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FALL 2016
Periodical Postage
PAID
Philadelphia, PA
and Additional
Mailing Offices
THE MUSIC MAN
p16
WITCH TRIAL
p12
A NATURAL WOMAN
p67
ISSUE
1
500 College Ave.
Swarthmore, PA 19081–1306
www.swarthmore.edu
VOLUME
CXIV
SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN
Politics,
not as usual
FALL 2016
E. PLURIBUS UNUM p18
LAURENCE KESTERSON
SEND IN THE CLOWNS p30
Facing an audience or a death-defying trapeze drop, aerial artist/clown
JOANNA WRIGHT ’08 knows all about fear. But no matter how upside
down the world may seem, clowns push through fear to find truth.
“So do Swatties,” she says.
HANG IN THERE
in this issue
40
MOMENT IN TIME
Mohammed Lotif, assistant
director of the Intercultural
Center, and Hanan Ahmed
’19 welcome students to
Swarthmore on Move-In Day.
VOTES FOR WOMEN!
I’m With Her...And Her...
And Her...And Her
Spotlighting women who ran for office before the
19th Amendment.
WENDY CHMIELEWSKI / HER HAT WAS IN THE RING
by Elizabeth Slocum
18
26
38
FEATURES
E. Pluribus Unum
How—and why—Swarthmoreans of all stripes stay
politically active.
by Jonathan Riggs
White House
Stagecraft
Running for president is
our nation’s highest-stakes
production.
by Josh King ’87
Class Is in Session
He’s changing the world,
one hip-hop hook at a time.
by Gina Myers
2
DIALOGUE
Editor’s Column
Letters
Community Voices
Joshua Ellow
Rewind
Elizabeth Marsh
Morrison ’66
Books
Global Thinking
Thomas Hjelm ’81
9
COMMON GOOD
Swarthmore Stories
Learning Curve
Ron Hurt ’67
Liberal Arts Lives
Gabe Hutter ’88
Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara ’08
43
CLASS NOTES
72
SPOKEN WORD
T. Shá Duncan Smith
WEB
EXCLUSIVES
BULLETIN.SWARTHMORE.EDU
MAESTRA, IF YOU PLEASE
Listen to a playlist of women
composers who inspire Elizabeth
Marsh Morrison ’66.
GETTING INVOLVED
Watch Tessa Chambers ’19
volunteer for Sean Barney ’98’s
congressional campaign.
THEIR HATS WERE IN THE RING
Explore a wealth of women’s
suffrage artifacts from the digital
humanities project.
SCIENCE!
Bookmark these biology mustreads, per L. Michael Romero
’88’s bookshelf.
FLORAL NINJAS
Follow Scott Arboretum’s
horticultural heroines in a
video and expanded feature.
YOU ART WHAT YOU EAT
View a gallery of Sharples trays
as students’ art canvases.
Alumni News and
Events
ON THE COVER
High-flying portraits of Joanna Wright ’08
by Laurence Kesterson
Profiles
Blood and Glitter Makeup
Barry Yourgrau ’70
Anna Hess ’00
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
1
dialogue
EDITOR’S COLUMN
Fellows of Most Excellent Fancy
SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN
Editor
Jonathan Riggs
Class Notes Editor
Elizabeth Slocum
Designer
Phillip Stern ’84
Photographer
Laurence Kesterson
Administrative/Editorial Assistant
Michelle Crumsho
Editorial Assistant
Cody McElhinny ’17
LAURENCE KESTERSON
Editor Emerita
Maralyn Orbison Gillespie ’49
bulletin.swarthmore.edu
facebook.com/SwarthmoreBulletin
instagram.com/SwarthmoreBulletin
Email: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
Telephone: 610-328-8435
JONATHAN
RIGGS
Editor
IN TIMES LIKE THIS heated, vitriolic election
cycle, it’s easy to despair. But look to your right,
to your left, and, of course, down at these pages
and take heart—we’re all in this together. So,
Swarthmoreans, let’s share a laugh as we leap forward as one: unbowed and unbroken, better and
braver, red noses and all.
Friends Forever
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
FALL 2016
The Swarthmore College Bulletin (ISSN
0888-2126), of which this is volume
CXIV, 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
Swarthmore College Bulletin, 500 College
Ave., Swarthmore, PA 19081-1390.
Printed with agri-based inks.
Please recycle after reading.
©2016 Swarthmore College.
Printed in USA.
I’M HAPPY JUST TO DANCE
WITH YOU
On a weekend in May 1954, I drove from
Connecticut to New York City to visit a high
school friend. When I arrived, he told me that
his friends were going to an open house at
Sarah Lawrence College and I could tag along.
There, I met a Japanese student and we went
to the Bronxville Inn, where we slow-danced,
twisted, and turned to the jukebox. She was fun
to dance with. Eventually, we noticed a room
where a band was playing. Inside, we saw people sitting at long tables, so we found one with
two vacant seats. When we learned we were
crashing a junior-college class reunion, that
didn’t stop us; we got up and danced.
As midnight approached, I walked her back
to her dorm. We sat together in the parlor for
about a half-hour, then she ran across the room
and up the stairs. I never saw her again.
Some years later, her name appeared in the
news in connection with the Beatles. I went to
my little black book and confirmed the name I’d
written there: Yoko Ono.
—CLARK DEAN ’53, Glencoe, Ill.
SAY SWAT?
Swarthmoreans before a certain period would never be caught calling the College “Swat” or themselves “Swatties”—not just avoiding the appellation,
struggling against it. Quaker roots and such. Never a
nickname synonymous with a blow. Sad to see paddleboard hazing become common parlance.
Perhaps it’s a different era. :(
—CHRIS KING ’68, Sherborn, Mass.
OVERHEARD ON OUR WEBSITE
Donny Thomas, you are an absolute gift to the
Swarthmore community (“Cook, Confidant, Community Leader,” summer 2016). I witness the care,
compassion, and service you provide to all students,
staff, and faculty at the College, and you truly play a
significant role in our experience.
—ISAIAH THOMAS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF
RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITIES
Thank you for making everything good, food and
community! Donny, you are a treasure.
—DIANE ANDERSON, ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
pr inted w
i
th
2
Send address changes to
records@swarthmore.edu
nd
e
+ WRITE TO US: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
Send letters and story ideas to
bulletin@swarthmore.edu
e c o-fri
It’s always a tragedy when someone dies young, as Dave Myers ’93 did at
46. We were close at Swarthmore but lost touch since graduating, so my
memories of him are frozen at college-age.
Dave’s passion for music most defined him. He taught himself to play
guitar, bass, drums, saxophone, and piano and would sneak down to the
Willetts basement at night to record new songs. His music was even what
got him admitted—instead of an essay, he submitted an original song with
lyrics about never abandoning your ideals.
Memories of a smiling, vivacious, and passionately driven Dave have
guided me ever since. After all, we still carry our years at Swarthmore
and those old versions of the people who shaped us there into our current
lives. Those versions still influence us, whether we’re in touch or not.
I hope my daughter will share a campus with friends who engage and
inspire her. Because those relationships, and the mark they leave on us,
will—thankfully—never die.
—CAITLIN GUTHEIL ’90, Portland, Maine
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.
ly
H-UV
ks
by
Courage Under Fire
LETTERS
in
Congratulations, Donny! Thank you for making us all
feel welcome. Here is a portrait I painted of you when
I was a student: bit.ly/DonnyThomas
—CYNTHIA BRIANO ’03, HUNTINGTON PARK, CALIF.
+
YOU’RE
WELCOME
I am delighted to
receive the Bulletin.
Thank you. I was a
student from 1939–40
and am 102 years old.
—HUAI YAN CHIEN,
Taipei, Taiwan
The Spanish Civil War (“One Gave All,” summer 2016)
has interested me since my dad, born in 1920, mentioned that he saw a recruiting poster for the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Cleveland about the time Joe
Selligman ’37 volunteered. My dad never joined.
No war makes sense, but some still say the Spanish Civil War was the last-ever fight between well-defined good and evil. In his memoir Men in Battle,
Lincoln brigadier Alvah Bessie says that those Americans who fought in this conflict were later ostracized
and persecuted as subversives and Communists after World War II. The Soviets were the only ones willing to support the duly elected Spanish Republic. The
Nazis and Mussolini’s fascists openly supplied the
right-wing military uprising under Francisco Franco.
Despite brigade volunteers from all over the world,
established democratic governments refused to act.
While I don’t support militarism of any kind, the
fact that a Swarthmorean felt strongly enough about
the darkening cloud of fascism to give his life impressed me. Thank you for printing his story, well-researched and written by Adam Hochschild.
—ROGER KARNY ’76, Denver, Colo.
I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S NOT BUTTER(ED)
I enjoyed reading about campus pranks (“Gotcha!” summer 2016), and one
of them—buttering the railroad tracks, attributed to alumni from the early
1970s—brought back memories.
I entered Swarthmore in summer 1944, and at that time there were 55
male civilian freshmen and 45 male civilian upperclassmen. Not all of the
upperclassmen were good influences on the impressionable freshmen,
and I remember being regaled with stories of campus pranks, including
the buttering of the railroad tracks, which had supposedly happened then
in the very recent past.
Thinking about it now, I suspect that this prank never took place, but
people liked to talk about it as a possibility. In the absence of an eyewitness, I think you better file this one under “Campus Mythology.”
—IRVING DAYTON ’48, Corvallis, Ore.
NATURE’S BEST
“Hungry for Change”
(summer 2016) says
remarkably little about
home gardening. Four
decades ago when I
developed myasthenia
gravis, I could walk
only about 100 feet
until I had to lie down
on a neighbor’s lawn to
get the energy to walk
home. My daughter
Lori Kenschaft ’87
convinced me that
exercising in my own
backyard by gardening
would be safer.
Fresh, organic food
(available only through
home gardening) made
my health improve
dramatically. Soon I
was raising almost all
of the family’s vegetables year-round 12 miles
from Manhattan with
no power machinery, no
poisons, and no commercial fertilizers. A
group of us started the
Cornucopia Network of
New Jersey to promote
local, organic food, and
I open my garden to the
public six times a year.
Anyone who wants
to join my gardening/
environmental list may
email me at kenschaft@
pegasus.montclair.edu.
—PAT CLARK
KENSCHAFT ’61,
Upper Montclair, N.J.
READ more responses at bulletin.swarthmore.edu
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
3
dialogue
COMMUNITY VOICES
PETER ARKLE
STIGMA-FREE SUPPORT
T
WO-AND-A-HALF
influences in popular children’s movyears ago, I began
ies and how stress or other mental
my journey at
health issues intersect with drug use.
