FALL 2017 Periodical Postage PAID Philadelphia, PA and Additional Mailing Offices BEGIN AGAIN p4 TURTLE POWER p17 500 College Ave. Swarthmore, PA 19081–1306 www.swarthmore.edu SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN TREASURES OF THE COLLEGE ARRRRCHIVES FALL 2017 LAURENCE KESTERSON community Plunder your closets for Swarthmore memorabilia—we’re seeking donations! archives@swarthmore.edu swarthmore.edu/archives PRISON REFORM p38 in this issue 34 SYNCH AND SWIM All Together Now Honoring a golden era of Swarthmore synchronized swimming. by Jonathan Riggs MOMENT IN TIME At Orientation, students like Vivian Torres ’21 experience the magic of Swarthmore ... and make their own. 18 24 38 FEATURES Including You Creating spaces for an all-embracing campus community. by Kate Campbell Hive Minded Unlocking—and learning from—the secret life of bees. by Elizabeth Slocum Unbarring Progress Confronting the controversial American tradition of mass incarceration. by Michael Agresta 2 DIALOGUE Editor’s Column Letters Community Voices Gabe Turzo ’01 Rewind Phyllis Foster Satter ’62 Books Global Thinking Andrew Medina-Marino ’96 9 COMMON GOOD Swarthmore Stories Learning Curve Jeff Kaufman ’08 Liberal Arts Lives Ron Goor ’62 Suzanne Winter ’10 72 SPOKEN WORD Varo Duffins WEB EXCLUSIVES BULLETIN.SWARTHMORE.EDU AQUATIC ARTISTRY Swim through a gallery of the glory days of water ballet. BUILDING COMMUNITY Read more about the countless ways our campus comes together. DOLPHIN FRIEND Watch an animated 18th-century Quaker adventure and read more in Friends Historical Library. THE BEES’ KNEES Find out what all the buzz is about with extra interviews and background. COMPASSION FOR CAMBODIA Get inspired by Liz Seth ’98 and Richard Sager ’74’s essay on their life-changing trip. 45 CLASS NOTES Alumni News and Events Profile Shanalyna Palmer ’94 ON THE COVER Rebecca Zhou ’19 and her bee research photographed by Laurence Kesterson FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 1 dialogue LETTERS EDITOR’S COLUMN FOR THEE A BEE DO WE BECOME SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN Editor Jonathan Riggs Strange that the cover of the summer 2017 Bulletin should link fish and curiosity. My curiosity about fish was a major reason for leaving Swarthmore after two years. In the 1950s, biology at Swarthmore was largely cellular, and not a fit for my interest in fish and wildlife. I went on to a Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire in zoology (salmon physiology) and started a salmon farm in Maine. My company, Sea Run Holdings Inc., produces reagents and therapeutics from the plasma of farmed salmon. Salmon fibrinogen has healed intestinal fistulas in Crohn’s patients; in animals, salmon thrombin is as effective as morphine for pain; and salmon fibrin promotes functional recovery after spinal cord injury. The fish are our natural expression system free from mammal pathogens. Come on, S’more students: What else can they do? —EVELYN SNODGRASS SAWYER ’58, Freeport, Maine Managing Editor Kate Campbell Class Notes Editor Elizabeth Slocum Designer Phillip Stern ’84 Photographer Laurence Kesterson Administrative/Editorial Assistant Michelle Crumsho Editorial Assistants Eishna Ranganathan ’20 Sangeeta Subedi ’18 PEN PAL Editor Emerita Maralyn Orbison Gillespie ’49 Way back, last century, when we had to sign credit card transactions, I dropped my Swarthmore pen at a checkout. The fellow behind me picked it up. I said it was celebrating 50 years since I graduated. He turned it over and inspected it closely. “It’s lasted well,” he said. —LUCY RICKMAN BARUCH ’42, Marlow, England bulletin.swarthmore.edu facebook.com/SwarthmoreBulletin instagram.com/SwarthmoreBulletin Email: bulletin@swarthmore.edu Telephone: 610-328-8533 LAURENCE KESTERSON We welcome letters on subjects covered in the magazine. We reserve the right to edit letters for length, clarity, and style. Views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the official views or policies of the College. Send letters and story ideas to bulletin@swarthmore.edu Send address changes to records@swarthmore.edu by JONATHAN RIGGS Editor Printed with agri-based inks. Please recycle after reading. ©2017 Swarthmore College. Printed in USA. pr inted w e c o-fri e nd + WRITE TO US: bulletin@swarthmore.edu 2 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 With Gratitude In late March, Swarthmore publicly launched the Changing Lives, Changing the World campaign, announcing $253 million already committed toward a goal of $450 million by June 30, 2020. Our campaign is an opportunity for alumni, families, and friends to express joyfully their support for the mission of the College and propel Swarthmore forward in its distinguished history. As of June 30, commitments totaled $267 million, or roughly 60 percent of the goal, in support of the campaign’s four priorities: enhancing our social impact, connecting the liberal arts, building an inclusive community (this Bulletin’s theme), and creating vital spaces. The majority of donors—including 52 percent of alumni—gave through The Swarthmore Fund. The overwhelming success of The 1864 Challenge (1,864 donors in 1,864 minutes) contributed significantly to the increase in participation. In total, more than 9,000 alumni, faculty, students, and friends made a gift to Swarthmore in 2016–17, and we are most grateful. Thank you, and please join us in continuing to change lives and change the world. —EMILY WEISGRAU, director of advancement communications + MORE: lifechanging.swarthmore.edu i th ON CAMPUS and around the world, honeybees are living their best liberal arts lives. As mathematically precise (the hexagonal glory of the honeycomb) as they are artistically effusive (masters of interpretive dance), they pour all their talents and time into working together toward a common goal—and a common good. We each could learn a lot from their busy, buzzing success, made possible only via the harmony of inclusion, of community—the theme of this issue, a hallmark of the Swarthmorean experience, and a reminder to us all ... to “bee” our best selves. The Swarthmore College Bulletin (ISSN 0888-2126), of which this is volume CXV, number I, is published in October, January, April, and July by Swarthmore College, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, PA 19081-1390. Periodicals postage paid at Philadelphia, PA and additional mailing offices. Permit No. 0530-620. Postmaster: Send address changes to Alumni Records, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, PA 19081-1390. ly H-UV ks The Bulletin staff buzzing about bees in Swarthmore’s Pollinator Garden. FISH PHARM in IN MEMORY OF A FRIEND “We continue to mourn the loss of Bunn Buraparat ’20. His family, friends, and professors recall the joyous, lively personality that belied his curious, kind, and thoughtful nature. Bunn brought an eagerness and intensity of dedication to his studies. The kind of student you would put in a group to get people talking to one another, Bunn sought to help others by sharing knowledge and advice. A creative designer who loved science, he possessed an infectious sense of humor that brought light and joy to those around him.” —PRESIDENT VALERIE SMITH + FULL TRIBUTE: bulletin.swarthmore.edu Work in Progress As an Arab-American, I find it encouraging that Brendan Work ’10 (spring 2017, “Speaking the Same Language”) is teaching Arabic in Missoula, Mont. I strongly believe more Americans should be exposed to this beautiful and globally important language. And yet, I’m concerned that Work would call Arabic an “enemy language” even in jest. Such phrasing, even if it seeks to diffuse the stereotypes students have of Arabs, does not seem to be in the Quaker spirit. Work’s heart is in the right place. I hope he will consider this letter merely a constructive note. —EMAN QUOTAH ’95, Rockville, Md. FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 3 dialogue COMMUNITY VOICES VERONICA FARJE FINDING MY WAY Starting over takes strength I AM, to my knowledge, Street, so after graduation, that’s the only member of where I went. the Class of 2001 to Though I was good at my finance job, have spent time in a I hated it. I hated the tediousness, the mental institution. No sedentary lifestyle, the making-theone who knew me well rich-even-richer while pretending to in school would be terribly shocked by serve some more noble purpose. It’s this news. In fact, if you were to take a not healthy to devote so much of your time machine back to graduation and energy to doing something you can’t ask my classmates who among us was stand; eventually, I could no longer most likely to be committed at some be alone for more than an hour or two point, I almost certainly would have without drinking. finished near the top of that list. My classmates will readily affirm How did I get there? How did I that my partying was problematic go from Wall Street from the start, but professional to psychafter a few years in the by ward patient to struggling workforce, I was drinking writer working at a to obliterate a debilitating Trader Joe’s in New York? subconscious pain that More important, how did I couldn’t articulate. I go from being tormented Ultimately, I drank myself by my subconscious to being happy into the hospital while incoherently and reasonably well-adjusted? rambling about suicide. Like many children from workingState law allows hospitals to hold class backgrounds who land in elite suicidal patients, so as I sobered up, I schools, I carried a lot of people’s found myself in the intake facility of a hopes and expectations with me when psychiatric care unit. I arrived at Swarthmore. Having come Although I was annoyed, I was also of age in the ’90s, I internalized the relieved: The three weeks I spent in notion that people with talent and the hospital allowed me to do some financial ambition belonged on Wall deep reflection. I realized what I really GABE TURZO ’01 Writer “Don’t get too set in your beliefs about the world—or about yourself. Have the courage to grow.” 4 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 wanted to do was write. Having done so sporadically over the years, I knew there were few things more rewarding for my sense of well-being than honoring the urge to compose. Before my breakdown, I’d felt that devoting myself to writing in the absence of tangible financial success was a form of self-betrayal. After my breakdown, my only concern was whether I liked my creations. To write, I still needed to work, of course, but I couldn’t risk returning to the draining, dangerous trappings of my previous life. So one day last summer, I walked into a Trader Joe’s looking for a job. My work there is physically demanding and can be repetitious, but one year later I’ve grown deeply fascinated by the ethical and logistical questions raised by the food industry, along with the sociology of retail sales. My work on Wall Street was ephemeral—I find it much more rewarding to focus on growing as a writer while trafficking in that most visceral of commodities: food. And, most important, I’m happy. What began as a painful personal and professional journey has led me to find pleasure working in a field I never would have considered while pursuing an art form I love. Sometimes it’s scary to change directions or admit we want something new. But it’s worth facing our fear to find out who we really are. GABE TURZO ’01 is a writer in New York. He encourages anyone struggling with similar issues to email him: gabeturzo@gmail.com REWIND: AN UNCOMMON LANGUAGE Linked by love and linguistic differences “GO WHERE?” “To the backyard.” I nodded toward it as I balanced a tea tray. “You mean ‘garden’?” asked Keith, my new British boyfriend. “Here it’s a yard.” He shuddered. “What an ugly word for a lovely place.” “Keith, in America it’s the space behind the house, where kids play, women hang washing, and we’ll have our tea.” I tried to be patient. I never imagined teaching English to an Englishman. “In England, yards are paved with tarmac, with dustbins in a corner.” I liked the way he wrinkled his nose. My mind strayed from the lesson. We met in fall 1960 at Swarthmore, British exchange student Keith Johnson ’62 and I. One Saturday evening, my friend Isabelle Phillips Williams ’63 and I sat studying political science in Parrish Commons, the high Georgian windows black and the room sunk deep in gloom, except for crooked-shaded floor lamps dotting the darkness with narrow pools of dim light. Cigarette smoke drifted through those pools. Izzie looked up from her book, scowling. “What does obstreperous mean?” “What’s the context?” She read the sentence, a description of hotly debating British politicians in the House of Lords. I tried acting the meaning, mouthing shouts, flinging my arms about. She stared blankly. Then we heard a voice from a far-off pool of light. “AWWWK-w’d.” Izzie and I exchanged uncomprehending glances. “AWWWK-w’d.” When we made no answer, the tall, gaunt owner of the voice sauntered from his corner to ours, doling out a letter with each step. “A-W-K-W-A-R-D.” “Oh: ‘awk-werd,’” we laughed, converting his beguiling musical enunciation to our Northeastern twang. Although we recognized it, we began debating the meaning of “awkward” and whether it meant the same as “obstreperous.” In his appealing, mellow British accent, moving his mouth into ever more enticing shapes, Keith explained the use of awkward to describe a difficult, noisy child, one who misbehaved, the way the Brits in the history book were misbehaving. This made sense, launching us into our first of many animated discussions about English and American differences. “Obstreperous” and our debate brought Keith and me together. If Izzie hadn’t asked her question, Keith and I might never have spoken. An hour later Keith smiled shyly, excused himself, and packed his neglected books into the dark-green cloth bookbag we all carried in 1960. He pulled on his coat and wound his multicolored British college scarf round his neck. With a tentative backward look full into my eyes (not Izzie’s, I felt sure), he slipped into the night, the swinging doors flapping shut behind him. In less than two years, the words we exchanged were “I do.” As I read in bed beside Keith over the years of our marriage, words I didn’t know kept cropping up. “What does this mean, honey?” by His own book resting on his chest, his eyes would roll toward the ceiling. I swear the definitions were printed there in ink visible only to him. After reading the meaning from above, he ’62 would turn back to his novel. At first, I looked these words up myself as well, but then saw I didn’t need to. He had become my teacher. One day, years later, shortly after Keith’s death, I ran across an unfamiliar word. I started to turn to him for help. In that moment, I fresh-grieved my loss. These days, a different husband asks me, “What does this word mean?” I look up, smile, and think of Keith. PHYLLIS FOSTER SATTER + FULL ESSAY: bulletin.swarthmore.edu FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 5 dialogue AUTHOR Q&A A BELOVED NATURAL PLACE BITTERSWEET UTOPIA by Melissa Tier ’14 HEATHER RIGNEY SHUMAKER ’91’s newest book is a love letter to the Arcadia Dunes off Lake Michigan’s eastern coast, and a homage to the lives that intertwined to save it. Saving Arcadia: A Story of Conservation and Community in the Great Lakes (Wayne State University Press) tells how residents preserved this 3,600-acre tract at the turn of this century. The Arcadia area had primarily been farmland until 1970, when a large swath of contiguous land was bought out by a utility. Over the years, the local residents quietly explored the dunes, forests, and abandoned farms until rumors of development necessitated action. Shumaker weaves together the many voices that led to the conservancy acquiring the land to preserve it: farmers, inn owners, local politicians, and other residents of Michigan’s Benzie and Manistee counties, as well as the conservancy staffers and fundraising campaign partners united in their conviction. “Nearly all of us cradled memories of a beloved place within us,” she writes. “When something strikes that chord, we respond.” The history of the Arcadia Dunes community demonstrates just how powerful that response can be. by Michelle Crumsho In his second monograph, Amnesiopolis: Modernity, Space, and Memory in East Germany (Oxford University Press), Western Michigan University Professor Eli Rubin ’97 crafts the only history of everyday life in Marzahn, the largest of the German Democratic Republic’s socialist housing projects. MELISSA TIER ’14 is Swarthmore’s sustainability program manager. How has Marzahn changed? Marzahners once took pride in their strong community, heavily populated by families with children, but what was once the most desirable place to live has experienced an exodus of young people— far from the city and entertainment, the apartments had no character. It is a place that only makes sense in a socialist system, because it was made by a socialist system. The older residents are still very proud of Marzahn and what it stood for, but they are suspended in time. I describe Marzahn as “the future of a past world.” What is the ultimate takeaway? These vast prefabricated housing blocs in formerly socialist countries do not represent the failure of socialism. These spaces are themselves often the most powerful repositories of time. Time, space, and our sense of memory are intertwined—trying to erase the past by creating an all-new space actually connects people to deeper, older strands of time, too. BENJAMIN JOHNSON BOOK REVIEW What was most memorable about your Swarthmore experience? The Honors Program—absolute magic results from sustained, intense study of a subject. I am still deeply influenced by Hegel’s The Phenomenology of Spirit and Marx’s Capital, which we read in Rick Eldridge’s Continental Philosophy seminar. + CONTINUED: bulletin.swarthmore.edu HOT TYPE: NEW BOOKS BY SWARTHMOREANS Kristie Betts Letter ’94 Under-Worldly L’Aleph 6 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 Giving poetic voice to the subterranean, Letter’s collection of verse plumbs depths cultural, emotional, spiritual. Her wit matched only by her fearlessness, she mines meaning from topics as varied as Flint’s poisoned water, algebra, and the allure and vulnerability of 1980s hair-metal heartthrobs. Letter unearths universal truths wherever she looks, whether it’s a “Purple Rain”-soaked dance floor, past-their-prime would-be lovers in a singles bar, or a bingo-parlor reunion with her birth mother. Absolutely breathtaking. J.R. McNeill ’75 and Peter Engelke The Great Acceleration Belknap Press Since the mid-20th century, the Earth has ushered in an age marked by fossil fuel use—the Anthropocene— in which humans are the most powerful influence on global ecology. Co-authors McNeill and Engelke trace the planet’s environmental history since 1945, the most anomalous period in our relationship with the biosphere, and one that will, for better or worse, shape the future of every living thing on Earth. “Since we cannot exit the Anthropocene,” they conclude, “we will adjust to it, one way or another.” Stephen Henighan ’84 The Path of the Jaguar Thistledown Press Determined to make a better life for her children in late-’90s Guatemala, a young mother must chart a path between her indigenous Mayan culture and the tantalizing opportunities of a nearby tourist town in this acclaimed work of fiction by Henighan, the author of three previous novels, two short-story collections, and a volume of literary criticism. “How people ruin themselves for the illusion of earthly love!” a character exclaims, its truth ringing across all ages and cultures and on every page. Sarah Jaquette Ray ’98 and Jay Sibara ’99 Disability Studies and the Environmental Humanities University of Nebraska Press This co-edited, interdisciplinary reader explores the privileges inherent in the relationship between environments and bodies as well as the ways that toxicity and illness complicate their study. Spanning the 17th century to the present, Ray and Sibara establish a foundation for this far-ranging field while presenting its most recent breakthroughs. “It seems that environmental humanities and disability studies,” they write, “indeed have much to offer each other.” FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 7 dialogue GLOBAL THINKING SCIENCE FOR SOCIAL WELFARE He’s saving lives by following his two passions by Amanda Whitbred WHILE working on a Ph.D. in molecular neuroscience at Caltech, Andrew Medina-Marino ’96 felt something was missing. “I realized I was never going to be fully happy if I didn’t find a way to integrate my love of science with my passion for social welfare,” he says. A suggestion from a member of his thesis committee ended up pointing him to the perfect solution: the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accepted into the elite training program, Medina-Marino gained a deep understanding of public health— and how it mirrored his Swarthmore educational experience. “The humanities are just as important to impacting public health as the sciences or social sciences,” he says. “Doctors and researchers may understand epidemics through science and medicine, but communities make sense of epidemics through dance, art, and performance. Studying the liberal arts was the perfect way to learn to approach public health holistically.” Medina-Marino conducted diseaseoutbreak investigations around the world, including the plague in Chicago with the CDC and Ebola in West Africa with Doctors Without Borders. “The EIS was everything I ever wanted,” he says. He was also part of an outbreak investigation into childhood deaths due to lead poisoning in Nigeria. An initial inquiry by another team of CDC investigators found that the poisoning was coming from gold ore with high concentrations of lead the communities were mining. Medina-Marino’s team determined 8 Swarthmore College Bulletin / common good SHARING SUCCESS AND STORIES OF SWARTHMORE FALL 2017 that the scope of the poisoning wasn’t limited to just one village—and that hundreds more children and adults in other villages were also poisoned. “You had the intersection of global climate change that caused these villages to lose productivity of their agricultural land; you had a lack of economic opportunities that forced them to move from farming to gold mining; and you have very real public health outcomes from the intersection of poverty, economics, and environmental disturbance,” he says. Now based in South Africa, Medina-Marino is head of research for a nongovernmental agency, the Foundation for Professional Development, focusing on epidemiological and intervention research to decrease the burden of HIV and tuberculosis, which are both rampant in the country. Despite the overwhelming scale of these epidemics, Medina-Marino relishes his work for its intellectual challenge and the opportunity it gives him to make a real impact. ON THE WEB ANDREW MEDINA-MARINO ’96 Epidemiologist He will be one of the world’s first researchers to pilot a new batterypowered device that will allow him to test for TB in the field, and to provide patients with their results in just 90 minutes. (Traditional lab tests took up to 40 days to give definitive results.) It’s a case of new technology saving time, money, and lives. Medina-Marino is proud he’s found a way to change the world by joining his two passions. “My goal,” he says, “is to ensure that all people have the health security to be productive members of society.” “Doctors and researchers may understand epidemics through science and medicine, but communities make sense of epidemics through dance, art, and performance.” PICTURE THIS! Where science and art intersect is beautiful. + DAZZLE bit.ly/RobertSavage WELCOME, CLASS OF 2021 Enjoy highlights from Move-In Day. + WATCH bit.ly/2021Move HISTORY WITH A FUTURE Hear Ben Goossen ’13 discuss his acclaimed new book, Chosen Nation: Mennonites and Germany in a Global Era. + LISTEN bit.ly/Goossen DESIGNING AN EXPERIENCE See how nearly 300 students gained firsthand experiences across disciplines—and the world—this summer. + EXPLORE bit.ly/SwatDesign CROWN HEIGHTS Matt Thurm ’10’s new film won a Sundance Film Festival award. + CELEBRATE bit.ly/Thurm FRIENDS FOR GOOD Two Swatties in Cambodia by Liz Seth ’98 and Richard Sager ’74 WE WERE DRAWN to Cambodia via the American Jewish World Service, founded by believers in tikkun olam, the Hebrew phrase for “repairing the world.” Our continuing education in social justice in the Cambodian context has allowed us to return to our own work with renewed passion and determination, to make a difference where and when we can, and to recognize change is possible. + CONTINUED: bulletin.swarthmore.edu FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 9 common good NEW BOARD OF MANAGERS MEMBERS ONE FOR ALL John Chen ’76 is COO of Hilco Global. Thom Collins ’88 is executive director/ president of the Barnes Foundation. Lucy Jane Lang ’03 is special counsel for policy and projects and executive director of the DANY Academy at the New York County District Attorney’s Office. A love of science runs in their family: Selman A. Waksman and his granddaughter Nan Waksman Schanbacher ’72. CARA EHLENFELDT ’16 DOLPHIN DERRING-DO! FRIENDS HISTORICAL Library recently acquired the letter book of Thomas Chalkley, one of the most influential Quaker ministers of the 18th century. Set sail for an animated video depicting one of his many adventures at bulletin.swarthmore.edu. —CARA EHLENFELDT ’16 10 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 The Waksman Foundation for Microbiology throughout its history drew dedicated trustees who built its reputation for initiating and supporting excellent scientific research, programs, and education. It began with Selman A. Waksman. He was a brilliant scientist, but his granddaughter remembers his warmth and generosity. “He was at the antibiotic age’s forefront,” says Nan Waksman Schanbacher ’72. “He wanted his discoveries to help mankind.” Awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1952 for his discovery of the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis, he used his personal royalties to launch the foundation. Selman’s son Byron Waksman ’40—Schanbacher’s late father and a pioneer in his own right in neuroimmunology—was the second president and led the foundation for three decades. His granddaughter had served as vice president and chair of the board since 2007. “It gave me the opportunity to meet and work with wonderful people I respect, admire, and love,” she says. “It is a family legacy of which I am enormously proud.” Although the foundation ultimately closed for financial reasons, its mission lives on via bequests to a variety of institutions, including the National Academy of Sciences, the American Society for Microbiology, The Marine Biological Laboratory, and Swarthmore College to support the Summer Scholars Program. “Nan’s so dedicated to science education while keeping the focus on microbiology,” says Amy Cheng Vollmer, Swarthmore’s Isaac H. Clothier Jr. Professor of Biology and the foundation’s fourth and final president. “She’s worked hard to make sure the world won’t forget her family’s contributions.” “Science education in the U.S. has deteriorated, and the public has become increasingly ignorant about how science works and why it is important,” says Schanbacher. “We continuously sought ways to play a part in reversing those trends.” —KATE CAMPBELL BEN MCCANNA Visible Influence “It is not only important to stay involved in what is going on in the world—miserable as some of this world can be,” says Libby Murch Livingston ’41, “it is also good for us.” A Rallying Cry by Elizabeth Slocum E LIZABETH Murch Livingston ’41 prefers to cheer others on away from the spotlight. But that doesn’t mean she’s a spectator. At 97, she actively advocates for issues near to her heart—and encourages classmates to do the same. “We were fortunate to have been given the tools at Swarthmore to be effective in fighting for the causes we hold most dear,” 1941’s longtime secretary writes in this issue’s Class Notes (pg. 45). For Livingston, that’s included marching with her Piper Shores retirement community in Maine’s annual Pride Portland parade—roars of applause greet the group each year as they cover the mile-and-a-half course. For others, she says, it may mean writing letters or making calls on behalf of their own pet interests. “Libby” to her Swarthmore friends but “Betty” to nearly everyone else—she adopted a new moniker as a student at the College to avoid confusion among a bevy of Bettys— Livingston became passionate about volunteering while raising her five children. Eager to do more, she pursued a master of social work and established a career helping families and immigrant communities. Education and Swarthmorean values were instrumental in Livingston’s upbringing: Her parents, the late Edwin and Elinor Murch, graduated from the College (Classes of 1914 and 1915, respectively), as did several aunts, uncles, and cousins. The family tradition continued with her Quaker matchbox marriage to the late Bill Livingston ’39 and the attendance by two of their own children, William Livingston ’67 and Martha Livingston Bruce ’74. “The most important thing about my being at Swarthmore was meeting my husband—and after that, field hockey,” she laughs. All jokes aside, Livingston’s great takeaway from nearly a century of service? To always be a rallying cry, since every voice matters. “We have to support those who are involved in issues we find important,” she says. “And why not? Each little thing helps.” FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 11 common good Well-Versed “//” by Mary Jean Chan ’12 My mother lays the table with chopsticks & ceramic spoons, expects you to fail at dinner. To the Chinese, you and I are chopsticks: lovers with the same anatomies. My mother tells you that chopsticks in Cantonese sounds FRANCESCA CANALI SHORTLISTED for the U.K.’s prestigious 2017 Forward Prize for her poem “//,” Mary Jean Chan ’12 embraced the art form after reading queer feminist poets like Adrienne Rich and Audre Lorde. “This poem was born out of an intensely personal experience,” she says, “and also informed by ruminations on the state of mental health among LGBTQ youths in Hong Kong, a city that I flee from, yet constantly wish to return to.” CHILDREN FIRST IN THE CARDS Martin Fleisher ’80’s bridge team—one of two to represent the U.S. in the open division—took top honors in August at the 2017 World Bridge Championships in Lyon, France, defeating the host country in a close match. “It was the thrill of a lifetime,” says Fleisher (right). “I won the Intercollegiate Championships as a Swarthmore freshman in 1977, which was my first major win, and 40 years later a world championship. I never would have believed it.” The match was also golden for another Swarthmorean: Jeff Wolfson ’75 and his team defeated Italy for the senior-division title. like the swift arrival of sons. My mother tongue rejoices in its dumbness before you as expletives detonate: [two women] [two men] [disgrace]. Tonight, I forget I am bilingual. I lose my voice in your mouth, kiss till blood comes so sorry does not slip on an avalanche of syllables into sorrow. I tell you that as long as we hold each other, no apology will be enough. Tonight, I am dreaming again of tomorrow: another chance to eat at the feast of the living with chopsticks balanced across the bridges of our hands as we imbibe each yes, spit out every no among scraps of shell or bone. Father says: kids these days are not as tough as we used to be. So many suicides in one week. How many times have you and I wondered about leaving our bodies behind, the way many of us have already left? My friend’s sister loved a woman for ten years and each word she says to her mother stings like a papercut. Each word she does not say burns like the lines she etches carefully into skin. I have stopped believing that secrets are a beautiful way to die. You came home with me for three hundred days — to show my family that dinner together won’t kill us all. First published in Ambit magazine 12 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 Just Desserts The longtime owner of a marketing company, Joan Rogers Leopold ’76 was inspired by her grandchildren to pursue a dream: writing and publishing fiction for families. So she launched Slow Tag Press, Stories for Grandparents and Their Grandchildren. Her first book, Herbert Loves Sherbet, a brightly colored charmer about being careful what you wish for—no matter how delicious—is available now. Read more: bulletin. swarthmore.edu —SANGEETA SUBEDI ’18 Gil Kemp ’72 (left) and Eric Hemel (right) meet with SPELL students during a trip to Vietnam. A Brighter Path C RISSCROSSING the back roads of Vietnam is all in a day’s work for Gil Kemp ’72, who went from a Swarthmore sociology degree to a Harvard MBA, and then on to join—and chair—the College’s Board of Managers. Difficult travel is part of visiting the country he’s come to know and love. It’s often the only way to reach students he’s helped here for more than a decade through a nonprofit started with friend Eric Hemel. Kemp jetted across much of the world as founder and CEO of Home Decorators Collection. When Hemel invited him to explore Vietnam and Cambodia on a walking tour in 2003, Kemp’s children were grown and he was glad for a distraction from empty-nest syndrome. Vietnam’s culture and beauty stood out, but so did its poverty. “Some homes are just two rooms divided by a canvas wall, covered by a corrugated steel roof,” he says. “The conditions were very bleak.” Dismayed by the number of Vietnamese children not in school, Kemp and Hemel researched their obstacles to education, including the cost of tuition, books, and uniforms; travel; and the need of some families to keep them working at home. Moved to