures, and admitting how differences can rub and irritate.

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ONE OF US

BY GWEN ALBERS, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT

ONE of OUR OWN

Samantha

A 1992 UWC-USA graduate

survives a devastating Ecuador earthquake.

Being a “rule breaker” helped Chris Palm survive a 7.8 magnitude

Living in the coastal town of Canoa, Chris was taking a shower

earthquake that leveled his Ecuador home with him inside. A 1992

when the quake hit. “I jumped out of the shower, realizing there

UWC-USA graduate, Chris said that when he attended school here,

was an earthquake,” he said. “Before being able to react, I hit

the Castle on the Montezuma campus was closed and in need of

the ceiling. It’s as if gravity doesn’t exist. You’re like popcorn

extensive repairs. “We used to sneak in there, and we learned if

bouncing among the rubble.” Trapped by several slabs of concrete,

your head fits through a hole, your whole body will fit,” he recalled

Chris remembers thinking, This is how you die in an earthquake,

when back on campus for the annual Montezuma Reunion in late

and blacked out. When Chris regained consciousness, he began

July. “It was my Castle time that saved my life.” Chris attended the

assessing his life. “I was so grateful for every experience in my life,

reunion for the classes of 1991, 1992, 1997, 2007, and 2008 with

the people in my life,” he said. “I started going through all those

his service dog—a yellow Labrador retriever named Samantha,

relationships and was concerned about the impact that my death

who also survived the earthquake.

would have on them. I didn’t want to bring that mourning into

Chris and his dog continue to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder from the April 16, 2016, earthquake that left 676 dead

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their existence.”

Buried in a pile of rubble, Chris used his one free hand to dig his

and 16,600 injured. “It wasn’t until after the earthquake and I had

way out. He saw a big enough hole for his head. “I thought back

gotten out of the hospital that I started to feel pain,” the 43-year-

to UWC and back to the Castle,” he said. “That changed my life.”

old said. “In my dreams, I’d be back in the earthquake and in so

After freeing himself, Chris walked around naked looking for his

much pain. Samantha wakes me up, and I don’t have any pain. She

6-year-old dog. “I climbed on the roof and fell flat on my face,” he

kind of helps me keep a grasp on the ‘here and now’ as opposed to

recalled. “My toes were touching the back of my calf. My foot was

getting lost in the trauma.”

just hanging there by flesh. I quickly pulled my foot off and put it

L) Chris Palm ’92 with dog Samantha during the July 28-31 Montezuma Reunion.

R) Chris examines the damage after an April 2016 earthquake destroyed his Ecuador home with him inside.

on straight.” Chris used bed linens still hanging on his clothesline

more ‘skittish’ on sounds and has a lot of bad dreams, waking

for bandages and found clothes for himself. Even with his tibia

and screaming.”

sticking through his skin, he said he only felt emotional pain. He could only presume Samantha was trapped in the home and killed.

Chris remains in Ecuador, in the coastal town of Ayampe. It’s 100 miles south of his former home. “My blood runs deep in Ecuador,”

“My home was indistinguishable, just bricks, and I didn’t know

he said about his decision to remain there. “It’s my country.

where my dog was,” he said. “My only thought was she was

They’re my people. It’s been a really tough year. It’s a club I

gone. That was the pain I felt.” Unmarried and without children,

didn’t ask to join. It’s a process of life, a learning experiment. It’s

Chris shared a close relationship with Samantha. “We had been

sometimes hard to continue living.”

living together and traveling together for three years prior,” he said. Throughout the night, Chris yelled for Samantha and heard nothing. He assumed everyone in the village was dead. The earthquake leveled 90 percent of the town. At daybreak, Chris heard another person’s voice and learned he was not the disaster’s sole survivor. That’s when his dog appeared. “She came out unscathed,” Chris said. “I was in tears. There are no words to describe that feeling. It’s a miracle both of us were still alive.”

Chris then sought medical care in town only to find dead bodies, injured people, and collapsed buildings. He made his way to nearby Quito to receive better medical care and undergo surgery.

He remained hospitalized for eight days. It took four months for his leg to heal. Chris lost 25 pounds during that time. “They put me back together again really well, but it wasn’t until after I got out of the hospital that I started receiving pain and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder,” he explained. Chris couldn’t sleep, and when he did, he had nightmares about the earthquake.

He credits his dog with helping him maintain reality. “I’d be back in the earthquake in my dreams and I am in so much pain, and she wakes me up,” he said. Samantha also suffers from PTSD. “She’s

Raised 60 miles west of Laramie, Wyoming, Chris grew up on a family ranch homesteaded by his great-grandfather. At one time, the ranch was the largest sheep producer in the country. Chris attended a high school with 150 students in ninth through 12th grades. Ranked No. 1 in his class, he found himself extremely bored and applied to United World College without telling his parents and got an interview. “They weren’t real supportive about sending their kid to a strange school in New Mexico with kids from all over the world,” he said.