Swarthmore as the
Last fall, with the help of commitCollege’s alcohol and
ted resident advisers, I launched eveother-drug (AOD)
ning programs in our dorms, where I
counselor and educator. But my real
present on the specific needs of those
journey began in 2005—when I started
student communities. Sometimes
my recovery from the devastating disthe focus is on party safety, whereas
ease of substance abuse.
a substance-free floor may prefer
I learned the cost of repeated drug
self-care strategies. In the past year, I
use the hard way. When
have met countless stuI sought help, I followed
dents through these small
by
standard advice, but I
groups, where they’ve felt
quickly learned there’s no
comfortable enough to
cookie-cutter treatment
open up to me and their
for addiction. Instead, a
peers.
customized action plan,
I’ve also launched a lecreviewed and altered annually, aided
ture series covering the diverse specmy recovery—and inspired my philosotrum of lifestyles, potential influences,
phy in supporting students’ health and
and cultural relations of drug and alcowellness.
hol use. Our most popular lecture
My goal at Swarthmore is to fill in
event, “AOD & Athletic Performance”—
the blanks: Where there’s a gap in subfor which Swarthmore’s athletics
stance-abuse information or support, I
department has been a great advowant to address it. But I also celebrate
cate—explores how even moderate
diversity by seeing each student as an
alcohol and other-drug use can affect
individual and each journey as unique,
someone’s progress or recovery time.
and I use that approach to develop
Another successful session has been
campus programming and support
“The 420 Experience,” a discussion
systems.
about the truths of cannabis. The proOne successful offering has been at
gram has received a lot of buzz, not
new student orientation, where I highleast because we offer “special brownlight topics such as alcohol and drug
ies” (made with love, not drugs).
JOSHUA ELLOW
Counselor
“I know firsthand how hard it can
be to look in the mirror, ask a
question, or reach out for help.”
4
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
FALL 2016
Besides these now-annual offerings,
I also promote new programs as students’ needs change, and I plan to
advocate for additional safe-drinking
spaces and substance-free activities.
In my road from recovery to discovery, I became increasingly conscious of
my values, influences, boundaries, and
repetitive lessons of my past. But most
important, I maintained an appreciation for those who found serenity in
ways that differed from mine. No two
paths toward recovery are the same; by
offering a range of support services, I
hope to guide all students compassionately and carefully.
Through these campus programs—
and the relationships developed
because of them—there’s been a sharp
increase in the number of students
choosing to meet with me individually:
One in three come on their own volition. These confidential spaces offer
the opportunity to accept each student for who they are, how they are,
and where they are on their journey.
Supporting a student’s ability to open
up about their concerns or problems
is crucial to their success. I never forget that, because I know firsthand how
hard it can be to look in the mirror, ask
a question, or reach out for help.
Ultimately, that’s what I find most
inspiring about Swarthmore: that community members are given the agency
to journey into a healthy future, however that is defined. With humor and
heart, I’m as committed to helping others as I am to my own recovery, and my
door is always open.
JOSHUA ELLOW is Swarthmore’s
alcohol and other-drug counselor and
educator.
LYDIA DANILLER
Educating students about addiction empowers them—and us all
REWIND: STRIKING ROCKS
Celebrating the power of female creativity
SWARTHMORE IN THE mid1960s was still two decades out
from its first women’s studies
program, and as a cellist in the orchestra, I never encountered music by a
woman. But my time there gave inspiration for a chamber music workshop
I organized last fall at Mills College in
Oakland, Calif., where 120 musicians
came together to play music by 21
great female composers.
I arrived at
by
Swarthmore in 1962,
excited to study Greek.
The classics department was a lively one,
with energetic students
’66
and a brilliant chair,
Helen North, one of just
six tenured female professors.
In the spring of 1965 we produced
Euripides’s play The Bacchae, in Greek,
in the Scott Amphitheater. I was in the
chorus, collectively the title character. The bacchae, or bacchants, were
women who had followed the god
Dionysus to Thebes, joined by Theban
women who abandoned their household duties to revel with them in the
hills. As we sang and danced outdoors, liberated (for the moment) from
papers and seminars, we brought the
bacchants to life with our bodies.
Euripides says they
struck rocks with their
sticks, or thyrsi, and
honey, milk, and wine
flowed forth. With
this indelible image
of female creativity in
mind, I set out into life,
thyrsus in hand, planning to strike as many rocks as I could.
Today I am a cellist and organizer
with Chamber Musicians of Northern
California, which holds weekend
ELIZABETH MARSH
MORRISON
workshops where amateur musicians gather to play. We’ve drawn our
music mostly from the illustrious male
canon; with the exception of an occasional piece by Clara Schumann or
Madeleine Dring, we haven’t featured
the work of many women.
I had become aware of the huge
number of mostly overlooked female
composers—the Norton/Grove
Dictionary of Women Composers lists
875. Recalling the bacchants—and
remembering, from the play’s shattering conclusion, what happens when
women’s creativity is excluded or dishonored—I resolved that our next
workshop would celebrate as many of
these artists as it could.
We did months of research, and it
was fascinating. A surprise was not
that there is so much music, or that it
is so good, but that many women were
once so famous. The English composer
Ethel Smyth, for example, is an exact
contemporary of Edward Elgar, and
they were equally renowned in their
day. Now Elgar is well-known, and
Smyth is a footnote. Nancy Dalberg
was acclaimed as the first Danish
woman to write a symphony; heard
much Dalberg lately?
The fact is, women have been composing amazing music forever. But to
live, it must be played. So last October
we gathered at Mills to play music by
Ethel Smyth, Ann Callaway, Louise
Farrenc, Dora Pejačević, Libby Larsen,
Emma Lou Diemer, Teresa Carreño,
Fanny Mendelssohn, Caroline Shaw,
Nancy Dalberg, Marie Dare, Imogen
Holst, Elizabeth Maconchy, Harriett
Bolz, Claude Arrieu, Gwyneth Walker,
Grażyna Bacewicz, Valerie Coleman,
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, and of course
Clara Schumann and Madeleine
Dring—bacchants, every one!
As I learned in Scott Amphitheater,
we honor female composers most
when we recreate their music with
our bodies. When we place them at
the center of our musical lives, they
reward us with their power, beauty,
and art. Through the whole marvelous weekend, I felt them all around us,
holding their thyrsi—honey and wine
flowing from every note.
+
HER PLAYLIST: bulletin.swarthmore.edu
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
5
dialogue
BOOK REVIEW
AUTHOR Q&A
FOR WOMEN WHO ARE READY TO BE
FIRESTORMS
UNDER PRESSURE: L. MICHAEL ROMERO ’88
Just how stress-related hormones help wild animals—as
opposed to humans and lab specimens—survive is relatively unknown. Tufts University biology professor L. Michael
Romero ’88’s Tempests, Poxes, Predators, and People: Stress
in Wild Animals and How They Cope (Oxford University
Press) represents an exciting leap forward for this field.
by Jasmine Rashid ’18
AT THIS MOMENT, women of color
in the U.S. remain underrepresented
in leadership positions. So when I
came across Colorful Leadership: How
Women of Color Transform Our World
(CoachDiversity Press), I was eager
to dive into what I knew would be an
insightful, nuanced, and empowering
read. What I didn’t anticipate, however, was that I would be doing more
than just reading—I would be joining
author Gloria Chan ’02 on a journey of
sisterhood and self-love.
In her book, Chan employs anecdotes, epiphanies, and advice developed over a life spent empowering
others to realize their capabilities in
their career and beyond.
Many of us are inspired by the
prospect of bettering our community. However, the challenge comes in
critically inspecting your own needs,
ideas, anxieties, and hopes—starting
with how you define “success.” Colorful
Leadership provides questions to ask
yourself, ways to practice sorting out
thoughts, and tips on how to act on
aspirations without making excuses.
A truly thoughtful tool, the book is
intimate and exhilarating. Although
it’s inspiring how Chan’s advice is
carefully crafted to women of color’s
beautiful, diverse stories and experiences—not to mention challenges and
opportunities—there’s something for
everyone to learn here. As she puts it,
“this book is for women who are ready
to be firestorms.” Transformative
What inspired you?
Essentially, stress in
nature is caused by
famine, predation,
weather, infectious disease, and social competition. Since only the
latter impacts most
Western humans, I hope
understanding stress in
wild animals will give us
insight into how stress
responses evolved. For
wild animals, there’s a
sixth: humans. I want us
to use our understanding
of stress physiology in a
conservation context.
change starts within, and the realness of Colorful Leadership serves as
a reminder that the world needs us to
step into power: individually, collectively, and in full color.
JASMINE RASHID ’18 is a founding
board member of the student group
Women of Color Kick Ass (WoCKA).
Where’d you research?
A bunch of us have been
in the high Arctic, up
in Alaska and Greenland, trying to understand birds’ hormonal
response to poor weather conditions. I’ve also
spent a number of years
studying marine iguanas in the Galapagos and
how stress hormones
help them survive famine caused by El Niño.
Favorite field stories?
I got invited by Fish and
Wildlife researchers to
go out onto the pack ice
to count the eider migration—eiders are deepsea-diving ducks that
come into Alaska to
breed. We turn around
and 80 yards away was
a polar bear, stalking us.
Talk about stress!
How did Swarthmore
shape you?
I was originally a double
major in math and philosophy, but I became
very good friends with
Professor Greg Florant,
who studied marmots.
He convinced me biology
was a wonderful way to
go and I followed in his
footsteps. We still collaborate.
What’s next for you?
Developing a better
theory of stress and
applying it to exploring
how human-caused disruption—especially the
global climate change—
affects the stress responses in animals.
+ ROMERO’S READING:
bulletin.swarthmore.
edu
HOT TYPE: NEW BOOKS BY SWARTHMOREANS
Mary Solberg ’68
A Church Undone
Fortress Press
6
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
FALL 2016
With the rise of Hitler,
a branch of German
Protestantism emerged
that sought to interpret the
role of the church in service
to Nazi ideology. By stripping Scripture of Judaic
ties and promoting a raft of
anti-Semitic propaganda,
the Deutsche Christen, or
“German Christians,” played
a significant—and complicit—role in the Third
Reich. For the first time in
English, Solberg, a religion
professor, presents sobering analysis of this group’s
writings “during a period
that cried out for ethical and
religious courage and found
very, very little of it.”
Joe McGinniss Jr. ’94
Carousel Court
Simon & Schuster
Almost a decade after his
acclaimed debut novel, The
Delivery Man, McGinniss’s
newest—“a bold, original,
and exhilarating novel of
marriage as blood sport”—
has drawn comparisons
to the cold eyes cast on
California by Joan Didion
and Bret Easton Ellis. It’s
the tale of a young couple
who follow the American
Dream to Los Angeles, but
find themselves drowning in a society as underwater as its real-estate market.
“Carousel Court is that alltoo-rare thing,” says its editor, “an ambitious literary
novel that’s also a genuine
page-turner.”