help, Hemel jump-started the nonprofit Scholarship Program to Enhance Literacy and Learning (SPELL) and asked Kemp to join him. Initially a silent financial partner, Kemp embraced a more hands-on role after he retired in 2010. “The Quaker values that still influence Swarthmore influenced me,” says Kemp. “Gene Lang ’38, H’81 was a powerful role model, and I’ve been blessed with many teachers who positively influenced me.” They began by networking with agencies in Vietnam and identifying children at high risk of dropping out. Targeting the poorest 10 percent of third- and fourth-graders from within 300 miles of Da Nang in central Vietnam, SPELL provided for their educational and, in some cases, healthcare needs. “Philanthropy can entail more than just writing a check,” says Hemel. “Gil and I are involved in every key policy decision regarding our scholarship program.” They apply many business practices to the nonprofit model, including selling the idea of the program to parents and making expectations of success clear to students. “This program has benefited from trial and error,” Kemp says, “and from having the flexibility and humility to say we don’t know all the answers and ask how we can make it better.” SPELL, which employs eight Vietnamese staff members, has shifted from the grade-school commitment; it has 2,200 high schoolers and 500 college students enrolled and each year adds 600 new ninth-graders. “I’m exceedingly fortunate to connect with young people who are working so hard,” says Kemp, who visits two weeks each year to meet with potential students. “They are so impressive and coming from very desperate situations. Resilience is far and away the trait I see as a determinant of happiness and success. What appeals to me most about resilience is that it’s a learnable trait.” Now 14 years later, SPELL has supported more than 6,000 students. “It’s remarkable to see them achieving so much,” he says. “It’s been the most joyful experience. I didn’t anticipate that it would be as impactful and such a source of joy.” —KATE CAMPBELL + MORE: bulletin.swarthmore.edu FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 13 common good LEARNING CURVE MORE THAN MOST He puts his money where his heart is Hannah Allison, former Bucknell assistant coach, is the new head coach of the Garnet. SOFTBALL Melissa Finley takes over as head coach after leading Colgate for the past five seasons. ROY GREIM ’14 LACROSSE Wei Impressive by Roy Greim ’14 Cross country and track & field standout Tess Wei ’17 is one of two students selected to represent the Centennial Conference as a nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award, which honors a collegiate student-athlete who has distinguished herself in academic achievement, athletic excellence, service, and leadership. Wei, an honors major in studio art, honors minor in sociology & anthropology, and course minor in art history, is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and was Swarthmore’s nominee for the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships in 2016. Her passion for art extended beyond the classroom: As an intern at the List Gallery, Wei designed, wrote, and published the gallery’s 25th anniversary catalog; at the student-run Kitao Gallery, she served as the campus arts director. She also interned at the Barnes Foundation and held a residency at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ballycastle, Ireland. The College will acquire pieces 14 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 The late Avery Blake ’28, former head coach, was inducted into the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Hall of Fame Class for 2017. from Wei’s senior exhibition through the art department’s Frank Solomon Jr. Student Art Purchase Fund, which recognizes one student per year. After playing varsity soccer as a freshman, Wei joined the cross country team as a sophomore. In her junior season, she was named to the AllCentennial Conference Second Team with a 13th-place finish at the championship meet. Wei also earned NCAA Mideast AllRegion Honors that year as the Garnet’s top regional finisher, placing 23rd among 334 participants. She rounded out her breakout season as a member of the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team and as the Centennial Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women’s cross country, given to the all-conference team member with the highest GPA. Capping off 2016, Wei ran the Philadelphia Marathon in 3:05.16, finishing sixth in her age group and 39th among women overall. She is the sixth Swarthmore studentathlete to be placed on the national ballot and joins Supriya Davis ’15, Aarti Rao ’14, and Katie Lytle ’14 as recent Centennial Conference representatives. The 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced Oct. 22. Kathryn Restrepo ’19 was the leading goal-scorer for the Spanish national team at the FIL Rathbones Women’s Lacrosse World Cup in July. “I learned so much—it was very interesting seeing how much the playing style can vary country to country,” she says. “I’m super excited to play with my team at Swat again!” by Ryan Dougherty THE LONGER Jeff Kaufman ’08 thought about it, the less comfortable he was with being more financially secure than people who didn’t happen to be born into opportunity. Discussing this with Julia Wise—now his wife—he became convinced that they “should be doing something to help.” So the couple put that ethic into action, donating more than half of their income to charity for the past five years. “We have more than we need, and there are a lot of people who don’t,” says Kaufman, whose Quaker upbringing stressed self-actualization over accumulation. “So we are committed to sharing—to doing—all that we can.” The couple evaluates charities through the nonprofit GiveWell to maximize their donation’s impact. They focus on world health issues like childhood malaria, seizing “an amazing opportunity” to improve and save lives, he says. Kaufman is a software engineer, Wise a community liaison for the Centre for Effective Altruism. Living on a small fraction of their income after taxes and savings, with two young daughters—including their elder, Lily (pictured)— in the Boston metro area, the couple does face financial conflicts. But that would be true regardless, he says, and frugality forces them to zero in on the things and experiences that bring them the most meaning. After leaving Swarthmore, Kaufman worked in natural language processing and computational advertising before joining Google to write software for loading web pages faster. His earning and donating power spiked, but after four years, Kaufman felt shadowed by a question: “Is there more I could be doing to make other people’s lives better?” Seeking to make more of a direct impact, Kaufman joined Wave earlier this year to help build a mobile-money system for Ethiopia, based on the humanitarian success RIETTE FARTHING FIELD HOCKEY of the M-Pesa microfinancing service in Kenya. When he was laid off from the company in June, his and his wife’s philanthropic mindset was tested ... and emboldened. “Being in a position where we don’t need much money to live on actually gives us many more exciting options than we would have had otherwise,” he says. “Is there more I could be doing to make other people’s lives better?” + MORE: bulletin.swarthmore.edu FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 15 common good LIBERAL ARTS LIVES RON GOOR ’62 NANCY GOOR “I have taken photos in many places and many situations,” says Ron Goor ’62. “I try to capture the humor, pathos, and beauty all around us.” LIBERAL ARTS LIVES BITTEN BY THE BUG Curiosity keeps him going by Carol Brévart-Demm 16 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 Perhaps one of Ron Goor ’62’s most memorable contributions to science came when he offered his bare arms to feed hungry mosquitos. But more on that later. After high honors in zoology, botany, and chemistry at Swarthmore garnered him a 1963 National Science Foundation Predoctoral Scholarship at Harvard, he earned a doctorate in biochemistry and then spent two years on a postdoc in the National Institutes of Health Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Goor’s second stint at NIH was coordinating a large clinical trial on coronary heart disease. After spending a year in the NIH medical library reading papers, Goor found definitive proof that reducing fat intake results in weight loss. “It was like being back in the Honors Program,” he says. Since then, Goor and his wife, Nancy, have co-authored best-selling books on healthy eating for weight loss and lowering cholesterol, but have also written and illustrated (with Ron’s photos) nine award-winning nonfiction children’s books. One of these, In the Driver’s Seat, features photographs taken by Goor of what it’s like to pilot vehicles like a Concorde jet, a front-loader, and an Amtrak engine. Ron even took a three-day trip in an 18-wheeler and slept in the cab. Other books cover topics like the lost Roman city of Pompeii and insects, a personal fascination of Goor’s. In fact, in the early 1970s, Goor became special assistant to the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, where he developed, among other things, the country’s first live-insect zoo. (That’s where he buddied up to those aforementioned bloodsuckers.) He also created an independent production company to make educational nature films. All of his varied interests have made for a fascinating journey, and the Goors agree on the launching pad that made it all possible. “Because of Swarthmore’s Honors Program, I feel I can do anything,” he says. “As a result, I’ve had a very interesting life.” + photo-stories-by-rongoor.com LAURENCE KESTERSON Naturalist “I’m not home enough to support a mammal,” laughs Suzanne Winter ’10, with her beloved rescue turtle, Tycho Brahe. “The name seemed appropriate because Brahe lost his nose in a duel—turtles don’t really have ‘noses’—and I like science.” TEACHER’S PET She has helping others down to a science by Jonathan Riggs “I LIKE getting my students to express themselves across different media,” says Suzanne Winter ’10, a biology teacher at Stevenson, a therapeutic prep school in Manhattan. “Things like essays, theater, paintings, cross-stitch.” Cross-stitch?! “It’s very relaxing,” she explains. “We plot our big ideas onto a cross-stitch grid—it’s more freeing for students to think about things in three dimensions, not just on lined paper.” Winter’s favorite subject to teach is sex education. Adolescents come to Stevenson facing academic, social, physical, and/or emotional challenges, and she prides herself on fostering an environment where they can ask her the most personal of questions without embarrassment, knowing they’ll get clear, factual, nonjudgmental answers … at the price of a pun, perhaps. “I made a pretty bad ‘you’re ovaryacting’ joke today in class.” She smiles proudly. After Swarthmore, Winter reconsidered medical school when an interviewer asked her if she would be comfortable eschewing creativity in her daily work. “I wrote a letter afterward, thanking her for recognizing how difficult it would be for me to toe that rigid line,” she says. “Teaching opened itself as a creative way for me to be of service while still engaging with medicine, health, and science.” Adviser to—and chief enthusiast of—Stevenson’s anime club as well as a proud confidante to her students, Winter hopes to inspire them to always see the world through curious, compassionate eyes. “We had a delightful time recently in class listening to a Percy Jackson audiobook, coloring, and discussing how the actors’ choices could spark assumptions—good and bad—in listeners,” she says. “Engaging with new information and disrupting systems is my idea of fun, both as an educator and as a rabble-rouser.” SUZANNE WINTER ’10 Educator FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 17 including 18 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 you Creating spaces for an all-embracing campus community by Kate Campbell illustrations by Jason Heglund FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 19 20 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 everyone when more than 225 students, faculty, and staff attended. “It was the highlight of the year,” says Razvi. “Everybody— professor or student, Muslim or otherwise, Swattie or TriCo—came out to support us. It genuinely meant so much for the Muslim students to see the outpouring of love displayed at our event. It was honestly one of the most humbling moments of my time at Swarthmore. ” The key, Duncan Smith says, is to make sure all community members feel embraced, respected, and heard. Jason Rivera, dean of the sophomore class and director of the Intercultural Center, agrees, citing the importance of resources like the new College website built specifically for current and future LGBTQ students. After all, a rich sense of community—noise, food, music, contemplation, questions, debate—shapes the Swarthmore experience. “We seek ways for members of our community to cross paths with and get to know individuals—students, faculty, staff, neighbors—with different backgrounds, life experiences, and perspectives,” says President Valerie Smith. The Monday before finals this spring, Clarissa Phillips ’19 “By creating a true campus ‘community’ feeling, we make it easier for people to be themselves and get the most from their experience at Swarthmore.” —Syon Bhanot, assistant professor LAURENCE KESTERSON A N OPENING, a sliver of light. That’s what T. Shá Duncan Smith, Swarthmore’s associate dean of diversity, inclusion, and community development, searches for in a conversation. “We need to create opportunities across campus for people to exhale and to have a space where different ideas are allowed to exist together,” she says. “Swarthmore, at its very core, strives to promote a culture rooted in mutual understanding, empathy, and empowerment.” Building an organic sense of togetherness anywhere— the world at large, across campus—is a tall order, but when empathy and compassion lead the way, it’s possible. For example, Yousaf Razvi ’18, president of the Muslim Students Association, found the days around last year’s presidential election especially fraught. “In America, we were seeing increased hate crimes and violence against Muslims,” he says. He wanted a place on campus to celebrate and share his Muslim identity, but wasn’t quite sure what to expect when planning an Eid al-Adha banquet. So he reached out to co-sponsors across the religious spectrum, including Kehilah, Swarthmore Progressive Christian Community, and Newman Club, as well as the Intercultural Center, Interfaith Center, and Islamic Studies Department. They were eager for a good turnout, but unsure who, or how many, would come. The number astonished almost Making space for joy in community-building, students bounce inside plastic bubbles on Parrish Beach to celebrate Swatoberfest. FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 21 DREW ALTIZER James Hormel ’55, H’09 and Michael Nguyen ’08 believe in bringing Swarthmoreans together in dynamic ways. JOYFUL NOISE was calling Poi Dog restaurant to coordinate a special “Multi” student–faculty dinner while setting up communal dining tables in a Kohlberg classroom. Along with Dakota Gibbs ’19, Casey Lu Simon-Plumb ’18, and Chris Malafronti ’18, she helped plan the night for students who self-identify as belonging to multiple heritages or backgrounds. When the gathering was over, 35 guests had shared conversations, laughter, and a deeper sense of belonging. “People develop and learn best when they aren’t trying to be someone else,” says Assistant Professor of Economics Syon Bhanot, who even brought his dog, Humphrey. “By creating a true campus ‘community’ feeling, we make it easier for people to be themselves and get the most from their experience at Swarthmore.” “Events like that are a time to talk about experiences and identities, and to learn more about each other and ourselves,” says Phillips, who worked alongside Rivera in the IC office. “The world definitely seems more daunting when you have to go it alone, but good company always makes things easier to handle.” “To build a beloved community, we need to celebrate our differences but also recognize the challenges of communicating across them.” FINDING NEW OPPORTUNITIES to connect is a goal for Zenobia Hargust, Swarthmore’s director of equal opportunity and engagement. In addition to the upcoming projects she’s working on, Hargust is thrilled to be —President Valerie Smith Inclusion in action was on display when James Hormel ’55, H’09 and Michael Nguyen ’08 gave a $4.3 million gift last year to fund The Hormel-Nguyen Intercultural Center, which will be the new home of the Intercultural Center, the Interfaith Office, and the Office of International Programs as well as multiple dynamic spaces and opportunities for bonding. “This generous gift is a big win for the community,” says Jason Rivera, director of the Intercultural Center. “It’s a greater opportunity for us to work with our students, staff, and faculty on coalition-building and community engagement and development.” More campus community-building: DINNERS WITH STRANGERS, launched by President Valerie Smith, where small groups of faculty, staff, students, and alumni meet for the first time over a meal. SWATDECK, a social experiment where students walk to the train station and meet their randomly assigned teammates. Together, they travel into Philadelphia to a spot that sparks their curiosity. LEARNING FOR LIFE, where student-staff-faculty partnerships connect as they design their own learning projects. THE PRESIDENT’S SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH FELLOWS PROGRAM (PSRF), which matches students with mentors to research solutions to sustainabilityrelated campus challenges. 22 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 partnering with the Accessibility Task Force, a campuswide group focused on the accessibility of all information and communication technology. “This will advance the important work of making our campus materials available and accessible to all current and prospective community members,” she says. Challenges, communication-related or otherwise, are always part of growth, says Pamela P ­ rescod-Caesar, vice president for human resources. Plus, students aren’t the only ones who benefit from a sense of camaraderie. There are countless opportunities for faculty and staff to mentor and inspire one another to improve processes and outcomes. “We have made progress,” she says, “but we still have work to do.” SUCH WORK CAN MEAN ownership of projects. This is especially important for students, even when the responsibility can be daunting, says Andrew Barclay, assistant director of student activities and leadership in the Office of Student Engagement. Barclay manages large events including seasonal, madcap socials in Upper Tarble, but smaller projects—such as getting haircuts for charity or climbing a pop-up rock wall—often draw students into common spaces and spark a connection to the College culture. “I ask myself all the time: How can we be intentional about building community?” he says. “At a state school, the sense of community is often built around athletics, but for a small liberal arts school, we think about those things differently. When a student comes to me with an idea for what they’d like to see on campus, I tell them, ‘I can facilitate it, but you need to help.’” When Josie Hung ’19 approached Barclay with her idea for hosting a series of events called Culture and Identity Appreciation Week, he turned the tables and asked her how she would make it happen. “It was intimidating at first reaching out to all the groups, and I wasn’t sure how people would react,” Hung says, but the effort involved in spearheading the project to success ultimately made her feel more connected to campus and her classmates. She was proud of the positive difference she was able to create. That sense of pride is foundational for student success, says Karen Henry ’87, dean of first-year students and director of first-generation and low-income student initiatives. Henry takes special pride in community bonding and building. As a Swarthmore student, she formed friendships she still treasures today thanks to spaces like the Black Cultural Center. “It was a home away from home,” she says. “Swarthmore is a very caring community. That was true when I was a student, and as an administrator, that’s still true.” FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 23 hive minded by Elizabeth Slocum Using a microphone and field sampler, Rebecca Zhou ’19 watches and listens for the bees’ waggle dance and stop signal. 24 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 25 LAURENCE KESTERSON Unlocking—and learning from— the secret life of bees RANGE abdomen, pink thorax. Carefully, as a honeybee darts its tiny tongue to slurp concentrated sugar water, Rebecca Zhou ’19 readies her rainbow of paint pens. She shakes the orange and pink ones to get the color flowing, then gently dabs the bee’s fuzzy body—two dots on the abdomen, one on the thorax. The tiny forager, drugged-up on a sweet solution three times as potent as nectar in nature, hardly seems to notice. Later, Zhou will try to spot the marked bee as it jets back to its hive, fresh from its food run. “I’m actually terrified of bees!” Zhou admits. You wouldn’t know it. On this steamy July morning outside Martin Biological Laboratory, clad in sunhat, T-shirt, and shorts, she’s more protected from the heat than from a potential sting. A honeybee study may seem a strange choice for a student with melissophobia, but Zhou’s anxiety actually factored into her decision to participate: She wanted to face her fear. ALL ABUZZ Susanne Weil ’80’s husband, Peter Glover, first put the bug in her ear. “We’re going to keep bees!” he declared in 2008, fresh from a Master Gardeners symposium led by the state apiarist. An English professor at Centralia College in Washington state, Weil knew zero about honeybees, but the timing proved fortuitous: A week later, the couple watched PBS’s Silence of the Bees documentary, depicting the acceleration of Apis mellifera die-offs. “It alarmed and upset me,” Weil says, “and what seemed like a fun adventure suddenly looked like important environmental work.” The documentary described colony collapse disorder (CCD), a mysterious condition that thrust the western honeybee into the international spotlight. Winter honeybee losses—which typically hover between 15 and 25 percent nationally—jumped to 35.8 percent in 2007–08, with 60 percent of those losses likely tied to CCD, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “With CCD, you have bees going out, but they’re not able to make it back,” says Chris Mayack, a visiting assistant professor of evolution who mentored Zhou’s summer honeybee project. “You have no dead bees in or around the hive, you still have viable brood, there are food stores— everything else seems normal except the bees aren’t there.” The root cause of CCD is still unknown, though most scientists agree it’s likely a combination of pesticides, parasites, and a lack of foraging resources. Although the number of CCD cases has dropped significantly over the past decade, bees are still suffering, with the Varroa mite—a destructive parasite that infests hives—ultimately being the No. 1 plague on U.S. honeybee health. “Beekeepers on average are losing about 30 percent of “IF YOU DEVOTE THE TIME AND CARE, BEES WILL REWARD YOU IN SO MANY WAYS.” —SUSANNE WEIL ’80 26 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 LAURENCE KESTERSON A Velay fellow, Zhou spent her summer recording sights, sounds, and scents in one of several Swarthmore projects exploring the secrets of this remarkable insect. In doing so, she and her fellow student researchers joined a colony of Swarthmoreans acting on behalf of—and in the vein of—the beloved bee. Students mark bees and train them with a highly concentrated sugar-water solution, then swap it with a concentration closer to nature. “Apparently, the pathway they get when they eat sugar water is similar to the human cocaine- or heroin-addiction pathway,” says Rebecca Zhou ’19. their hives each year,” Mayack says, “so the focus has shifted to looking at colony collapse in general.” Colony losses have been a frustration for Weil, who went from “newbee” to a certified instructor with seven hives of her own: In 2016, apiarists in her area of southwest Washington lost an average of 45 percent of their bees. “We know some who lost all,” she says. The couple’s growth as beekeepers has taken years of practice and patience, but they began like expectant parents, “rehearsing ahead of time every step in hiving our two new bee colonies—we were afraid of harming them through some rookie mistake,” she says. They quickly discovered that, like children, “bees don’t read the books, and we had to reconnoiter when they buzzed outside the proverbial rules.” They learned to hive swarms, harvest honey, treat for diseases, and make difficult life-anddeath decisions. Ultimately, they learned to listen. “Observing bees at work fascinates me,” Weil says. “I love the calming, meditative feeling I get watching their dancelike flight as they hover at the hive entrance, the arc of the foragers taking off in search of food. It’s fun to watch what colors of pollen they bring back in their baskets and speculate what plants produced those colors. “But most important,” Weil adds, “I get a feeling for the disposition, the temperament, of each colony—and the bees get used to me.” A 2010 study shows that even in their six- to seven-week life span, worker bees can learn to recognize individuals, and Weil finds that developing a relationship with her “girls”— worker bees are all female—helps her be a better beekeeper ... and living creature. “If you devote the time and care,” she says, coffee in hand as she enjoys the day’s apiary garden ballet, “bees will reward you in so many ways.” PLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE Despite their highly publicized struggles, honeybees are not going extinct, notes Michael Roswell ’11, an ecology and evolution Ph.D. student at Rutgers. As of April 1, 2.89 million colonies—each with thousands of bees—were recorded by FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 27 MARTHA INOUYE That means there’s a greater chance of frost damage not only to flowers but to fruit trees—and to the pollinators themselves. “Bumblebee queens overwinter underground, and when the snow melts and the ground warms up, they come out,” Inouye says. “But the timing of their response is not matching the timing of the earliest flowers. There’s a risk that pollinators may not have all the resources they need to complete their reproductive cycle.” “Somebody did a survey, asking people how many bee species they think there are in the United States, and typically, the answers would be 10 or 20,” says David Inouye ’71, in Colorado. “But there are 4,000. I don’t think people appreciate the diversity of the native bees.” the USDA among operators of five or more hives. But many of the country’s roughly 4,000 native bee species aren’t faring as well—because of habitat loss, pesticide use, climate change, and other factors—or receiving the widespread attention afforded to their honey-making cousins. According to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, 28 percent of North American bumblebees face some risk of extinction. Early this year, the rusty patched bumblebee—native to much of the upper Midwest and Northeast—became the first wild bee in the continental U.S. to be declared endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Bombus pensylvanicus, a common bumblebee around Swarthmore 20 or 30 years ago, Roswell says, is listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. “We know for some species that have collapsed really rapidly that something changed,” Roswell says. “But for most 28 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 native bee species, we don’t have good enough baseline data to show how current distributions relate to that of the past.” That’s beginning to change, as interest in native bees has grown, according to David Inouye ’71, a professor emeritus of biology at the University of Maryland. “Historically, there haven’t been people consistently monitoring populations,” he says. “I think people assumed that bees were always going to be there.” Inouye has researched native bees at Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory since 1973, when a group set out to study pollinators’ relationship with wildflowers. One summer of research turned into two—which turned into 44 years of data on temperature, precipitation, and snowmelt changes and the effect they had on local wildflowers and pollinators. “The growing season is getting longer,” Inouye says, “but although the date of the first flowers is shifting earlier, the date of the last hard frost hasn’t changed significantly.” PLANTING FOR POLLINATORS That synchronization between bees and flowers is of particular interest to Bethanne Bruninga-Socolar ’10, a Ph.D. student at Rutgers whose dissertation centers on foraging behavior and how bees respond to the availability of plant species. “Bees depend on plant products for food in every part of their life cycle,” says Bruninga-Socolar, who works alongside Roswell in a pollinator lab led by Rutgers professor Rachael Winfree. “Eighty-seven percent of flowering plant species depend on pollination provided by animals—mostly bees.” Initially interested in researching general insect ecology, Bruninga-Socolar changed her focus. “I was hooked by bees’ diversity and the essential role they play in both human and natural ecosystems,” she says. “Plus, bees are super cute and surprisingly clumsy, which makes it really fun to observe them.” Unlike the famously hierarchical honeybee, many native species—carpenter bees, leafcutter bees, mason bees, etc.