Chris found his UWC experience life-changing. “I left my tribe from Wyoming and developed a new family here,” he said. “We all came up with a new perspective on how the world operates.”

After graduating from UWC, he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania and returned to Wyoming for five years to manage the family ranch. “I was a cowboy,” he said. Chris then went to Nanyang Business School in Singapore for his Master of Business Administration. “I was looking at the export market for the U.S. beef industry,” he said.

The mad cow disease, which spread in British herds in the mid1980s after they were fed the processed animal remains of sheep infected with a brain-wasting disease, ended the exporting of

IT WAS MY CASTLE TIME THAT SAVED MY LIFE.

beef from the United States. That’s when Chris got into marketing and advertising for the pharmaceutical industry and ran a fineart photography gallery. Tired of the fast-moving consumer industry, he made a life-changing decision by going to Africa to work with an elephant conservation group. His photography and conservation work took him to Ecuador for similar work, where he has rebuilt his life and continues to live today.

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The

VALUE of Risk-Taking

BY PAUL BJERK ’91

At the recent reunion July 28-31, 2017, we got into a typical UWC discussion about whether and how to support the institution financially. All of us pretty much agreed that we currently give out of an emotional attachment to the institution because we cannot deny the formative power of the experience and the depth of the friendships established there.

But we find it hard to justify a major donation to UWC as opposed to other, more efficient charities. Nevertheless, supporting institutions that propagate one’s values is certainly a legitimate approach to charitable giving and may broadly represent an approach to ethical life.

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So the question remains, How much does an alumnus or alumna give? For me, the first step toward answering that question was to assess the model itself. I wrote up a little memo to share with those who attended.

In sum, at its best, UWC can be a positively disruptive force in global cultures, and it is this quality, if sustained, that represents the institution’s strongest argument for charitable donation. But achieving that goal requires a recognition of risk as a deliberate aspect of its pedagogy. Acknowledging this tolerance for risk entails a level of liability that would not otherwise be present. There is a human cost to subjecting adolescents to such an experience. Adolescence has its dangers, but UWC takes specific responsibility for them by intentionally employing them, for the sake of teaching the capacity for moral decision. This means that, despite all efforts at mitigation, UWC deliberately exposes its students to multiple levels of danger, and all who support it share the moral responsibility to balance the inevitable injury against our faith in its grandiose mission.

I begin from the premise, for the sake of argument, that UWC schools are the best in the world, and I will make a further assumption that the dedicated campuses provide a more focused, and therefore “better,” experience than those that share a campus with another school. I am certain there are other schools that can attract and keep “better” teachers or that have a more creative or experimental curriculum, better academic resources and recreational facilities, and garner better average scores on standardized exams. I don’t discount the importance and utility of high scores in objective measures, the International Baccalaureate being primary. This is an essential activity that anchors and structures the rest of the experience. Moreover, this globally desirable outcome helps mitigate the inherent ethnocentricity of the model.

But test scores are not at the core. UWC faculty and administration generally recognize and agree with this basic point.

No school provides a more pedagogically powerful total experience: competitive with the best schools on the basis of test scores and other standardized measures but offering further layers of experience that cannot be matched by any other school.

This first premise is necessary because I believe we also have to accept a second premise, which is that UWC can only be the thing it was originally intended to be:

a school with the grandiose and delusional goal of educating a future global elite and inculcating in them a basic secular value system that can serve as the basis for ethical leadership in a diverse world. This elitist goal can be broadly defined but is indelibly baked into the UWC movement.

The highest pedagogical goal of UWC is to instill the skills to confront moral decisions.

I don’t mean moral in the prescriptive sense as something slightly beyond “ethically good” but rather moral in the descriptive sense of decisions entailing an inescapable moral element. The curriculum is oriented toward this goal of preparing students for moral decision-making at every level of the world’s institutions, big and small, profit or nonprofit, government or nongovernment. It is a pedagogy that recognizes that decisions become moral because neither the decision nor its cost can be avoided.

Not all students need to be on a track toward “positions of influence,” and in any case such a goal would be necessarily unachievable because of the immense variables of psychology and society that confront graduates. Students on more idiosyncratic tracks are essential to the total experience generated by campus life. Adolescence provides a period of intensity and peril in which a pedagogy of moral decision-making can take root. The

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Paul Bjerk ’91

crucial issue of postgraduation transition to adulthood is beyond the model but necessary to its success and one of its most perilous passages. But the goal of moral decision-making remains true for all students. It is the least measurable of all UWC outcomes but the most important. It can, perhaps, be measured by well-marked proxies, but as the pinnacle goal, it serves primarily to define trajectories rather than measureable outcomes.

the UWC mission is that it tolerates a level of risk that, even with attentive mitigation, will inevitably result in injury (in any of the above-mentioned categories) to some regular percentage of students, year after year. The moral aspect of this decision is how to reconcile that human cost with the broader mission. The tolerance of relatively high levels of risk is necessary for the development of the skill set and courage necessary for moral decision-making.