Katie Crawford ’93
mine
Deeds Publishing
Inspired by her grandmother’s life, Crawford’s
debut novel tells the coming-of-age tale of two sisters, steeped in grief and
love, regret and hope. Raised
in Pennsylvania coal country, their lives diverge in
unexpected directions, echoing always the twin loss of
their mother and other sister. Beautifully written and
deeply felt, mine plays upon
the notion of something possessed, something sought
after, and something subterranean—the human heart,
perhaps, or the ever-changing definition of “home.”
Maiah Jaskoski ’99
(co-editor)
American Crossings
Johns Hopkins University
Press
This collection of writings from nine scholars
explores the 2014 crisis that
unfolded when more than
60,000 unaccompanied children arrived in the U.S.
from Central America. “The
human tragedy of this surge
… highlights the complexity
of borders, even in a region
as peaceful and integrated
as the Americas,” Jaskoski
writes. The book explores
the myriad issues that led
to this swell, including violence and terrorist groups,
precarious economic factors,
and misinformation about
changes to U.S. immigration
policies.
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
7
common good
dialogue
SHARING SUCCESS AND STORIES OF SWARTHMORE
GLOBAL THINKING
REINVENTING RADIO
The world listens to his innovations
by Michael Agresta
8
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
FALL 2016
segment and close local reporting in
the next—and connect them to the possibilities of digital media, today and in
the future,” he says.
In his previous role as chief digital officer of New York Public Radio,
Hjelm led a partnership with The New
Yorker to create a new weekly podcast,
introduced new social tools for sharing audio, and pioneered Discover, a
mobile app for NPR member station
WNYC to reach a long-untapped radio
audience: underground rail commuters. By selecting from a list of general
topics and entering the length of their
commute, WNYC fans can download
personally tailored playlists.
From NPR’s national headquarters,
Hjelm has plans to develop more innovative digital products like Discover.
He also hopes to bring public radio’s
pledge drive tradition in line with digital-era fundraising possibilities.
“We were the original Kickstarter,”
Hjelm says. “It’s part of public radio’s
special compact with the public. Asked
to take proprietary interest in what we
do, our audience responds with amazing, generous support.”
Grounding his digital initiatives
in cherished NPR values comes naturally to Hjelm, who says the theme
music of All Things Considered still
reminds him of his family’s kitchen in
ON
THE
WEB
THOMAS HJELM ’81
Digital Visionary
the small Maine town where he grew
up. At Swarthmore, Hjelm even tried
his hand at disc jockeying, co-hosting
a weekly WSRN radio show with his
friend and fellow alumnus Jonathan
Franzen ’81. They named it A Clatter
of Platters (“and on a clear night you
could get it in the dorms,” he jokes).
His college radio show might not
have reached as many million listeners as NPR does, but Hjelm finds that
Swarthmore’s respect for social mission and civil dialogue is echoed in
the public-service “we bring you the
world” ethos at NPR. And he’s thrilled
to have found a home at a major media
company that holds itself to standards
that recall those of his alma mater.
“We have nothing to pander to here
except the intelligence of our audience,” he says.
OVER OUR HEADS
Take a video tour of one
of Swarthmore’s highest
sustainability offerings:
green-roof technology.
+ WATCH
bit.ly/SwatGreenRoof
BIRD’S THE
WORD
Connect with President
Valerie Smith on Twitter!
@PresValSmith
ARTPOP
Enjoy a talk given by
Tasha Lewis ’12 about
her book Illustrating
Ulysses, her Butterfly
Cascade installation in
McCabe Library, and the
life of an artist.
+ LISTEN
bit.ly/ArtistTL
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Experience a not-so-typical College day through
the video eyes of four
students: Kara Bledsoe
’16, Cal Barnett-Mayotte
’18, Iris Chan ’17, and
Grant Torre ’17.
+ VIEW
bit.ly/SwatGoPro
“My job is to reinterpret the core
values of public radio ... and connect
them to the possibilities of digital
media.”
LAURENCE KESTERSON
EARLIER THIS YEAR, Thomas
Hjelm ’81 became NPR’s inaugural
chief digital officer. It’s not the first
time he’s been asked to fill a brand-new
position at an established media company. Since the mid-1990s, Hjelm has
specialized in working without a map
to help lead such companies as NBC,
AOL, and New York Public Radio into
new eras of digital product, content,
and business development to engage a
new generation of global audiences.
Thirty years into a boundary-pushing career, Hjelm looks back on the
birth of the consumer internet with a
mixture of nostalgia and hindsight.
“What was exciting was that there
was no beaten path,” he says of his
years spent developing and producing an all-new “online network” of programming for NBC.com in the ’90s.
“The industry was unformed, the
stakes were low, and we had license to
experiment. At the time, my colleagues
and I probably felt that digital media
would eventually replace so-called legacy media. That hasn’t happened. On
the other hand, digital has bred new
voices, programs, and forms of connection that recast the relationship
between producer and audience.”
That hard-earned wisdom shapes
Hjelm’s vision for NPR, which boasts
a worldwide audience of 32.7 million
listeners, and where a popular credo
is “Radio isn’t going away. It’s going
everywhere.” While traditional radio
listening via broadcast is still popular,
platforms from the smartphone to the
connected car invite new forms of personalized, on-demand listening.
“My job is to reinterpret the core
values of public radio—things like
excellent journalism and inventive
audio narrative, the call-and-response
of smart conversation, the blending
of global and national coverage in one
LEARNING LAB
Women of
Science
by Randall Frame
BRAINS, BEES, BOWERBIRDS, BACTERIA—
these are just a few of the research topics 10
female Swarthmore students explored over the
summer via the Panaphil Foundation’s Frances A.
Velay Fellowship program.
“Thanks to this, I’m excited to pursue a Ph.D.
and research career in organic synthesis,” says
Sooyun Choi ’17, above with mentor Robert Paley.
Swarthmore is one of five Philadelphia-area
schools to benefit from this program, whose purpose is to promote women in science.
+ VELAY VIDEO AND STORY: bulletin.swarthmore.edu
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
9
common good
IVY ASHE
LAURENCE KESTERSON
LANGUAGE ARTS
Literary lions Philip Weinstein and Jonathan Franzen ’81.
THE COMEDY OF RAGE
WHEN PHILIP WEINSTEIN READ Jonathan Franzen
’81’s third and fourth novels, The Corrections (2001) and
Freedom (2010), he was stunned.
The Alexander Griswold Cummins Professor Emeritus
of English Literature wondered why he had not recognized
the power in the author’s earlier work and decided to write
a book analyzing his reaction. Franzen, whom he had known
not as a student but as a fellow teacher and friend, agreed to
the book, including Weinstein’s stipulation that he not read
it until it was finished.
The research for Jonathan Franzen: The Comedy of Rage,
“a literary study within a biographical frame,” was conducted
primarily through reading, email, and a long interview. Its
central premise is that Franzen had to develop a kind of
humorous detachment in order to write a truly great novel.
“The story of the life and the stories in the work are wonderfully interrelated. The work becomes friendlier as
Franzen becomes a more accomplished and mature writer,”
Weinstein says. “The comedy really helps him. It makes the
novels accessible to a wider range of readers.”
—ELIZABETH VOGDES
+ Q&A with Philip Weinstein: bulletin.swarthmore.edu
SERENDIPITY IN BLOOM
Ant-Man!
When it came to ants,
Carl Rettenmeyer ’53—
like the insects—more
than carried his weight.
The late biologist
dedicated his career
to collecting and photographing more than
100 army ant varieties
during trips to the rainforests of Central and
South America.
Now, the University
of Connecticut, through
a $500,000 grant from
the National Science
Foundation, is giving
Rettenmeyer’s work a
proper ant-thology.
The university, where
Rettenmeyer taught for
many years, will clean
and digitally catalog
2 million ant specimens
and related organisms
collected by Rettenmeyer and his wife, Marian,
over 50 years.
“There are so many
10
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
seemingly banal parts
of science that don’t get
glory but are fundamental,” says Liz Nichols,
Swarthmore assistant
professor of conservation biology, who herself digitized more than
18,000 dung beetles for
the American Museum
of Natural History. “Gluing ants’ feet back on is
FALL 2016
important to maintaining the legacy of a man
dedicated to collecting a part of the natural world we may never
have access to again.”
Cataloging began
this summer, with the
first of two exhibits set
to open at UConn early
next year.
—ELIZABETH
SLOCUM
STROLLING AROUND Swarthmore’s
campus, it is hard not to notice the captivating gardens that embrace it.
The work of certain Scott Arboretum
volunteers delights, educates, and
inspires—one arrangement at a time.
Twenty-six years ago, volunteer Barbara St. John made a flower
arrangement for a campus event using
a repurposed coffee can—innovating in
true Swarthmorean fashion—and voila,
a new tradition blossomed.
Each Monday, nine volunteer flower
arrangers take turns bouquet-shopping through the lush arboretum,
clipping what they’ll need to make a
display for a campus building or event.
While displaying the utmost respect
for the integrity of the gardens and
their plants, each volunteer draws on
her unique artistic vision to create her
arrangement using nature’s palette.
Please visit bulletin.swarthmore.
edu for an in-depth story and video
showing these craftswomen at work,
using our campus as their canvas.
“Nothing is planned,” volunteer
Helen Lightcap says about their art. “It
is serendipity.”
—MICHELLE CRUMSHO
Veldt
Adventure
G
ARDENING at home
in Massachusetts,
author and editor
Daniel Menaker ’63
says: “I’m almost as
good a weed whacker
as I am an editor. Weed whacking is
like editing the landscape.”
Soon to spring up is Menaker’s
seventh book, The African Svelte:
Ingenious Misspellings That Make
Surprising Sense, a clever concoction
of run-on chapters, each titled with a
“svelte”—the author’s name for misspellings that, despite their inaccuracy,
are, in their own way, plausible.
“Language is such a miracle,” says
Menaker, who graduated with high
honors in English literature, art history, and philosophy.
His journey to The African Svelte
began in fourth grade, when his teacher
asked whether anyone knew the names
of Christopher Columbus’s ships. A little girl raised her hand and answered
confidently, “The Atchison, Topeka,
and Santa Fe”—incorrect but with a
cadence closely resembling “the Niña,
Pinta, and Santa María.”
Delighted by the linguistic mix-up,
young Menaker wrote a letter to The
New Yorker that was published anonymously in “Talk of the Town.” He shared
his $50 honorarium with his classmate.
Years later, working at The New
Yorker, he happened to read the sentence, “The zebras were grazing on the
African svelte”; he found the “veldt”
error to be so “svelte” itself that he
started a list that grew to include
“ultraviolent radiation” and “the pillow
of his community.”
“And so dusk has fallen on the
African svelte,” he writes. “Time to end
this safari. Our quarry has been caught
and is herewith released, back into the
endless fields of our wonderful written
language.”