— are solitary, building nests, finding food sources, and raising young without the help of a caste system or colony. Roswell hopes that by studying bees’ behavior and environment, we can reverse their decline. His research, which centers on habitat enhancements and restorations that support pollinators—specifically New Jersey’s 400 native bee species—focuses on finding better ways to compare biodiversity and studying whether male and female bees prefer different kinds of flowers. (Roswell’s short answer: They do, though he’s eager to understand more.) At Swarthmore’s Scott Arboretum, plants are chosen to appeal to pollinators’ preferences, says horticulturist Josh Coceano. “We also support bees by having early- and lateblooming plants, as it’s not uncommon to see bees foraging in February and November.” Specifically, the Arboretum’s Pollinator Garden, designed by Mara Baird ’79 as a residential-scale example for homeowners, caters to the food and shelter needs of a range of insects, birds, and bats. The garden, between Martin Biological Laboratory and the Cornell Science Library, was named a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Foundation, and its ethos inspires the College in many ways. Even gardening novices can do their part by planting flowers that support pollination, says Inouye, who chairs the steering committee for the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC). Along with its parent organization, the nonprofit Pollinator Partnership, NAPPC created planting guides tailored to 31 ecoregions around the country. “This can even be done in urban areas,” Inouye says. “It’s surprising, the diversity of native bees that can survive in cities if there are flowers.” He recommends limiting the use of pesticides, especially “ABOUT ONE OUT OF EVERY THREE BITES OF FOOD THAT YOU EAT COMES TO YOU COURTESY OF POLLINATION.” —DAVID INOUYE ’71 FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 29 Sunflower Lupine Butterfly weed BEEUTIFY YOUR GARDEN Purple coneflower Pollinator.org provides planting guides for 31 ecoregions across the U.S. Here are seven plants native to Swarthmore’s Eastern Broadleaf Forest–Oceanic Province region that benefit bees and other pollinators. Black-eyed Susan “What we’re taught at Swarthmore is to do the right thing and be responsible with what you do, whether in your personal life or your business life,” says Ashish Malik ’84, CEO of Bee Vectoring Technology, pictured with boxes housing his company’s biocontrol powder. “I practice that every day.” Fairy candles “87 PERCENT OF FLOWERING PLANT SPECIES DEPEND ON POLLINATION PROVIDED BY ANIMALS— MOSTLY BEES.” —BETHANNE BRUNINGA-SOCOLAR ’10 30 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 Blazing star neonicotinoids, which have been linked to bee paralysis and death, and recognizing Earth’s complex food web in which pollinators play a crucial role. “At the NAPPC annual conference, next to each dish at our reception is a little sign: ‘These green beans were brought to you by pollinators,’ ‘This chocolate was brought to you by pollinators,’” Inouye says. “We’re trying to raise awareness among consumers that about one out of every three bites of food that you eat comes to you courtesy of pollination.” THINKING INSIDE THE BOX One creative company is tapping into that statistic. At the startup Bee Vectoring Technology (BVT), researchers are using the insects themselves to deliver a natural pest- and disease-control solution to berries, tomatoes, and other plants. “Biological crop protection has come in favor the last 10 or so years,” says CEO Ashish Malik ’84. “As consumers, we don’t like the use of chemicals on our food. So how do we get farmers to use less chemicals on the crops that they grow?” Through BVT’s setup, commercially reared bees passing through their hive pick up an organic biocontrol powder, which includes a naturally occurring fungus that prevents numerous plant diseases. The bees then distribute the powder to individual flowers, limiting the need for conventional crop-protection measures. “Other products are sprayed using tractors and other machinery, which uses a lot of water and wastes a lot of product,” Malik says. “Through vectoring, we’re able to reduce the quantities of active ingredient by as much as 99 percent. It’s extremely efficient, effective, and highly sustainable.” It also poses no health risks to bees, people, or the environment, Malik says. But the process isn’t a panacea. “Plants see many pests in the environment: root diseases, leaf diseases, insects, weeds,” he notes. “We can’t address the pests that aren’t coming through the flower, but within an overall program, we can greatly reduce the amount of chemicals that are used.” Founded in 2012, the company is still prerevenue and FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 31 LAURENCE KESTERSON about halfway through its approval process with the Environmental Protection Agency. BVT’s research and development has focused largely on bumblebees and strawberry crops, but Malik is excited about his system’s wider potential. “Out here in California, a million honeybee hives are brought in every Valentine’s Day to pollinate a million acres of almond trees,” he says. “These trees are affected by a disease our microbe could help manage. It’s a perfect opportunity for this disruptive technology.” WORKER BEES Perhaps the next advances in bee science will be born from Swarthmore’s Martin biology lab, where three separate projects synergistically overlap. Bee casualties from one study are sometimes used in another to test their chemical exposomes. Data from a project focused on pheromones is gathered simultaneously with one studying bees as a superorganism. “What is the difference, really, between individual bees and individual cells?” says Brian Shields ’18, who assisted with a project led by Talia Borofsky ’18 exploring whether honeybees’ decision-making is similar to neurons firing in the brain. “It blurs the lines between what we consider a discrete living thing.” Honeybees are in constant communication, “speaking” through a series of dances that convey the distance of nectar and pollen—a figure-eight waggle dance when food is far 32 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 afield, a circular dance when the source is closer. When the food supply changes—such as when students swap in a feeder with a reduced-sugar solution—the bees project a stop signal telling dancers to end their movements. “It’s like a really high-pitched ‘beep!’” says Rebecca Zhou ’19, who after a morning of marking honeybees outside has returned to the lab to begin her recordings. “Even without a microphone you can hear it.” Zhou is interested in whether the bees also communicate through scent—if they’re in a dark or loud environment where they can’t see or hear, how do they get their stop message across? Using a delicate, odor-collecting solid phase microextraction fiber, Zhou can detect and collect pheromone molecules released from the bees. Armed with a microphone, a field sampler, and—this time—a protective veil and suit, Zhou settles in among the flying bees. “Following pink thorax, blue abdomen,” she records. “Waggle dancing. Possible stop signal. Stop signal. Multiple stop signals.” Though her work with bees will probably end with this project, Zhou says she gained a great appreciation for the insects—and the wisdom they can impart. “Bees are like people,” Zhou says. “They’re very altruistic. They are really community-focused. And they rely on each other to survive.” + MAKE A BEELINE FOR MORE: bulletin.swarthmore.edu LAURENCE KESTERSON The western honeybee—Apis mellifera—communicates distance and direction of food sources through a series of dances. “It’s really easy to overlook insects, especially bees and ants, but they actually interact constantly every day, kind of like people,” says Rebecca Zhou ’19. “They have very complex social structures that a lot of vertebrates don’t even have.” FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 33 F ORTY years into its on-again, offagain history here, Swarthmore synchronized swimming—née water ballet—hit an early 1980s peak thanks to a very special group of women. all together now Honoring a golden era of Swarthmore synchronized swimming by Jonathan Riggs PHYLLIS HALL RAYMOND ’54, M’71: I fell in love with synchronized swimming watching Esther Williams— she was so graceful and looked so good in the water. When I did it at Swarthmore, I didn’t look quite that good. But I loved it, so I wanted to help bring it back decades later. DIANE DIETZEN ’83: Phyllis Raymond recognized that Becky Shahan ’83 and I had both done synchro and asked us to help recruit. What she found out was that Becky was really good and I was ... piddling. TAMARA PAYNE-ALEX ’86:My joining was a fluke: Some girls asked me and I said sure … except I couldn’t swim. So they asked if I could float. Practice was excruciatingly hard, but everyone was so encouraging that I kept at it. By my senior year, I could swim—and swim well. AMANDA KONRADI ’84: No other sport requires you to hold your breath, exert yourself at full capacity, and constantly risk getting kicked in the head … while smiling. REGINA HANLON BARLETTA ’83: Even with so much time in bathing suits, there weren’t body-image issues. We were all shapes and sizes. It was freeing to never be self-conscious. TAMAH KUSHNER ’83: It pleasantly surprised me how easy it was to start a sport here—people were very generous with their time. We began at Hall Gym’s pool, where you shook your clothes out for fear of cockroaches. Tamah Kushner ’83 performs her Bond-inspired “Goldfinger” routine. 34 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 DIETZEN: I thought the old pool was beautiful, but most people associated it with swim-test trauma. BARLETTA: In Hall Gym, you could hear the music above the water but not below. Somebody would tap the edge with a wrench to make a beat for us. We circulated a petition to get input in the process when they built Ware Pool in 1981. It was joyous to have this new, clean, fresh, big pool with an underwater sound system. KONRADI: I choreographed a routine to a Simon & Garfunkel song, but I was having trouble explaining it. Everyone was frustrated until Tamara, who had been singing along, connected my instructions to the lyrics, and things fell into place. That day, I learned how to meet learners where they are. KUSHNER: We usually wore bathing suits that overlapped in the front. One time, we were doing this trick, connected in a big water wheel, and ... MARY WASHBURNE ’83: Long before the famous “wardrobe malfunction,” it happened to us! BARLETTA: One routine started with us wearing white gloves, performing languidly to Beethoven’s Fifth; we threw them off for the disco version, “A Fifth of Beethoven.” Even now, I’ll hear a song and my arms go up in the air. WASHBURNE: The guys’ swim team joined us for some routines. To their surprise, they sank like stones at first! RAYMOND: It’s unbelievable that we coordinated and hosted the nationals here in 1983—competitors included Arizona’s Candy Costie and Tracie Ruiz, who won the first synchronized FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 35 swimming duet gold medal in 1984, when it became an Olympic sport. Those athletes were practicing eight hours a day; we were doing eight hours a week, so for our girls to do so well was magnificent. MARTHA SWAIN ’83: I’ll never forget when these Amazons from other schools came out in matching bathrobes with matching gear bags and matching towels. I had no idea how incredible synchronized swimming could be—because we weren’t! PAYNE-ALEX: Imagine me, who had been in synchronized swimming for a year and a half, “competing” at the nationals—it was wonderful. “MY DAYS OF GLORY WERE DIM—I DIDN’T LIKE BEING UPSIDE DOWN IN THE WATER AND COULD NEVER GET EXACTLY VERTICAL— BUT SUPER FUN.” —MARTHA SWAIN ’83 DIETZEN: My joke I tell people is that I was part of the 13th trio in the nation in 1983 … because there were 13 trios. LAURENCE KESTERSON JOHN BOWE ’83: T he computer center staff asked me to create a program for scoring nationals; it took me maybe two months. This was all with “terminals,” no Windows or mice, just a keyboard with an 80-by24 character screen and a dot matrix printer. Still, wicked cool for that time. I think I got paid the highest rate for campus jobs, $2.35 an hour, enough for half an Apollo pizza in Media. every time I do laundry—my poster from nationals hangs in there. KONRADI: Although synchro is stereotyped for the glitzy suits, hair, and makeup, that part was my least favorite. (“Femme” is not my forte.) I reveled in the physicality and discipline—I was never in as good shape as when I could swim 75 yards underwater on one gulp of air. KUSHNER: I still do the beginning of our nationals routine when I get in a pool. Our (somewhat) synchronized swimming is that ingrained. I mean, for four years we basically showered together and talked about everything. We were—we are—family. SWAIN: Synchro sums up Swarthmore for me. In high school, we were all valedictorians, but at Swarthmore, you’re in the bottom quarter. At least I was. And then, in the swimming pool when the big guns came out at nationals, we weren’t just in the bottom quarter, but the bottom 1 percent—but you can have a lot of fun there. BARLETTA: Swarthmore can get very serious. So it was great to be able to enjoy each other’s company and the challenge of being underwater, trying to connect with seven other people to do these maneuvers, then coming up, sputtering and swearing. It was hard, it was fun, it was pure joy. KUSHNER: I was never an athlete until college, but that experience led me to a more physical life. I wouldn’t have gotten the chance if I hadn’t been at Swarthmore, where you could be not so great and still be captain of a team. DIETZEN: A common Swarthmore experience is you feel that everyone else is amazing and you’re just … not. And so even though synchronized swimming wasn’t quite life-changing, having something we all built together that was purely ours, that we contributed, was the charm of it all. WASHBURNE: It bonded us for life and so did Phyllis Raymond: She was the wonderful heart. I still treasure my memories—and my nationals T-shirt! RAYMOND: I love synchronized swimming, but what meant the most was being able to give back something like this experience to Swarthmore— and especially to the members of the team. They were and are so very special, each and every one. + RELIVE SYNCHRO MEMORIES AND SHARE YOUR OWN: bulletin.swarthmore.edu WASHBURNE: I bet if you got us all together now, we could get at least some of our old routines down. To this day, I still love swimming and I always do a couple of laps of synchro. SWAIN: M y days of glory were dim—I didn’t like being upside down in the water and could never get exactly vertical—but super fun. I still love to swim, even though I’m still not good. PAYNE-ALEX: The best thing is amazing my children. When I do my tricks, it wows them. Above, Phyllis Hall Raymond ’54, M’71 in her garden today. Below, Swarthmore’s synchro seniors in 1983, clockwise from top left: Mary Washburne ’83, Diane Dietzen ’83, Regina Hanlon Barletta ’83, Martha Swain ’83, Becky Shahan ’83, and Tamah Kushner ’83. 36 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 DIETZEN: We all keep in touch, mostly through Facebook, although we tried to go swimming at reunion a couple of years ago. I think about it Left: Tamara Payne-Alex ’86 sells admissions tickets. Right: Diane Dietzen ’83 does “Little Purple Flower,” part of the 1982 “Watercolors” splash-tacular that also included “Goldfinger.” See more of these routines and others in our web gallery. FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 37 unbarring PROGRESS Confronting the controversial American tradition of mass incarceration by Michael Agresta photography by Laurence Kesterson “In all of the facilities I’ve studied or taught in,” says Erin Corbett ’99, CEO of Second Chance Educational Alliance, “those who are incarcerated are so wanting to be in school, take classes, and better themselves.” 38 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 39 recently, the Bulletin has highlighted the work of reformers such as Ellen Barry ’75, Julie Biddle Zimmerman ’68, and Keith Reeves ’88. The problem of prisons remains unsolved … for now. But no matter how challenging the political climate may prove, Swarthmorean lawyers, writers, educators, and activists continue to dedicate themselves to the complex challenge of prison reform, one of the key civil rights issues of our time. B EING a Swarthmorean means being part of a long line of forward-looking social-justice workers, stretching back to the early years of the United States, Quakerism, and the movement for the abolition of slavery. But even as much of the 19th-century Philadelphia Quaker community was agitating for an end to one “peculiar institution” that put human beings in chains, destroyed families, and enforced unpaid labor, those same Philadelphians were experimenting with another: the modern prison. Eastern State Penitentiary, built in 1829, is seen as an important early model for a U.S. prison system that has exploded in size since the civil rights movement. Over the years, many members of the greater Swarthmore community have led efforts to fight this disturbing trend—to shrink the prison system, make it more humane, and offer those currently or ever incarcerated greater opportunities for advancement and rehabilitation. Partly at the suggestion of a Swarthmore professor, the late H. Haines Turner ’30 refused his family inheritance and spent decades devoted to improving prison conditions. More 40 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 THE EDUCATOR For Erin Corbett ’99, prison education is more than just one job—it’s many. In 2017 alone, Corbett has taken action to broaden educational opportunities for incarcerated people through at least four professional roles: as a doctoral candidate with the University of Pennsylvania, studying the relationship between prisoners’ educational attainment and postrelease employment outcomes; as an employee of the New Jerseybased Petey Greene Program, training volunteers to tutor inside prisons; as a business entrepreneurship instructor in a women’s facility with College Unbound, which offers academic, forcredit programming in the Rhode Island Department of Corrections; and as CEO of her own Connecticutbased Second Chance Educational Alliance, helping incarcerated men prepare for postsecondary educational opportunities. “I do a lot of driving,” chuckles Corbett, whose commitments often take her across state lines and in and out of some of America’s most elite— and most subjugated—institutional environments. Though she earned her doctorate from Penn’s Graduate School of Education in May, Corbett plans to keep at least one foot outside academia for the long term. “I’ve always been a hands-on person,” she says. “Practical application of research has always been where I’ve found the greatest fulfillment. I definitely want to continue research, but so that what I actually do inside facilities has a datadriven basis.” Her work focuses on one overarching problem: too many young people—disproportionately men of color—locked up during the earlyadulthood years that would normally be devoted to schooling. If and when they’re released, it’s into a job market already hostile to anyone with a criminal record, let alone someone with an incomplete education. Federal guidelines require all state corrections departments to provide high school equivalencylevel educational opportunities. After that, depending on the facility, the opportunities often dry up, Corbett says, even though research indicates participation in and completion of these educational programs reduces recidivism. Corbett focuses on acting locally. Her Second Chance program, co-founded with Erwin T. Hurst, partners with a prerelease facility in Connecticut, helping men with a high school diploma or GED refresh their knowledge and skills so they can pursue higher education upon release. “These are guys who have a credential but may not feel like they’re ready for traditional postsecondary,” Corbett says. “Second Chance is that buffer to help them build their study skills and confidence. I would love to see it at more facilities.” Looking forward, Corbett expects her next research project to focus on determining the best methods of preparing teachers to work with incarcerated people, which means reckoning with a discomfiting paradox at the heart of prison education. “The prison classroom is such a unique space from an educator’s point of view,” Corbett says. “You are trying to stimulate critical thinking in the context of a total institution that does not encourage it.” THE EXONERATORS At a basketball tournament, a 12-yearold Seth Steed ’01 witnessed his first know-your-rights workshop … and discovered what he wanted to devote his life to doing. “Learning about every citizen’s constitutional rights blew my mind,” “It’s an incredible feeling—there’s really nothing else like it,” says David Crow ’80 (left), with Seth Steed ’01, on getting the conviction of a client overturned. “It makes you just want to go back and fight harder.” Steed says. “I’m passionate about criminal justice reform today from growing up in East Harlem. During the ’80s and ’90s, I saw the negative effects of overpolicing on my community.” That passion eventually brought Steed from a law firm in Washington, D.C., to the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, an organization known for its innovative, communitybased public defense practice. Steed later joined the Legal Aid Society of New York City, where, as appellate counsel, he reinvestigated 23 questionable homicide convictions. His proudest moment so far has been the February 2016 exoneration of Vanessa Gathers, a Brooklyn woman wrongly imprisoned for manslaughter for 10 years after being induced into confessing to a crime she did not commit. “I was there at the right time, and I had trial skills,” says Steed, who reinvestigated her case for three years with Legal Aid colleagues and pro bono counsel from a New York firm. On the Gathers case and others, Steed worked with another Legal Aid appellate counsel, David Crow ’80, who had helped develop the playbook for modern public-defender exoneration cases. But for two years, Steed never stepped all the way inside his mentor’s office. When he did, he was greeted with a familiar sight. “In the far corner, he had a diploma I recognized,” says Steed. “Without knowing that he was also an alum, David’s Swarthmore-ness had come through, and we were drawn to each other. It means to me that you have a commitment to social justice, and you want to make the world a better place.” (Steed also worked alongside Ursula Bentele ’65, who directed the Capital Defender and Federal Habeas Clinic at Brooklyn Law School for many years until her 2015 retirement, when she joined Legal Aid as a part-time FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 41 ‘Friends’ in the fight The Quaker and Swarthmore tradition of campaigning for prison reform is rich and deep, as evidenced by these activists whose work continues to inspire. Explore the Friends Historical Library archives for more! —CELIA CAUST-ELLENBOGEN ’09 Early Quakers were intimately acquainted with the horrors of prison. William Penn was imprisoned numerous times due to his religious convictions. When he established Pennsylvania, Penn—depicted in Violet Oakley’s mural in the state Capitol—introduced radical criminal justice reforms, including abolishing the death penalty for all crimes except murder. WILLIAM PENN (1644–1718) is known as the first great Quaker ELIZABETH GURNEY FRY (1780–1845) was a British Quaker ISAAC T. HOPPER (1771–1852) and his daughter ABIGAIL HOPPER GIBBONS (1801–1893) were ardent abolitionists EDWARD TOWNSEND (1806–1896) served as Eastern State prison reformer. He wrote his spiritual classic No Cross, No Crown while locked in the Tower of London. FHL has 70 copies, in three languages, dating from 1669 to 2001, including the first edition. bit.ly/FHLPenn dedicated to prison reform. His portrait hangs in Parrish; they founded the Women’s Prison Association, still active today. bit.ly/FHLGibbons ANNA WHARTON MORRIS (1868–1957) became deeply interested in prison reform over newspaper reports of cruelty to young inmates. Her papers at FHL include cartoons depicting prison life at Eastern State Penitentiary in the 1920s, drawn by an insider. bit.ly/FHLMorris 42 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 famous for advocating for incarcerated women and children. Until last year, she was featured on the Bank of England’s 5-pound note. FHL has a number of images of her, many books and articles about her, and a few of her original documents. bit.ly/FHLFry Penitentiary’s warden from 1870 to 1881. He ensured prisoners received compensation for their work and was instrumental in passing legislation to reduce sentences for good behavior. bit.ly/FHLTownsend + MORE: bulletin.swarthmore.edu volunteer attorney.) It was Crow’s turn to be happily surprised when, in 2016, Steed was offered a job in the Bronx DA’s Conviction Integrity Unit; wellintentioned conviction-review units are rare enough in DA offices, but hires with résumés like Steed’s are even rarer. “It’s really the prosecutor who has the most power in these situations,” Crow says. “We think one of the keys is to bring people with a variety of backgrounds into the convictionreview unit. Seth being a defense lawyer, it was almost without precedent. “It is a significant step in getting conviction-review units to play the role they should play,” Crow adds. “Ultimately, it’s up to the elected DA. It’s something for every citizen to be concerned about: Is the DA concerned with justice, or with defending their own office?” For Steed, who had come to his appellate work expecting to take an oppositional role to prosecutors and police, the new job was a significant shift. As a public defender, he had “been fighting against what I perceived as the systemic subjugation of people of color for almost a decade. The fight against mass incarceration is the civil rights issue of my generation. Could I now be part of the government and continue to do this important work?” In the end, he was convinced by the character of his new boss, Bronx DA Darcel Clark, who was elected on a campaign of racial justice and reform, and who became the first black female DA in New York state history. “I decided it was worth a shot, if DA Clark was willing to take a chance on a career public defender like me, and she’s shown me nothing but institutional support,” Steed says. “She is a person of substance and conviction, dedicated to justice, fairness, and restoring the public’s faith in the criminal justice system. I am tremendously proud to be a part of this groundbreaking and vitally important work in the Bronx.” In fact, in Clark’s first year in office, based upon the work of her Conviction Integrity Unit, she agreed to vacate two homicide convictions. Steed is optimistic about the future, given the changes that he’s witnessed so far. “Since 1989, almost 2,000 people have been exonerated, by DNA or other evidence,” he says. “That’s about 70 people a year. That’s a lot of lives.” Crow, for his part, stresses the immensity of the task ahead, even if things are slowly getting better. “We’ve spent the past 30 years throwing money at the criminal justice system to get them to deal with every problem we’ve had,” he says. “We’re going to spend the next 30 trying to ratchet down that approach and rescue people who are survivors of that system.” THE MUCKRAKER Before a high school classmate was arrested and eventually deported, Maya Schenwar ’05 had never seen the inside of a correctional institution. During winter break of her senior year at Swarthmore, Schenwar visited the friend at the jail where he was being detained before deportation. A Phoenix columnist at the time, she thought she might write something about immigration policy based on the experience. The visit changed everything. “It was shocking,” Schenwar says. “This is a system where this person who is about to be sent away for at least the next 10 years and split from his family can’t even hug his mother— he’s sitting behind glass and talking to her on the telephone.” When Schenwar returned to Swarthmore, she authored her first column on prisons. It would not be her last. As editor-in-chief of Truthout, an independent socialjustice publication backed by a board of advisers that includes Bill Ayers, Dean Baker ’80, and Mark Ruffalo, Schenwar has zeroed in on the topic of prisons, penning several New York Times op-eds, including “Prison Visits Are a Right,” “Too Many People in Jail? Abolish Bail,” and “A Virtual Visit to a Relative in Jail.” “Unless there’s some presence in the media, this issue is going to stay invisible, because the people who are locked inside the system are made invisible,” Schenwar says. “That’s the point of the system. I never would have been to a jail if someone I knew hadn’t been incarcerated.” Unfortunately, mass incarceration has hit even closer to home for Schenwar: Her sister has struggled with opioid addiction and repeated imprisonment. “If you have a criminal record, you’re more likely to be sentenced to prison again,” she explains. “My sister got stuck in that cycle. She’s always been arrested for very minor offenses, but she is continually getting stuck in jail or prison, because she’s seen as a person who’s gone to prison.” As Schenwar began considering a book on her prison reporting and essays, it became obvious that she had a specific story to tell through her family’s experiences. “One of the main problems with media coverage of prisons is that it focuses on politics or statistics or third-person stories, but it doesn’t actually provide a way for readers to understand the humanity of people in prison,” she says. “Until we do that, there isn’t going to be significant progress.” “With the exception of a few prison nursery programs (which are controversial, because they involve locking up newborn babies), incarcerated mothers must say goodbye to their infants upon birth,” Maya Schenwar ’05 wrote on Truthout. FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 43 the volunteer Making a difference for those affected by our flawed system of mass incarceration doesn’t always mean a lifetime devotion to prison reform. A veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, Ellie Bly Sutter ’66 moved to Lexington, Ky., in retirement to be near her grandchildren. Since 2009, she has volunteered one day each week at her local county jail, teaching a course on debate and public speaking. JENNIFER DOERGE “A lot of men who come into these situations in jail are very beaten down, ashamed of themselves,” Sutter says. “What they need to be able to do is look you in the eye and advocate effectively for themselves.” Sutter’s course is part of a broader program that enrolls recovering addicts and others who want to make a big change in their lives. She encourages other Swarthmoreans to find similar programs in their area, or even to start one themselves. “A lot of these guys feel that the world has forgotten about them,” Sutter says. “Just to have someone who comes in and shakes hands with them, someone who talks to them and isn’t just interested in giving a lecture about how bad they are—it’s a great gift you can give.” + MORE: bulletin.swarthmore.edu Her 2014 book, Locked Down, Locked Out: Why Prison Doesn’t Work and How We Can Do Better, is an attempt to address that empathy gap by intertwining a policy-level indictment of the modern prison industry with the intimate story of her sister’s—and her family’s—struggle. Convicted of stealing a bottle of perfume, Schenwar’s pregnant sister was sent to prison. Family members were not allowed into the hospital room while she gave birth; immediately after the baby arrived, the mother was shackled to the bedpost in a way that made it hard for her to hold her child. She was forced to return to prison 24 hours after giving birth, while Schenwar and her family took charge of the baby. And, for several days after returning to prison, Schenwar’s sister was unreachable. “The warden wasn’t around to 44 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 authorize a phone call,” Schenwar says. “We had no idea what was going on. Meanwhile, she was put through this torture, separated from her baby. Some mothers go through this and never see their child again.” Experiences like this have clarified Schenwar’s belief that mass incarceration is a key driver of inequality, racial and social injustice, and economic insecurity. “We have to understand,” she says, “that prisons affect families, communities, and, ultimately, all of us.” THE CHALLENGES AHEAD There is reason to be optimistic: For much of the past decade, shrinking the prison population has seemed like a genuinely bipartisan priority. “Conservatives and liberals agree that the criminal justice system is fiscally irresponsible,” Steed says. “We spend a lot of time warehousing a lot of people at a very high cost. With 45 years of the war on drugs to look back on, we realize: This is a public health issue. Opioid use and addiction should not be treated criminally. My hope is that the prison population should decrease greatly.” Unfortunately, that consensus may be receding. “With recent decisions by the attorney general to reinstate mandatory minimums and truth in sentencing,” Corbett warns, “we are starting to see the clock turn back to 1994, ’95, ’96, where incarceration rates skyrocketed overnight.” Whether or not the reformists or reactionaries win out in the current moment, mass incarceration remains a reminder of a deep-rooted contradiction in core American values. To really address it requires an idealism both enduring and constantly refreshed with study and exposure to new ideas. Schenwar, for one, associates that type of idealism with Swarthmore, where she developed her own values in the context of the campus antiwar community of the early 2000s, and in the shadow of the institution’s long-held commitment to peace and social justice. “Immersed in those circles, my understanding of prisons emerged differently than it would have otherwise,” Schenwar says. “Not, ‘We need fewer people in prison’ or ‘Our policies have to be better.’ This is true. But I also saw, and now see more clearly, a larger vision: This oppressive structure should not exist.” + READ previous coverage and a wealth of external information on this topic: bulletin.swarthmore.edu class notes A TREASURY OF ALUMNI-RELATED ITEMS CHANGING LIVES, CHANGING THE WORLD Oct. 25 Join President Valerie Smith in Boston to learn how our comprehensive campaign will make a difference on campus and beyond. Mix, mingle, and joyfully celebrate Swarthmore! bit.ly/SmithBoston ALUMNI COLLEGE ABROAD Join your fellow Swarthmoreans on an educational journey: Jan. 7–12 “Cuba: An Extraordinary People-to-People Experience” March 15–19 “Icelandic Interlude & the Northern Lights” bit.ly/SwatAbroad LAURENCE KESTERSON ALUMNI EVENTS Rainy weather couldn’t dampen the excitement of Move-In Day Aug. 29, when the Class of 2021 arrived for Orientation. 