Achieving this goal entails a pedagogy that steps away from the temptation to provide a “moral education” in a prescriptive sense, whether traditionalist or progressive. Indeed, UWC, by and large, does just the opposite, and does so in a way that is profoundly disruptive to the cultural and moral identity of its students. To teach moral decision-making in the descriptive sense, the institution must give students wide latitude to shape their own experience. This hands-off approach entails the institutional acknowledgment and acceptance of high levels of risk (physical, psychological, sexual, spiritual, cultural, social, political).

These risks must be acknowledged to be mitigated. They can be mitigated (but not eliminated) at various points within the total experience. The core moral decision of

Risks and dangers elsewhere are largely thought of in terms of minimization and prevention. Risk in the UWC program is cultivated as pedagogical. The most common reference point for the deliberate use of risk in an educational program is in wilderness camping programs, and indeed it is here that the UWC tolerance for risk starts. This points to the broad model of experiential education, which seeks to present students with guided challenges that entail a large measure of uncertainty and danger, with the goal of developing skills through practice but also courage and character and moral decision. The risks of a wilderness program are mitigated through training, leadership, and equipment and can be run safely for years.

The UWC-USA program, as it emerged in practice, expanded the experiential education concept of cultivated risk beyond the Wilderness Program and into the total program. This may happen in other ways in other educational programs through neglect, or “tradition,” or student-generated rituals like hazing. UWC is at least partially aware of its cultivation of risk at various levels, and it thereby harnesses and controls them, even as it acts in a real way as in loco parentis. It is in this aspect that the fundamental moral decision with regard to UWC’s risk profile happens. The school, as an institution, takes a profoundly parental approach to its care for students. It is an approach built around a palpable sense of love, expressed in varying ways through the personalities of the faculty and staff at all levels. It is not a fundamentally protective love, however, but one that seeks to recognize the unique gifts of each child and create paths for their full development. It is a love that would rather expose the child to risk than protect the child through confinement. It is a love that seeks to protect students through the mitigation rather than elimination of risk, preparing them for wise and, ultimately, moral decisions.

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CLASS OF 1984, 1985, 1986 5 All roads lead to Rome. …

Following the tradition started five years ago in New York, members of the three pioneer classes—1984, 1985, and 1986—and a few of the founding teachers, met in Rome to enjoy a long weekend from May 25 to May 28, of good chats, laughter, smiles, memories, good food, and tourism. Forty-six alumni, arriving from all continents, three former teachers (Andrew Maclehose, the founding dean of studies; Ivan Mustain, the founding history teacher; and Bob Wade, the founding physics teacher), plus partners, spouses, and children, made a happy bunch of 80 people who, under the guidance of Enrico Vaporale ’84 and Eugenio Ruggiero ’84, invaded the Eternal City. They’re looking forward to the reunion

in Montezuma in August 2019 and the next un-reunion!

CLASS OF 1987 1 Ana Beatriz Campos Mora and husband Pablo celebrate their “Dutch UWC daughter’s” graduation from UWC Costa Rica.

4 6 Arild Drivdal and Gian Paolo Ruggiero ’86 met in Portovenere, Italy. Arild also met Alioune Fall ’86 recently.

8 Bhushan Tuladhar and his family visit the Dwan Light Sanctuary 7 Dana Thordarson and Traci Clarida met in Vancouver, BC.  David Neidel came from Singapore to visit his family in Austin, Texas, and it was the perfect excuse for John McKiernan ’86, Marisa Leon,

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Carla Castellanos, and Mike Aaron (photographed) to get together with their families at Marisa Leon and Ivan Mustain’s house for dinner.

2 Fausto Trigo and Hugo Contreras ran into each other at a metro station in São Paulo, Brazil, where Fausto was visiting his mom and Hugo was on business.

What are the odds?

3 Wayne Menezes and David James met in Tokyo.  Jay Perlas and April Dewees met in San Francisco.

April and Morgan Dewees ’86 live in Portland, Oregon.

9 Karen Taylor and Jeannie Morefield reunited in Seattle last March.  Kwesi Dickson and Doug Turner met in SoHo, New York.

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   Mini reunion in San Francisco at Manolo Espinosa’s house: Dave Neidel, Gal Roth ’88, Jay Perlas, Luis Ottley, Mario Roman ’86, Reed Baumgarten ’89, Sebastien Ramseyer, Shona Armstrong ’88, and Sumiko Hong ’88. Manolo also met Sebastien Ramseyer.

Mieneke Van Dixhoorn and Vera Siregar met in Singapore.  Marisa Leon and Klaus Desmet ’88 met in Austin, Texas with their daughters Nathalie Desmet ’16, Cynthia Desmet ’19, and Francesca Mustain.

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for people to come and help plant trees in early 2018: food and accommodation provided.

CLASS OF 1990 Gabrielle Welch is the founder of Welch Wellness, which educates, supports, and inspires women and children to help prevent disease and embrace a life of wellness through nutrition, green living, and life balance. Gabrielle’s passion is to empower moms with the knowledge to make better choices when it comes to food.