—CAROL BRÉVART-DEMM
Fiction editor of The New Yorker for two decades, Daniel Menaker ’63 is the author of seven
books, including a memoir, My Mistake, which includes many pages devoted to his time at Swarthmore. Read an extended version of this piece: bulletin.swarthmore.edu
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
11
common good
A HELPING
HEART
Twinkling eyes and all, Elise Stammelbach Welfling ’33 remained
close to Swarthmore her whole life.
It’s Au Revoir, Not Goodbye
BEFORE DYING in May at 104, Elizabeth “Elise” Stammelbach
Welfling ’33 may have been our oldest living graduate.
“To attend Swarthmore during the Depression years was a
financial challenge, but she was encouraged by her mother’s
strong commitment to higher education for women,” says daughter Elizabeth Welfling King ’63. “Swarthmore taught her how to
think, and its Quaker values helped make her who she was.”
Along with husband Weldon Welfling ’33 (who died in 1978),
this French major took pride in her alma mater.
“Elise has a twinkle in her eyes that just doesn’t go with lots of
studying, yet she is an honors student with a grand record,” wrote
the editors of the 1933 Halcyon. “Elise is all contradictions—
pleasant, surprising ones—and they make her the best company
in the world.”
A UNIQUE
GIFT
People often remember Swarthmore in their
estate plans, but donors almost always have
some connection to the
College. Not so with the
late Philip Block: Although he had no formal
association, the retired
electrical engineer left
Swarthmore more than
$300,000 in his will.
What inspired this
commitment? Research
Last fall, Pinar Karaca-Mandic ’98 was moved by
the heartbreaking photo of 3-year-old Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi, who drowned when the rubber raft on
which he was being smuggled to Greece flipped over.
A native of Turkey who is now an associate professor at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health, Karaca-Mandic took action, partnering
with the U.S.-based, all-volunteer organization Bridge
to Turkiye Fund, which supports the educational and
health-care needs of refugee children in Turkey.
She’s raised almost $60,000 in grass-roots donations as well as $70,000 more in grants from the
crowdfunding community Global Giving, which have
allowed refugee children to receive school supplies,
scholarships, language lessons, and arts classes.
She credits her fellow Swatties for their generosity in opening their hearts and wallets, but also for the
myriad ways in which they’re addressing injustice.
“Our sense of community and our responsibility
to think globally is engraved in our Swarthmore education,” she says. “It’s so sad to see suffering and
hard to find that moment to say, ‘I am the solution. I
need to change things.’ I am proud to say that I finally found that moment, even though I wish I had done
it earlier.”
—JONATHAN RIGGS
Reasons to adopt a greyhound (like Nisus above) from a tongue-incheek list Janet Lockard ’60 loves to quote: “They truly know the meaning of retirement,” “People will stare at your dog instead of at you,” and
“They don’t bark, keeping your neighborhood safe for burglars.”
Must Love Dogs
+ DONATE:
crowdrise.com/RisingforSyrianRefugeeChildren
bridgetoturkiye.org/syrian-refugee-children
12
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
FALL 2016
CARA EHLENFELDT ’16
THE WITCH OF CRUM CREEK
IN 1684, a Swedish woman who lived on
Crum Creek—Swedes settled here before
the English—was accused of witchcraft. A
court found her guilty of having the reputation of being a witch. Of course, this said
nothing about whether she really was one,
but witchcraft wasn’t actually illegal.
There is a story attached, which might not
be true, that William Penn was one of the
judges. Legend has it, he asked the woman
whether she could fly on a broomstick. The
woman said she could, and Penn said that he
knew of no laws in Pennsylvania prohibiting
flying on broomsticks. So he let her go.
—CHRISTOPHER DENSMORE
conducted on fuel-cell
technology by Alex Bell
’09 and Andres Pacheco ’09 when they were
seniors at Swarthmore.
After learning about
their work on a fuel-cell
website, Block wrote
them saying he and his
wife “were convinced
that the school is turning out some very capable engineers” and
concluding that leaving
a bequest to Swarthmore would be “a wise
investment.”
—RANDALL FRAME
“WHEN I GOT MY first greyhound in 2003, I had been
retired for a year, and the Aeneid was fresh in my mind,”
says former AP Latin teacher Janet Lockard ’60. “I just
had to name the first dog Achates, after Aeneas’s faithful companion, and the second Creusa, after his Trojan
wife.”
Continuing the trend are her two current dogs, Nisus
(Aeneas’s fastest man) and Ilione (a Trojan princess).
While their classical namesakes suffered tragic fates,
Lockard is determined that these beautiful animals
won’t.
Racetracks dispose of greyhounds once their careers
are over—whether that’s due to injury, inability to compete, or reaching the maximum age of 5—and so Lockard
volunteers for a nonprofit, Greyhound Friends for Life
(GFFL), which rescues them.
Founded in 1991 and completely volunteer-run, GFFL
is primarily based in the Northern California/San
Francisco Bay area and has placed more than 3,000 greyhounds into forever homes.
“The shared experience of living with and loving these
amazing creatures creates a tremendous bond, almost
as strong as having gone to Swarthmore,” says Lockard.
“I’ve lived alone for a long time, and my dogs are my family. Greyhounds stir my soul and it means everything to
me to help save them.”
—JONATHAN RIGGS
+ MAKE A TAIL WAG:
TRAY BIEN
Creating art on Sharples trays (like this
dragony palimpsest) is a longstanding
Swarthmorean tradition. See a gallery and
share your own: bulletin.swarthmore.edu
adopt-a-greyhound.org
greyhoundfriendsforlife.org
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
13
common good
2016’s Hall of
Fame Inductees
LEARNING CURVE
CARING COMMUNICATOR
by Roy Greim ’14
Connecting with others has been a
lifelong theme for Ron Hurt ’67
This year’s honorees will enter the
Garnet Athletics Hall of Fame
Oct. 28 during Garnet Weekend.
by Elizabeth Vogdes
1. THE 1996 FIELD HOCKEY
TEAM made the program’s
only appearance in the NCAA
Tournament and finished the
season 15-4.
2. GLORIA EVANS DILLENBECK
DODD ’47 went undefeated
in tennis and badminton and
was a multiple Middle States
Intercollegiate Champion in
tennis. She later became a global
ambassador for platform tennis.
2
3. Swimmer JACKIE HEINEMAN
GIDAS ’76 was the first female
student-athlete in Swarthmore
history to earn All-American status.
4. JOKOTADE AGUNLOYE
GREENBERG ’01, one of
Swarthmore’s most decorated
distance runners, earned AllAmerican honors in the 5,000- and
10,000-meter runs her senior year.
3
4
6. ALAN VALENTINE ’21 won a
gold medal as a player-coach for
U.S. rugby at the 1924 Olympics.
He went on to be the youngest
president in University of Rochester
history and led the Marshall Plan
for postwar economic recovery in
the Netherlands.
5
14
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
FALL 2016
6
UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER DEPARTMENT OF RARE BOOKS,
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, AND PRESERVATION
5. In a program that boasts 90 AllAmericans and over a century of
competition, men’s lacrosse player
JOE VALIS ’83 was Swarthmore’s
most prolific goal-scorer.
ONE OF RON HURT ’67’s more formative Swarthmore
experiences didn’t happen in a College course.
Along with many other students in those tumultuous
Vietnam War-era days, Hurt took time off to contemplate his
future, landing what he called an “extraordinary” job on campus teaching a class of emotionally disturbed high school students not much younger than himself. (A special branch of
the Delaware County public school system opened in one of
the Mary Lyon buildings.)
“I felt such a close connection with the kids,” he says, gratified by his ability to reach his students.
The Ohio native eventually returned to his political science
studies, the debate team, and the Phoenix before graduating in 1970, giving a few anti-war speeches at local churches
along the way.
Over the subsequent half-century, Hurt built a career in
communications. A reporter for small newspapers in Eugene,
Ore., and Media, Pa., then an editor at the University of
Pennsylvania’s publications office, Hurt later joined the marketing, advertising, and public relations departments at large
corporate offices, including CIGNA, Metlife, and Prudential,
where he was also responsible for video production.
When Hurt retired in 2012, he didn’t know another communications project was in his future: His wife, Pam, a longtime nursing-home volunteer, proposed creating comforting
video programming for “the isolated elderly”—who may be
struggling with loneliness as well as health and cognitive
issues—as an alternative to commercial television.
Ron was eager to help, and the couple founded a nonprofit, ElderReach. Envisioning a kind of “Mister Rogers’
Neighborhood for the elderly,” they consulted with Ron’s
SASHA DALE PHOTOGRAPHY
1
friend Sam Newbury ’67, who produced that show for 30
years. Today, Hurt works with his wife full time on this mission, writing and producing demonstration videos and raising funds to serve this burgeoning, vulnerable, and often
low-income population.
“I’m delighted to be able to make a contribution to an
underserved and generally neglected group of people,” says
Hurt. “Who wouldn’t want to do that?”
+ CONNECT WITH KINDNESS: elderreach.org
“I’m delighted to be able to make a contribution to
an underserved and generally neglected group.”
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
15
common good
LIBERAL ARTS LIVES
GABE HUTTER ’88
Children’s Musician
“In my performances, everyone finds something that they enjoy,” says “Mr. Gabe” Hutter ’88
with young fan Orin Pribich. “And afterwards the kids all give me high-fives.”
LIBERAL ARTS LIVES
SING-ALONG SUPERSTAR
His career came full circle—to circle time
by Elizabeth Slocum
Stay-at-home dad Gabe Hutter ’88 was
surfing job sites at a café when inspiration
struck: From the next room, he overheard a
children’s music performance.
“It was terrible,” he says with a laugh,
“but it also made me think, maybe I should
give this a try.”
After all, he’d spent years delighting his
children, Sarah and Jacob, with his own
rocking renditions of kids’ songs, and had
performed as a guitarist while a history major at Swarthmore.
Armed with a few songs and his witty, easygoing charm, Hutter booked a circle-time slot at the public library in his
town in Maryland. When his act proved a
hit—praising his “dexterous guitar-playing”
and “cheerful arrangements,” the librarian dubbed him “the Pied Piper of Takoma
Park”—a (twinkle, twinkle little) star was
born.
And so, with the support of his wife, Jenny Ruark ’87, Hutter ended his job search to
pursue a path as Mr. Gabe, children’s musician.
Gigs grew to include D.C.-area festivals,
and he added a violinist and bassist to his
band, the Circle Time All-Stars. His two
CDs—2012’s Play Date and 2015’s Metro
Train—each won a Parents’ Choice Award
and include sing-along standbys as well as
original material like “Brian the Lazy Lion,”
“I Wanna Be a Garbage Man,” and “That’s
the Way It Goes,” a stirring celebration of
family in any form it may take.