1939 1941 Trudie Blood Seybold marked her 100th birthday Aug. 21 with a three-day celebration at her home in Boothbay, Maine. “Long an advocate of women’s rights and civil rights, Trudie is known locally for her generosity,” says the Boothbay Register, which featured her in a Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights (GRR!) T-shirt (bit.ly/TrudieS). Libby Murch Livingston lizliv33@gmail.com To my classmates: I think of you often and wish we could somehow get together. I hope you are well-cared-for and able to enjoy family and friends. Here are some thoughts that speak to me today: (Violins play) In our small world, those of us who are so blessed still have the opportunity to influence policies that affect the lives of many—possibly ourselves! We were fortunate to have been given the tools at Swarthmore to be effective in fighting for the causes we hold most dear. We also have the help of family or aides with the tools to reach out (an immediate example: my daughter Elinor, who answered my “help” call and set my ancient computer to find the proper “view” to continue this letter). It is not only important for us to stay involved in what is going on in the world—miserable as some of this world can be—it is also good for us. We all have our pet interests— politics, environment, social issues, etc. Let’s get our views across to those authorities who can effect change. I feel that the Class of 1941 can still be effective in expressing its members’ opinions and values. We can still be a force, hopefully for good, in this crazy world! Let me know your thoughts. Anybody out there? Editor’s note: Learn more about Libby on pg. 11. FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 45 class notes 1942 includes old grads like me and some recent alums. All welcome! Mary Weintraub Delbanco delbanco660@gmail.com Lucy Rickman Baruch writes: “What price is a degree? One grandson collected his diploma and then pursued his true vocation—sound and lighting—while another seems the only one in his (airport) department with a degree. Both, however, are happy in their jobs. I am reconciled with being a great-grand because the little ones are such fun. We had a day out with the twins (18 months) and everything fascinated them—dogs, geese, other children—but they are a handful!” Lucy Selligman Schneider reminds me that political portraits in her hallway— while mostly of men—­ include a framed piece of ribbon proclaiming “Votes for Women” from her sister’s baby carriage when her mother walked in a suffrage parade. Her wall continues to attract knowledgeable visitors interested in history. My home in Baltimore, Roland Park Place, is close to my daughter and son-in-law. My grandson, a musician, works and attends graduate school in LA. My granddaughter aspires to become an actress and is a junior at Baltimore School for the Arts. For a number of years, Roland Park Place has been the meeting place for the Baltimore chapter of Swarthmore’s reading group. It began meeting here to accommodate the late Lois Hosbach Love ’43, a greatly valued member. Our group today 46 Swarthmore College Bulletin / 1943 Betty Glenn Webber bettywebber22@yahoo.com 616-245-2687 I’ve just returned from a week’s trip to North Carolina with two friends to see a third. Although I still drive, my much-younger fellow travelers shared the driving, my only responsibility being to supply their favorite homemade cookies. I’ve known my pal in Charlotte for 60plus years, so the visit was rewarding. The final touch: Someone looked at the four of us and said, “Hmm—the Golden Girls.” From Ginny Curry Hille comes word of a happy event—a flying trip to Seattle to visit son Rob and his wife, Carol. “Not so good: a broken wrist from a stumble on the sidewalk. Happily, I’m healing rapidly and now remembering to pick up my feet!” Jack Dugan received a reminiscent note from Bob Hecht, with recollections going back to Coach Ed Faulkner’s pairing those two for future tennis success. Jack, too, recalls good friendship get-­togethers in Buck Hill Falls, Pa., NYC, and California over the years. Memories of rich College experiences are with us all, I’m sure. On that note, and following up on a suggestion from Mary Stewart Trageser, let’s share fond recollections of our campus days. Mary mentions the struggle up Magill with suitcases without wheels, FALL 2017 the clinking of glasses when a significant couple entered the dining room, special profs. What pops up in your mind? I learned of Herb Fraser’s May 2 death from his devoted son and caregiver, Peter ’68, who provided an intimate picture of his dad’s last evening. Herb watched the news, had his usual demitasse and dessert, and headed for bed at 10; he died a few hours later. Our condolences to Peter and his family. Terry Votaw Harman died May 22. I always think of her as that tall, dark beauty with a sweet friendliness to everyone. Her life with Art Harman ’41 was a 73-year matchbox marriage. Condolences, too, to the Harman family. Our editor suggests we contribute remembrances to Class Notes. I encourage you to send me those personal words that lend color and depth to the portrayals of our late friends. 1945 Verdenal Hoag Johnson verdij76@comcast.net Editor’s note: Verdi, 1945’s class secretary for the past decade, died Aug. 9. We share her final column in her honor: I have had to stop driving. I loved to drive. Edward ’46 didn’t learn to drive until after we were married; he had been a city boy and didn’t need a car. He never enjoyed driving as I certainly did; he did it only out of necessity. This meant that for most of our married life, I drove. Edward had trouble with directions. His last drive was the result of his getting lost here in Dover, N.H. Two lovely ladies were stopped by his confusion. One got into our car and drove him home while her friend followed. That was his last trip and he was so glad. Now comes the big change, and I found two wonderful services: One will pick me up and take me home any time I need to be at the hospital. A second will take me to any nonemergency medical appointment. Yesterday, a small bus pulled into my driveway—about half the size of a regular bus. There I was: the sole passenger. I was so tickled—some of my neighbors were outside so they could appreciate my splendor. What an adventure! neighbor across Elm Avenue to take this new kid in tow. Doug died June 7 in Broomall, Pa., but lived most of his life in Swarthmore and Springfield, Pa. Doug’s Swarthmore pedigree started with his mother, Hallie Hulbert Douglas, Class of 1903, and also included aunt Clementine Hulbert Gibson, Class of 1907, brother James Douglas Jr. ’32, and son Al Douglas ’72. Doug graduated from Swarthmore High in 1941. He received an engineering degree from the College, served stateside with the Air Force during World War II, and was a sales engineer with Robert Arnold Associates for more than 35 years. Wife Wilma predeceased him in 2009. He is survived by four sons and five grandchildren. 1947 1949 Marshall Schmidt kinmarshal@aol.com Marjorie Merwin Daggett mmdaggett@verizon.net I wrote to Volkert Veeder congratulating him on being the only classmate to attend our 70th Reunion— and explaining why I could not make it. Kinnie Clarke Schmidt ’46 and I celebrated our 70th wedding anniversary June 21. We had four generations present at our family party, including Peter Schmidt (first cousin once removed), chair of Swarthmore’s English department. I regret to report the death of Gordon “Doug” Douglas, whom I first met in late August 1937 when my family moved to Swarthmore. He and two other boys responded to pressure from a thoughtful I wrote part of our class suggesting a response about recent books read or re-read. And some replied! On her 90th birthday, Sara-Page Merritt White was enjoying Hillbilly Elegy in addition to the many activities at Crosslands in Kennett Square, Pa. Her three daughters, from Philly, Doylestown, Pa., and Newton, Mass., helped her celebrate and later joined with George and Maralyn Orbison Gillespie for a birthday brunch. Belated birthday wishes, Sara-Page. Theodore Wright and his wife still travel, most recently to Morocco as well as to Las Vegas, Death Valley, and Zion 1945, 1946, and 1948 are in need of class secretaries. Interested? Email eslocum1@swarthmore.edu. GARNET SCRAPBOOK Hawaii state Sen. Josh Green ’92 (right) hung out with actor–producer (and Kauai resident) Pierce Brosnan this summer during filming of a documentary on pesticide use in the islands. Ellen Liu ’19 (left) and Gloria Kim ’19 checked out the solar eclipse Aug. 21 outside the Science Center on campus. From left: Cat Laine ’98, Jen Weiss Handler ’98, and Rachel Breitman ’98 met up in New Orleans in June for their now-annual “ladies’ trip.” Victor Navasky ’54, publisher emeritus of The Nation, was honored at Harvard with the 2017 I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence in April. “Only you can prevent wildfires”: Marc Sonnenfeld ’68 greeted Smokey Bear while vacationing this summer in Maine. Missing their seminar days, Sonali Shahi ’06, Krista Spiller ’06, Simone Boyle ’07, Jesse Young ’05, and Anna Morgan ’04 convened a vibrant book club in Philly. + SEND YOUR PHOTOS/BLURBS TO BULLETIN@SWARTHMORE.EDU Michael Fleischmann ’13 (left) met economist Dean Baker ’80 during an internship with the Congressional Research Service in Washington, D.C. Dean spoke at a House briefing on how NAFTA affects American jobs. FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 47 class notes National Park. In April, his family gathered for his 91st birthday. Last October, Ted presented a paper at a conference on South Asia in Madison, Wis., about Asaduddin Owaisi, a Muslim politician in Hyderabad, India, whose grandfather Ted had interviewed in 1964. Ted and his wife hike slowly with a naturalist group and do twice-weekly osteo exercises. After reading The New York Times, he finds little time to re-read books from long ago. Charles Taylor retired from medical practice in 2001 and, with his wife, moved back to North Conway, N.H. They became active in a Congregational church, he as chair of the trustees and she as chair of the music committee and in the children’s education committee. He joined the Rotary Club, and they both sang and played handbells in choruses. His reading has been mainly about healthcare reform, and he was impressed by the similarity of debates over the last hundred years. Jack Chapman, a Bronze Star veteran for his role in the Saint-Lô battle of July 1944, died in March. Our condolences to son Russell and daughter Leslie. Wife Ida and first wife Jane Morfoot Bentley predeceased him. Joseph D’Annunzio also died in March. Through the Navy V-12 at Columbia, he earned an engineering degree; at Swarthmore, he earned a psychology degree, played varsity soccer, and was an Olympic alternate. Our sympathy to his wife, Barbara. Joann Broadhurst Sparks died in Wenonah, N.J., in April. She had been an active member of Wenonah’s Environmental Commission, Garden Club, 48 Swarthmore College Bulletin / and Historical Society. Our condolences to sons David and Donald. Charles Bush died in Mendocino, Calif., in March. He spent four joyous years flying aircraft off carriers for the Navy and traveling in an around-theworld carrier cruise. He then spent 35 years as an HR director before moving to Mendocino. Condolences to his wife and children. His range of activities and length of friendships is no surprise to those who remember his smile and joy from College classes and biology labs. Katherine Burt Anderson died of emphysema in June. She’s remembered as a wonderful cook, a fan of chamber music, and a devoted gardener at her weekend cottage in Woodville, Va. “She was a dynamic woman, and very much a product of Swarthmore,” says son John McKitterick ’75. Katy is also survived by daughter Molly and three grandchildren, including Christopher McKitterick ’09; our condolences to them. I will fondly remember Katy as my fellow Russian Bank player, crossword puzzleand double-crostic-maker, a demon at Liar’s Dice, and always fun to be with. I am appreciative of all of you who responded. 1951 Elisabeth “Liesje” Boessenkool Ketchel eketchel@netscape.com Walter Blass writes: “Sorry to miss the reunion but had to attend Guilford College Board of Trustees. I’m well enough to spend all of September in E ­ urope­— FALL 2017 same six countries as last year. The older I get, the closer I feel to my European ancestry and the good friends I have there now.” From Ralph Lee Smith: “Last year, the University of Tennessee Press issued a second edition of my 1986 book, The Story of the Dulcimer. It has been nominated for the 33rd annual Mary Ellen LoPresti Publication Award from the Southeast Chapter of the Art Libraries Society of North America.” Congratulations, Ralph! Lew Rivlin observes that almost half of his high school class—which included Lotte Lazarsfeld Bailyn, Dan Singer, and the late Sue Rose Levinson—was “alive and kicking at the time of our 70th reunion. Some of the geriatric-experienced physicians at D.C.’s VA Medical Center expressed interest in a questionnaire that might informally indicate our shared threads toward longevity. I suspect that a similar percentage attaches to the mostly 87-year-olds in our Swarthmore class. I prepared, with the doctors’ guidance, a questionnaire on such matters as whether we inflicted kale upon ourselves or refused diet sodas and Russian roulette. The number of responses from Lincoln School classmates was embarrassingly small. I wonder if our Swarthmore classmates might be a tad more willing—in the interests of not-quite-science. The doctors promised they would at least feign interest in seeing these filled out—and we could even combine the two similar cohort groups.” So how would we indicate our interest, Lew? Mary Ann Ash Chidsey attended Alumni Weekend. “I enjoyed the ­ luegrass-music opener. b My son Alan, who came with me, discreetly pulled up on his phone the words I didn’t know or couldn’t hear. I chatted with Jay Finkel ’52, who led the parade. Alan and I had good fun with our tablemates, and one couple invited us for a return visit. Those golf-cart rides were fun; I would have starved without them! I can’t promise to be around in four years for our 70th, but I might try another reunion next year.” Paul Shoup writes: “Marija and I are in Belgrade, Serbia. Later, we shall (with the help of our two boys) hunker down in our chalet in Switzerland. This may sound idyllic, but it is an effort and will, I think, be the last of our many sojourns to Europe. All the best to those who answer your call.” Thanks, Paul. I, too, wish the best to my faithful correspondents— and to those who choose not to share their news. Pat and Gerald Pollack traveled to D.C. in midJune to see Barbara Wolff Searle ’52 before she moved to Carlsbad, Calif. “Dan and Maxine Frank Singer ’52 gave her a farewell party. Although we had many friends in Washington when I retired from my job in the federal government in 1999, we have not often gone back. So many of our friends have moved away or are no longer alive. Seeing Barbara and meeting her son, Josh, a psychology professor at Allegheny College, was bittersweet. It was wonderful to renew our acquaintance with Barbara, but realistically, after her move across the country, we are never likely to see her again. Politics aside, Washington was very much as we left it nearly 20 years ago, except that the street conditions had deteriorated and traffic was worse. We enjoyed a visit to the National Gallery and were heartened to observe that, while we had aged considerably, the people in our favorite pictures were as youthful as ever.” 1952 Barbara Wolff Searle bsearle70@msn.com Sadly, Richard Heath died in January following complications from a stroke. A lawyer, lifetime learner, and lover of culture and history, Dick traveled the world with his wife of 61 years, Beth, and wherever he went, he found a way to connect with others. Dick is survived by four children, including David Heath ’79, a sister, and 10 grandchildren. Sandra Detwiler, a Marine colonel, former guidance counselor, and certified financial planner, died in September 2016. One former student described Sandy as a “vivacious counselor” with a “glowing personality” who spent many happy hours rock-hounding, camping, fishing, hiking, and traveling. Robert Bailey died in May in Chicago. His longtime friend Ron Decker ’55 writes: “After Swarthmore, Bob graduated from Northwestern University Law School, was a lawyer in the U.S. Army, then spent his career as a corporate lawyer in Chicago. His later career was spent as general counsel of Midas International. Bob had many hobbies, including carpentry and photogra- Share your pics—on campus and off—on Instagram: @swarthmorebulletin, #swatbulletin phy. He is survived by wife Marlene, three children, and five grandchildren.” Harold Swartout died in June in Canandaigua, N.Y. A longtime mechanical engineer at Eastman Kodak, Hal was predeceased in 2015 by his wife of 63 years, Barbara Calkins Swartout ’53. “While none of my brothers nor I ever attended Swarthmore,” writes daughter Linda Bartsch, “we were all raised hearing tales of campus life and classmates and professors. It amazed us that though they were born 15 miles apart in New York state, they always said that they met in a mud puddle at Swarthmore!” Justo Sanchez, a business owner and real estate investor in Coral Gables, Fla., died peacefully in July surrounded by his children. A quiet man with an easy smile, Justo enjoyed reading, jazz, and traveling with wife Elena. My own news is quite dramatic: I’ve started a new life in a CCRC, which I only recently learned stands for “continuing care retirement community.” I’m pleased to be here but don’t have much to say yet. I’ll keep you posted. 1953 Carol Lange Davis cldavis5@optonline.net Bill Fitts writes, “In the spring Bulletin, Steve Clark ’52 claimed to be at the top of Swarthmore marriages in years at 61. Well, Fran Lemke ’54 and I were married in 1953 and will celebrate 64 years in November—and still going strong!” How many others BULLETIN BOARD Notes and announcements from our staff. FABRIC OF OUR LIVES Do you create clothing of cultural ­significance? Help us weave together a future feature story. BOOK IT! We are happy to receive books by alums to be considered for review. Mail copies to ­Swarthmore College Bulletin, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, PA 19081. All books will later be donated to McCabe Library. WHAT’S YOUR STORY? Have a great idea for a feature or profile? Share it with us! bulletin@swarthmore.edu can make that claim? Bob Fetter took a day trip by train to Swarthmore on May 27 for Alumni Weekend, where he was joined by Roger Youman and Francis Ashton. Bob said that the gardens were beautiful across campus and that he looks forward to next year’s 65th Reunion. “Golf carts are so handy for getting to events, driven by cheerful students.” With an advance phone call, a golf cart can even pick you up near the train station. Stanley Mills became a full-time retiree in July. He has suffered from severe eye problems for many years and is legally blind but had been commuting to work from Long Island to Manhattan several times each week. Tedd Osgood writes that wife Dorothy died April 5. “All three of our children plus two grandchildren, along with cousins and friends, were here for a rousing memorial service in the gathering room of Kendal at Hanover, N.H., April 29.” Dorothy Dodson Haag died April 7 at the Kings­ way Arms Nursing Center in Schenectady, N.Y. She was one of three female Swarthmore math graduates recruited by General Electric, where she worked until her marriage to Fred Haag in 1957. Dorothy enjoyed road trips in the family’s VW camper van. She and Fred often visited family in New Hampshire, Florida, and Texas and drove to folk concerts in Camden, Maine. Dorothy delivered for Meals on Wheels and was an active member of the Friends of the Saratoga Battlefield. A Girl Scout leader for both her daughters, she even persuaded her husband to be a co-leader. Her hobbies included history, genealogy, reading, and knitting sweaters. She was predeceased by her husband and is survived by daughters Catherine and Ellen and two grandsons. John Gray died May 17. He received his doctorate from Stanford in 1957, and his doctoral thesis on contact structures, published in the Annals of Mathe- matics, has been cited nearly 100 times in recent years alone. As a math professor at the University of Illinois, John became director of graduate studies. His research interests centered on category theory, a study of patterns common to many parts of mathematics including algebra, topology, logic, and computer science. John was predeceased by wife Eva, who introduced him to Switzerland, where he spent happy sabbatical years and where daughter Elizabeth died at age 15. John is survived by sons Stephen and Theodore and three grandchildren. Garrett Forsythe died May 21 at Lima Estates retirement community in Media, Pa. Garrett spent most of his career with DuPont as a research and product development engineer and held several patents. During the Korean War, he flew dozens of missions from several aircraft carriers. He was treasurer of the Media Monthly Meeting for many years and is survived by wife Susan, children Garrett and Patricia, and three grandchildren. Carol Holbrook Baldi, who had suffered from Alzheimer’s for several years, died June 18 in a memory-care facility in Litchfield, Conn. Carol started working on Wall Street in the 1950s, when it was almost unheard of for a woman. She rose to portfolio manager and investment analyst, and was vice president of the U.S. Trust. After 20 years, Carol established her own investment company, which she managed until her 2012 retirement. She was predeceased by husband Paul. 1954 Elizabeth Dun Colten lizcolten@aol.com The May AARP Bulletin says, “A record 70 million Americans have grandchildren … with an average of five to six per grandparent.” Do we qualify? How about greats? Eleven grandchildren were expected for Peter and Ann Stoddard Sielman ’57’s 60th anniversary celebration. Two grandchildren weddings for Raymond and Mary Wren Swain: Nicholas Landry’s in the spring and his sister Margaret’s in the fall. Beth Wood Bowers went to California for her second grandson’s high school graduation. Beth, in Virginia, likes all that D.C. offers (except the traffic) and can easily attend grandson Carson’s high school drama productions and lacrosse games. This spring, Dick and I, Liz, visited our Italian grandchildren and traveled by train from Milan to Basel, Switzerland, where we boarded a boat and cruised up the Rhine to Amsterdam. Perhaps the most spectacular part of the trip was the Keukenhof tulip garden display. Ed Wallach’s son, Paul, an accomplished sculptor, has lived in Paris for about 25 years; one of his sons is entering his third year of college in Boulder, Colo. Ed’s daughter, Julie, and her family moved back near Philly; her children graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art and the University of Miami. Congrats to Victor Navasky, winner of the I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 49 class notes “in recognition of a career dedicated to integrity and for his work speaking truth to power beyond the confines of mainstream media.” Roger Freeman received his 45-year service pin as the longest-serving physician (actually 47 years!) at B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, where he researches tic and stereotypic movement disorders. While reading The Undoing Project, about how people make illogical and inconsistent decisions, Peter Sielman came across the late Leonard “Doc” Rorer’s name as a contributor. Pete highly recommends the book Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow by psychologist Daniel Kahneman. He also suggests From Bacteria to Bach and Back by philosopher Daniel Dennett. Lynn Barrera Matzen has a new address: The Trails at Orono, 875 Wayzata Blvd. W., Unit 235, Orono, MN 55391. astronomy, planetary geology, and environmental studies, guest preaching on weekends. In 1979–80, they took a year off teaching, sold their house, and lived in a 26-foot catamaran in the British Virgin Islands. “Our three sons—Dan, Jim, and Josh (then ages 14, 11, and 5)— were with us,” Dick writes. “I worked as a mate on a ferry boat to put beans and rice on our table. We survived hurricanes David and Frederic and had many other adventures.” Dick retired in 2002. In 2012, he and Nancy celebrated their 50th anniversary on a four-week cruise, taking in a total solar eclipse in the Coral Sea. On the anniversary day, they were crossing the Tasman Sea from Tasmania to New Zealand, which they circumnavigated on their way to visit Bill Shepard in Christchurch. Six months 1955 after returning, they moved to Brookfield, Wis., to be near three grandchildren. Dick has continued his research, writing the e-book Discover Our Solar System Beyond Neptune’s Orbit, aimed at general readers. He has almost finished a second book, An Introduction to Trans-Neptunian Space, meant for advanced planetary astronomers and researchers. After graduation, Felix Carrady was forced to leave the U.S. because his family had lived in Shanghai, a part of Communist China. Ironically, they had lived there from 1940 to 1948, before Mao, and had spent three years in a Japanese prison camp because of their British passports. When he was visiting his parents in Hong Kong, a family friend suggested Felix join him in his artificial-flower business and run the manufacturing and export operation. Artificial flowers developed into the second-largest export industry in Hong Kong, with Felix’s company exporting more than $3 million worth in one year. They extended to manufacturing in Macau, Taiwan, and China. Returning to Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution to start a business there, he was intimidated by “young kids thrusting Mao’s red book in my face.” In Taiwan, most contacts spoke Mandarin, while Felix spoke Cantonese. Remembering that—as Formosa—Taiwan had been a Japanese-controlled territory, he spoke to contacts in Japanese and translated into English for his American partner. “Mainly because my experience in prison camp in Shanghai had taught me how important freedom was, and CAPTION THIS 50 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 1956 Caro Luhrs celuhrs@verizon.net Sally Schneckenburger Rumbaugh srumbaugh@san.rr.com Our classmates have led interesting lives. After Swarthmore, Richard “Dick” Hodgson headed to Union Theological Seminary. He was a pastor first in Massachusetts, then in New Jersey, then Vermont. Always fascinated by astronomy, he taught it part time at the University of Vermont. That led to a move to Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, where wife Nancy began the computer science department and he taught because I believed life surely was about more than making a living,” Felix retired at 40 and moved to Melbourne, Australia, where his parents were living; until then, Felix and his father had always been in different countries. He had 10 good years with his father before his death. Felix stayed in Melbourne, got divorced, and brought up his son and daughter. He has been involved in running adult-education courses and a Jungian dream group, writing, playing piano, cruising the world with wife Zieta, and doing “as best I can to enjoy this precious life.” I am sorry to report Lee “Babe” Hallberg died two days short of his 84th birthday. Condolences to his family. YOUR CAPTION HERE! Be creative! Submit a caption by Dec. 16 to cartoon@swarthmore.edu. To see last issue’s cartoon with suggested captions, go to Page 70. I regret my only note is sad: Patricia Hardy Jacques died April 24. After graduation, Pat worked for ad agencies in NYC and became an account executive for McNeil Laboratories and Roche Labs. Pat met husband Raoul “Bud” Jacques while skiing at Windham Mountain, N.Y. When they married, she became stepmother to Ann, Peter, and Timothy. Pat and Bud traveled extensively, visiting 12 countries. She loved our national parks, especially Yosemite, which she thought of as paradise. Pat was a loving person and a caring community volunteer. Our thoughts and sympathy are with her family and friends. 1957 Minna Newman Nathanson jm@nathansons.net Missed seeing ’57 Class Notes in the last issue? Prevent another gap by sharing your happenings. I’m still reliving the rich discussions/connections from our 60th Reunion. Among the classmates enjoying the beautiful days on campus were Barbara Fassett Beane, Carol Dubivsky Becker, Ron Bodkin, Sheila Brody, Dori Winter Dailey, Deborah Smith Dempsey, Phyllis Klock Dominick, Ruth Ellenbogen Flaxman, James Gibson, Neil Grabois, Sam Hayes, Frank James, Jane Lattes-Swislocki, Steve Lloyd, Anoush Miridjanian, Jon ­Peterson, Michael Schoeman, Terry Armstrong Thompson, Carol Edelstein Weichert, Eleanor “Polly” Witte Wright, Lily Ann Frank Youman, and Marty Porter Shane. At the Alumni Collection following the Parade of Classes, class agent Steve Lloyd again received the Joseph B. Shane Alumni Service Award. (He was first honored at our 50th Reunion.) Thanks to his gentle persuasion, 87 percent of classmates contributed to the College fund. Besides the ­usual College­-arranged events, our class met for a free-wheeling, amazingly wide-ranging discussion that included reminiscences of our time on campus and its contemporary relevance (or not); the future of face-to-face instruction, online lectures, or even “time-off” ­semesters for middle-agers, given the thrust for postsecondary education/vocational training for a larger population; the future value to society of a liberal arts education and the role its graduates play as leaders; the crucial impact on the College’s endowment of rising costs and financial aid for an increasingly economically diverse student body; and the proper range of a “therapeutic” campus culture between the amount of support provided during our time on campus and now. Alumni Weekend ended at a class brunch given by Vice President of Advancement Karl Clauss. 1958 Vera Lundy Jones 549 East Ave. Bay Head, NJ 08742 verajonesbayhead@ comcast.net Janet Smith Warfield was named the Top Female Motivational Speaker for 2017 by the International Association of Top Professionals. On April 22, Janet was one of five facilitators in an Expanding Consciousness Collective Earth Day Webinar, followed by a seven-week webinar service in New Zealand and Australia. She spoke in Dunedin, New Zealand, and her group spent three days living among the oldest indigenous tribe there, the Waitaha Nation. The group also toured Australia and swam at the Great Barrier Reef. I keep in touch with Tex Wyndham. He’s a great let- Share your pics—on campus and off—on Instagram: @swarthmorebulletin, #swatbulletin ter writer, and it’s always nice to hear from him. Next June is our 60th Reunion! I hope many of you plan to visit Swarthmore to celebrate this milestone. 1960 Jeanette Strasser Pfaff jfalk2@mac.com Some time ago, a classmate suggested that we share some favorite memories of our freshman year, adding, “I’m at the stage where looking backward can be more fun than looking ahead.” Here we go! Linda Habas Mantel: “One of my most persistent memories is having Pecan Sandies and Constant Comment tea with Kay Senegas Gottesman down the hall in the evenings. These were our standby snacks. I also remember listening to records on my portable phonograph— and, after observing all the other girls in my French theater class knitting argyle socks for their boyfriends, finally being taught to knit (left-handed) by one of the older girls on the floor. I started a sleeveless sweater, did the back, half the front, and that was it—no more knitting for me, ever.” Kay recalls: “First semester freshman year, I was devastated when I didn’t get the grades I had in high school. No smart person, I thought, gets only B’s and C’s! I remember going to see Dean Cobbs because I was sure I should drop out. She reminded me that since everyone had been near the top of his or her high school class, not everyone could get A’s all the time. Happily, I stayed, got some A’s, and met wonderful people.” Meg Dickie Linden recalls trudging through Crum Woods on cold evenings to get to a lecture at Pendle Hill Quaker Center and trudging back later when it was even colder. Susan Washburn remembers sowing some wild oats. “One somewhat unsavory memory featured a bottle of gin and an impromptu pajama party on the porch roof of Pittinger. Somehow, I ended up chugging an extremely large quantity of said gin, and after a miserable night of violent vomiting, I was taken to the infirmary. The only reason I didn’t get expelled was that the powers that be concluded that I’d been sufficiently punished by demon gin itself. They were right: I didn’t touch gin in any form for nearly 20 years. And I never, ever got drunk again.” Will Fairley: “I remember meeting Sara Bolyard Chase on the front porch of Parrish when I first arrived. We quickly discovered we were both from Virginia—the original Virginia stretching a thousand miles to the west, including West Virginia. And we were the only ones (she from Morgantown, W.Va., and I from Charlottesville, Va.). It was comforting to have that in common. A lifelong friendship began.” Sue Willis Ruff: “I remember working in the dining room, bringing pots of coffee to tables where someone held up a cup— and listening, in awe, to the profound things upperclassmen were talking about. I remember hearing, ‘There are only three things I won’t let my children read.’ I held my breath. ‘Time, Life, and the Reader’s Digest.’” I, Jeanette, turned 18 in September, not long after we arrived as freshmen. I woke up on my birthday morning, opened one eye, and saw a small table right next to my bed with a card and some little presents. I was thrilled! And obviously, still remember this kindness. Despite my prodding, Gilbert Harman couldn’t put this into anecdotal form, but he gratefully remembers the teaching of Monroe Beardsley. “He always encouraged me in whatever I was thinking about.” This paved the way for Gil to move from engineering, his intended major, to physics, then math, and, finally, to philosophy, his lifelong pursuit. John Goodman: “Shortly after I arrived, one senior living in Mary Lyon told me very solemnly that some days I would find it so hot and humid that ‘it just isn’t worth getting up out of the bathtub all day.’ I found that both amusing and unbelievable. However, much later on, I did order up a block of ice to have delivered to my bathtub to help cool off my room. It worked, somewhat, for a couple of days.” Some news: Carolyn Panzer Sobel “just moved from my isolated, big, beautiful house to Kendal at Hanover, N.H., and I am exhausted, as you can imagine. But it’s a wonderful place and I’m happy to be here.” The Kendal retirement communities are founded on Quaker principles, so Carolyn’s Swarthmore background strikes a chord with fellow residents. Paul Frishkoff’s new book, Dr. Chuckle’s Twoa-Day Perpetual Calendar, comprises 732 original puns—two per actual “named” day (e.g. National Haiku Day, International FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 51 class notes Family Day, etc.). Will Fairley was elected a fellow of the American Statistical Association. He co-founded the company Analysis & Inference Inc. in 1979 to provide consulting for business and government. Will has published more than 40 peer-reviewed papers and has made significant contributions to the use of statistics and probability in legal evidence. Ted Hayes received a political science Ph.D. from Berkeley in 1968 and has been an adjunct professor for many years. At one time he owned a consultant company, and then he was a journalist in Elkton, Va., where he lives. Ted has written and recorded CDs of pop and British patriotic songs and would happily send copies to classmates. Call him at 540-705-4747. 