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CLASS OF 1992

 Nina Methi and Inger-Johanne Bauer ’88 met Wayne Menezes in Oslo. Wayne is now living in Singapore.

Cherie Butler received a master’s degree in international public health from the University of New South Wales and now lives in Kogarah, Australia.

CLASS OF 1988

CLASS OF 1995

 Frances Brinn is living in the high country of New Zealand developing organic bee farming and looking after a menagerie of dogs, goats, pigs, and chickens. Fran is looking

 Ana Fonseca Nordang and Hakon Fonseca Nordang with their son Bernardo (9) and daughter Madalena (6) enjoyed their spring visit to campus.

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 Justin Lee and his wife Kathrin welcomed their first baby, Morris.

CLASS OF 1996

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Charles Bibilos and Amber are expecting their first baby in December. This summer, Charles hosted an alumni dinner in Denver to raise funds for the UWC Refugee initiative.

Juan Mejia Botero is an award-winning film director with more than 15 years of experience. His work has focused primarily on human rights abuses and struggles for social justice globally. He has worked extensively in Latin America and the Caribbean directing films around matters of forced displacement, ethnic autonomy, state violence, and the competition for natural resources, which have played widely in the festival circuit and on television. Juan’s directorial debut, Uprooted, won a number of awards and aired nationally on PBS. His feature documentary The Battle for Land won a production grant from the Colombian Ministry of Culture Cinema Fund and a postproduction grant from the Tribeca Film Institute. His most recent film is Death by a Thousand Cuts.

Katherine (Kat) Waite and her family purchased a house in Atlanta and will be making the move east early this fall. “Would love to

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reconnect with anyone in the region! We have a separate studio available for folks traveling through. My wife and I have two children and are expecting No. 3 late fall!”

Sebastien de Halleaux presented “Wind and SolarPowered Sailing Drones to Accelerate Scientific Process” at TEDxSanFrancisco. Sebastien is the founder of Saildrone.

CLASS OF 1997 Arianne (Ari) Zwartjes and wife Anna moved back to New Mexico. “My UWC experience has continued to influence me in so many ways—many of my closest friends are still from UWC. My career (or one of them: wilderness educator and wilderness medicine) has grown out of, in part, the amazing wilderness experiences I had at UWC-USA. My passion for social justice and for international and cross-cultural awareness was cultivated at UWC-USA. And then, returning as Wilderness Program director, I connected with so many amazing students that I am still in touch with.

3 John Ryan Brooks and Anke Bysouth had a mini UWC reunion and celebrated UWC Day together in London.

CLASS OF 1998 Doreen Kirabo is currently in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where she works with the African Development Bank to assess financial and economic viability of infrastructure and public service delivery projects. She says, “It’s been a good three years—living and working in West Africa was quite an experience. For those planning a trip in this part of the world, you are always welcome. AKWABA!”

Jennifer Foerster is in her final year of her Ph.D. program (studying poetry) at the University of Denver. She feels extremely lucky to be able to teach poetry to universitylevel as well as primary and secondary school students, and she is looking forward to a year of dissertation writing.

During the school terms, she lives in Colorado Springs with her parents and gets to see Lisa Strassner Hutchcraft ’98 and her amazing kids.

Her home remains in San Francisco. She works as development director for her family’s nonprofit InnerChange Works and is starting a new project, EarthChange, which works with Native American youth and communities in improving cultural resiliency to climate change and unjust environmental exploitation.

Karla Bjelanovic still lives in Trieste, Italy. She works for Allianz in its sales department.

She is a mother of two: a 5-year-old girl named Mia and a 9-month-old boy named Carlo.

She is looking forward to the 20-year reunion next year!

Lena Boesser-Koschmann is living in Denver with her fiance and lovable pup.

She bought a house last summer and plans on sticking around there for a while!

She works for the National Park Service in Denver. She was in Quantico, Virginia, for training this spring.

Simone Clark still lives in London. She has a 3-yearold girl named Amélie and a 6-month-old boy named Joshua. She is currently on maternity leave (from a job in finance) and hopes to be off for at least another six months. “Fingers crossed

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by that point, Joshua will have mastered the art of sleeping through the night!”

reunited in Michigan in August 2017 for the wedding of Camilo’s sister Sofia.

Siu Fung Emerald Yau’s almost 2-year-old daughter Maya has a baby brother. Siu still works in finance and lives in Hong Kong. She caught up with Mei Fong Chan, Mei Yan (Rachel) Yeung, and Mustansir Barma a couple of times and also met with Malin River in Hong Kong.

9 Patricia Enzi says, “Claas and I got married in May in Austria. Christina Nickolova, my long-term partner in crime, served as my maid of honor (making untold UWC stories public in her speech), and the lovely Nahoko Hoshino also joined us in celebrating.”