Mr. Gabe’s catchy songs, many of which
draw on his experiences as a stay-athome parent, have been a hit with kids
and grown-ups alike, giving his CDs staying power in car stereos and his act standing-room-only sales. His success reflects
his service to and respect for his audience,
who deserve the very best, he believes.
“I’m not the world’s most proficient musician, but I take the songs very seriously,”
Hutter says. “You can have fun with kids’
music. Why shouldn’t it be as good as any
other kind?”
+ SING ALONG with Mr. Gabe:
mrgabemusic.com
16
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
FALL 2016
“I care a lot about social-justice issues and serving community,” says Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara ’08, “so anthropology was just a natural fit.”
CONVERSATION
STARTER
For her, anthropology
equals advocacy
by Elizabeth Slocum
EVERYONE NEEDS an anthropologist, says Nicole Nfonoyim-Hara
’08—a listener, learner, and leader
who understands the core of their
community.
Nfonoyim-Hara does just that in
Rochester, Minn. Using skills developed at Swarthmore—and honed
through Fulbright research in Spain,
international development work, and
a master’s at Oxford—Nfonoyim-Hara
has become a megaphone for the city’s
unheard voices.
“I liked the way anthropology
focused on the micro-scale of culture
and how it impacts people’s political
realities,” says the writer, consultant,
and community organizer. As a woman
of mixed heritage (Nfonoyim-Hara is
of Camaroonian, Afro-Costa Rican,
and Indian descent), “that was something that spoke very much to my own
experiences—and the experiences of
my communities.”
After a decade without a solid home
base, Nfonoyim-Hara eagerly integrated herself into Rochester, where
husband Seth ’08 is a biomedical engineer for the Mayo Clinic. She began
moderating diversity discussions for
the Rochester Civic Theatre; her successful talk on the politics of black hair
led to plans for community dialogues
on feminism and on racial justice and
policing, in light of the Minnesota
shooting of Philando Castile.
“There are a lot of conversations
happening now about race and culture
and how people are navigating that in
this community,” she says.
Those conversations extend to
diversity discussions as the Mayo
Clinic expands. Nfonoyim-Hara is
lending her voice to advocate for social
and economic justice, and keeping
local interests central to these development initiatives.
With every project, her goal remains
the same: to shed light on those in the
shadows. “Anthropology opened up a
lot of doors into my thinking about the
world and how I existed in it,” she says,
“and how best I could help other communities.”
NICOLE NFONOYIMHARA ’08
Anthropologist
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
17
E
PLURIBUS
UNUM
How—and why—Swarthmoreans of all stripes
stay politically active
LAURENCE KESTERSON
by Jonathan Riggs
18
BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
FALL 2016
“I believe, as JFK did, that public service is honorable,” says
Sean Barney ’98, who never asks his team to tackle any job on
the campaign trail he wouldn’t do himself. “You have to be the
change you want to see.” FALL 2016 / Swarthmore College Bulletin
19
EAN BARNEY ’98 is running for Congress in Delaware. In a
way, so is his 6-year-old daughter, Sophie. In addition to her
behind-the-scenes support, she’s sat in on party meetings,
attended public debates, and accompanied her parents to the
polls.
It’s a far cry from his own youth, which Barney admits
wasn’t politically engaged or even aware—it wasn’t until a
high school teacher challenged him to know and take moral
responsibility for the events of elected officials that he had
his own awakening.
“Once you look around at the world, you see just what’s
at stake politically: people’s ability to achieve their potential and flourish,” he says. “Everything starts with being
FIGHTING THE POWER
In 2011, Occupy Wall Street looked like a movement that
was going to change the world. After its collapse, Occupy
co-founder Micah White ’04 moved to rural Oregon, where
he worked out for himself what went wrong—and what went
right—in the book The End of Protest: A New Playbook for
Revolution.
“The beautiful thing about Occupy is that it completely
woke up a whole new generation of activists and changed
the discourse,” he says. “Overall, it was a positive thing, but
I think it’s necessary to see it as a constructive failure; otherwise we’re unable to move forward and achieve something greater, especially in this time when political protest is
broken.”
The problem, White finds, is the prevalence of a riskaverse protest industry, which exploits the good intentions
and enthusiasm of activists by funneling their energy and
efforts into safe, scripted protests that harmlessly distract
rather than actually disrupt. As a result, many protesters
today now confuse media attention with success. He points
to how the anger and insistence on sweeping change that
fueled Occupy—and, more recently, the Bernie Sanders and
Donald Trump presidential campaigns—ultimately ended
“IT MAKES ME SO PROUD TO SEE MY DAUGHTER PARTICIPATING, ASKING
QUESTIONS, AND THINKING ABOUT WHAT AMERICAN POLITICS MEAN.”
—SEAN BARNEY ’98
20
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
FALL 2016
—MICAH WHITE ’04
LUANA SHANTI RÒ
S
informed, because then you will be moved to be involved.”
When he and his wife, Nikki, made the decision for him
to run, they kept that thought in mind and how it applied
to Sophie. And now, sharing this experience and seeing it
through her eyes has been a powerful reminder that the
political process isn’t a far-off soap opera of partisanship
and power; instead, it’s a living, breathing system that truly
belongs to—and affects—all of us.
“It makes me so proud to see my daughter participating,
asking questions, and thinking about what American politics
mean,” he says. “No matter what happens with my campaign,
I hope that this will influence her to be, at the very least, an
active, engaged citizen throughout her life.”
That’s a goal endemic to the Swarthmore ethos, and it’s
no surprise to see the myriad ways in which alumni remain
politically involved, informed, and inspired.
“THE BEAUTIFUL THING ABOUT
OCCUPY IS THAT IT COMPLETELY
WOKE UP A WHOLE NEW
GENERATION OF ACTIVISTS AND
CHANGED THE DISCOURSE ... BUT I
THINK IT’S NECESSARY TO SEE IT
AS A CONSTRUCTIVE FAILURE.”
“My son’s not even a year old, but it’s important to expose him to the
idea of activism,” says Micah White ’04. “His perspective will be very
different from mine, no doubt—he was born in rural Oregon, for example.
I hope he’ll be one of the greatest activists of all time, but it’s up to him.”
up defanged in service of the status quo. That really hit home
when White was shopping his book.
“No American publisher would touch it: It had to be published in Canada and imported into the U.S.! Eerily, they all
said the same thing, that there was no market. That’s ridiculous when hundreds of thousands of people protest in
America every day,” he says. “So what they’re really saying is
that they won’t sell a book like this.”
Ultimately, he hopes that the future of protest will benefit from the example of Occupy—taking advantage of the
opportunities afforded by a leaderless organization that gains
worldwide momentum from social media, but better navigating the challenges of decentralization and the pitfalls of
“clicktivism”—while innovating in necessary ways, since protests should never repeat themselves.
White’s history of activism dates back to high school—his
acceptance letter to the College included a personalized note
saying, “Welcome to Swarthmore, where constructive activism is always celebrated.” Experiencing the current political cycle with his wife and their infant son in a town of 280
people has inspired him to dream of a new movement, where
activists win election in multiple rural communities across
the country to realize the left’s utopian agenda.
“Protest may be broken, but we can fix it by looking at history, reading theory, and gathering ourselves,” he says. “I’m
absolutely going to be part of the next revolutionary wave,
whether that happens now or five years from now.”
JUDGING THE DISTANCE
Before she spent 25 years as a lawyer—and another 25 as a
New York judge—Felice Klau Shea ’43 was a political science
major who navigated Swarthmore in just seven semesters.
“It was war time and the College was in session all year
round,” she says. “I was eager to go to Washington to do my
part, so when I realized I had enough credits to graduate by
dropping out of the honors program, I did.”
After a three-year hiatus, during which she worked for the
federal government, got married, and started a family, Shea
made it to Columbia Law School, where she was one of 10
women in a class with 235 men. (Serendipitously, one of her
classmates was Isabella Horton Grant ’44, who later became
a judge in San Francisco.) Although public service was
always her goal, Shea knew that she had few other options as
a lawyer.
“Women weren’t even interviewed for big firms when
I graduated from law school. That’s of course very different today,” she says. “Not that I think women have achieved
equal status and equal pay—we have not—but we’ve certainly
come a long way since 1950.”
Shea started her career in academia and continued by
representing indigent clients at the Harlem Branch of the
Legal Aid Society. In 1975, when Shea was elected to the
bench, she shared the honor of being the first Swarthmorean
woman to become a judge with Mary Murphy Schroeder
’62. Shea’s rise was rapid: In less than two years as a judge in
New York City’s civil and family courts, she was named an
acting New York State Supreme Court justice and then, six
years later, won her seat on the court in an election.
Even after her retirement in 2000, she remained active
as a volunteer attorney for children in the Juvenile Rights
Division of the Legal Aid Society, as a referee in judicial disciplinary matters, and as a board member of the Correctional
Association of New York, an advocacy group for prisoners.
FALL 2016
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“NOT THAT I THINK WOMEN HAVE
ACHIEVED EQUAL STATUS AND
EQUAL PAY—WE HAVE NOT—BUT
WE’VE CERTAINLY COME A LONG
WAY SINCE 1950.”
LAURENCE KESTERSON
—FELICE KLAU SHEA ’43
“Being active in politics, community, and taking a role in seeing that
we get public officials who are going to make the changes we need are all
very important,” says Felice Klau Shea ’43. “Swarthmoreans are among
those who are going to be the most active. They’re the people who are
going to change the world.”
“I sent an awful lot of people to prison, and I was very frustrated on the bench by the mandatory sentencing laws that
strip judges of discretion,” she says. “I want to see the law
changed and mass incarceration attacked more vigorously.”
Another issue of crucial importance to Shea is judicial
selection. Although electing judges sounds democratic, she
says that lay people are often not informed voters when it
comes to judicial choices and that a merit-based system of
appointing judges is preferable.
Much work lies ahead, but she’s pleased at how much the
legal, political, and professional landscapes have changed
over the course of her career, especially when talking to
her granddaughter, who grew up watching her in court and
became a practicing lawyer.
“We’re very close and it’s gratifying to me that she has
opportunities that were unthinkable when I was a young
lawyer,” Shea says. “The fact that women now number among
the highest ranks of professionals and leaders of this country is certainly a good feeling. Still, we lag behind many countries in workplace support for combining family and work
and in provisions for child care—omissions that disproportionately affect women. Some things haven’t changed.”
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FALL 2016
COMPASSION AND COMMUNITY
If it weren’t for his addiction to The West Wing during college, Dennis Cheng ’01 might never have ended up the national
finance director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
“In high school and college, my focus had always been
more on international relations and foreign policy,” he says.
“But that show got me excited about elections and politics.”
A co-founder of Swarthmore’s mock trial team and an
experienced Alumni Phonathon fundraiser, Cheng changed
his plans from law school to public service and became a
summer intern for Hillary Clinton in 2000, during the thenfirst lady’s historic Senate run.