1961 Patricia Myers Westine pat@westinefamily.com I thank Jane Alexander Stewart, who answered my request for news with an update from the Provincetown Film Festival in Massachusetts, where son P. David Ebersole and his husband, Todd Hughes, had a screening of their documentary Mansfield 66/67. One of the Ph.D.s interviewed about Jayne Mansfield, Jane talked about the actress as an Aphrodite figure. Jane is retired from her clinical psychology practice but continues her interest in myth in film with video essays on Vimeo. She is particularly interested in the “mystic return of 52 Swarthmore College Bulletin / the heroic feminine and emerging elder hero in film and society.” For the past decade, she’s been traveling, writing, and supporting causes she believes in; she also got married and now lives in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. Jane and her husband are “winding down” their two big trips a year to far-flung spots like Antarctica, Bhutan, India, and Africa; London to Marrakesh and Spain; Geneva to St. Petersburg by car, train, and plane; Costa Rica, Panama, and— most recently—­Japan, and spending more time driving the U.S. She was planning a trip up the coast of New England to Nova Scotia after her time in Province­ town. The Bulletin will be expanding its “In Memoriam” section, so class secretaries have been asked to include classmates’ memories, reunion yearbook information, etc., in their columns. Please share any memories you have when you read of a classmate’s passing. Helen Howard Harmon was at Swarthmore a short time and graduated from Syracuse with a business degree. She worked in NYC for Citibank before moving to California, where she was a computer programmer for a subsidiary of IBM until she became an active volunteer, homemaker, and mother. She and husband Gary traveled to Egypt, Persepolis, Kenya, the Galapagos, and Easter Island. Gary predeceased her, and she is survived by a daughter and granddaughter. I remember Helen as an extremely pretty girl who played hockey and stayed in touch, contributing to our 50th Reunion yearbook. Peter Aizupitis died in May; I saw him briefly at our 55th Reunion last FALL 2017 year. He was very proud that daughter Klara ’14 had graduated from the College. Peter was forced to leave his native Latvia at age 4 and spent some time in a displaced-persons camp in Germany after his father appropriated a steam-powered truck to transport his family to the American Zone in Nuremberg. In 1952, his family came to the U.S., and Peter called Swarthmore “the best years of his life.” He spent his career reporting on current events in Latvian for Voice of America, and I can remember watching him covering the Olympics on TV. He was a lifelong soccer player and coached his daughter’s teams. He was my husband Peter Westine ’62’s “big brother” in Tau Alpha Omicron, and when Peter A. moved south of Pittsburgh, the two of them stayed in touch for several years. He is survived by wife Rebecca and daughter Klara. I extend the class’s sympathy to the Aizupitis and Harmon families. 1962 Evelyn Edson 268 Springtree Lane Scottsville, VA 24590 eedson@pvcc.edu Well, it wasn’t the 50th Reunion. It was the Class of ’67’s turn to be wined and dined, and we felt like hasbeens. Not many showed up, but that meant we could talk at greater length with those who did. A sobering list of deaths in our class made us realize that our time to gather is limited. Cynthia Norris Graae said she had thought about not coming—she was mourning the death of a friend—but in the end was glad she did. Val VanIsler brought a book of photos from our 50th, which we all enjoyed p ­ erusing. Some will be posted on our class website. We were disappointed not to have our traditional music program, but Susan Goodman Jolles, a stalwart of previous events, was called away by a “harp emergency”! The weather was beautiful after a week of rain, and the campus looked lovely, though to our eyes somewhat overbuilt. Bonnie Holden Carter lamented the disappearance of the magnolias (now replaced by a dorm) where Walter proposed to her and she joyfully accepted. We noted new, smaller magnolias coming on. A high point for us was the awarding of the Eugene M. Lang Impact Award to Kathleen Malley-Morrison. Kathie is affiliated with Boston University’s psychology department. Her work began by studying abuse in families and has since extended to the study of violence, its causes, and how peace can be achieved. She organized the Group on International Perspectives on Governmental Aggression and Peace and runs a blog, engagingpeace.com. She recently published State Violence and the Right to Peace, a compilation of essays by peace scholars writing about conflicts in 43 countries. Most of us are retired but still keeping a hand in. Jon Rosner maintains lab space in the University of Chicago physics department and has several research projects going. Dave Edwards retired from UT–Austin but has 2,700 library books checked out to aid in his current book on de-reifying the social structure. My new book, on a 15th-century travel book of the Aegean islands, came out in August. Marsha Swiss has not retired: “Why should I spend time volunteering to do things that I would do badly when I can continue to do what I do well?” Words to live by. Sandy and Izzie Phillips Williams ’63 (pg. 5) were organizing a gathering in Martha’s Vineyard for July; they planned to sail there in their boat. They filled me in on Barbara Yoder Porter. She lives in Durham, N.C., and advises scientists on successful grantwriting. Peggy Kaetzel W ­ heeler, who regales me with her exciting adventures, is traveling with her grandchildren. Her book group makes excursions to places related to what they are reading in their New England Seminar. This year’s trips have been to the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge; the home of Sarah Orne Jewett in South Berwick, Maine; and the Ogunquit (Maine) Museum of American Art. Several deceased classmates had not previously been covered. Christian Otto, who taught history of architecture and urbanism at Cornell, died of pancreatic cancer March 27, 2013. His main research area was 18th-century Central European architecture, but he also loved New York, as a scholar and as a walker. He worked with his graduate students as long as he could. He leaves wife Roberta Moudry and four children. Robert Kaplan died in January 2015 from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He spent his career as a government community development representative. After retirement, he cultivated his love for music, especially the Share your pics—on campus and off—on Instagram: @swarthmorebulletin, #swatbulletin Philadelphia Orchestra, for which he was a volunteer archivist. Peter Walch died May 3, 2014. After teaching art history at Pomona, Vassar, Yale and the University of New Mexico, he retired in 2001 to his native Maine, where he took over the family business, Walch Publishing (now Walch Education). He lived in Portland and on Little Diamond Island, where he was regarded as the unofficial mayor. He is survived by his wife, two children, two stepchildren, and four grandchildren. Thomas Evans died June 23 in Grinnell, Iowa. After graduation, Tom entered a management-trainee program at Strawbridge & Clothier, but he soon found his true vocation: the ministry. He studied at Chicago Theological Seminary, then served in Congregational churches. He is survived by wife Rey, three daughters, and three grandsons. We missed you at reunion! To see our jolly group of classmates, go to bit.ly/Alumni­Photo. That’s me behind Dave Edwards’s arm. 1963 Diana Judd Stevens djsteven1@verizon.net As many of you know, Robert “Bob” Tinker died June 21. On behalf of the class, I sent a note to wife Barbara Perkins Tinker and the couple’s two sons and their families. Robert worked tirelessly to improve science education in K–12 schools. In 1986, Monica Pannwitt Bradsher and Robert began National Geographic Kids Network, which reached more than a million children worldwide. Monica noted that Robert had the best track record of anyone writing National Science Foundation education grant proposals and that his impact on science education was great, though hardly known except by science teachers. Cay Hall Roberts’s femur has broken three times. She is into serious physical therapy but hopes to attend our 55th Reunion. Also looking forward to our 55th is Polly Glennan Watts, who fractured her femur in May. This prevented attendance at her granddaughter’s Amherst graduation and visiting Paul ’65 and me. Polly is healing on schedule. Speaking of ’63 reunions, because of a connection made at one, Dorothy Earley Weitzman and Steve Livernash continue to attend the biennial Boston Early Music Festival. Bob and Rosemary Werner Putnam ’62 look forward to grandson Gabriel Perez-­ Putnam ’18 graduating next June as well as to our 55th. The Putnams have spent most of 2017 in their Jaffrey, N.H., home, where Bob is writing his “last, last” book. In April, when Bob spoke in Alabama, they discovered Drew Reynolds ’74 and wife Lynne sharing their breakfast table. Writing from a three-week home exchange in Basque Country, northern Spain, where she and Carl explored the Bay of Biscay, La Rioja wine country, and Galicia, Holly Humphrey Taylor said she won’t be able to attend our 55th. Her daughter’s colon cancer surgery and chemo (doing well now) is a reminder we rarely know what is coming. Atala Perry Toy had a retrospective exhibit of 30 of her Nature Spirits photographs in St. Charles, Ill. Author, artist, and artisan, Atala focuses on advancing the cooperative interrelationship of humans and nature. In “Be Well Philly 2016,” Bill Lipshutz was listed as a top doctor in gastroenterology. At Alumni Day in May, Barbara Seymour connected with Mary Williams Clark and husband Jerry King, and Sandy ’62 and Izzie Phillips Williams. Dave ’62 and Suzi Merrill Maybee expect to make more trips to campus now that granddaughter Alyssa ’21, daughter of Lenny ’92 and Lynne Maybee Nathan ’91, is a Swarthmore student. Earlier this year, Bruce Leimsidor returned from a six-week guest professorship and lecture tour in Ukraine and Russia. Before his lecture at a university in Chechnya, Bruce had reason to doubt the viral Western media reports about a local gay pogrom. His doubts were confirmed when he visited the alleged site, which turned out to be an abandoned office building. While Chechen society is strongly homophobic and serious harassment or beatings of gay men are frequent, Bruce found no evidence of a concerted, large-scale persecution. He has done quite a bit of work on gay rights in Russia. In Ukraine, Bruce’s colleagues at the Odessa law university were much more reticent to criticize the Poroshenko government than they were last year. In May/June, Jane Jonas Srivastava traveled to Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan with Elder Treks. Jane left for a dance camp in Idaho soon after her trip to “the -stans,” so more on her trip in the next issue, in- cluding the story of the 96 needles she took as gifts for the women she met. I talked with Jim Patton in Southwest Harbor, Maine, to get advice about planning a family visit to Acadia National Park. I got not only advice but also the news that Jim still works hard, enjoys life, restores boats, gives expert testimony, and saw Ed Ganz ’64, who also lives on Mount Desert Island. Ed was recently back from consulting at a medical school in Portugal. Shortly before Paul ’65 and I left for summer in Maine, I had a most enjoyable luncheon at Barbara Seymour’s with Martha Baird Ralphe, Carol Finneburgh Lorber, Ricky Strong Batt, and Claire Thurman. Nancy Hall Colburn Farrell emailed me that she and Jack moved to Boulder, Colo., in May—a good reminder to let me know your news, including your moves. 1964 Diana Bailey Harris harris.diana@gmail.com swarthmore64.com Michael Gross reports: “Our classmate and my close friend Arnold Griffith died in April of bladder cancer. He’d planned one last trip east, but the end was too fast and my quick trip to LA to say goodbye turned into a sentimental visit with his wife, Pat. Arnold and I met at orientation; fascinated by our opposite backgrounds, we spent the next 57 years enjoying the contrasts. He once even braved a camping safari in Kenya with me. “On a less-sad note, Rickie [Snyder Gross] and I are making the best of her passage through the early stage of Alzheimer’s dementia. Life is still very good for us both, but complicated and a lot of work. I’m quite sure she’ll exude her usual cheerful charm at our next reunion.” Peter Setlow was “back at Swat May 6 to celebrate 100 years of Swarthmore soccer. Knew it would be a great evening when the first person I recognized was teammate Dave Rowley ’65, who yelled, ‘Sets!’ Dined with Dave, John Wehmiller ’66, Mickey Herbert ’67, and Bill Morehouse ’62. We all look so old now, but so young in pictures all around the room. A great evening— only good memories.” Amy Stone, one of the founding mothers of Lilith, the Jewish feminist magazine, was on hand for the inauguration of Lilith’s archives at Brandeis University, alma mater of editor-in-chief Susan Weidman Schneider. Amy’s 40 years of Lilith writing will be stored for scholars and those who’ve misplaced their back issues. North of the border, Phil Morehead “has branched out from his previous life of opera and contemporary music to playing piano in a swing band and in musical comedy shows.” In August, he was to conduct for the Highlands Opera Studio in Haliburton, Ontario, a training program for young professional opera singers. His activities “have been somewhat hampered by the dislocation of his left shoulder in March and hip problems in June. He hobbles from gig to gig.” Peter Freedman has “come to define aging as waking up in the morning and something you did not know existed hurts. FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 53 class notes But our hurts are small, and Lynda and I are doing well: getting ready for our annual summer East Coast trip to visit family and friends and sample East Coast culture. “After umpteen years, I am retiring from running my Go and Chess in the Schools program. Looking forward to more time for cultural activities—or maybe some kind of return to political activism.” Annie and Mike Meeropol “continue involvement in ‘the resistance’” through his biweekly radio commentaries, “and it seems each period brings new reasons to attempt to refute with actual facts and figures the atrocities to truth committed daily by our ‘fascist in chief,’ Donald Trump.” Mike has attempted to argue that wishing for Trump’s impeachment “is the wrong struggle—a President Pence would be more successful, therefore worse!” Bob and Catherine Young Kapp ’66 “are cranking along” with some travel— to Quebec and Montreal last September, Portugal and Spain this May. “Senior adviser to the China Program at The Carter Center (where he doesn’t fulminate), he’s translated three books from Chinese to English for a U.K. publisher. He’ll spend a few weeks at a university way up the Yangtze, teaching U.S.–China relations, toward the end of the year.” Gerald Blum “hosted our third annual ‘An English Trifle’ dance weekend over Memorial Day in eastern West Virginia, while also hosting at home in Maryland an eight-week series of Tuesday-evening classes teaching how to call contra, square, English country, and family/wedding dances, and going to a ‘Dare to be Square’ 54 Swarthmore College Bulletin / weekend in Virginia in June. We’ll be singing with the University of Maryland summer chorus in July.” In May, John Oliver Simon joined fellow translators in celebrating the centenary of the great Chilean poet Gonzalo Rojas with an encuentro (gathering) in Madrid. “We formed a truly amazing collegiality, each of us immersed in the same poet across our palette of languages and communicating in our common, fluent (if accented) second language, Spanish. Probably our best workshops happened offline, conversing as we walked the ancient streets or argued the significance of a line over a beer in some taberna.” And it’s always fun to hear from someone new: Jim Schembs writes: “I’ve been thinking of doing this for 5–10 years. You probably don’t remember me. I played football and lacrosse, was in engineering and a Delta Upsiloner. I transferred to Stanford for my junior year.” 1965 Kiki Skagen Munshi kiki@skagenranch.com smore65.com The last Class Notes began with Kay and Warren “Tuck” Forsythe’s visit here in California. Tuck died not long after he and Kay returned home to Washington state. Those who receive the Unexpurgated Class Notes have seen responses from many of you. Tuck leaves a void—in our hearts and our class, of course—but he was also the administrator of the class website FALL 2017 and had paid to extend the site’s life until 2022. A fitting tribute would be to keep up the website—and we need someone to do it. Bernie Banet ’64 and a friend of Tuck’s are looking after it and will help whomever takes it over. It is not a lot of work. If you can do this, please contact me. Speaking of technology, I am struggling with the move to a new computer. Somehow, many of my addresses were lost. If you normally receive my emails and haven’t lately, please write so I can put you back on the list. If you would like to start knowing what is happening beyond the 800-or-fewer-word Class Notes in the Bulletin, please also write. Dana Carroll had an eventful spring. “In a period of three weeks, I was operated on for prostate cancer, moved to a new house, and was elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. There was so much happening, I hardly had time to enjoy the good stuff. “I was very sad to learn of Tuck Forsythe’s death. He and I played soccer together at Swarthmore, and our parents—both matchbox couples—were friends. For a number of years, he and Kay were stationed in the southern Utah desert, not far from where we now have a place.” Grant Miller has officially retired. “After 20 years working for the president’s science adviser, overseeing federal agency research and development programs on internet technology, protocols, and infrastructure, I am passing the baton. I was privileged to oversee the deployment of several new generations of internet technology that we use today, and we are deploying software-­defined networking that we will be using a few years from now. It is amazing how relaxed I instantly have become and how much my blood pressure declined. “My husband has agreement from his work (federal administrative judge) for him to telecommute full time, so we will be staying primarily in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Interestingly, several good friends are now buying homes in our community, as well. Come visit us if you can.” Steve Saslow wrote from Portland, Ore., after a long silence. “Will Bloch and I maintained good contact over these years. He forwarded me the news and [Tuck’s] obituary.” Around sophomore year, Tuck flew to Oregon to join Steve and a group in attacking Mount Hood. It was a hard winter climb, but “we got lucky! Beautiful and calm conditions, well-settled snow during a lull between storms, under a full moon that made it an unforgettable purple-silver-white night scene—our own lights hardly needed—­ with the mountain towering during the midnight-to-sunrise part of our ascent. We nearly danced up that thing.” “We have deep concerns about the leadership at EPA and its continued obfuscation of scientific evidence and the research enterprise.” That was Peter Meyer on CNN after he and another adviser resigned over the non­ renewal of contracts for nine EPA scientists. Go, Peter. In a similar vein, Jerry and Robin Hannay Nelson ’67 went to the April 29 Climate March in D.C. Earl Tarble says: “Had my right knee replaced in November and the left shoulder replaced at the end of April. I’m hoping that is the end of replacement parts. With the surgery recovery and physical therapy, we’ve put traveling on hold until the end of August.” They were to take a steamship from Memphis to St. Louis, with plans in September for an Atlantic trip from Lisbon to the Azores and back. Once again, we need someone to take over the class website. Whether you can or not, send me news! 1966 Jill Robinson Grubb jillgrubb44@gmail.com swarthmore66.com Our classmates continue to care for the world, involved in politics and personal connections. Carl Abbott and Tom Webb hosted a session at Alumni Weekend about Swarthmore’s Civil Rights Activism History Project. Frank Cochran reread family letters as background for two extensive oral history interviews, for the Dorchester County Historical Society in Cambridge, Mass., and for Swarthmore. Daniel Pope, like Frank, enjoyed being a garrulous oldster when he was interviewed about his experiences in the civil rights movement in Cambridge, Mass., Chester, Pa., Maryland, and on campus (bit.ly/SwatCivilRights). Tom Webb still meets with Alvin Stallman, 88, a longtime friend with whom he formed a support group of seven men in 1991 when his first wife was dying of cancer. Share your pics—on campus and off—on Instagram: @swarthmorebulletin, #swatbulletin Taking his passion to have Swarthmore divest of fossil fuels to the ’67 reunion, Tony Loeb joined Menno van Wyk ’67, Charles Bailey ’67, and Spencer Putnam ’67 at a discussion session. Although President Valerie Smith did not respond to Tony’s petition, he hopes for a further report from this year’s discussion. Ross Ogden works on four projects for the American Red Cross Biomedical Services unit. Each involves a way to engage thousands of volunteers monthly in saving lives by collecting and distributing blood and its components. Much improved from the ill health that kept him from our 50th Reunion, Gareth Jenkins has enlisted in a New Mexico organization that assists young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. He’ll work as a financial coach, providing advice and encouragement. Gareth’s reading list includes Jim Al-Khalili’s Aliens, about extraterrestrial life (not national politics); Richard Bookstaber’s The End of Theory, a fine critique of mainstream economic theory; Omar El Akkad’s American War, a dystopian novel about a collapsing ecological future; and G.W. Bowersock’s The Crucible of Islam, on the religion’s origins. Many are traveling. Dave and Jody Pullen ­Williams­ are taking the alumni trip to China and Tibet. Frank and Pat Lykens Hankins traveled to Nepal and Bhutan, then took their catamaran to the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas for two months of exploring. During “Zen” time sailing, Pat read the Three-Body Problem trilogy, a set of sci-fi novels by Cixin Liu. She wished she had Sandy Moore Faber along to explain some of the concepts Sandy had touched on during her amazing lecture at our 50th. With a friend from Ireland, Helen Heusner Lojek explored Idaho: beautiful Payette Lake, spectacular ­Shoshone Falls, unbelievable Bruneau Sand Dunes, and soothing hot springs. Some are moving closer to family. Jim ’65 and Jean Lyon Preer moved to Brookline, Mass., from Indianapolis, where she was on Indiana University’s library and information science faculty for 33 years. Now they’re near daughter Genevieve, a Boston Medical Center pediatrician; son Stephen, a software engineer in Northampton; and four grandchildren. While in Indianapolis, Jean and Jim campaigned for public transportation, LGBTQ rights, and Democratic candidates, but they are happy to be back on the East Coast, reconnecting with Swarthmore friends. Janet Nordgren Stavnezer and partner John Walsh moved to Alameda, Calif., to be near her daughter and grandkids. Janet and John are traveling for fun. After an Amtrak ride to and from Denver through the Rockies and a stay at a Montana dude ranch with her daughter’s family, they’ll spend a month in a cabin on Lake Superior’s north shore and head to Baja in November, Maui for Christmas, and Tanzania in February. Although Steve Penrose downsized dramatically, he was asked to be the Dallas Opera’s treasurer. He is also the Dallas Zoo’s treasurer and volunteers with Dallas Court Appointed Special IN MEMORIAM 1941 Isabel Durkee Warner July 4, 2017 1942 Elizabeth Letts Metcalf June 23, 2017 1943 Theresa Votaw Harman May 22, 2017 1944 Eugene Lindstrom July 14, 2017 Katherine Flint Shadek Dec. 22, 2016 1945 Alumni death notices received by the College from May 21 to Aug. 19, 2017. View expanded memorials at bulletin.swarthmore.edu. 1952 1963 Sandra Detwiler Sept. 2, 2016 Robert Tinker June 21, 2017 Robert Bailey May 16, 2017 Bennett Hill Jr. June 21, 2017 Justo Sanchez July 1, 2017 Harold Swartout June 26, 2017 1953 Carol Holbrook Baldi June 18, 2017 Elizabeth Bressler Bunting Aug. 3, 2017 Garrett Forsythe Jr. May 21, 2017 Verdenal Hoag Johnson Aug. 9, 2017 John Gray May 17, 2017 1946 Carolyn Martin Miller June 26, 2017 Jane Wells Harder Dec. 29, 2016 1947 Gordon Douglas June 7, 2017 Mary Ellen Yardley July 13, 2017 1949 Barbara Aeschliman Aug. 7, 2015 Katherine Burt Anderson June 17, 2017 1950 Edmund Jones May 24, 2017 Robert Paton Jr. July 2, 2017 Joseph Rutledge Oct. 3, 2016 Margaret Hench Underwood June 26, 2017 1955 Susannah Stone Eldridge July 28, 2017 1964 Arnold Griffith April 25, 2017 1965 Warren Forsythe June 1, 2017 1979 Howard Stern July 31, 2016 1981 Michael Miller April 9, 2017 1997 Eric Mealy July 25, 2017 2020 Bunn Baraparat Aug. 2, 2017 Roger Abrahams June 20, 2017 Robert Fenichel Oct. 11, 2013 1957 Clifford Earle Jr. June 12, 2017 Thomas Maher June 13, 2017 Stephen Pitkin Aug. 7, 2017 1961 Peter Aizupitis May 28, 2017 1962 Thomas Evans June 23, 2017 John Tannehill June 25, 2017 FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 55 class notes Advocates. What were you doing on one day in June? Bob Nussbaum was reading Sarah Ruden’s translation of Augustine’s C ­ onfessions and then heading to a memorial service for a good friend. Wendy Prindle ­Berlind was working on a blueand-white quilt for her granddaughter’s birthday and walking carefully while cortisone worked its magic in a deteriorating hip joint. While Janet Griffin Abbott got a home energy audit, Jack Hooke and his wife played in a nine-hole, two-person golf scramble. Joe Becker was celebrating his 40th anniversary and playing with the preemie granddaughter for whom he left our reunion. Following his weekly kayaking trip with wife Laurie, Bob Gwin was cleaning gypsy moth caterpillar poop off the car. Your daily lives form the magnificent tapestry of our class. Send more. 1967 Donald Marritz dmarritz@gmail.com swarthmore67.com Class Notes this time by Belle Vreeland Hoverman. And why not? She did almost everything else for our reunion, with grace, efficiency, and good humor. “It has been a month since we gathered for our 50th Reunion. We had 118 in attendance: 80 classmates; 31 Swarthmorean spouses from other classes; and seven spouses who graduated elsewhere. The College looks remarkably the same but has changed in many ways: The campus 56 Swarthmore College Bulletin / SPOTLIGHT ON … FRANK COCHRAN ’66 Frank Cochran ’66, inspired by the notion that his current events are now history, dredged up family letters saved by his late mother, Elizabeth Blair Cochran ’35, and reread them as background for oral history projects on his 1960s involvement in Cambridge, Md.’s civil rights struggles. “Our trial in Cambridge led me to change my Swarthmore major to political science,” he says, “and to choose a profession—the law—that would be one of service in the cause of social justice.” + is lusher—Sharples is now hidden by a forest of trees, and there is a large vegetable garden out back that is part of the sustainability effort. Catherine is gone, but there are new greeters. “We started off Fri­ day with two panels that focused on how we connect and what we look forward to. The 50th marked an opportunity to look forward as well as back, so we talked about change and what it meant as many of us retire and contemplate how we will spend the next years— whether five or 25. That panel was led by Heidi Hartmann and Jane Lang. Alexander Nehamas and Tom Laqueur got us thinking about what friendship means. It may be hard to define, but friendships made many years ago carry huge weight. Rob Lewine entertained us Friday evening with three of his LA bandmates. Barbara Stubbs Cochran was the Collection speaker and put in perspective the current political assault on the press. Kaete Honig Shaw and Robin Hannay Nelson exhibited work at the List Gallery. And not to leave off controversy, we had a panel discussion and breakout sessions to make recommendations FALL 2017 CONTINUED: bulletin.swarthmore.edu to the Board of Managers about divestment, only to find that the Board is agnostic when it comes to their investments. A summary of that panel is available at swarthmore67. com, and recordings of our other talks are posted at alumni­weekend. swarthmore.edu. And check out bit.ly/1967Video, a video from Franklin Apfel’s wife, Sabrina Cecconi. “We heard from President Valerie Smith that about 20 percent of current students are the first in their families to attend college; 53 percent of all students receive financial assistance, and the average amount received is $48,720 per year. The Class of ’67 Scholarship is funded at just under $1.5 million thanks to generous donations from many of you. It was obvious to many of us that without financial support, we would not have been able to attend college. (It’s not too late to add to the scholarship.) One of the highlights of the weekend was the memorial service in the Swarthmore Meeting House organized by Marge Post Abbott where we remembered our 39 classmates who have died. “Photos are posted at swarthmore67.com, which will remain active for at least another year. Please continue to communicate with one another. Messages sent from the website include your personal email address so that the recipient can answer you back directly. Update your profile. Write about what you enjoyed most about the weekend. Upload your photos. “Lastly, we have become Garnet Sages, which means Don Marritz now must write updates on us for every issue of the Bulletin, instead of just alternate issues.” 1968 Katie Bode Darlington katedarlington@gmail.com Lynn Etheredge is engaging with our class, the Swarthmore community, and beyond in conversations about the development of a curriculum for “action intellectuals.” His goal is for Swarthmore to educate students “to use their professional expertise, skills, and liberal arts education for contributing to change in their professions, organizations, and communities.” Bob Bartkus co-authored the 2017 New Jersey Arbitration Handbook, providing practical information about initiating, conducting, and enforcing arbitration. Bob also edits New Jersey Federal Civil Procedure and writes the chapter on injunctions. Marc Sonnenfeld received two lifetime awards. The Legal Intelligencer in Philadelphia honored him as “an attorney who has had a distinct impact on the legal profession in the state and who has helped to shape the law in Pennsylvania.” The Eagle Scouts recognized him for his lifetime of service. Nancy Bennett received a master’s in pastoral care and counseling from a joint program with New York Theological Seminary and the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. Peter Fraser became his father’s full-time caregiver two years ago. “The ‘role reversal’ of an adult child caring for a parent has a significant physical and emotional impact. My father [Herbert Fraser ’43] died recently, and adjusting to the change in role and routine is radical and surprisingly raw.” Nanine Meiklejohn, a Council on Aging commissioner in Montgomery County, Md., is working to provide affordable rental housing for seniors. She is also president of a union retiree club. Chris and Chitra Yang King are transplanting from eastern Massachusetts to Ojai, Calif., to be closer to their son and grandkids. “We will be in both places for a while, though probably not at the same time, for those who want to connect. Or we could stop by on our cross-country trip in October.” Wayne Patterson sends Share your pics—on campus and off—on Instagram: @swarthmorebulletin, #swatbulletin greetings from Seoul, where he spent the summer. He specializes in modern Korean history and is a visiting professor/ scholar at Penn. Jane Prichard Gaskell came to San Antonio for the American Educational Research Association conference, the Alamo, and a visit with me while in town. We strolled the River Walk, visited LBJ’s Texas White House, and ate the (alleged) best barbecue in Texas. On her way home from Alumni Weekend, Emily Albrink Hartigan reported: “I found out when scrapple is like C-4: when it goes through the airport scanner. I said to the guy opening my suitcase, ‘I think it’s the scrapple,’ and he started to laugh. Then he said, ‘Yes, it’s the scrapple,’ after a cursory feel of the three frozen pounds of RAPA scrapple.” Sue Knotter Walton’s travels included “going on retreat at a monastery by the Hudson River, attending the Frost Place Conference in Poetry in New Hampshire, being with a friend while she died, and staying connected to my clinical community. It’s a full life.” Also on the road were Frank and Vera Grant Brown ’70. They joined Sam Brackeen to watch four exciting men’s basketball games as Swarthmore won the Centennial Conference and entered the NCAA Division III Tournament. “Tarble Pavilion was rocking,” says Frank. The Browns bike for fitness and logged more than 2,400 miles last year. David Thoenen says world events are putting a crimp on his climbing plans. “A planned outing to Iran was postponed due to ‘not helpful’ policies emanating from the White House, and a fall trip to Afghanistan has been put on hold due to recent gains by the Taliban. Bummer.” So David and wife Maria headed to Peru “and captured the magic of Machu Picchu in approximately 1,000 iPhone snaps.” Trailing the ghosts of 1968, Hal Kwalwasser visited today’s Vietnam. Its rhetoric is communist, but the economy is unabashedly capitalist, Hal says. “It’s fascinating to see how they cope with the contradiction. There are pervasive hammer-and-sickle flags on light poles. Near the Rolls-Royce dealership in downtown Hanoi, billboards urge citizens to fight the imperialists. In Saigon there’s the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange. Also, “museums to the war abound. Interestingly, they are remarkably ­measured—to remind people who won, but without inciting animus against French or American tourists, who bring in so much cash.” Here’s a unique trip you’ll enjoy: our 50th Reunion, May 31–June 3. Contact classmates and invite them to join you. Want to help make the 50th special? Join the Reunion Committee. Email me for details. 