CLASS OF 2001  Kaisa Kivipelto says, “The biggest news is that my longtime boyfriend Niko Hoisko and I got happily married last September. After studying economics at the University of St Andrews and Helsinki School of Economics, I worked in finance and now am an equity portfolio manager. I volunteer for the SAR, participating in search and rescue missions in the Helsinki metropolitan area. I am also training our Weimaraner Ässä to become a SAR dog and am co-trainer for others. I’m happy to be able to build on the skill set I was lucky to receive in the Wilderness training at UWC-USA!”

CLASS OF 2002 6 Dafna Raz had her first baby girl named Niv. “Our bundle of love is showing mad skills in the field of cuteness.”

8 Jennifer Spanier got married in January 2017 in a small ceremony with close family and friends. “I’m also teaching third grade on the west side of Chicago, living with my husband Nick and our three cats, spending time with family, and loving life.”

4 Justine Macwilliam, Camilo Casas, Nono Harhoff, and Patrick Sam ’03 were

5 Phelele Fakudze ’03, Nono Harhoff, Patrick Sam ’03, and Nangula Shejavali were reunited in Windhoek, Namibia.

CLASS OF 2003 Araceli Alarcon (Mendiluce) is married to William Alarcon. ˇ erniauskas 1 Šarunas C writes, “I’ve always wanted to be a journalist, and UWC gave me the background and courage I really needed.” Now, after 12 years in journalism, Šarunas has become the leading investigative journalist in Lithuania and took part in two major investigations shortlisted for the prestigious European Press Prize award.

(See Panama Papers and misuse of EU funds.)

CLASS OF 2004  Magel Alcantar had the amazing opportunity to be with current and former  UWC-USA presidents at the UWC ISAK Japan grand opening.

2 Monique Dorsainvil writes, “I am thrilled to share that I’ve joined Facebook to lead engagement and outreach to the progressive community.

I am excited to build new partnerships

within the public policy realm with the same commitment we approached our work in the Obama administration.

It was a great honor to serve at the White House on the Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs team, and I am excited to embark on this new chapter working to give people the power to build community and bring the world a bit closer together.

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CLASS OF 2005 Aynara Chavez obtained her M.D./Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.

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 Haoua Manzo recently met Halimatou Hima ’06 and Bassirou Sarr.

Haoua runs a hotel in Niger, a family business.

Jan Duchoslav married Tumaini Malega in August.

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 Justin Karfo stopped by campus this spring.

Justin is living in Burkina Faso, West Africa.  In early August, Kamilla (Friis) Casperson married her longtime love Soren.

Eva Kolker ’06, Urte Steikuniene, and Yuliya Daniels joined the happy couple and their baby Esben.

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1 Lauren Ebanks married Colin Brook on September 22. Divvya Dasan and Zuzana Kristof Ozanova joined the happy couple for a fantastic weekend.

9 Matt Jones lives in Bangkok and recently got engaged to Aim Pichaya.

CLASS OF 2006

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Alex Samma was inducted into the Connecticut College Hall of Fame. Alex is renowned as the greatest field event athlete to have ever competed for Connecticut College. In March 2009, Alex secured the program’s first national crown, winning the triple jump at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championship. He added two more All-American honors and appeared in five national championship meets. In addition, Alex won two New England Division III triple jump titles and one ECAC Division III crown.

During the 2009 outdoor season, he won the NEICAAA triple jump title. A native of Burkina Faso, West Africa, Alex graduated as the all-time leading scorer, setting school records in the indoor and outdoor triple jump, the indoor high jump and the indoor 55-meter, and he was also recognized as MVP his senior year. Alex went on to earn his master’s degree in public health before enrolling in medical school.

Cassie Chambers is a Harvard Law graduate who lives in Louisville, Kentucky. She is funded by a Skadden Fellowship, a public-interest fellowship that allows her to provide free legal representation to low-income women in rural Kentucky. “I’m focusing on changing court systems to make them more welcoming to low-income parties. It’s great

to be back in my home state working on issues I love!”

Patryk Kolmer got married in September. Charlie Baughan, Deniz Vatansever, Jonathan (John) Jenner, Kalu Long, Mario Salazar, Miljan Zecevic, Razan Khabour, Suvi Rehell, and Thomas Kavanagh attended the wedding.

Rosie Osire Emerson is the new vice president of research and evaluation at The Khana Group. Rosie will lead client delivery and is responsible for managing research and evaluation projects globally. In the summer, she led UNICEF’s study on out-of-school children in Liberia and worked on Winrock International’s Actions to Reduce Child Labor project.

8 Roya Mohammadi completed her master’s degree in international studies at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. Roya and her family still live in Calgary, Canada. Baby Naeel joined the family in early August.

CLASS OF 2007 5 Aaron Bos-Lun (right) completed his master’s degree in education policy and management at Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Aaron moved back to Miami and now oversees Teach for America recruitment at the University of Florida.

Aaron recently met Stuart Villegas Perez ’09 in Miami.

Aymeric Grant lives in Sidney and recently got engaged to Tilly Butson.