The experience proved so formative that he took the first
semester of his senior year off to work through Election
Day. After graduation, Cheng went on to serve as a staffer
on a series of campaigns, including current New York Gov.
Andrew Cuomo’s initial run for that office, but got the opportunity to return to then-Sen. Clinton’s camp in 2005.
“Her record of public service, commitment, and tenacity
is what inspired me to take that first step in getting involved,
and the last 16 years have been such an amazing experience,”
he says. “For me, this is not just a profession but it’s personal—I want to make sure that we elect the best and most qualified candidate to be our president.”
From previous stints as Clinton’s deputy chief of protocol
in the State Department to chief development officer of the
Clinton Foundation to today, Cheng has earned a reputation
for discreet excellence over colorful showmanship, which, as
this election has proved, isn’t always the norm.
“Politics shouldn’t be about being the loudest person in
the room, but about working hard and doing this for the right
reasons. Thoughtful, deliberate, and disciplined thinking
should pay off,” he says. “It’s not just important for our political leaders to find respectful, productive, and rational common ground—it’s important for all of us, every single day.”
Cheng’s commitment to clear-eyed community-building
echoes in all he does, and he makes it a point to credit his fellow behind-the-scenes political staffers whose names and
contributions may never be as familiar to the general public
as those of the candidates whom they support, but without
whom our system couldn’t function.
All of us have our part to play, and even if the outcome of
the election doesn’t go his candidate’s way, Cheng believes
that sitting out is never a political option—just an opportunity to work harder and contribute more. But if it does, the
busy fundraiser whose phone never stops ringing is willing to
make a brief exception.
“I’ll be celebrating on a remote tropical island,” he says,
“with no cell service.”
THE RIGHT TO BE ON THE RIGHT
This election cycle, both major parties have been especially
vicious in proclaiming the other’s candidate to be not just the
worst in history, but ostensibly dangerous. What gives?
“Look, both parties are struggling through an identity crisis,” laughs conservative strategist Ford O’Connell ’00. “But
what many fail to remember is that these parties are not ideological vessels, but competing enterprises designed to win
elections.”
Writ large, the rivalry between Republicans and Democrats
has been monetized and fetishized, not unlike the way certain
pro sports rivalries become shorthand for a person’s identity.
Although this “us vs. them” mentality creates camaraderie
among voters, O’Connell says it comes at a cost when compromise is swept off the table in favor of blood sport.
“Frankly, when you have two even-footed opponents battling for the hearts and minds of voters, the system tends to
work better because more points of view are brought into
the discussion,” he says. “But with social media and the 24/7
cable networks, each side has created its own echo chamber
so it’s hard for some individual voters to get outside of that.”
Acknowledging the irony of this statement coming from
a longtime political analyst on Fox News—while also pointing out the inherent liberal bias of the media—O’Connell says
this isn’t a partisan problem: This presidential campaign has
exposed intense anger on both sides that no election result
will completely heal. The answer, he believes, is for both
sides—third parties being seductive but impractical solutions—to undergo complete makeovers, including embracing
split-ticket voting, ending gerrymandering, and revamping
the Electoral College.
An iconoclast like Donald Trump has the potential to
make that happen, he says, pointing to parallels between this
election and 1980’s, when another system-bucking celebrity
won the White House and changed the face of American politics. For O’Connell to make a Reagan comparison—seeing as
the Gipper is one of his lifelong heroes and his grandfather
served as one of his advisers—is no small praise.
No matter the outcome of this or any election, O’Connell
remains energized by the political process, seeing even this
bruising presidential campaign not as a harbinger of disaster, but as proof of the remarkable principles and system on
which the United States was founded.
“For as much grief as modern history departments give
the Founding Fathers, they built a lot of checks and balances
in our system to make it work,” he says. “Besides, we all have
to wake up and move forward together on Nov. 9.”
51 MILLION MORE CRACKS IN THE GLASS CEILING
Last year, Glamour editor-in-chief Cindi Leive ’88 spearheaded the creation of a new digital channel, The51Million.
com. Named for the number of eligible female voters in 2016
under age 45, the site expands on Glamour’s political coverage at a particularly auspicious moment in time.
“I don’t think any of us could have predicted the extent to
which sexism in the coverage of the election and on the part
of the candidates would play a role,” she says. “The conversation around women, gender, and justice in this campaign is
at a fever pitch—and we’re not through yet.”
POWER PLAYERS: Their politics, perspectives, and paths may differ, but Dennis Cheng ’01 (Hillary Clinton’s national finance director), Cindi
Leive ’88 (Glamour’s editor-in-chief ), and Ford O’Connell ’00 (a conservative analyst who appears on Fox News) pride themselves on what they
learned and how they grew at Swarthmore.
FALL 2016
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—GILBERT GUERRA ’19
To facilitate this and other political conversations across
the spectrum, Leive also partnered with Facebook to launch
a series of town-hall discussions around the country to focus
on women’s issues while highlighting women’s voices.
Throughout, Leive’s seen many nuances play out, particularly when it comes to millennial women who have grown up
in a postfeminist world without encountering sexism on the
level that previous generations faced.
“I don’t want to generalize, but it’s an interesting divide:
They may or may not decide to support Hillary Clinton, but
they feel completely convinced that there will be a female
president—not just within their lifetime, but soon,” she says.
“Whereas some older women feel that, as women, we should
support Hillary Clinton because we all want to put a woman
in the White House now.”
Despite the tenor of this year’s campaign—as well as the
relative paucity of women in Congress and at the top levels
of business—reflecting just how deeply fault lines of sexism
and inequality run, Leive sees many opportunities to use her
position to even the playing field.
After all, women’s magazines have a long history of tackling weighty issues—Glamour was one of the first magazines to not only cover but advocate for the Equal Rights
Amendment, for example, and launched the industry’s first
nonprofit, The Girl Project, which helps girls in 95 countries
gain access to secondary-school education.
In fact, Leive can trace her own interest in politics to
her mother’s. When she was 3, her family lived in northern Virginia down the road from the Kennedy family. During
the height of Watergate—which Leive’s mother followed
intently—the Kennedys hosted a community pet fair.
“I had this mangy kitten who clearly wasn’t going to win
best in show, so my mom dressed her up with a kerchief and
a watch for the costume contest,” Leive recalls with a smile.
24
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
FALL 2016
“When whichever Kennedy was judging that category asked
me to explain my cat’s costume, my mom had me say, ‘She’s
crying and counting the seconds until Richard Nixon is
impeached.’ She won.”
WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL
The first-generation American son of Mexican parents in
rural Mississippi, Gilbert Guerra ’19 grew up in the only
immigrant family in a county named after Nathan Bedford
Forrest, the Ku Klux Klan’s original Grand Wizard.
As a high schooler considering the Marines, Guerra never
thought college was an option until he was invited to the
all-expenses-paid overnight Discover Swarthmore program.
“It was my first time on the East Coast, my first time on a
college campus, and my first time meeting a Democrat,” he
laughs. “It was eye-opening, but I vibed so well with the people that I knew Swarthmore was the place for me.”
Advocating as he did for gay marriage and immigration
reform, Guerra counted himself liberal-leaning, at least
compared with his hometown friends, but by the end of his
first semester, he discovered that his beliefs actually lay further right. When he took public stances against two popular liberal causes—using the “Latinx” neologism to make the
Spanish language more gender-neutral and Swarthmore’s
proposed social-justice academic requirement—Guerra was
frequently the lone voice of conservative dissent.
“I’m used to it, growing up in places where the deck is
stacked against me, and I think every conservative student
has horror stories,” he says. “But what really surprised me
about Swarthmore is that I can be vocal about what I believe
and my friends will stick up for me, even if they don’t agree.”
In fact, Guerra made many friends in situations where
he respectfully disagreed with the consensus. His co-president of Achieving Black & Latino Leadership & Excellence
(ABLLE), Pat Houston ’17, is not only a devoted liberal, but
also a treasured friend and teammate.
“The best thing about my life here is that I love and cherish
people who vehemently disagree with me on many things,”
Guerra says, “and that they love and cherish me, too.”
A supporter of Republican candidates capable of reaching across the aisle, such as Rand Paul and John Kasich, he
thinks it’s important for people all over the political spectrum to condemn Donald Trump for his rhetoric and racism.
“I’m probably a lot more sympathetic to his supporters
than most here, but Trump makes it hard to convince people that the Republican Party is not a party of hate,” Guerra
says. “I liked Marco Rubio a lot because his positions were
really well-thought-out, nuanced, and optimistic, but now
I’m probably going to go for Gary Johnson.”
As demoralizing as many have found this election cycle,
Guerra has never lost the optimism instilled in him by his
parents, despite—and because of—their sacrifices.
“When my parents moved to the U.S., they had no English
or money. They faced horrible racism—my dad would
go for factory jobs and get told to his face, ‘We don’t hire
Mexicans,’” Guerra says. “As discouraged as they would get,
they would still sit us down and say, ‘Do you realize how
lucky you are to be in this great country?’
LAURENCE KESTERSON
“THE BEST THING ABOUT MY LIFE
HERE IS THAT I LOVE AND
CHERISH PEOPLE WHO
VEHEMENTLY DISAGREE
WITH ME ON MANY THINGS,
AND THAT THEY LOVE AND
CHERISH ME, TOO.”
“Social-media activism is a lost cause. When’s the last time someone’s angry Facebook argument swayed you?” asks Gilbert Guerra ’19. “I engage
people politically by inviting them to dinner or showing up to actual meetings—face to face is more honest and respectful.”
“Yes, there are a lot of things we need to reform, but I have
an inborn bias to say that our political system is not broken,”
he adds. “From what I’ve experienced with how people have
treated me here, I have too much faith in humanity not to
have hope for us all.”
ELECTING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
For Sean Barney to be alive, let alone run for office, is a miracle: After enlisting in the Marines after 9/11, he was shot
through the neck by a sniper in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2006.
“I’m alive today only because the Marines I served with and
the Navy corpsman who was with us that day are heroes,” the
Purple Heart recipient says, describing how they got him to
a surgical center in only 12 minutes. “That Navy corpsman
used his fingers to pinch off the bleeding from my jugular and
he refused to let go until surgeons in the operating room gave
him the signal that it was OK to do so.”
Remembering that moment and that man—not to mention his own journey as a recovering veteran—echoes in every
aspect of Barney’s campaign, which has special focuses on
gun control, LGBT equality, expanding and protecting Social
Security and Medicare, and, of course, veterans’ rights.
“It’s not a coincidence that we have fewer veterans in
Congress today than at any point in our history,” says
Barney, a Democrat. “Veterans have ingrained experience in
putting the country first over personal advancement, and we
need more of that again in our politics.”