1970 Margaret Nordstrom hon.margi@comcast.net Bonnie Shepard is a parttime program evaluation consultant, working from home and dividing her time between Brookline and Wellfleet, Mass. She led the evaluation of the U.N. Population Fund’s India program last year, started work with U.N. Women on the evaluation frameworks for their new strategic plan, and is the internal evaluation consultant for the EMpower Foundation. Barry Yourgrau talked decluttering, hoarding, and emotional attachments with the Los Angeles Times (bit.ly/BarryLAT). Vicky Lundquist Harris writes: “Two years ago, I retired from my third and longest career: 24 years of teaching mostly earth science (plus other sciences and a little math) to mostly junior high students. When I turned 66, I thought my feet and voice could use a break, even though I always enjoyed the subject and the kids. I continue to coach Knowledge Bowl for my former school—a little bit like Jeopardy, College Bowl, or Quiz Bowl, but different because there is significant teamwork. We have won the state high school competition four times in the last 11 years, which amazes me. I enjoy hanging out with the kids and doing whatever it is that a coach does for an academic competition. “My husband continues to farm (although he is cutting back). Our daughters are doing well—one teaches junior high English, and one teaches elementary music. We have four charming grandchildren— the oldest is 4, and they are a crazy and entertaining group. I have no idea if I could have imagined this future in 1970, but I like it now that I am here.” Ben Kuipers and wife Laura Lein ’69 are finishing a sabbatical year, about to return to faculty duties in computer science and social work, respectively, at the University of Michigan. They joined UM from UT–Austin in 2009, when Laura became dean of the School of Social Work, from which she recently stepped down. The year 2016 was pretty rugged; they lost three parents between the two of them: Ben’s father (95), Ben’s mother (91), and Laura’s mother (99). Their lives were lived well, and ended well, but they are missed enormously. Ben works in artificial intelligence and robotics, and has focused on morality, ethics, and trust for robots. They enjoyed a vacation in London, where Ben gave talks on robot ethics at Oxford and Google DeepMind. Art Block spoke at Mort Winston’s March memorial service held by The College of New Jersey. Mort’s wife, Sally, and twin daughters, Maggie and Molly, were there, along with his siblings, Lucy and Steve. (Daughter Carla, a professor in British Columbia, could not make it.) Art attended with wife Elaine and daughter Jackie, a TCNJ senior who applied there at Mort’s suggestion. “It was an impressive, moving, and well-attended tribute,” Art writes. “The speakers who worked with Mort for decades at Amnesty International and other human-rights organizations related the major role he played internally while being a formidable representative of the human-rights community in confronting multinational corporations and repressive governments. A former student told us how Mort changed her life: When she was struggling to complete assignments despite apparent understanding of the material, he invited her to meet with him. He learned how this young woman of color was poor, had no family, and faced innumerable obstacles. He encouraged and mentored her. Now, she is a faculty member in the philosophy department! As the tributes came to a close, it was my turn to remind the assemblage that ‘once upon a time, Mort was a college freshman.’ I shared memories of Mort as my Swarthmore roommate.” (More: bit.ly/MortWinston) 1972 Nan Waksman Schanbacher nanschanbacher@ comcast.net If you missed our 45th Reunion, we missed you. Tom Aldrich died of cancer in fall 2016. Brother Michael ’70 predeceased him, also from cancer. Tom is survived by wife Susan Yelsey Aldrich ’71. Julie Bowen died of cancer Sept. 4, 2014, at Crozer-Keystone Hospice in Ridley Park, Pa. For more information, contact her friend Sally Smith, wife of Steve Smith ’71. Patricia Gillespie died June 8, 2014. Howard Richards of Waukegan, Ill., died Oct. 10, 2014. He is survived by three brothers. Susan Corcoran left her role as intake attorney at the ACLU of Massachusetts to be volunteer and training coordinator for Community Legal Services and Counseling Center. “Small front-line agencies like mine are terribly worried about our clients, who are targets of the new administration’s vitriol, and about our ability to provide legal and mental-health services as laws are abandoned and programs defunded.” Susan spent time with Nancy Noble Holland in LA last fall, had a great trip to Venice FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 57 class notes (thanks to Linda Valleroy’s advice), and is “enjoying visiting Swarthmore and being better informed through serving on the Alumni Council; a bonus is biannual visits with Ruth Ganister.” In September 2016, Denise Dennis and John Benditt ’70 attended the Donors’ Reception and Preview of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture; a week later, Denise and brother Darryl Gore ’79 attended the museum’s opening. Also last September, Debora Bone, husband Robert Lee, and mother Dorothea Darrow Bone ’47 visited Denise and drove to the Dennis Farm (bit.ly/ DennisFarm). In January, Pennsylvania’s secretary of agriculture presented Denise with a plaque in “thanks and recognition of the Dennis Farm, a unique and vital component of the commonwealth’s rich agricultural history” and “for her commitment to safeguarding the land and the stories the farmstead holds today.” (Visit thedennisfarm.org. Tours run May to October. Denise will “show up for friends and alums.”) Laura Denton is an educational diagnostic specialist for the California Department of Education assessing special-­ education students. Laura is also on the board of Partners in Sustainable Learning. “In four years, we have started 38 preschools and trained 78 teachers in rural Nepal. We have developed a comprehensive curriculum and helped provide sustainable materials. We’ve also created several children’s books that have been translated into Nepali. After the earthquake, we supported rebuilding of school sites with earth- 58 Swarthmore College Bulletin / quake-proof architectural plans.” Laura dabbles in fiber arts, mostly knitting and weaving, and has “a large garden that produces almost year-round. I’ve been doing more writing in the last several years— stories, verse and memoir. And then there’s the grandchildren …” In February, The Philadelphia Inquirer featured David Dye: “Audiences have been connecting with Dye over the airwaves in Philadelphia since 1970, when the then-19-yearold Swarthmore College upstart landed his first show at the pioneering album-rock station WMMR-FM (93.3). … For a quarter-century now, public-radio listeners have tuned into Dye on World Cafe, the two-hour daily music-and-interview show that started out on five stations and is now carried by 214 stations around the United States.” Dave stepped down in March as full-time host, but he’ll still do his popular Funky Friday dance party; record one interview segment a week plus a weekly music banter session; and launch Dave’s World, an hourlong show. Dave Keely is enjoying his seven grandchildren and being semiretired from family medicine. He does community-level projects FALL 2017 to reduce chronic disease risk factors. “I have become an ardent advocate for universal health care in our country, leading the South Carolina chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program and having fun speaking to groups across the state.” Editor’s note: Read more about Nan on pg. 10. 1974 Randall Grometstein rgrometstein@verizon.net Marjorie Thompson, widowed in August 2014, packed up her house with the assistance of Swarthmore roommate Debbie Edelman Segil and her husband, Larry, and moved to Nashville. She traveled to Tuscany and Barcelona with friends and continues ministry work through teaching and writing. Last fall, I reported Jean-Marie Clarke was writing novels, but here’s an update: “I have written two volumes of a trilogy I call the Fausten Diaries: Sticks&Stones and feedback—intellectual, existential, experimental. Although still in a raw state, it has been read and liked by some. Interested and curious? Contact me: denkmaler@t-online.de.” In 2016, John Schubert relived his 1977 trans­ continental bicycle tour by driving the same route in an old Mazda Miata from Oregon going east. He mentioned “a very memorable bar in Finley, N.D.” Shalom Saar is still a fulltime professor of leadership practices at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and coaches senior executives around the world. He enjoys Shanghai and now has five grandchildren. Pat Heidtmann Disharoon practices primary care medicine in Baltimore and works with Girl Scouts. She has six grandchildren, ages 8 and under—quite a passel of toddlers. Her father, Donald, died last year at age 89, leaving her the family matriarch. Pete Jaquette and his fellow Narwhals (Dan Gibbon, Tom Sahagian, and Ed Frost ’73) performed at Alumni Weekend in May. In the same month, Pete joined Joyce Arakawa Chan ’75 and their spouses and Punahou School classmates for three days at a villa in Monteriggioni, Tuscany. Katherine Buttolph moved from New Jersey to western Massachusetts to do land-conservation work for Mass Audubon. She is “having a blast living in SPOTLIGHT ON … MARGA JANN ’72 Marga Jann ’72, an architect and visiting research fellow at the University of Cambridge who focuses on urban and cultural sociology and sustainable design, was awarded a Senior Fulbright Fellowship to Haiti, starting this fall. “My best advice,” she says, “comes from an old Quaker adage, ‘Let your life speak,’ and a quote from Winston Churchill, ‘Never, never, never give up.’” + CONTINUED: bulletin.swarthmore.edu the Pioneer Valley, seeing my son and grandsons as often as possible, and finding new craft brews.” Adele Diamond and her husband live in Vancouver, B.C., where they are grandparents-in-residence to baby Hazel, born in November. Warren Grundfest is professor of bioengineering, electrical engineering, and surgery at UCLA, where he was the founding bioengineering chair. “I am still very active in developing new medical technologies for minimally invasive therapies. In 1995, I married Andrea Scott, who transferred to Princeton after a year.” Neil Heskel writes from sleepy Sebastian, Fla., “where Mayberry meets the Keys.” He is involved with a Haitian clinic along with Kevin Browngoehl ’78; has five daughters and four granddaughters; and does triathlons. Patty Gilles Winpenny is heading for Singapore to “be K–12 head of learning support and wellness at ISS International School.” She and her sons (Hawaii, Long Beach, Calif.) reunite annually in Vermont. Lou Heavenrich had successful aortic aneurysm surgery in March. Due to excellent medical care, he participated in an annual hair-shaving fundraiser in his small upstate New York town. Glad to hear you are doing well, Lou! Adele Diamond is home from the hospital, where she was treated for pneumonia and food poisoning. Dave Shechtman “scored four points in the 2017 Swats alumni basketball game, where I was the only representative of my class and one of only three of my millennium. The secret to my success was bribing the refs to get me to the foul line a few times. The court has gotten much longer since we graduated. In May, I caught up with teammate Roger Holstein while in New York visiting our younger daughter. Roger promised to participate in the 2018 game and set some vicious picks on the young folks to free me up for an actual shot from the field.” Way to go, guys! 1976 Fran Brokaw fran.brokaw@gmail.com Liz Loeb McCane still puts most of us to shame with her athletic prowess. In May, she achieved a personal milestone by finishing her first Olympic-­ distance race at the St. Louis Triathlon. “The weather was darn close to perfect, I smiled almost the whole way, and I took third in my age group.” Go, Liz! Karen Schifano sent her art to several curated exhibitions this spring, including “New York Art Live,” an art fair in Osaka, Japan, where she showed 13 paintings and 20 works on paper. She was unable to accompany her artwork, but anyone who visits Japan should check in with Ken Moskowitz, who lives with his wife in Yokohama, where he is an adjunct professor of foreign policy at Temple University Japan. Monica Heller met up with Robin Schott in Copenhagen in March. Though they had not seen each other since graduation, they recognized each other immediately and had a great time catching up. Joan Rogers Leopold still operates her own marketing business and has launched a new venture, Slow Tag Press, Stories for Grandparents and Their Grandchildren. Slow Tag’s first book, Herbert Loves Sherbet (authored by Joanie), is hot off the press and available on Amazon. (More: pg. 12) Bruce Robertson co-­ curated (with Ninotchka Bennahum ’86 and Wendy Perron) an exhibition, “Radical Bodies: Anna Halprin, Simone Forti and Yvonne Rainer in California and New York, 1955–1972,” at the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts and published a book of the same title. Maurice Kerins, in San Antonio, is a real estate broker with an emphasis on older homes as his “gentlemanly” avocation, but is active in so many activities, he feels like “the proverbial chicken.” David Newman writes: “After 34 years of treating families broad and deep, the last 20 in a one- or two-doc private practice, I closed my office in May. My new venture will be teaching family-practice residents in a small town 25 miles away—no more bicycle commuting!” Greg Gebhart published Deere Is Right Here!, a children’s book personalizing John Deere vehicles for his young audience, as he did previously with “Bob” the Bobcat and “CAT” the Caterpillar. He also published Volume II of Chemistry Games, offering board games to make studying chemistry fun; and a memoir, 2 Lives in 3 Acts, describing his journey with bipolar affective disorder. Madelyn Wessel is university counsel for Cornell (bit.ly/MWessel). A frequent lecturer at national conferences, Maddie has been active in the National Association of College and University Attorneys, including a three-year term on the board of directors. Share your pics—on campus and off—on Instagram: @swarthmorebulletin, #swatbulletin While living in Oregon, she received several awards for promoting women and minorities in the legal profession and for her work in civil rights and affirmative action. Andrea Young, who attended law school at Georgetown Law, was chosen as executive director of the ACLU of Georgia. Previously, she was adjunct professor at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (named for her father) at Georgia State University. She was also executive director at the Andrew J. Young Foundation and co-authored Andrew Young and the Making of Modern Atlanta. “My whole career has been based on trying to bring about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream—the beloved community. To bring about an America that fulfills the true meaning of its promise, that all people are created equal. All of my career has been about defending and extending civil and human rights.” I, Fran, attended the Donor/Scholar Dinner on campus in March where I represented our class and met Scott Ma ’19, recipient of the Class of 1976 Scholarship. It was fun talking to him and seeing that, though things have changed, much of the Swarthmore experience is universal. I had the pleasure of a quick trip over Mother’s Day weekend to witness my son Billy’s “hooding” as he received his Ph.D. in history/Southeast Asian studies. My old roommate, Paula Rock Kaplan, and I had two chances to see each other this year— when I vacationed in the D.C. area, and when she and husband Jeff stopped for a visit at my family home in Vermont. We saw each other twice last year, too—now hoping for three years in a row! 1978 Donna Caliendo Devlin dmcdevlin@aol.com Betsy McCord and husband Mark Roelofs retired from DuPont, where she was a Central Research fellow. Betsy loves children and has run a Science Olympiad and a robotics FIRST Tech Challenge team out of her rural Maryland home for years. Her own children share her love of science: Kevin, a microbiology Ph.D. and Harvard Med post-doc, works at Finch startup in Boston; Katherine, a Prince­ton chemical engineering grad with a Stanford material science engineering Ph.D., works in photonics at Intel; Rebecca ’13 is a Berkeley computer science Ph.D. student; and Sean, 2016 world championship winner of FTC robotics (out of 17 countries, 5,000 teams), will major in computer science at Stanford. It was good to hear from Jennifer Myers Warner, who left after sophomore year to “to elope with the boyfriend from Penn,” David Warner. “I transferred on the fly to the University of Chicago, where I finished undergrad and medical school. I did a residency in diagnostic radiology and have had an interesting and varied career, including five years as department chair of a Chicago hospital. I served 16 years on my elementary public school board of education, as president for two terms, concurrent with 15 years on our multidistrict special education cooperative board of ed, also with a term as president. State and national school-board associations have given me distinguished-service awards.” Jennifer adds: “One of my most important touchstones has been staying in touch with dear friend (and Lodge 5-mate) Betsy Jensen. And thanks to our 30th Reunion, my life has been further enriched by rekindling a friendship with another Lodge 5-mate, Ellen Bainer. Having these friends, no matter how far away, makes life better. To top it off, the 35th Reunion listserv got me in touch with Carolyn Cliff, my long-lost Lodge 5 roommate (and birthday-sharer!). Carolyn and her husband planned a Chicago holiday in autumn 2013, so we were able to meet up after all those years. (Now, Julie Kauer ’79, where are you?)” 1980 Martin Fleisher marty@meflaw.com I had a nice email from Barry Schkolnick, who, with wife Caroline, dined in LA with Henry Yaffe ’82 and wife Amit. The two men had not seen each other since Barry’s graduation but reconnected on Facebook and picked up pretty much where they left off. The Swarthmore bond is indeed hard to break! Barry stills writes, creates, and produces dramatic TV series in the U.S. and internationally. Henry designs, manufactures, and sells fiber-optic subsystems and test equipment. Gene Burns says son FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 59 class notes Nicky will enter with the Class of 2021, so all three boys (Danny ’14; Tim ’17) will have gone to Swarthmore, which I’m pretty sure sets a class record. I’ve seen Anne Schuchat a couple of times in NYC. She was enthusiastic about her position as acting director of the CDC, which she filled after the previous director resigned with the change in administration. A new permanent director has been named, so she returned to her old job as principal deputy director. We had a nice dinner with Tom Long and Melanie Wentz near their Albany, Calif., home. Daughter Hannah graduated from California Lutheran University and is moving home to look for a job. Daughter Maisie is a high school junior. Tom, Mel, and Maisie also dined with us in August in Lyon, France, where I was competing in the 2017 World Bridge Championships. My team had qualified to be one of two to represent the U.S. in the open division. (This was my third time competing, with a notable lack of success the first two.) However, our team managed to win the gold medal after a frighteningly close final match against France. And yes, they played “The Star-Spangled Banner” while giving us our medals—it was quite a thrill! Interestingly, one of the participants in the senior division (60 and over, which doesn’t seem too senior anymore) was Jeff Wolfson ’75, whom I met when I was a visiting student in fall 1973. His team also won the gold! Quite a day for Swarthmore bridge. (More: pg. 12) That’s all the news. Please write! 60 Swarthmore College Bulletin / 1982 David Chapman dchapman29@gmail.com I am very happy to report that the Bulletin’s inclusion of David Shaiken in “In Memoriam” was erroneous. The editors are genuinely sorry for any distress this mistake might have caused. I have been in touch with David, and he asked me to pass along the following: “I’ve been enjoying life these many years with wife Martha Sielman and our five children. I practice commercial and bankruptcy litigation as a partner in a small law firm in West Hartford, Conn. I hope friends were not upset by the error.” Our 35th Reunion was a lot of fun. It was the first time I had been back to campus in a number of years, and it was more beautiful than ever. I spent a lot of time with Phil Joson, Mary Cronan, Leisha Shaffer ’83, Scott Jordan, Dana Lyons, Bart Robins, and Rich Fields. Bart, Dana, and Rich performed in the space behind Clothier (and then into the tower for more music-making). I enjoyed reconnecting with Jim DiFalco, Pat Holmes, Larry Ehmer, Tim Hoyt, David Edelman ’83, John Skrocki, and Jon and Susan Danzig Bernhardt ’83. For all those just mentioned, I can think of twice as many people who weren’t able to come or whom I would have loved to see again. We have a fascinating class! My point is not to focus on me (although I admit that it appears that way!). Everyone who was lucky FALL 2017 enough to make it back reconnected with people who were important to us in college and others who have become important to us through social media. I recommend that you join the Class of ’82 group on Facebook. It is an easy (and far timelier) way to stay connected. Please pass along any information you would like to share in Class Notes. 1984 Karen Linnea Searle linnea.searle@gmail.com Condolences to Jenny Broome on the loss of her father, Kenneth, in March. Jenny has been in touch with lots of Swarthmore friends: “This winter and into spring, family and I enjoyed a beautiful cabin in Lake Tahoe thanks to Jon Pitkin ’83. I saw Jennifer Feldman Riebe ’83 when her son came to Oakland to compete in the regional robotics championships. We used it as an excuse to get together with Joy Sue Hutchinson ’83 and Jon Pitkin ’83. Last fall, former Swarthmore ecology professor Jacob Weiner gave a talk at Driscoll’s here in Santa Cruz, Calif. Jake left Swarthmore to teach in Denmark about 20 years ago. He is still the same smart, thoughtful, dedicated ecologist he’s always been. Cynthia Richie Terrell ’86 passed through Santa Cruz with husband Rob several times during last year’s election activity, and we often get together with Santa Cruz residents Rachel O’Malley ’86 and Eva Bertram ’86 and their families.” Charlie Davis moved in January from the Philadelphia suburbs to Boston (actually, Davis Square in Somerville). He still works for Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and looks forward to meeting old friends in the neighborhood. (LinkedIn would be a great way to reconnect.) Ali (Hope) Crolius is continuing her weeding business in western Massachusetts. “I’m happily joining in the Swats commitment to diversity by saying I voted Republican for the first time, pulling the lever for ‘45’ and glad I did so. This from a long-ago sophomore who alternately assailed and guffawed the Reagan presidency along with most of her classmates, who sat in rapt horror as Professor James Kurth defended (with his heartbreaking style of eloquence) much of the Gipper’s policy (before leaving us for the Naval War College, I think), and who now is rethinking the Reagan legacy through a rear-looking lens and finding it is aging better than she is. By voting to ‘MAGA,’ I lost all my Facebook friends, and half my town (Amherst) crosses the street when they see me coming. Would love to connect with Garnet conservatives of any class, wherever that one other lonely individual may be.” Our condolences to Colette Mull and Mike Dreyer on the loss of Colette’s parents within 10 months of each other. Colette has been recovering from a concussion, so it has been a difficult year, but they’re cheered by their recently adopted fun-loving, doting, and cuddly Chihuahua and fox terrier mix, Ollie. “Mike and I are at the same jobs, contemplating retirement. We still run, Mike plays soccer, and I maintain my sanity with yoga. My work niche has evolved to be wellness in physicians, and I have led workshops locally, regionally, and nationally on building resilience in physicians and trainees. Mike is loved by his patients, then their kids, and then their kids. “Our son Alex starts his senior year at Davidson this fall, double-majoring in political science and gender and sexuality studies. He interned this summer in D.C. at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, thanks to a connection made with founder and CEO Heidi Hartmann ’67. He loves it! Last fall, we spent time with Alex in Copenhagen, where he spent his junior fall semester.” Tom Guttmacher writes: “I’m a family physician and assistant professor of family medicine at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, where I received a 2016 Dean’s Excellence in Teaching award. This year our federally funded community health center merged with a community mental-health center and now provides integrated behavioral health care in a primary-care setting. In the coming year, I will pilot a primary-care practice embedded within a mental-health center for patients with severe and persistent mental illness. “Our daughter, Anna, will attend film school in Buenos Aires. Her great-grandmother, Carola Eisenberg, originally from Buenos Aires, will celebrate her 100th birthday in September. Later that month, we will attend the premiere of an opera by Harley Erdman, The Scarlet Professor.” Mary-Margaret Andrews writes from Vermont (and New Hampshire) that after 20 years as a member of Share your pics—on campus and off—on Instagram: @swarthmorebulletin, #swatbulletin SPOTLIGHT ON … DONALD LLOYD-JONES ’86 Donald Lloyd-Jones ’86, a cardiologist and the chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, was named the American Heart Association’s national Physician of the Year. “Swarthmore, more than any other place, really taught me the values of curiosity and of listening to everyone, and appreciating their unique perspectives,” he says. “Being curious and meeting people where they are is so helpful in making sure that people feel better in every sense after they see the doctor.” + Dartmouth’s infectious disease physician faculty, she retired in June. She plans to still teach at the medical school but will focus on establishing a more balanced lifestyle of family and friends, music, books (yes, not ebooks), exercise, and less typing. Best to all of you in your endeavors. Keep sending the news! 1986 Karen Leidy Gerstel kgerstel@msn.com Jessica Russo Perez-Mesa jessicaperezmesa@ yahoo.com Thanks to all who contributed. We love hearing from you. Lucy Collier, who has lived in Albany, Calif., for 14 years, began an intensive study of shamanic healing practices after President Trump was elected. She has also been singing, beekeeping, and walking 1,000 miles of the Camino de Santiago over four years (three weeks of walking per year), starting at Le Puy-en-Velay, France, CONTINUED: bulletin.swarthmore.edu two years ago. She will travel with wife Mil Apostol and friends to Ecuador in January to learn from shamans about healing with plant-spirit medicine and other practices. She has also been a psychotherapist in private practice for 20 years in Oakland, Berkeley, and Albany. Lynelle Morgenthaler started in March as VP product leader at a division of the nonprofit Hispanic Intercommunication and Television Network. “We are making adorable bilingual pre-K kits to sell to parents based on TV characters. It’s a ton of fun, and I get to use my Spanish and English-language-learning background (Swat linguistics major!). It’s my first foray in Austin and in Brooklyn one week a month. It’s been hectic getting this startup team off the ground, but it’s a good kind of busy. Son Aidan heads to Landmark College this fall—it’s a sort of ‘press restart’ on the college experience for him. Daughter Aislinn is a high school junior and doing Johns Hopkins’s Engineering Innovation program this summer.” Janette Lawrence Neufville was promoted to chief of operations and compliance at Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Md. “We also enjoy watching our two kids tackle grad school.” Monica and Norman Wright moved to Minneapolis, corporate HQ for United­Health Group and Optum. Norman leads global operations for Optum and loves the mission. His kids are through college, so they are ready to “let the next chapter begin!” After eight years of fulltime opera singing, David Kravitz has returned to law. He is the assistant state solicitor in Massachusetts’s Office of the Attorney General. He is excited to work for the progressive champion Maura Healey and to don his appellate-litigator hat. He will still sing professionally as his schedule permits. Deirdre Bell, a Navy anesthesiologist, finished a one-year tour at Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay. She now heads to Bremerton Naval Hospital in Washington state. She looks forward to exploring the Pacific Northwest and “will appreciate the cooler weather. GTMO was hot and humid!” Pedro Gregorio loves his job as a quality engineer for Fiat Chrysler Automo- biles. He “gets paid to play with cars, so it’s every toddler’s dream. I’m in love with an amazing woman whom I met while driving to the 30th Reunion. Don’t you love karma? Life is good.” Congrats, Pedro. Karen Schultz Paige made a huge career change two years ago. She is still at Los Alamos National Laboratory, but after 20 years managing data in the environmental cleanup program, she is now program manager for the W88, a submarine-­launched ballistic missile. “I still live in a rural area just outside Santa Fe, N.M., and have been married for 25 years with one son in college and a daughter considering Swarthmore.” Jeff and Karen Leidy Gerstel celebrated son Dylan ’17’s graduation and their daughter’s first year at the University of Kentucky. They “finally” sold their suburban New Jersey home, moved back to Manhattan, and got new jobs. Karen says they are “all unpacked and welcoming guests to the Upper West Side.” Cim Carpenter Kearns writes that while finishing a film studies Ph.D., she discovered a haven of creativity in corporate America and has developed learning solutions ever since. She works for Oracle as a technical training program manager. Each move has taken her progressively farther west, and she now lives in Bozeman, Mont., with husband Chris and son Luc, 17. I, Jessica Russo Perez-­ Mesa, am the Hawaii representative for Purdue Pharma LP. Husband Carlos and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in Spain this summer. The best part was that our kids—Carlos, 11, and Ava, 10—were at summer camp, so we were kid-free for the first time in 11 years. We saw Cim and her family in Hawaii before we went. 1990 Jim Sailer jim.sailer@gmail.com Dave Feinstein has done design and brand work with Beveridge Seay for nearly 25 years and joined the board of trustees for International Arts & Artists, which promotes cross-cultural understanding and exposure to the arts. He was a mentor to the 2017 SwatTank entrepreneurial competition winners, Michael Piazza ’17 and Eric Wang ’18, and keeps busy in D.C. by attending every protest rally/march imaginable. Phil Weiser writes: “After I completed my term as dean of the University of Colorado Law School in July 2016, my family took a sabbatical in Sydney, where we watched our country take an unexpected turn. I reflected on what I could do to serve and decided to run for Colorado attorney general.” Good luck, Phil! Brent ’92 and Carolyn Black Becker lost their two senior dogs in 2016; they are slowly rebuilding their canine family with a high-energy Doberman rescue and an eye out for a basenji rescue. Carolyn, a nationally known researcher in body-image interventions, eating disorders, and PTSD at Trinity University, was named one of this year’s 10 Piper Professors, an honor given to outstanding teachers and researchers in Texas. Congrats! FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 61 class notes ALUMNI PROFILE Rick and Jen Austrian Post have returned to the D.C. area from another overseas stint. Daughter Eleanor graduated from high school and is off to Rochester Institute of Technology. Younger sister Margaret is thinking about colleges, including one in PA that sits just above a creek. Jen, Rick, and Margaret have been politically active this year, writing letters and marching. Bryan Callahan lives in Seattle and works for the Gates Foundation, where he manages communications for the presidents of Global Development and Global Health. He and wife Janelle have twin sons, Henry and Roger, 4. Karen Pulis was promoted to finance training manager at State Street Bank, traveling for work to Japan, Hong Kong, China, and India so often that they feel like homes away from home. A highlight this year: visiting the Taj Mahal. Debby VanLenten Jagielow works in alumni affairs at Yale while juggling active 9-year-olds’ activities. Debby spends a lot of time on the road, courtesy of her son’s baseball and daughter’s soccer travel teams. Two updates from my freshman roommates! Sanjit Korde runs a Massachusetts law firm; he and wife Cara are raising 3-year-old twins in Cambridge. Sanjit enjoyed a mini-reunion at Peter Mastroianni’s New York compound with Adam Cooper, Mike Gittelman, Jesse Springer, Cameron Gurney ’92, Kirk Paluska, Neil Cockerill, and Ben Orlanski. David Ruby’s daughter Jocelyn graduated from high school and will attend Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., this fall. Dave and wife Devora live in Seattle. I had a lovely catch-up 62 Swarthmore College Bulletin / lunch in New York with Leslie Abbey, who is now chief operating officer for Covenant House New York, one of NYC’s most important social-service agencies. Congrats, Leslie! Peter Mastroianni and wife Kathi are celebrating their 25th anniversary. Son Michael attends Berklee College of Music, and daughter Samantha studies at SUNY Purchase. Peter has joined McKool Smith, a boutique litigation law firm where Courtland Reichman has been a partner for several years. Catherine Cunniff Brooks writes: “I’ve worked in the research and evaluation department of an educational collaborative for six years—I am now managing an employee, pursuing and directing outside contracts, and supporting internal program evaluation. I love my job—the work is interesting, the hours are part-time and flexible, and my co-workers are great.” Husband Rob is a software engineer for a startup, and son Bobby is in middle school. Catherine stepped up her political activity in the wake of the election. Eric Altman moved from NYC to San Francisco two years ago to join partner Steve and his son, Quinn, 10—Eric’s now-stepson— whom they co-parent with Quinn’s mother. Eric works for Blue Shield of California to address population health disparities and access inequities. Eric is pursuing an MBA at Yale. Danielle Moss had an “awesome” reunion with Anita Churchville ’91 in New York. Anita is developing gifted and special-needs educational solutions at a Mumbai private school and is “still as brilliant and vivacious as ever.” One of the leading advocates for women and girls of color in NYC FALL 2017 and nationally, Danielle has left her role as CEO of YWCA NYC and is taking time for herself before tackling her next role. 1992 Libby Starling libbystarling@comcast.net It was wonderful to see many at our 25th Reunion! Special thanks to Patrick Egan, Stephanie Hirsch, and Dena Ringold for surveying our class and leading a conversation about what we’ve learned (and have yet to learn) in our quarter-century since graduation. Congrats to the newest champion for 1992 parent of the youngest child, Jonathan Siner. Jonathan and wife Lisa Hersch had Joshua in February. He joins sister Leora, born in 2015. J ­ onathan works at Yale Medical School. Speaking of ­academics, Jennifer Arnold is a professor in the University of North Carolina’s psychology and neuroscience departments, studying the psychology of language. Mark Duckenfield is chairman of the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. Pat Egan is an associate professor of politics and public policy at NYU. Jeff Hildebrand is an associate professor of mathematics at Georgia Gwinnett College. Noah Novogrodsky is an advocacy professor of law at the University of Wyoming. Justin Powell is professor of sociology of education at the Université du Luxembourg. Kevin Wilson is co-chair of the neuroscience program at Gettysburg College. Chuck Wooldridge is an assistant professor of history at Lehman College, City University of New York. David Zaring is an associate professor of legal studies and business ethics at Penn’s Wharton School. Meeting David Leeser’s son, Harry ’18, made me curious about other 1992 Swarthmore legacies. Besides Harry, our Swarthmore children are Maya Darst-Campbell ’19 (daughter of Elizabeth Campbell), Kiera ’15 and Madeline James ’18 (daughters of Frank ’89 and Lena Mansori James), and Zachary Rothenberg ’20 (son of Alexander and Emily Mather Rothenberg). Joining them this fall are swimmer Barbara Fitzsimmons ’21, daughter of Brendan, and … who else? As of deadline, Swarthmore’s database hadn’t caught up to the Class of 2021! Another reunion theme was Swarthmoreans trying to change the world from government positions. Josh Green is still a Hawaii state senator (maybe considering higher office?), while Marion Greene is a Hennepin County commissioner in Minnesota. (Somerville, Mass., voters will determine this fall whether Stephanie Hirsch will join our list.) Fighting the good fight as federal employees are Mara Senn, a prosecutor in the Justice Department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, and Laurie Sternberg, senior regulatory counsel at the FDA. Lena Mansori James is a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in the Middle District of North Carolina. Jessica Lang works for the Health Policy Commission in Massachusetts. And though not in government, Francis Grab is a lobbyist with Ernst & Young in D.C. Mary Anderson is a “recovering attorney” doing strategy consulting near Chicago. Living in Corvallis, Ore., Tiffany Larscheid Bailey has been executive director of Girls on the Run Willamette Valley since 2014. Leslie Bell is a psychotherapist in private practice in Berkeley, Calif.; in 2013, she published Hard to Get: 20-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom. Kaethe Morris Hoffer became executive director of the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation in 2013. Triana Silton is a Service Employees International Union labor organizer in California. Karen Jeffrey Welser is a teacher at East Side Nursery School in Providence, R.I. In 2016, Eric Behrens left Swarthmore’s staff to become chief information officer for Widener University. Per Hong and his family relocated in 2016 from Moscow to Minneapolis, from which he still travels for his work with A.T. Kearney. Andy Perry joined the Corporation for Supportive Housing in Los Angeles as a senior program manager for health care. Jay Rhoderick is a communications consultant and trainer in NYC, working with executives and managers (and the U.S. Olympic team). Kehl Sink is involved with Bay Area startups and considering law school. James Worden relocated to Naples, Fla., and evidently had a secret identity as a radio DJ in North Carolina … your class secretary is curious! Keep learning and thriving, ’92ers! These may be the years of fewer marriage and birth announcements, but keep the news coming. I hope to see many of you at our 30th Reunion (if not sooner). Share your pics—on campus and off—on Instagram: @swarthmorebulletin, #swatbulletin “The first theater course I took was an acting class with a title about self-discovery,” says Shanalyna Palmer ’94. “That’s why I was at Swarthmore: to discover who I was.” FINDING DIRECTION Success for her means seeing the big picture by Kate Campbell SHANALYNA PALMER ’94 never planned on a life of movie-making. “In high school, I went to science and engineering camps,” she laughs. “I chose a degree in theater studies so that I would be more well-rounded for corporate America.” Despite that—or maybe because of it—the Georgia resident has found success as an assistant director in television and movies. Miss Winn’s Garden, a short film she directed and produced in 2016, won multiple honors, including the California Film Award in 2016; it’s been selected for Network Notes at the Independent Television Festival in Vermont this October. The film’s story about foster families is an important one that she hopes will lead to support for similarly themed projects. “Time away from Swarthmore led me to the conclusion that if I want to step up and become a better leader, I have to create projects of my own,” says Palmer, “projects that promote the values instilled at Swarthmore and lean toward social awareness and social justice.” Palmer is an assistant director on The Hate U Give, directed by George Tillman Jr. She has also worked on The Walking Dead, The Sopranos, and Queen Latifah’s newest show, Star, which begins its second season this fall. “The most fun I’ve had on set was on Star,” she says. “Lee Daniels has a bigger-than-life personality. He is very exacting in what he wants, but his joie de vivre is contagious. If the director and cast have a sense of humor, we all get to experience the fun.” As a producer, director, and assistant director, Palmer may spend her day deciding what to film, whom to cast, and what crew to hire, or simply when to have the vans arrive on set to take the cast and crew to lunch. It’s a little like conducting, she’s found. “On an average day, more than 100 people are working to fulfill the vision of one director,” she says. “It can take a bit of diplomacy to convince people not to stray from what the director wants—especially when we’re all creative types.” Listening to her instincts, even in challenging situations, has shaped her life ever since Swarthmore. “Professor Bill Marshall has been my greatest influence,” she says. “I was definitely not the best student in his class. But deciding to chuck an Air Force ROTC scholarship in economics to study theater instead was a crisis moment for me. Bill didn’t give me any answers, but he did help me to put things into perspective. He was the first to teach me how to listen to my inner voice and not be afraid to allow intuition to be my guide. This continues to be a mainstay in my leadership tool kit.” For this lesson, she remains forever grateful ... and inspired. “Swarthmore broadened my worldview and expanded my critical thinking,” Palmer says. “It taught me to consider the impact of my decisions on individuals as well as on the community as a whole.” FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 63 class notes 1994 Joanna Vondrasek joanna.vondrasek@gmail.com Our class news is full of new projects—professional, geographical, artistic, and familial. Chief operating officer of MIT Technology R ­ eview, a digitally oriented media company founded by MIT, Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau was appointed president of MIT Enterprise Forum. “It is a global community of entrepreneurs with a vision to build a better world by accelerating the creation and growth of world-class technology companies. I am inspired by opportunities to collaborate on this goal.” Way-Ting Chen Hill and Jennifer Li Shen are celebrating a milestone in their social-entrepreneurial venture. Way-Ting writes, “Our little baby Blue Garnet (yes, nod to Swarthmore) has turned 15!” Adds Jenni: “Who knew that the gal I met freshman year in English class and I would be business partners for as long as I’ve been married?!” Suzannah Cole Callaghan lives in Brooklyn with her partner and their 5-yearold twins. She started a job as a social worker at a state psychiatric center. Artist Alexandra Grant (alexandragrant.com) presented the show LA Exuberance: New Gifts by Artists at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Artist and now filmmaker Nathan Florence (nflorencefineart.com) is working on a show of new paintings for Modern West Fine Art in Salt Lake City 64 Swarthmore College Bulletin / that opens in January. Nathan is also in postproduction on his documentary Art+Belief (artandbelieffilm.com), which follows his own questions of finding balance through the story of Trevor Southey, a gay Mormon artist, and Southey’s colleagues. Nathan and his family resigned their church membership as the Mormon church has made its positions against LGBT rights more strident. Nathan is on the board of Alliance for a Better Utah, a progressive group agitating for integrity in local government. He and his family love the mountains, backcountry skiing, and bicycling, and welcome wandering Swatties to crash with them. Jon Varese says life in the Hudson Valley is very different from Santa Cruz, Calif., but he is enjoying reconnecting with nearby Swatties, including visits with Sanda Balaban (Brooklyn), Serena Benedetti Pantazopoulos (Philadelphia), and Noël Theodosiou (Boston). His first novel, The Spirit Photographer, will be published in the spring, based on William Mumler and the spirit-photography craze of the 1860s in Boston and New York. Jon also has a major essay coming out on Nicholas Nickleby, slated to appear in the new Oxford Handbook to Charles Dickens in 2018. Jennie Romich and wife Adele Botha had daughter Anneka Helen Botha ­Romich last fall. Big sister Ingrid, one uncle, two housemates, two dogs, and one cat love her dearly. Jennie is finishing her 15th year on faculty of the University of Washington School of Social Work, where she is studying the effects FALL 2017 of Seattle’s $15 minimum wage. The study team has garnered criticism from organized business and organized labor, which Jennie takes as a sign they’re doing OK. Jenni Owen-Blackmon and husband Steve happily announce the arrival of son Elliott Owen ­Blackmon, born in the spring. All are well and adjusting to life as a family of five (with cats Button and Toby, who aren’t entirely sure what to make of the new addition). Jenni is director of development communications at the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit Catholic university, which—she’s been surprised to discover—shares many values with Swarthmore. She still sings professionally, though in the immediate future her singing may be limited to nursery rhymes and lullabies for an audience of one (or three, depending on the cats’ musical preferences). Kathy Sturm-Ramirez and her family have traded Dhaka (Bangladesh) for Dakar (Senegal), and she encourages Swatties to visit. Kathy still works for the CDC and now provides technical advice to the National Malaria Control Program. She enjoys the new professional challenges and the constant sunshine and daily ocean views, but the greatest joy is to have daughters Aicha, 10, and Mariama, 8, grow up in their dad’s native country, spending quality time with close friends and family—and still living in a mango-growing country. Please join our Class of ’94 Facebook page and keep those updates coming. Also, if anyone is interested in taking over as class secretary, let me know. I would like to have someone lined up in time for our 25th Reunion, now less than two years away. It’s fun and easy! 1996 Melissa Clark melissa.a.clark@gmail.com Gerardo Aquino aquinonyc@yahoo.com George Khalaf is executive director of an edtech startup, Empatico, connecting third- and fourth-grade classrooms worldwide. “Students engage in virtual learning exchanges with a diverse network of classrooms turning almost any lesson plan into a field trip across the globe.” He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and sons Gavin, 6, and Oliver, 4. Will Craig was a trainer in Swarthmore’s inaugural Inclusive Leadership Conference in April. He writes that it was mind-blowing to be back on campus in a teaching capacity and recommends creating ways to bring your skills, knowledge, and experience to the College. “It’s fun and rewarding, not to mention trippy.” Whatever your interests, he guarantees a younger version of yourself is there who would benefit tremendously from meeting you. Rowan Phillips’s poem “Halo” will be published in Best American Poetry 2017 (bit.ly/PhillipsPoem). Marcella Nunez-Smith received the Society of General Internal Medicine’s 2017 Herbert W. Nickens Award for her work on minority health and diversity. She is an associate professor at Yale’s School of Medicine and School of Public Health. Sara Fox Schecter is an events manager in Intel’s Open Source Technology Center. “It is truly a dream opportunity for me. I am heading to Beijing next week for an event.” Husband Jack Schecter completed Hood to Coast Washington, a 77-mile relay from Lake Isabella to Seabrook, Wash., with a team from Nike. Their family enjoys exploring Oregon. Joel Johnson, in D.C., says life is good for him, wife Kyong, and daughter Yunah. He started an advertising agency, Admirable Devil, and counts Stage Stores and Orvis among his clients. He caught up with brother Chris Johnson ’99 and Matt Howard ’99 for a crawfish boil. Aviva Kushner Yoselis saw several Swatties at nephew Arik Davidson ’11’s wedding in Memphis, Tenn. The oldest of her five children graduates from high school this year. I, Melissa, enjoy life in Princeton, N.J., with my husband and kids, ages 7 and 9. Thanks for sending your updates! 1998 Amita Sudhir amitasudhir@gmail.com Rani Shankar rani_shankar@yahoo.com In less than a year, it will be our 20th Reunion! It’s hard to believe it’s been two decades, but we look forward to seeing many of you there. Ari Plost is the rabbi at Congregation B’nai Abraham in Hagerstown, Md. In January, his opinion piece about turning down an Share your pics—on campus and off—on Instagram: @swarthmorebulletin, #swatbulletin invitation to join President Trump’s inaugural service as a rabbi was published in The Washington Post (bit.ly/APlost). Matthew ­Hellman was named cochair of Jenner & Block’s Appellate and Supreme Court Practice. He is a partner at the firm and has presented arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court and in federal and state appellate courts nationwide. Robert Monk hung with Travis Beck ’96 at the 100th anniversary of Deep Springs College, where both attended before matriculating to Swarthmore. Manuel Carballo was appointed Oberlin’s vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid. Manuel is moving to Ohio after 12 years at Middlebury, where he was director of admissions. Lea Ekeberg moved to Pittsburgh with her husband and daughter, 3, and will teach French. Rachel Breitman, Cat Laine, and Jennifer Weiss Handler went to New Orleans in June and ran into Rachel’s D.C. neighbor Herrin Hopper at the same hotel. Rachel met Tamala Montgomery’s son, Aaron Ulysses Liu. Rachel’s school now has two Swattie teachers—Rachel and Elaina Barroso ’04. Rachel was excited to buy her sons Martí’s Song for Freedom by Emma Otheguy ’09—who was once her seventh-grade student! On a trip to the Detroit suburbs to visit my inlaws, I, Amita, discovered that Haejin Kim ’99 lives just one town over and her husband and mine were at the University of Michigan together (but didn’t know each other since it’s just a bit bigger than Swarthmore). We hope to meet on a future trip. 2000 Michaela DeSoucey mdesoucey@gmail.com Emily Shu emily.n.shu@gmail.com George Miranda is busy in private practice for hematology oncology in Southern California. He and wife Barbie have a full house: Josiah, 10, Gabriela, 8, Antonio, 4, and Lorenzo, 2. “My family is such a source of joy, and they stretch me to grow as a person every day.” Last year, George hosted Luis Quinones ’01 and attended the U.S. Open with Anthony Cho ’01. Jessica Watson is global programs and partnerships director at Wings of Hope and visited India to evaluate a field site. She and her husband have two boys, 5 and 2, and purchased a half-acre in St. Louis. “We are embarking on a full-on urban farm and ­intentional-community project. We are enjoying getting our hands dirty and finally having chickens (and maybe quail?) again soon.” In Chicago, Christina Lutz had twins Amara and Bianca, her third and fourth children. She is planning visits with their godmother, Tracy McNeil ’01, and Mark Lotto, best man at her wedding. Christina became partner at commercial litigation firm Levenfeld Pearlstein. Chris Fanjul and wife Corey had second child Vanessa, who is “fat and happy.” Chris is building a business as a potter and artist ­(chrisfanjul.com). Gil Rosenberg earned a religious and theological studies Ph.D. from the University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology. Greg Hansell is beginning a theology Ph.D. at Villanova. Samira Mehta finished SPOTLIGHT ON … JOEL PRICE ’00 Joel Price ’00, a mandolinist/violinist and Swarthmore’s technology education coordinator, recorded an album and toured the East Coast with Eli Conley and joined a new Philly-based band called Open Hand in 2017—while celebrating a year of being cancer-free. “Pay attention to the things that interest you,” he says. “Figure out a way to incorporate those things into as many aspects of your life as you can. As Diane Anderson said to me, ‘Don’t do something you don’t like for too long—it’ll make you old really quickly.’” + CONTINUED: bulletin.swarthmore.edu a health and spirituality fellowship at the Library of Congress’s Kluge Center, returning to Albright College. This fall, she heads to Dublin for a conference hosted by Kate Fama ’01. Sarah Archer caught us up on the politically relevant history of the color pink ­(bit.ly/­PinkHistory).­ Brendan Nyhan has been in the news with his semi-regular national politics column for The New York Times’s Upshot. Nadia Murray relocated to Atlanta this spring to be with her fiance. Samantha Johnson loves living in Oxford, U.K., working on an album and mentoring youths in a public secondary school. Husband Teru is at the University of Oxford; son Ryu finished first grade and enjoys reading, drawing, and silliness. Check out Sam’s music at samtwigg.bandcamp.com. Lance Langdon and wife Merilee are raising cool kids Kennedy, 4, and Emerson, 2. Lance completed an English Ph.D. in 2014 and is a lecturer at UC–Irvine. This summer, they visited the family of old roomie Nick Attanasio. Cathy Muller and husband Henry had Ruth Eleanor Pratt in April. “She is already smiling and cooing, and big brother Arthur is enjoying his new role.” Rebecca Brodie Leung received an MLIS from San Jose State University, where she was chair of the student chapter of the Society of American Archivists. “I am working on projects at the Sierra Club library and the archives at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. As a reward for all of my work (at least in my mind!), my husband, Carter, and I are traveling to Hong Kong to see family and to India for a wedding. I welcome contact from any Swatties!” In his new book, One Shot, John Leary draws on 15 years of humanitarian work and conveys how integrating trees into degraded agricultural lands is the answer to reversing desertification, water scarcity, hunger, poverty, climate change, and forced migration. Arun Mohan became CEO of Radix Health, an IT company he co-founded. He lives in Atlanta with his wife, two amazing girls (7 and 4), six chickens, and one poorly tended fish. Joel Price joined the band Open Hand (OpenHandBand on Facebook)— half-Brazilian percussion ensemble, half-string quartet—and still works at Swarthmore in ITS, connecting people with technology that makes their work lives easier. Joel happily reports that he is still cancer free! “I’m incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful medical team at UPenn and such lovely friends and family throughout that whole ordeal.” We look forward to updates as life churns along and many of us hit 40 (gulp!). Most of Swarthmore’s new freshmen were born the year we graduated. Yes, it has been that long! 2002 Tanyaporn Wansom swarthmore2002@gmail.com Gabriel Fairman and his family left Brazil in July for the Bay Area to set up operations for his company, Bureau Translations. Hilary Rice moved out of D.C. to be closer to work— and across the street from FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 65 class notes her parents—so she and the grandparents can spend more time with her daughter, Lydia. Imo Akpan finished the clinical part of a hematology fellowship and is in the research phase of the physician– scientist training program at Northwestern. She and her husband vacationed in London in June and met up with Zoe Whitley ’01 and Naa Aku Addo ’04. Lashanna Lawler converted part of her art studio into a gallery space, and in mid-June she sold several paintings at her second art show. Between teaching medical students, painting on location, and traveling, she was planning a show for sometime this fall/winter. View her work on Facebook, @Lashanna­LawlerArtwork. Natalie Graham was granted tenure in Cal State–­Fullerton’s African-American studies department. Her book Begin With a Failed Body was released Sept. 15. Philly residents Sarah Zlotnik and Noah Winer welcomed son Isaiah Rafael Zlotnik on Jan. 5. I, Tanya Wansom, and husband Chris Huang had second child Ronan Wiriya Huang on June 15 in Bangkok. Uncle Derrick Wansom ’05 visited him and brother Milo in July. Many reported enjoying our 15th Reunion, and I loved all the pictures on Facebook. Lizzie Rothwell thanks everyone who attended the Alice Hershey Alumni Weekend event or contributed to the scholarship fund, and reports that they are close to meeting their $35,000 goal! Email ­swarthmore­2002@ gmail.com to receive calls for Class Notes. I enjoy hearing from everyone! 66 Swarthmore College Bulletin / 2004 Daniel Loss Rebecca Rogers swat04classnotes@gmail.com The doctors of the Class of 2004 have steadily transitioned from training to attending. Eric Shang finished a vascular surgery fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. He and wife Krista Gigone and their two children moved to Morgantown, W.V., where Eric accepted an attending position as an assistant professor (clinical) at West Virginia University. Sarah Hilding is a family medicine doctor in Hebron, Conn. She married Dan Pilver in April; brother David Salorio ’12, Catherine Clark, Jenny Blumberg Graber, and Sarah Donovan Finnegan attended. Renuka Nayak is a rheumatologist at UCSF and a postdoctoral fellow studying the microbiome in the Turnbaugh Lab. Renuka married Tony Singh in May. Rebecca Rogers started as assistant program director for ambulatory education in the internal medicine residency program at Cambridge Health Alliance, where she is a primary care physician. Careers in other realms continue to blossom, as well. Mark Hanis is a research fellow with Stanford’s Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice. He’s cooking up a resistance app, ­ActionMap.us. Liz Leininger is an assistant professor of neurobiology at the New College of Florida, a public honors liberal arts college. She and husband Brian look forward to Sarasota life and FALL 2017 encourage Florida Swatties (or anyone wanting to visit the beach) to get in touch. After four years of enjoying Geneva’s alpine air and copious fondue while working at the World Health Organization, Kirsten Vannice is moving to the Pacific Northwest to work in the Seattle/King County health department. Esther Zeledon (with her husband and two kids) moved from Jamaica to the Dominican Republic for another assignment with ­USAID. Kathy Liu’s promotion to director of major gifts at the Metropolitan Opera (where she has worked for two years) will keep her in NYC. Her brother also moved there and her parents think they’d like to be closer to their children, so Kathy is slowly dragging her family east. She and her family visited Machu Picchu and Peru. Lillie Dremeaux has lived in the U.K. for a year and a half; she is the digital editor for the London newsroom of The New York Times. Nick Lum gave a guest lecture at Swarthmore in April on social-impact entrepreneurship. His startup BeeLine Reader received a grant from NewSchools Venture Fund. Nick’s other startup, Read Across the Aisle, launched via Kickstarter in February. This app helps people assess and escape their filter bubbles. (It also includes free access to The Wall Street Journal.) Real Impact, sharing Morgan Simon’s journey in the world of money and social justice, is out Oct. 3. It starts with her work at Swarthmore to make the endowment more socially responsible, then goes on to help people learn to align their money with their values. Our class has welcomed many new arrivals. Carla Greenberg’s first child, ALUMNI COUNCIL NEWS Swarthmore’s Alumni Council spent the past year considering updates to its constitution and bylaws. At its May meeting, two changes were passed: allowing electronic voting and removing gender binary distinctions from its documentation. The Council holds its fall meeting in October. Members will continue to work on engaging alumni in their review process, as well as on offering career-related networking and mentoring opportunities for students. alumni@swarthmore.edu swarthmore.edu/alumni/alumni-council Miles Greenberg Heath, was born in December. Evan Moses and wife Susanne had daughter Finnley Abigail Moses on March 5. Clifford Sosin’s son, Thomas Edwards Sosin, joined his older sister May 14. Katie Robinson and husband Sri Ganda had third child Neil on March 1. Neil’s siblings like helping out as much as they can. They live in Andover, Mass.; Katie will return to teaching math at Westford Academy this fall. Rebecca Rogers and Danny Loss added to their clan with the birth of son Maxwell Vivian Rogers Loss on April 22—all of us (including big brother Gabriel) are smitten. We (Rebecca and Danny) also just bought Rebecca’s grandparents’ circa-1890 house in Arlington, Mass.—visitors welcome! 2006 Wee Chua wchua1@gmail.com Jon Greenberg and wife Kat had baby Penelope in March. Jon is enjoying paternity leave, which includes thrice-daily walks by the bay, endless children’s songs on YouTube, and lots of goofy faces and fun times. Cara Tigue married Adam Spadaro on June 3 in Toronto; Jen Stevenson O’Donnell ’06 and Jess Fuhr Rohde ’07 were bridesmaids. Everyone had fun dancing the night away, especially Mark Rohde ’07. Regina Simeone and husband Lee still live in Atlanta, where Regina works at the CDC, focused on the Zika virus outbreak. She completed the first year of an epidemiology Ph.D. at Emory University. Sonali Shahi was promoted to assistant federal defender in the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Zach Zaitlin was excited to attend a monthlong composition program in July at the Atlantic Music Festival, where he lived in a college dorm with fellow students who were mostly 10–15 years younger than him. He moved from Portland, Maine, to Philadelphia in August. Zach plans to build up his private piano-teaching studio, so Share your pics—on campus and off—on Instagram: @swarthmorebulletin, #swatbulletin Philly residents needing quality music instruction should look him up! After two great years in NYC, Elizabeth Buckner moved in June to become an assistant professor of international and higher education at the University of Toronto. In New York, Elizabeth had reconnected with Bernadette BairdZars, Rebecca Brubaker, and Elli Suzuki—she looks forward to meeting up with Swatties in Canada. Danielle Miller Bond writes from Pittsburgh, where she celebrated her Penguins winning their second-straight Stanley Cup. She is happily teaching engineering, doing measurement and verification work, and rebuilding her tennis game. Nim and Katie Crawford Cohen ’07 moved to LA in July, after 10-plus years in Boston and NYC. They brought with them Ilian James Cohen, born in May. While Ili is mostly just eating and sleeping, they think he’s pretty great. Nim left finance for product management at Scopely, a mobile video­game startup, while Katie finished a Ph.D. at Columbia and will be a health policy researcher at RAND. They would love to see Swatties in LA. Scott Long abandoned the East Coast for chiller but more humid surroundings, and is an IBM design researcher in Austin, Texas. He still pursues too many extracurriculars at once, particularly ultimate Frisbee and improv. Zach Michielli is architecture-Ph.D.-ing it up in New Haven, Conn.—representin’ Swat by reading all the books. If anyone needs an architect to, uh, architect them up a storm, let him know. Martyna Pospieszalska married Richard Levitsky in Krakow, Poland, in July 2016, with Heidi Fieselmann in the wedding party. Martyna and Rich enjoy D.C., working for the Department of Justice and the Coast Guard, respectively. Kristin Davis moved to D.C.-based litigation boutique Weisbrod Matteis & Copley, where she works with Matt Krauss and Charles Fischette ’01. One would be hard-pressed to find another firm where more than 10 percent of the attorneys are Swatties. Kristin was thrilled when she showed up at Dulles Airport to volunteer during the January travel ban and ran into Becky Strauss. “We realized we could have carpooled and saved time! Nothing like a good protest to draw out the Swatties.” Catharine Parnell and husband Eduardo work for the Army in D.C. This surprises Catharine practically every day. She works in capital and interlocutory appeals but hopes to move back to the private sector next year. Catharine has also returned to competitive Irish dancing. Rhiannon Graybill married Kurt Beals in Great Falls, Mont., June 10. Krista Spiller, Emily Wistar, Emily Regier, Vicky Woo, and Cassie Barnum attended. Harris Kornstein is working on a media, culture, and communication Ph.D. at NYU​, while his alter-ego made headlines reading to kids at Drag Queen Story Hour and backup dancing for Katy Perry on SNL. I, Wee, am in my last year of a pediatric emergen- FOLLOW US on Facebook at facebook.com/ SwarthmoreBulletin cy medicine fellowship at ­Seattle Children’s Hospital/University of Washington. I’m also starting my first real job search since graduating from Swarthmore. Making the most of potentially my last summer in Seattle, I hit the Pacific Northwest adventure jackpot by securing a permit to backpack at the Enchantments. That’s a wrap for 2017. Hope to catch up with you soon. Drop me a line if you swing through Seattle. 