Daysi Vargas obtained her MBA from the Universidad de Chile in Panama. Daysi graduated with the highest honors and delivered the valedictorian speech.

Jazmin Acuña lives in Asunción, Paraguay. Jazmin is the project director for TEDIC, an organization that develops open technology and defends digital rights that protect a free internet culture. She is also an editor at Kurtural.

3 Len Necefer and Tara Kane Prendergast ’08 moved to Denver this summer. Len founded NativeOutdoors, an organization that aims to increase the visibility of native people in outdoor recreation.

Len continues to work as a contractor for the Department of Energy’s Tribal Energy Program. Tara completed her master’s degree in community and regional planning at the University of New Mexico and now works at the Center for Policy Research in Denver.

Lorenzo Bartolucci is starting his Ph.D. studies at Stanford University.

6 Mohannad Arbaji was a Project Week mentor in Boston. Muhannad is the founder and CEO of Chalk Talk Solutions, providing software that helps students achieve higher-learning outcomes on their curricular subjects while increasing their standardized test scores (ACT, SAT, SAT II).

Murat Bilgel obtained his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and is now a research fellow at the National Institute on Aging in Washington, D.C. “My hope is that my research will offer new strategies for participant recruitment, trial design, and outcome evaluation for future Alzheimer’s trials.”

7 Sonam Pelden could not join her classmates at the Montezuma Reunion, but she did make them proud by being honored as one of Forbes Asia 30 Under 30.

2 Tamas Kolos-Lakatos married his lovely fiancee Heidi, and he obtained his Ph.D. in air transportation system from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

CLASS OF 2008 Esteban Garcia is in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, finishing his medical degree.  Sela Cowger spent three weeks in Bulgaria at the UWC Short Course Bulgaria-Turkey.

“Before I headed off to Bulgaria, I was skeptical as to how much a UWC Short Course could really carry the ‘UWC spirit’ that changed my life. How could a two-week course have the same impact as two years? This skepticism was short-lived. From day one, participants embodied the UWC spirit. They came from all different walks of life but shared an intense desire to learn. They did not need two years—two weeks was enough for them to form the unexpected friendships, engage in discussions of difficult topics, be free enough for hilarious late-night dancing, and to give the best hugs. I felt so privileged to bear witness to our participants creating a mini UWC on their own. As Jakub from Czech Republic said, ‘At the start of this course, there were people from different countries. But after these two weeks, I recognized there is just a bunch of people walking around, holding hands, hugging each other. There, I realized I forgot who is from where, from that moment I realized we are one world.’”

Zachary “Zach” Meager is starting his second year as a teacher at UWC China.

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CLASS OF 2009

CLASS OF 2011

 Camilo Azua Contreras lives in Santiago, Chile, and recently received his degree in chemical engineering—“at long last!”

Artur Fass works at the Maine Central Institute where he teaches history and English as a second language to students from all over the world. Artur is also a dorm parent and lives a life inspired by UWCUSA in numerous ways.

Fatymatou Dia returns to campus to be the first fellow for the new Alumni-in-Residence Program. Fatymatou graduated from Yale University in 2013 and joined the Casablanca office of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). On campus, she will spend one year working on projects in different departments. The goal is that she gain an in-depth understanding of running a school and, at the same time, help our staff with projects and needed tasks.

Federico Sucre recently enrolled at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Lukas Strobl became team leader for breaking news in Northern Europe at Bloomberg.

CLASS OF 2010 4 Mohamad “Arif” Jamil obtained his master’s degree in international peace and conflict resolution from American University. Arif recently performed at the Diamond Jubilee of His Highness the Aga Khan, 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims.

Tina Yunsheng Ziemer lives in Germany and is currently attending university. “I got to know myself better, my limits and my strengths and what I really want in life. UWC positively influenced all my life decisions since graduation.”

Iris van der Heijden lives in Lund, Sweden, where she is pursuing her second master’s degree in economic development and growth at the University of Lund. Iris has volunteered for the past four years for the Dutch National Committee (The Netherlands).

refugees throughout the world and a platform to voice their situation, I have learned my experience is not unique. I observed 7 that we often do not have control over our childhood, but we have control over creating opportunities to raise leaders among the refugees through education.”

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CLASS OF 2012 The UWC Refugee Initiative gala event held in New York City this summer saw many inspiring speakers come to talk about their experience as or with refugees, the role of education in tackling the refugee crisis, and how to find sustainable solutions. One of the speakers was Fatima Arabzada. “After many years, I have turned resilient and am willing to work long and hard to ensure a better future for myself and other refugees,” Fatima said. “We, the refugee recipients of UWC scholarships, understand how incredibly fortunate we are to be one of millions of women in our countries to receive the most practical worldclass education possible. This creates responsibilities on us to better the situation in our own countries. In the past five years, with  an increasing influx of

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peer REVIEW

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Jarl Petersen recently moved to South Korea and is pursuing a master’s degree in international peace and security at Korea University Graduate School of International Studies.