That same spirit is what drew him to Swarthmore and its
mission statement that invokes the idea of developing individuals to be informed, responsible citizens and humans.
Ultimately, it’s his best hope for his daughter, Sophie, too.
On a recent trip to Washington, D.C., he bought her a
T-shirt that says, “Future President,” but will leave it up to
her to decide to run for office one day. His hope is that everything he does as a citizen and—voters willing—an elected
official will pave the way for a better future for us all.
“I hope my daughter will aspire to make a difference
politically in whatever way is meaningful to her,” he says.
“Knowing Swarthmore and loving it, I see that’s the hallmark of our community.”
+ WATCH A VIDEO of Tessa Chambers ’19, a campaign volunteer
for Sean Barney ’98: bulletin.swarthmore.edu
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
25
Running for president is our nation’s
highest-stakes production
by Josh King ’87
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FALL 2016
CHRISTOPHER WEYANT
WHITE
HOUSE
STAGECRAFT
T
HIS FALL, Swatties
return to campus—or
arrive as freshmen for
the first time—against
the backdrop of a
once-in-a-collegecareer event: a presidential election.
When I pulled up to College Lane for
my sophomore year in fall 1984, with
another election looming, I counted
myself a Ronald Reagan supporter, a
rare breed on Parrish Beach.
Thirty-two years ago, as now, I was
fascinated by the American political spectacle and its foremost institution of propaganda, the presidency.
My politics evolved during my time at
Swarthmore, leading to six years in Bill
Clinton’s campaigns and on his White
House staff, but my obsession with
how our candidates market themselves
has never wavered.
As a member of Swarthmore’s
Peaslee Debate Society, I revered rhetorical skills but, over time, came to
appreciate the more operatic elements of politics that trigger emotional response. In some ways,
Reagan and his speechwriter, Peggy
Noonan, combined forces as the
Lin-Manuel Miranda of their time,
the impact of Reagan’s words augmented by Michael Deaver, his visual
impresario, an unlikely forebear to
Andy Blankenbuehler, the Hamilton
choreographer.
Looking back at that time, I’ve often
wrestled with what gave Reagan his
power of persuasion over the electorate. 1984, Orwell’s dystopian novel that
was required reading back then, gave
us Big Brother lording over Oceania
through ubiquitous telescreens. In
reality, the actual 1984 gave us, instead,
a seemingly benevolent Ronald Reagan
targeting the heart of America with
precision-guided cinematography conveyed through television.
It was the dawn of what I call “The
Age of Optics” in my new book, Off
Script: An Advance Man’s Guide to
FALL 2016
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27
SC/DC
CROSSING PATHS
BETWEEN THE
COLLEGE AND THE
WHITE HOUSE
Girl Scouts of the USA
and vice president of
the National Amateur
Athletic Federation.
1947 — Harold
Stassen, Minnesota’s
former “boy governor,”
receives a doctor of
laws for helping write
the U.N. Charter. He
would be a serious
candidate for president
in 1948 and 1952—and
less of one in 1964,
1968, 1980, 1984, 1988,
and 1992.
BY ROBERT STRAUSS
1960 — Johns
1913 — Less than a
year after his election,
President Woodrow
Wilson speaks on
campus to urge “every
generation of Swarthmore men and women”
to add to the “glory of
America.”
1915 — Former Pres-
ident William Howard
Taft plants an Eastern
hemlock on campus for
Commencement Day.
Hopkins University
President Milton
Eisenhower—Dwight’s
brother and former
adviser—receives an
honorary doctor of
laws. He would appear
on the ballot in 1980
as the vice presidential
running mate of independent John Anderson, but only in Texas.
before being elected
president, Herbert
Hoover receives an
honorary doctor of laws
for directing the country’s post-World War I
relief effort in Europe.
WHITTIER MUSEUM
1967 — Pennsylvania
the Wall Street crash,
newly minted first lady
Lou Henry Hoover receives an honorary doctor of letters for serving
as president of the
28
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
1975 — Massachu-
setts governor—and
future 1988 Democratic
presidential nominee—
Michael Dukakis ’55
receives an honorary
doctor of laws.
1964 — At our Centennial Commencement,
President Lyndon B.
Johnson receives an
honorary doctor of laws
and gives the address,
filling in for the late
John F. Kennedy.
1929 — Months before
has it that President
Richard Nixon—a lifelong Quaker—is seen
driving on campus, but
doesn’t actually visit.
Whether the description of Swarthmore as
“the Kremlin on the
Crum” famously—and
possibly apocryphally—attributed to Vice
President Spiro Agnew
played a role is lost to
history.
FRIENDS HISTORICAL LIBRARY
1920 — Eight years
1969–74 — Legend
Gov. William Scranton,
who nearly got the
Republican presidential
nomination in 1964 and
1968, gets a Swarthmore honorary degree
instead.
FALL 2016
2008 — White House
intern Anne Kolker
’08 confirms a rumor
about President Barack
Obama. “Ah, Swarthmore. Great school.
They rejected me,” she
reports him saying, noting he held no grudge.
2010 — Stephen
Lang ’73, who played
President George
Washington in the 1997
miniseries Liberty! The
American Revolution,
receives an honorary
doctor of arts.
White House Stagecraft, Campaign
Spectacle, and Political Suicide. This
new visual-dominated era arrived that
summer with a 60-second TV spot
called “Prouder, Stronger, Better.”
The flag-infused montage of a nostalgic utopia reeked of Norman Rockwell,
tugging the same heartstrings as
Bernie Sanders’s mesmerizing Simon
& Garfunkel-scored ads this spring.
Reagan’s offering, voiced reassuringly
by Hal Riney, leader of his “Tuesday
Team” of Madison Avenue ad men,
began hypnotically with the famous
phrase, “It’s morning again in America.”
That theme has been a touchstone in
every campaign since ’84 as candidates,
Republican and Democrat, mimicked
The Master’s playbook as best they
could, deploying legions of “advance
men” (and “advance women”) to create
the scenic tableau that then gets packaged as “news.”
The Reagan re-election road show
arrived near campus when Air Force
One brought the president to a rally
on the steps of the Delaware County
Courthouse in Media, Pa., eight days
before the election, with buses full of
the national press corps in tow. Some
whispered in Sharples about protesting the event. I just wanted to witness
the spectacle.
The courthouse backdrop gave
Reagan a perfect façade from which to
send his message. “It was a very classic setting, plus it dead-ended in front
of the street, so you had a good crowd
area. I saw the whole thing in a matter of 30 seconds,” Bill Henkel, head of
the White House advance office, told
the Washington Post at the time. “We
spend a lot of time with the cameramen and photographers, asking, ‘What
did you think of that, how could we
make it better?’”
In the same article, Howard
Stringer, the future Sony CEO who was
then leading CBS News, posed the thesis for my book three decades before I
wrote it: “On the daily story with the
rush to edit, the pictures dominate,
almost despite the narration,” he said.
“The White House—and all great politicians—understand that.”
My own career in political stagecraft began after graduation in 1987,
starting with Illinois Sen. Paul Simon’s
quixotic pursuit of the presidency,
eventually joining the campaign of
Michael Dukakis ’55. Although I wasn’t
personally responsible for the visual
disaster accompanying Gov. Dukakis’s
ride in an M1A1 Abrams tank in
Sterling Heights, Mich., I was a close
friend of the unlucky fellow who was,
Matt Bennett.
In 2012, Bennett entrusted me with
the quarter-century-old journal he
kept from the Dukakis fiasco, which
served as the basis for Off Script. In
its pages, Bennett recounts his efforts
to raise a red flag about the plan. The
advance person’s commandment,
which many remember simplistically
as “Never let a candidate put something on their head”—President Obama
later called the lesson “Politics 101”—
is really “Don’t let your candidate pretend to be someone they’re not.”
Dukakis was an accomplished
administrator, but he wasn’t George S.
Patton. When he got behind the barrel
of the tank, wearing a helmet with his
name boldly stenciled across the brow,
it backfired spectacularly, providing
all the ingredients needed to create the
infamous “Tank Ad.”
Each cycle since has served up
an example of a candidate “getting
tanked,” from George H.W. Bush’s
being seemingly “amazed” by a supermarket scanner in 1992 to John
“WE’RE THE AUDIENCE
... CHARGED WITH
[DISCERNING] WHAT
LURKS BACKSTAGE
IN THE HEAD AND
HEART OF OUR NEXT
LEADER.”
—JOSH KING ’87
Kerry’s windsurfing outing in 2004
to Mitt Romney’s off-key rendition of
“America the Beautiful” in 2012.
As director of production in Bill
Clinton’s White House, I owned a
share of stagecraft miscues: In 1995,
I allowed Clinton to form “a cross
of stones” on Omaha Beach, arousing the ire of Rush Limbaugh and the
Republican far right, which never
let him forget it. A year later, at the
G-7 Summit in Lyon, France, I slathered Clinton’s podium in a thick layer
of insecticide to rid a swarm of gnats
from the news shot. The move did
nothing to the gnats but nearly blinded
the president when he rubbed his eyes
to wipe beads of sweat forming on his
brow.
Beyond those occasional nightmares, I emerged from five years of
Clinton’s presidency with far more stories of success than failure. But the
game has changed dramatically since
then, with the current chapter of the
Age of Optics being written in real
time. The network news correspondent has been supplanted by a legion of
embedded road warriors, social-media
mavens, and stay-at-home bloggers,
all producing mountainous material across a blinding array of digital
platforms.
The gaffes remain, from Marco
Rubio robotically repeating his talking
points, to Hillary Clinton struggling
with a subway turnstile, to Donald
Trump tweeting his taco bowl. For the
most part, the worst—and best—of our
candidates’ performance has less staying power today, an outcome of our
infinite menu of content doing daily
battle with our ever-declining attention span.
All of these specimens of political suicide spawn a mythology that
adheres and calcifies to these politicians over time. Al Gore did not, in
fact, claim to have “invented” the internet, but who would believe you if you
tried to make that case in a bar? Truth
often can’t keep pace with legend.
Running for president is our nation’s
most brutal sport, with misfortune
befalling Democrats and Republicans
in roughly equal measure, where only
the strong survive.
Barack Obama, the cerebral writer
who rejected the essential theater of
his office so resolutely that I dubbed
his two terms “the Vanilla Presidency”
in Off Script, may actually have ushered in a new era for the next generation of advance people. He and his
team found the right recipe for his
brand of leadership when his motorcade arrived at the Los Angeles garage
of Marc Maron, host of the popular
WTF podcast. For one very meaningful
hour, there were no cameras present
as the president spoke movingly about
the many challenges that arrive at the
Oval Office. Both the message and the
medium seem to me the best fit for this
moment in our history.