2008 Mark Dlugash mark.dlugash@gmail.com Around the world: Tatiana Cozzarelli spent the past four years in Brazil, where she participated in World Cup and Olympics protests, the wave of student occupations, and the labor movement. Now, she is an editor for Left Voice and studying education at the CUNY Graduate Center. Anna Mello is finishing her last year at Escola Internacional de Florianopolis in southern Brazil, where she has taught science for four years. She is moving to NYC in early 2018 and looks forward to new adventures. Mikio Akagi finished his first year at Texas Christian University, teaching young conservatives about science and social justice. He’ll spend the latter half of 2017 on research leave in Dublin, Ireland. Working life: Claire Melin completed an emergency medicine residency at the University of Virginia and will be an attending physician at New York–Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. She was excited to celebrate sister Julia Melin ’13’s marriage to Israel Kositsky this summer. After preventing waste, fraud, and abuse at the USPS Office of Inspector General, Shaterra Green moved on to more pressing social issues, providing audit services at Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy to protect clients with immigrant employees. Natalie Bowlus lives in Brooklyn and works in CIBC’s infrastructure group. She ran the Boston Marathon in April and is excited to do New York’s again in November. She also looks forward to catching up with classmates at our rapidly approaching 10th Reunion. Alyssa Work is a criminal defense staff attorney at the Bronx Defenders in New York. Patricia Kelly graduated from family medicine residency at White Memorial Medical Center in LA and will move home to Atlanta to work in urgent care. After two years at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, Alice Grimm is moving to the Bay Area to teach math at Lick–Wilmerding High School. After clerking for judges on the 2nd Circuit and Southern District of New York, Jennesa Calvo-Friedman will start as the Karpatkin Fellow at the ACLU Racial Justice Project. Celebrations: Katie Bates Weir and Allison Barlow Chaney, inseparable roommates, have both extended their respective families with baby boys. Katie and husband Alec had Henry Galen Weir on Feb. 22. Allison and husband Nathaniel had Andrew Isaac Chaney on April 15. Class of 2039 roommates? Melina Healey and Ross Weller are having grand fun with baby Junedale, who loves to grab dog tails and play Melina’s banjo. Ross is a general surgery resident at SUNY Stony Brook. Melina is an assistant professor at NYU School of Law and an Equal Justice Works fellow. Alex and Annie Burke Benn had Tess Faye Benn on Jan. 21. They love watching her little baby brain figure stuff out. Tess looks forward to meeting new Swat-lets at reunion. Adrian and Megan Schuster Vasile had Alexander William on Oct. 21, 2016. Sister Nadia is thrilled, and all have enjoyed visits from Alicia de los Reyes, Meg Perry, and Sarah ’07 and Andrew Gillis-Smith ’07. Lea Deutsch and Lauren Rile Smith are thrilled to announce son Elliot Franchi Rile-Deutsch. Jessica Langston and husband Raleigh had daughter Calliope Henne Langston. Christina Baik and Seth Donoughe had a girl! Mina Baik-Donoughe was born Feb. 18 and has been strong, curious, and a good eater from day one. Finally, Stephanie Duncan Karp begins an MFA at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop this fall. The work will be fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events will be purely coincidental. 2010 Brendan Work theworkzone@gmail.com So you’re in the market for a new or used Swarthmore alum! I know a discerning customer, and you’ve got an eye for quality. Why FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 67 class notes don’t I give you a tour of the lot? Let’s start with the classics. These are the ones that keep the Swarthmore brand on the road, the really dependable pieces of craftsmanship: Allison Grein, who raised $9,000 for survivors of sexual violence by running the 2016 TCS New York City Marathon, is of that caliber. She lives in Brooklyn, practices entertainment and employment law at Reavis Parent LLP, and hangs out with Toby, her brother’s dog. There’s Colin Schimmelfing out in San Francisco: Another tried-and-true seller, he began managing at the edtech company Clever and visited Melinda Yang in Beijing, where he engaged in successful Mandarin taxi diplomacy. And of course, you wouldn’t think of leaving the 20X showroom without seeing our new, souped-up Joel Tolliver, promoted to unit director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Georgia, saving kids one afternoon at a time, or the freshly painted lowrider Sam Goodman, teaching reading, ’riting, and revising in New Jersey. Perhaps you’re after a sportier look? 20X has you covered with these quick-cornering Quakers. Lauren Mendoza is the new curator of Red Light Lit: Austin, “a collective of writers, musicians, and artists who explore love, relationships, and sexuality through spoken word, art, and song.” Her story collection, Life’s Too Short, won the Michael Rubin Book Award, and at the book-release party were husband Travis Contreras and Anthony Stigliani ’11. Over here is a real beauty, an exquisite muscle car we call Louis Jargow, Ph.D. student in politics at the New School. Louis 68 Swarthmore College Bulletin / SPOTLIGHT ON … JOSHUA SOKOL ’11 Joshua Sokol ’11, a science writer based in Cambridge, Mass., received the Jonathan Eberhart Planetary Sciences Journalism Award for distinguished popular writing. Josh was honored for his article “Hidden Depths,” in which he explains how icy worlds far from the sun’s warmth, such as Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus, can maintain subsurface oceans. The article appeared in the Aug. 13, 2016, issue of New Scientist. + was in D.C. for the Festival of Resistance during the inauguration, and now he’s writing his dissertation as a genealogy of political rage. And there’s no beating the power and agility of Kathryn Riley, a visiting assistant professor and postdoctoral fellow at our own alma mater, researching nanomaterials, who spent the summer in Philly’s beer gardens with Michele Perch. We have the finest luxury alumni available over here—really upscale pieces. Here we have Monica Cody, the deluxe edition, who’s leaving Google after seven years (she had worked on the Google Assistant Personality, meaning she wrote the jokes, poems, and games for the AI on your Android device) to start Harvard Business School, alongside Yingjia Wang. The luxuriant stylings of Travis Rothbloom also grace the exhibition floor; he returned from Venice, where he spoke at a conference about reforming the architecture, engineering, and construction industry using augmented reality, which he plans to combine with 3-D laser scanning to digitally preserve Swarthmore buildings before they’re demolished. Then there’s the undeniable splendor of Julia Luongo, who does FALL 2017 MORE: joshuasokol.com air-quality work at an environmental consulting company in San Francisco and plays softball with Maggie Vizcarra ’11, and the understated extravagance of Seth Green, who works in New York at the startup Code Ocean, which works with scientists to make code and data public and reproducible. Sure, there’s some sticker shock for these babies, but you pay for quality! These over here are the family alumni, really safe and reliable models for any age. We’ve got Clare Kobasa, who married Scott Weiss ’11 in June under the officiation of classics professor Jeremy Lefkowitz and the happy gaze of Anson Stewart, who finally graduated from MIT’s transportation doctoral program; Caitlin O’Neil, who works on budget and policy issues related to California’s prison system; and Gina Salcedo, celebrating two years of marriage herself, a new condo owner and an aunt since last September. Then there’s Stephanie Appiah, married in March to husband Jay, with well-wishers Chelsea Davis, Jack Keefe, G Patrick, and Aaron Brecher attending; Sunny Cowell singing “Stand by Me” as Stephanie went down the aisle; and enough Irish Car Bomb cupcakes to make the kids drive. Finally, we happily announce the May nuptials of Lena Wong to husband Vincent, and the delighted cooing of Monica Cody, Anne Tucci, Kathryn Riley, Claire Shelden, Rachel Bell, Taylor Rhodes, Liz Lopez, Anagha Krishnan, Aejin Yoon, Austin Dike, Eileen Earl, Kate Aizpuru, and Jake Ban, who was invaluable—as if he could be otherwise. If you’re interested in a ride that’s smarter than you, these models over here are sure to have the intellectual horsepower for you. Check out this brandnew David Weeks, back from five years in Beijing and ready to run Sunrise International Education, an experiential education and media company; or this factory-upgraded Melinda Yang, who got a Ph.D. from UC–Berkeley in 2015 and has moved—get this—to Beijing! She’s a postdoctoral researcher using DNA from ancient humans of China to study human prehistory in East Asia. Then there’s the custom-­ restored Benjamin Mazer, entering his second year of a pathology residency at Yale; Ashley Miniet, in her second year of an Emory pediatric residency; and Robert Manduca, who’s studying income inequality for a Harvard sociology Ph.D. and will move to New Haven with Roseanna Sommers, working on legal issues related to debt collection for low-income and elderly consumers with the National Consumer Law Center. Folks, we’ve got everything here at the 20X dealership. We’ve got creative-writing rigs like Toby Altman, who’ll start a poetry MFA at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and whose first book, Arcadia, Indiana, was just published; we’ve got filmmaking rigs like Matt Thurm, whose latest feature, Crown Heights, won the Audience Award at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was released in theaters Aug. 25; we’ve got this one rig that only works in Spain, Clara Badimon, working with grantees at the U.S.–Spain Fulbright Commission and patiently expecting visitors; we’ve got barely street-­legal policy-adviser rigs like Elizabeth Hipple, starting at the Washington (D.C.) Center for Equitable Growth after traveling Europe; and we’ve got this vintage Lorenzo Ramirez, fresh out of Philly and transplanted to the SoCal sun, now the director of ALLIES (Access, Learning & Leadership Initiatives to Elevate Students) in STEM program at California Lutheran University. And just because you’ve stuck with me for the whole tour, I’ll give you a sneak peek at these antique “class officer” models: the exotic roadster Erin Resch, living around Boston and beginning her second year of residency at Tufts pediatrics, and the inimitable hot rod Suzanne Winter (pg. 17), who plans to halve her hours at the Robert Louis Stevenson School in New York, apply for some grad schools, and dance the summer away. All of these fine 20X alumni are available to buy or lease, and we have financing plans as low as a couple thousand a month, payable to American Education Services. If you’ve got an alum to advertise, send his or her specs to theworkzone@gmail.com. 2012 Maia Gerlinger maiagerlinger@gmail.com We had our 5th Reunion! Some of us are getting married and buying houses, which terrifies me. Midwest: Hannah “Alex” Younger is halfway through an MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she is also a youth-program administrator. She is, apparently, the only ’12er in the Midwest. New England & Boston: Tania Doles moved from Southern California to Portland, Maine, and considers herself “obsessed.” She’s an editorial director at a publishing/ custom-­media firm and goes on long hikes in the woods. Julia Cooper and Ben Lipton moved near Boston after receiving their medical and computing security master’s, respectively. Julia joined the Lawrence Family Medicine Residency, and Ben works for GRIMM, a small cybersecurity firm. Avery Davis and Julian Leland married in Atlanta on June 17 and, together, took the surname “Bell.” Philadelphia: Manuk Garg moved to Philly. Mary Alice Upshur married Patrick Hartnett ’11, successfully defended a chemistry Ph.D. at Northwestern, and joined Dow Chemical. She and Patrick bought a house in Malvern, Pa. Margret Lenfest ran the ovarian cancer project at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center this summer and began her third year of vet school. John “Wes” Willison lives in North Philly with wife Hana Lehmann ’13, with whom he acquired a house and a dog. He is pursuing a master of divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary. NYC: Jessie Cannizzaro played lead in a production of Romeo and Juliet at Lincoln Center and is now in the off-Broadway comedy Puffs. Tickets on sale through January! Shane Ogunnaike and his wife moved to town from the Bay Area. He still works sales at a midsize startup, but his true passions are TRAP Karaoke and an anti-Trump PAC. I, Maia Gerlinger, am back in Jersey City, although I write this from my three-week homestay in Guatemala with Rebekah Judson. Carolyn Maughan is back home in Brooklyn and started her fourth year as an auditor at Deloitte in September. Joseph O’Hara finished his first year at Columbia Business School and worked at BlackRock this summer. Wystan “Neil” Palmer finished a chemistry Ph.D. at Princeton and will start a postdoc at Columbia. Anastasia “Tasha” Lewis lives in Jersey City and is preparing for a solo show at the Philadelphia Magic Gardens next fall. In June, she presented her Illustrating Ulysses project at the annual James Joyce conference at the University of Toronto. Anthony Montalbano works for UPS while finishing his first year in physical therapy school. Maxwell Bressman graduated from NYU medical school and begins an internal medicine resi- Share your pics—on campus and off—on Instagram: @swarthmorebulletin, #swatbulletin dency at Einstein Medical Center. He also won his golf club championship! Ryane Disken-Cahill lives in Brooklyn and is the costume designer for a new show on Adult Swim. Callie Feingold works for CNN’s Department of Business Operations and Administration. Lindsay Dolan married Kolby Hanson on May 27. Among the bridesmaids were Allison Stuewe and Mary Alice Upshur-Hartnett. Hanna Kozlowska writes cool pieces on things like female lawyers fighting the immigration ban and a female prison worker’s harassment suit. California & the Pacific Northwest: Kat Clark is head of marketing and community at Khan Lab School while pursuing an MBA at Berkeley Haas. Eleanor Glewwe is working on a linguistics Ph.D. at UCLA. Her book Sparkers (bit.ly/Sparkers) was translated into Turkish! Arsean Maqami moved to San Francisco and works for a real estate development firm. Andrew Cheng is at UC–Berkeley pursuing a linguistics Ph.D. Shiran Shen graduated from Stanford’s M.S. program in civil and environmental engineering and will stay for an additional year to complete a political science Ph.D. Michael Giannangeli finished an MBA at MIT Sloan and will work for Amazon Lab126 in San Fransisco. Molly Siegel started an ­OBGYN­ residency at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. Frances Hunter is in the Navy, stationed in Hawaii at Pearl Harbor. She now has a cat! Halleh Balch’s research was featured in a SpaceDaily article (bit.ly/HallehB). Baltimore & D.C.: David D’Annunzio is a software engineering manager at ZeroFOX, a social-media cybersecurity company; plays with Catonsville FC in the Maryland Major Soccer League; and lives with Emilia Thurber ’11. Zach Weiner, not to be confused with Zack Wiener (see “Abroad,” below), lives in Baltimore. He sent a plethora of fun facts, including that he’s “gotten five-ish haircuts,” “attended a baseball game and watched about four movies on an airplane,” and “learned how to roast peanuts in my oven at home,” so I assume he’s doing really well. Monica Ajinkya married a medschool classmate in May, after which they graduated and moved to Maryland to start residencies in Baltimore and D.C. South: Maki Somosot finished her first year managing communications for Bryan Stevenson at the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Ala.; she had previously covered criminal justice in rural south Louisiana. Jackie Scala graduated from med school and is starting an internal medicine residency at the University of Virginia. Dante Fuoco is starting his sixth year of teaching! (Which deserves the exclamation point he added.) This is his third year at the New Orleans Therapeutic Day Program, which serves public-school students with severe behavioral disorders. He’s also doing a new run of Transplant, his (excellent) one-man show about gentrification, white guilt, and related issues. Genevieve Pezzola received a SMART (Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation) fellowship through the Department of Defense. She is interning at the Army’s Engineer Research and Development Center, where she’s testing a concrete wall retro- fitted with carbon-­fiber reinforced polymer and a mechanical anchorage system exposed to live explosives, which will be part of her Ph.D. thesis. Jenna Zhu will be an acting apprentice at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Ky., in the ’17–’18 Professional Training Company. Abroad: Zack Wiener (bit. ly/ZackWiener) is moving to Jerusalem for his third year of rabbinical school, where he will study the Talmud and learn Arabic. He welcomes Swatties for hummus! Marie Rousseau joined ­­350. org­as a translations and localization coordinator. She celebrated the first anniversary of Self-ish ­(­bit.ly/­MRousseau)­, an open mic she founded for people who identify as female, trans, and/or nonbinary. 2014 Brone Lobichusky blobichusky@gmail.com Fall brings not only the changing of the leaves on the gorgeous East Coast, but also updates on the life changes of the Class of 2014’s brilliant, adventurous individuals. Congrats to Cally Deppen and Jake Neely ’13, who married in January. Cally is studying for a doctor of physical therapy in Boston. Alison Ryland works at Upward Mobility in Boston with Ted Chan ’02. She folk dances with Pipe Dream and Red Herring teams and is applying to master’s programs. Best of luck! Madeline Charne started at Yale to pursue an MFA in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, with a likely FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 69 class notes concentration in theater management. Also at Yale, Danny Hirschel-Burns finished his first year of a political science Ph.D. He spent six weeks in Senegal this summer learning French and subsequently visiting his girlfriend in India. Caitlin Sequira works at Effie Worldwide in NYC after receiving an MA in arts and cultural management from King’s College London. Mihika Srivastava is pursuing a master’s in international affairs at Columbia, concentrating in human rights and gender policy. She hopes to graduate next year—and hopes even more to be employed by then. Mihika interned this summer with an NGO in Udaipur and southern Rajasthan in India, working on advocacy and rights issues with tribal women. She plans to work in India after completing her master’s but is also getting tired of moving around, so we’ll see what happens. Harrison Tasoff finishes NYU’s Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program in December. He has published articles on their website, Scienceline, and had a piece in Hakai Magazine. This summer he interned at Scholastic’s math magazines, and he is pursuing another internship. Classmates will be pleased to know that Harrison still wears his cowboy hat. Cici Zhang also interned at Scholastic, working on the science magazines. However, she does not wear a cowboy hat. Allegra Pocinki finished her third year at the Brookings Institution and is transitioning from D.C. to New Jersey to start a sociology Ph.D. at Rutgers. She is excited about school but—like any good Swattie—is even more 70 Swarthmore College Bulletin / excited about living close to a Wawa again! Pat Walsh lives in D.C. He ran a marathon last fall and is helping Eleanor Pratt train for a 10K. Eleanor is a research associate at the Urban Institute, where she’s been since graduation. She studies social policies affecting low-income families, specifically around access to the social safety net. Eleanor lives with Kimisha Cassidy, who is in her final year of a geography master’s at George Washington. Aarthi Reddy began her second year of medical school at GW and spent her summer working on a project at Children’s National—and relaxing! Olivia Edwards is a clinical research coordinator at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, working with the medicine and microbiology departments on trials involving anal and cervical dysplasia in HIV-positive populations. Olivia enjoys exploring the city and organizing with the New Orleans People’s Assembly. From the Sunshine State, Luis Ramirez says he now lives in Cape Coral, Fla. Paul Cato finished his second year of Ph.D. coursework at ­UChicago’s Committee on Social Thought and moves this fall into qualifying exams. He and Janelle Viera presented at a conference this summer in Albuquerque, N.M. Paul has been working with his epilepsy-awareness group in hopes of taking up policy and political initiatives, given the struggles disabled people are likely to face under the Trump administration. Rebecca Ruby Ahmad-­ Robinson Anuru graduated from the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor in April with a master of FALL 2017 social work and master of public health. She tried to rest and enjoy Michigan this summer while looking to move to Atlanta by year’s end. Akunna Uka teaches speech and debate and history in Santa Monica, Calif. She joined an outrigger canoe team and competes in Southern California. Akunna plans to apply for a master’s in educational leadership at UCLA this fall. Pauline Goodson has been training to be a bridesmaid, but she’s also been conquering moun- tains worldwide. She says she is a totally unqualified and unseasoned amateur who enjoyed Mount Baldy, Yosemite, and China’s Wudang Mountains. She is eager to climb more! In September, Emily Lau relocated to the U.K., where she began a linguistics MA program at University College London. Pendle Marshall-­ Hallmark is doing international human-rights accompaniment work in Colombia, and should be there for another year. She met up with Swatties in Bogotá awhile back—any- CAPTIONED! one passing through has a place to crash! Your secretary, Brone Lobichusky, finds herself thrust into the hospital in her third year of Temple medical school. She has rotated with internal medicine and neurology, and is throwing sutures on her surgery rotation. She is still uncertain about what field she would like to practice but is eager to explore specialties throughout the year—and, hopefully, never round on internal medicine again. Outside of school, Brone still dabbles in volleyball. 2016 Stephanie Kestelman stephaniekestelman@ gmail.com Z.L. Zhou zzlzhou@gmail.com “I sent a $5 donation two years ago and the flood started.” —Sue Willis Ruff ’60 “After 54 years of recurring nightmares, I have finally remembered the combination!” —Helen Rees Lessner ’63 “How did you manage to have that many overdue library books?” —Walt Pinkus ’65 “So THIS is what they call snail mail.” —Adam Fagen ’93 + MORE CAPTIONS: bulletin.swarthmore.edu Abroad: Yenny Cheung is a Yelp software engineer in Hamburg, Germany. Olivia Mendelson spent her summer in Tainan, Taiwan, studying classical Chinese. Kelsey Rico visited her after traveling through northern India. Olivia returned to the University of Michigan for the second year of an art history Ph.D. program and is excited to learn Manchu and teach as a graduate student instructor. East Coast: Rose Wunrow is the executive assistant at Vermont Legal Aid in Burlington, Vt., doing grant reporting, editing, and masterful furniture assembly. This year, she’s hung out with her brother and sister-in-law, Zac Wunrow ’14 and Mallory Pitser ’14; worked at the Peace and Justice Center; Share your pics—on campus and off—on Instagram: @swarthmorebulletin, #swatbulletin and scribbled stories. She is applying to creative writing MFA programs for next fall. Catricia Morris left Minnesota to pursue a master’s in prevention science and practice at Harvard. Annie Tvetenstrand is in her second year as an associate at PwC in Boston. She lives with Claudia Lo, who is working through MIT’s comparative media studies master’s program, looking at online community moderation, and honing her anger-farming hit-piece skills. A. S. Kroeber is pursuing a classical philology Ph.D. at Yale after teaching ­English and Latin at Trivium Preparatory Academy in Phoenix. At the time of writing, A. S. was moving east, driving in a meandering fashion across the country and falling into sundry shenanigans with Emma Remsberg ’17. Also at Yale, Sarah Babinski is a second-year linguistics Ph.D. student. Jacob Oet is in his second year of a poetry MFA at Syracuse. In May, he was a resident intern at Dai Bosatsu Zendo in the Catskills, and this summer he taught reading to ages 4 and up through the Institute of Reading Development. His book With Porcupine was published last August. Hannah Joo is the equity and inclusion coordinator at Dance/NYC, an arts advocacy organization. She frequently travels to D.C. and Philly to rehearse and perform with Agora Dance, and to visit Gary, world’s best cat (... and Reba Magier, Gary’s human). Also in New York, Mike Selverian scored a hat trick in a Mofo hockey league game in May. Yumi Shiroma started an English Ph.D. at Rutgers, focusing on Marxist metanarratives of the novel and computational methods. She also adopted Signora Madeline Vesey Neroni the cat, who weighs 14 pounds and likes Cheez-Its. RJ Tischler is the debate coordinator for After School Activities Partnerships/ASAP. He finished his year as an ASAP Philly Fellow and plans to move to West Philly. Michelle Johnson researches cognitive neuroscience at the Thompson-Schill Lab at Penn. She performed in a two-woman show, Airswimming, in the Philly Fringe Festival with ­Michaela Shuchman, directed by Professor Elizabeth Stevens. Christen Boas Hayes lives in D.C. with Hanyu Chwe and Andrew Taylor. She is a legal assistant at Sullivan & Cromwell, where she is gearing up for hearings on LGBT asylum and Special Immigrant Juveniles Status. Tania Uruchima is a research assistant for a nonpartisan organization on children. She’s happy to share D.C. tips with Swatties, as she loves it there! Rachel Vogel spent the year in D.C. working for the Recovering Voices initiative at the Smithsonian, where she helped coordinate the National Breath of Life Archival Institute for Indigenous Languages. She is in her first year of linguistics graduate studies at Cornell. Elaine Zhou has a year left in Kentucky, during which she will receive an MAT while teaching energetic seventh-graders the art of language. Elaine road-tripped the South with Kelly Smemo and the Arizona deserts with Shinae Yoon. She was excited to travel the East Coast this summer and RA at the Center for Talented Youth; she is considering moving to Spain. Midwest: Alden Dirks started an agroecology master’s at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is studying the use of private grazing to manage public grasslands and symbiotic fungi that are important for grassland health. Also at UW–Madison, Ariel Rock is in his second year of a physics Ph.D. He’s not doing stuff that’s super interesting—grad school is just a lot, y’know? Uriel Mandujano is at Northern Trust in Chicago designing and implementing automated infrastructure services. He enjoys the long commute time from the suburbs. Last year, Aurora Martinez del Rio was a research assistant in UChicago’s Sign Language Linguistics Lab and sang in three choirs. She is continuing at UChicago as a linguistics Ph.D. student. Also at UChicago, Maria Vieytez started a humanities master’s this fall. She is “reading militantly” as Susan Sontag would say, often Chaucer and gender things. Fatema Jivanjee is a project coordinator for a depression-prevention lab at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. She practices kickboxing and yoga and experiments with new recipes. West Coast and Pacific: Sadie Rittman lives in an off-the-grid cabin on Kauai, surfing, hiking, and having outdoor and creative adventures. Alex “Alonzo” Simms is a software development engineer for Amazon in Seattle, where he also sings with the corporate a cappella group, Vocally Self-Critical. Molly Petchenik moved from D.C. to Berkeley, Calif., to work at the Prison Law Office. She spent a week over the summer in Chicago, where she caught up with Stephanie Kestelman. After graduation, Veda Khadka moved west to Menlo Park, Calif., where she is a research assistant in David Relman’s microbiology lab at Stanford and is learning to code, avoiding kale and freeways, and biking everywhere. Also at Stanford, Lewis Esposito began a linguistics Ph.D. Shinae Yoon avoids the Californian sun by spending her time indoors working in a Caltech lab. Aneesa Andrabi is a research analyst at HR&A Advisors, an urban development consulting company in LA. She enjoys the beach and California’s mountains, and hates traffic. She would love to meet nearby Swatties! Jeremy Varon is pursuing a J.D. at UCLA. After a year as a research assistant at Princeton, Z.L. Zhou moved to sunny LA to pursue a linguistics Ph.D. at UCLA. Canaan Breiss, who moved to LA last year, and Maddy Booth ’15, fresh off a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, are also joining the linguistics department in pursuit of a Ph.D. They join Eleanor Glewwe ’12, who was already there … same pursuit. STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION Title: Swarthmore College Bulletin Publication Number: 0530-620 Date of Filing: 9/6/17 No. of Issues Annually: 4 Mailing Address of Known Office of Publications and Headquarters Office: 500 College Ave., Swarthmore, Delaware County, PA 19081-1397 Publisher: Swarthmore College Editor: Jonathan Riggs Average No. of Copies of Each Issue Published During Preceding 12 Months: A. Total No. Copies 25,893 B. Paid and/or Requested Circulation 1. Sales through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors and Counter Sales None 2. Mail Subscription 22,826 C. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation 22,826 D. Free Distribution Outside the Mail, Carrier or Other Means, Samples, Complimentary and other Free Copies 1,589 E. Total Distribution 24,415 F. Copies Not Distributed 1,539 G. Total 25,954 H. Percent Paid 93% Average No. of Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date: A. Total No. Copies 25,860 B. Paid and/or Requested Circulation 1. Sales through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors and Counter Sales None 2. Mail Subscription 22,807 C. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation 22,807 D. Free Distribution Outside the Mail, Carrier or Other Means, Samples, Complimentary and other Free Copies 1,665 E. Total Distribution 24,472 F. Copies Not Distributed 1,615 G. Total 26,087 H. Percent Paid 93% FALL 2017 / Swarthmore College Bulletin 71 spoken word A PARTNER IN THE PROCESS by Kate Campbell IN ADDITION to a fierce commitment to student access and affordability, Varo Duffins has two trademarks: a warm smile and a striking collection of bow ties. Swarthmore’s director of financial aid since 2015, he believes in collaboration across the board. “Students and parents presume that we are their partners,” he says. “We need to meet that expectation and mirror that perspective.” 72 Swarthmore College Bulletin / FALL 2017 What challenges will we face? Adapting the financial aid process to the increasingly changing pool of prospective students and making sure that access and affordability are sustained and remain equitable for students at all levels of financial need. Swarthmore’s ability to sustain loan-free financial aid awarding will be key. It not only supports affordability among current students, it enables our new graduates to gain a financial advantage (e.g. not having high student loan repayments) when an added debt burden might alter the timing of critical life choices. What helps you succeed at work? My prior roles in financial aid and admissions have allowed me to understand how students and parents view getting in, fitting in, and paying for college. These are key enrollment challenges of elite liberal arts colleges. At Swarthmore, our office works very hard to assist students with issues that cannot always be anticipated, to enhance our communication with students and parents, and to promote greater ease in completing the application process. What do you do outside work? I spend time with my family: my wife, Sharon; our cat, Luke; our dog, Chewie. I enjoy movies, ’80s music, fixing (sometimes breaking) things around the house and garage, reading, and learning to play the guitar. Since 2005, I have also been a board member of Kids’ Chance of Pennsylvania, working alongside workers’ compensation professionals to raise and award funds to college-bound children of those who have been seriously injured or killed in a work-related accident. I am humbled by the difficult circumstances these students and their families have faced, and by their courage in overcoming them. Why did you major in biology? I liked the way science courses made me think. Building, developing, and perfecting detail-specific processes were skills I would’ve needed as a biologist but that I also need in financial aid. What inspires you? Thoughtful on- and off-campus discussions surrounding increasing economic diversity and affordability, and working with a terrific experienced team to help students turn their dream to attend Swarthmore into a reality. LAURENCE KESTERSON LAURENCE KESTERSON Who inspired your leadership? My Little League baseball coach and teacher, Terry Eberly. He volunteered to coach 12-year-old boys, but his real intent was to develop us into young men. He attributed our every success and error to mental rather than physical effort and insisted on a code of conduct based on respect for our teammates and for ourselves. We went undefeated two summers in a row. He was brilliant, and his example has remained with me. in this issue 34 SYNCH AND SWIM All Together Now Honoring a golden era of Swarthmore synchronized swimming. by Jonathan Riggs MOMENT IN TIME At Orientation, students like Vivian Torres ’21 experience the magic of Swarthmore ... and make their own. FALL 2017 Periodical Postage PAID Philadelphia, PA and Additional Mailing Offices BEGIN AGAIN p4 TURTLE POWER p17 500 College Ave. Swarthmore, PA 19081–1306 www.swarthmore.edu SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN TREASURES OF THE COLLEGE ARRRRCHIVES FALL 2017 LAURENCE KESTERSON community Plunder your closets for Swarthmore memorabilia—we’re seeking donations! archives@swarthmore.edu swarthmore.edu/archives PRISON REFORM p38