4 The class of 2012 celebrated its five-year reunion in New York City this summer. Jomar Pecson said, “This weekend has been full of happiness and UWC love. Thank you for making this time memorable.

Stay in touch and wishing you all the best in life. See you all in five years or less!!!”

3 Morgante Pell is still in New York and now works at Google as a strategic cloud engineer.

Morgante also founded a startup called Gandalf.

CLASS OF 2013

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Farah Al Haddad graduated from Macalester College in Minnesota with a degree in political science. She serves on the Syrian National Committee.

She gathered stories from refugees for an asylum program in Minneapolis and volunteered with the Dutch Refugee Council during her semester abroad.

7 Grecia de la O Abarca studied at Middlebury College in Vermont and participated in Semester at Sea. In July, Grecia addressed the United Nations in the political forum on sustainable development.

Zinna Senbetta is a senior majoring in sociology at Princeton University and earning

a certificate in French language and culture. She will receive the Rangel Fellowship—$34,000 annually for two years of graduate school in international affairs, plus support for enrichment study at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and internships in Congress and overseas. Zinna will be attending Georgetown University in the fall, where she will earn her Master of Science in foreign service with a concentration in global politics and security. “I am eager to continue promoting and facilitating U.S.-foreign exchanges in culture, politics, and economics professionally” she said.

CLASS OF 2014 Shobhit Kumar will be one of the youngest Foreign Service officers starting as a diplomat in 2020. Kumar, from Ellicott City, Maryland, is a junior at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. He is also earning certificates in Chinese language and culture and the history and the practice of diplomacy. He will receive up to $100,000 over two years for tuition, room and board, books, and summer internships. The Pickering Fellowship is funded by the U.S. State Department and offers two years of financial support and mentoring and professional development to prepare fellows for a career in the Foreign Service. Fellows complete a domestic internship at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C.,

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and an overseas internship at a U.S. embassy.

CLASS OF 2015 Jessica Abramson was the recipient of the Google Lime Scholarship whose aim is to “break stereotypes and lead all companies to realize the importance, and value, of employing people with disabilities at every level of education, talent, and ability.”

Jessica is a junior at Wellesley College in Massachusetts where she is pursuing her doublemajor degree in psychology and computer science.

CLASS OF 2016 Angus Larsen moved to Montreal and started school at McGill University.

1 Emma Richter (right) studied French literature and history at the University of Grenoble in France for the summer and lived with a local family. She met up with other UWC alumni during her stay, including (left to right) Luis D’introno ’17, Nora Venin ’17, and Jose Pablo Salas Rojas ’06.

Ivik Hans Christian Waever Johansen spent the summer traveling with friends and attended the International Union of Socialist Youth in Albania.

Lucas Vazquez Bassar is a first-year student at Yale University. His gratitude toward the education he received and the friendships he established at UWC-USA pushed him to take a year off before attending college. He interned at UWC Changshu China’s admissions office, where he helped with advertisement, second-years’ college application essays, and selection of the next batch of Chinese UWC students.

He became very involved with the student dorm where

he lived, Ikhaya, and made excellent friendships with the students there. He also deeply enjoyed participating in Project Week and teaching Spanish to small children on campus. Throughout the year, Lucas got to travel around the country, giving recruitment info sessions in many different Chinese cities. His Mandarin improved, making him consider a career in international development. He participated in the Tokyo International Youth Development Forum, where he stood out as a member of the team selected to carry out a social project in Bangladesh.

Moreover, he taught himself Russian with a book from his roommate Shimpei and spent a month at the Pushkin Institute in Moscow before heading to New Haven, Connecticut.

6 Nare Harutyunyan, a sophomore at Bennington College in Vermont, spent her summer in New York City completing an internship with Oaks Boutique Design Agency and Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker Jason DaSilva. In collaboration with Jason DaSilva’s AXS Lab and Parsons School of Design, she edited two shorts for Open Style Lab. At Oakes, she did line producing work for the Netflix series Remastered.

2 Sean Whewell had an eventful summer by joining the U.K.’s Durham University Charities Kommittee (DUCK) and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

Sean was one of 13 students who organized “Climbing Kili for COCO.” COCO is a nursery 6

CONNECTED

school outside of Moshi, Tanzania. “About 40 kids will benefit massively from the new classroom and facilities.

On climbing Kilimanjaro, I would say it’s the most physically challenging yet spiritually rewarding thing I’ve done in my life,” Sean said.

After graduating from UWCUSA, Victor Torres Delgado felt there was a kind of emotional void that was hard to fill—it was a sort of inverse cultural shock. Feeling foreign in his own country was something that made him feel a bit uncomfortable, so he spent the first couple of months reading books from his country, visiting local shelters, and working in his hometown. When he had made enough money, he went to Canada and then Europe. He wanted to break the psychological barrier between locals and tourists. Thanks to UWC, he had friends in places he visited, and getting to know their context was a more stimulating experience than taking pictures of walls and getting funny looks when he mispronounced the word “beer.” When you are with a “UWCer,” you feel like a guest instead of a tourist. An alumnus once told him that the real UWC experience starts when the IB ends, and he thinks it’s true.

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP FORUM July 6-23, 2018 UWC-USA Summer Short Course We’re seeking youth from around the world, ages 14 to 18, to create a dynamic and enthusiastic international community of global problem-solvers.

UWC-USA’s Summer Short Course, Global Leadership Forum (GLF), offers a platform for aspiring youth leaders to explore their beliefs and sharpen their skills. Students learn systems thinking and practice skills that foster their participation in processes on local and global levels. The 18-day course unfolds a transformative journey of self-awareness, resilience, empathy, communication, teamwork, real-world problem-solving, and community leadership.

Meaningful Growth GLF uses the UWC core values as the structure of the program development. Participants are encouraged to arrive with a project connected to their local community. On campus, instructors facilitate design-thinking and problem-solving skills that help them

CLASS OF 2017

develop a plan of action to implement upon returning home.

5 Belen Sogo Mielgo was one of the facilitators at Action for Change 2017, the UWC Spain Short Course.

In today’s global economy, diversity is an enabling force for creative

Rishi Asher is an intern at UWC Thailand.

across boundaries.

teamwork. Through exploration of multiple global issues alongside young adults from different cultures, GLF fosters global perspectives and empowers youth to become effective at collaborating

For more information and registration details, 7

visit www.UWC-USA.org/GLF. Questions and comments? Email Jason Brewer, director of Summer Youth Programs, at summeryouthprograms@uwc-usa.org.

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Bhushan Tuladhar Bhushan Tuladhar ’87 (Nepal), the 2017 Alumni Impact Award winner, has dedicated his life after UWC to a greater cause that has impacted the lives of many in Nepal. His active involvement in environmental causes is ignited by his belief that a positive change in environmental policies will ultimately affect human well-being and social equity in a green economy. He is photographed here giving the commencement speech to the 2017 UWC-USA graduating class.

the

Giulio Regeni ALUMNI IMPACT AWARD

Making an impact, a big impact, a wallop of an impact, can be the result of an arduous commitment to a long-term vision. Or it can be the result of a sudden event that ignites purpose and passion.

GIULIO REGINI Giulio Regini ’07 is the UWC-USA alumnus, known for his

Either way, it is proof of a mission that is central to one’s existence,

leadership in academic research and kind heart, who was

providing the “why” for what we do as individuals sharing this

tortured to death while living in Cairo, conducting research on

planet. Whether small acts of kindness or global initiatives, UWC

the formation of independent trade unions. He disappeared on

alumni are fortified with the power to make an impact.

January 25, 2016, and his tortured body was found nine days later

The purpose of The Giulio Regeni Alumni Impact Award is to recognize UWC-USA’s alumni who have made substantial contributions in the local, national, or global community and

in a ditch near the Cairo-Alexandria Highway. Giulio’s legacy was memorialized when the UWC-USA Alumni Impact Award was named in his honor.

whose accomplishments, affiliations, and professional career honor

“This award is an annual reminder to our alumni of the enduring

the UWC mission. This award further illustrates the value of the

value of their two-year experience at UWC-USA and of their power

UWC education beyond the two years of school and celebrates the

to make a difference through the same kind of commitment and

lifelong connection and stewardship responsibility alumni have to

humanity demonstrated by Regeni,” said Jose Pablo Salas Rojas ’06,

UWC-USA. Recipients are chosen by their fellow alumni.

director of alumni relations and giving at UWC-USA.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS Nominations may be made for any UWC-USA alumni.

To access the form, visit www.UWC-USA.org.

Nominations will be accepted through January 26, 2018.

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INSPIRATION

Water Reservoir I remember how I met you.

You were there, since the very first We started hating each other, although everything changed.

The short conversations became days, under the brightness of your smile.

I discovered the stars with you, in the water reservoir.

I see them in the sky, remembering your eyes.

I don’t know if I see you as my friend, or if I keep a hope for that to change.

What I’m certain of is that a life without you wouldn’t be the same.

NIGHT SKY PHOTO CREDITS: UROS CVETKOVIC ’18, ITALY

RAUL ROMERO ’18, VENEZUELA

NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE

PAID ALBUQUERQUE, NM PERMIT #1888

The MAGAZINE of UWC-USA, The ARMAND HAMMER UNITED WORLD COLLEGE of the AMERICAN WEST

P.O. Box 248 Montezuma, NM 87731-0248 USA

www.UWC-USA.org

UWC MAKES EDUCATION A FORCE TO UNITE PEOPLE, NATIONS, AND CULTURES FOR PEACE AND A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.

2018 Montezuma Reunion Save the Date If you are a member of the class of ’88, ’89, ’98, ’99, or ’04, we can’t wait to welcome you home for a reunion: Friday, July 27 through Monday, July 30, 2018 Registration: Opens February 15, 2018 Details: www.UWC-USA.org/Reunion Email: alumni@UWC-USA.org