As Hillary Clinton and Donald
Trump fight for political power this
fall, the Age of Optics will ride on
familiar rails. Barack Obama vanquished John McCain in 2008 and
Mitt Romney in 2012 by first sharing
his life’s journey in Dreams from My
Father and then masterfully deploying
the tools of paid media and rapid-response video against his opponents.
Clinton, in Hard Choices, and Trump,
in The Art of the Deal, are more pilloried for their past than ennobled by it.
They’re left to wrestle with the present, and their vision for our future,
which they must project through the
media’s business-model-driven prism.
Clinton drives clicks. Trump drives
ratings.
Somewhere near Swarthmore this
fall, Clinton will likely hold a large
rally not unlike Ronald Reagan’s stop
at the Delaware County Courthouse,
festooning her site with her slogan,
“Stronger Together.” Trump will do the
same, making sure his “Make America
Great Again” tagline is expertly aligned
with the TV cameras trailing him from
stop to stop.
We’re the audience for this new act
of political theater, charged with seeing through the chorus of noise to discern what lurks backstage in the head
and heart of our next leader. If we
can separate substance from stagecraft, and distill journalistic rigor
from horse-race reporting, we’ll help
our democracy flourish. In choosing
our president, we’re wise to heed the
final line of Hamilton: “Who lives, who
dies—who tells your story?”
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
29
J
INFINITE
S
e
T
Send in the clowns
to show us who we
are
by Jonathan Riggs
photos by Laurence Kesterson
30
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FALL 2016
FALL 2016
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31
C
IRCUS ARTIST Joanna Wright ’08
has a sideways way of speaking that
makes you instinctively lean closer: a
wow, the really cool camp counselor is taking an interest in me! warmth.
“When people say they’re afraid of clowns,
I understand. I mean, birthday clowns?” She
shrugs her shoulders, eyes a-twinkle. “Birthday
party clowns can be scary as shit.”
Laughing, she tilts her head, working the
thought around as nimbly as she does a crystal sphere through her flowing fingers, David
Bowie-in-Labyrinth-style. Her eyes and voice
still dance, but there’s a thoughtfulness now
that lends shadow to her sparkle.
“I get it, but it really annoys me to see this art
form removed from anything true,” she adds. “If
that’s your only frame of reference and you say
you hate clowns or fear them, well, you may not
have ever experienced real clowning.”
Real clowning, the kind she’s devoted her life
to exploring, is something more than perfectly
timed pratfalls or pies to the face. Those are
fabulous—don’t get her wrong—but the work
begins from within.
For example, there’s an exercise she calls “the
void.” Stripped of everything but your creativity—and, if you wish, a red nose—you must face
an audience and be funny.
“It’s terrifying,” she admits. “You get to this
place of, ‘I don’t know what’s going to make
them laugh; I don’t know what I’m doing; I don’t
know who I am.’”
Who among us can’t relate? Spotlit in front
of the world as we perform the best we can,
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FALL 2016
vulnerable and alone. It’s an exercise that forces
participants to peel away masks we all wear to
get to something, someplace, someone real.
“Clowning is so honest, I view it more as a
way you can live your life than as just a performance tool,” she says. “Ultimately, you’re putting yourself out there: ‘Here I am, screwing up,
failing, but laughing at myself without shame.’”
The grin in her eyes reaches her lips, which
twitch with mischievous delight.
“What I’m interested in onstage,” Wright
says, at last, “is really getting at the truth of
what it means to be human.”
THROUGHOUT TIME, clowns have fulfilled
a crucial role in all societies, whether it’s a
sacred trickster in a ceremony around a Native
American campfire, a bell-tipped-hat-wearing jester of a medieval court tweaking the royal
family, or a big-screen comedian lightening
moviegoers’ weary hearts for a couple of hours.
Shakespeare gave some of his wisest insights
to his fools and clowns, and returned repeatedly
to the idea that we all perform a human comedy: “Lord, what fools these mortals be”; “All
the world’s a stage, And all the men and women
merely players”; “The fool doth think he is wise,
but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
To be alive is to be foolish; to be foolish is to
be wise. Clowns force us to look at the world—
at ourselves—in different and often challenging ways. Both of and outside society, clowns
speak truth to power, make us laugh or cry, and
blur our very boundaries of imagination and
intellect. For all their fantastic might, however,
they’re very easy to take for granted.
“At Swarthmore and after, I explored dance
and literature, art history and women’s studies,
movement and Shakespeare, so I never considered clowning,” says Kendall Cornell ’86, a deep
thinker/deadpan speaker with the emotive eyes
of a silent-movie heroine. “I thought I was going
to be a serious actor.”
After dipping her toe into comedic waters—
including appearing in a live soap opera (“We
got a new script every week, so you barely
had time to memorize your lines before you
were thrust onstage to just go for it”)—Cornell
attended a master class in physical comedy
taught by the award-winning Cirque du Soleil
clown David Shiner, whose ability to distill
complex themes and sophisticated comedy into
physicality dazzled her.
“I remember thinking: I don’t know what this
is, but I have to do it,” she says.
One life-changing phone call to her sister later—“I had an audition the next day for Saint
Joan, and so I called her, crying, ‘No, I want to
be a clown!’”—and Cornell began studying the
art form, eventually becoming Shiner’s assistant and apprentice. While attending classes
and performances, however, she was struck by
how male-centric the clowning world could be.
Thus, her all-women troupe was born, known
today as Clowns Ex Machina: a feminist funhouse and celebration of sisterhood crafting
vibrant, inclusive art that inspires audiences—
and its participants—to laugh, think, and dream.
“For a long time, I asked, ‘Who is the everywoman?’ Culturally, that’s not so easy to find,”
says producer/director/writer/performer/den
mother Cornell, who encourages her clowns to
explore as many characters and personas per
piece as they’d like. “I’ve found that fluidity for
women lets us cover all kinds of range without
being stuck in stereotypes.”
She looks back fondly on a piece where her
clowns entered as ballerinas, dancing—or trying to—on their tiptoes. Whereas male clowns
doing the same would hit familiar comic notes,
Cornell’s group left a much different impact.
“It was quite revealing in another way,” she
says, “this deep dream of being a graceful ballet
dancer playing out in so many ways through so
many women: It was really vulnerable, beautiful, and funny.”
Seeing her troupe members come into their
own, in rehearsals and performance, alone and
together, makes Cornell proud, although she
struggles not to break character onstage when
her clowns seize a moment and surprise her.
“One show we did, all the clowns were confessing their fabricated misdeeds, such as
‘When I was a candy striper in the hospital, on
my lunch break I’d go to the nursery and switch
the pink and blue blankets,’” she remembers.
“This one woman, a deep-voiced Russian, began
improvising these outrageous, completely
unexpected things—‘I took my father out in a
wheelchair in the street to beg for money’— that
“When I send out notices
for my workshops, I
always include a quote
from Lucille Ball, who
said, ‘I’m not funny. What
I am is brave,’” says Kendall Cornell ’86. “I love to
see my students blossom
onstage and off in this
strange and wonderful
art form.”
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
33
“Would I be up for my
kids joining the circus
after high school? Absolutely not,” jokes John
Rieffel ’99, who did just
that. “I’m kidding, of
course. I would absolutely encourage them to
take a gap year to explore
whatever they were
interested in.”
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had us all cracking up.”
Clowns, to Cornell, are intrinsically human
yet otherworldly: the living embodiment of the
absurdity and wonder of our existence, made
even more powerful by performances that
occur in present time with the audience and
without a fourth wall. This exquisite chaos has
sparked many Clowns Ex Machina productions,
not to mention Cornell’s own creativity.
“Clowning is poetry as opposed to prose;
it works on deeper, more symbolic levels of
FALL 2016
HIS OWN LOVE OF EARNING LAUGHTER
sent erudite teen juggler John Rieffel ’99 down
an unexpected detour after high school. He’d
already been accepted to Swarthmore when,
at the urging of a friend, he auditioned for the
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Clown College.
With nothing prepared but a can-do spirit
and killer comedic chops—Rieffel sold a wobbly handstand as if it were history’s greatest
feat—he got in, becoming one of only 30 people
accepted into that year’s class.
“Deferring going to Swarthmore was a little hard to explain,” the wryer-than-wry, drierthan-dry Rieffel laughs, “but my parents and the
College were supportive, so I took a gap year.”
Eight big-top bootcamp weeks later, Rieffel
earned his BFA (bachelor of funny arts)—but
not one of the circus’s six professional clowning slots. Undaunted, he returned home to work
odd jobs until, a few months later, he landed a
gig as a clown with the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros.
Circus and found himself traveling the East
Coast, performing for thousands.
“It was all so new and foreign, being inside a
circus tent, surrounded by tigers and tightrope
walkers, that I didn’t even reflect on being nervous,” he says. “Hitting all your cues and making the crowd laugh is addictive; I loved it.”
Although his best bits were cheap-but-fun
sight gags—a bucket of “Fruit Punch” contained
a boxing glove; an oversized book entitled Math
Made Easy hid a calculator—Rieffel quickly
learned the crucial role circus clowns played in
not just getting laughs, but in keeping the peace.
“Emergencies happened several times: We
had elephant stampedes and bad trapeze accidents,” he says. “So we’d have to run out as
quickly as possible with the nearest prop and do
whatever we could to distract the audience.”
Although he enjoyed his experience, Rieffel,
who spent his offstage time reading Ulysses
and the poetry of Elizabeth Bishop, never
intended to parlay his clown year into a career.
After leaving the circus and enrolling at
Swarthmore—to “about a week of fame as ‘that
clown guy’”—he found doing improv comedy
with Vertigo-go even more formative and fun.
Today, Rieffel is an associate professor of
computer science at Union College who teaches
courses in robotics, artificial intelligence, and
parallel computing while incorporating pantomime and jokes into his classroom.
“All that comedy experience really helps in
teaching. I won’t claim to be either charming
or funny, but the impression that I get from my
students is that I can be,” he says. “It did take
me awhile, though, to realize I couldn’t measure
my teaching success by the number of punchlines I could fit into an hourlong lecture.”
While he harbors no desire to return to
clowning, he looks back on his time in floppy
shoes fondly—and frequently.
“My friend from high school, who persuaded
me to audition in the first place, and his wife are
the clowning act for the Big Apple Circus,” he
says, “so I take my kids to visit them every year.
“I look at clowns as this physical manifestation of our imaginations, like cartoon characters made flesh,” he adds. “They allow us to
laugh. That’s invaluable, especially since comedy allows us to process things that, otherwise,
would be utterly depressing. Look no further
than The Daily Show and Donald Trump.”
WRIGHT: BLOOD AND GLITTER MAKEUP
meaning happening simultaneously,” she says.
“I love this work because people have to be
brave and bare their unique joy and pain.
“A lot of my clowns have been traumatized by
this idea that they have to act the idiot in order
to be funny,” she adds. “I tell them they don’t
have to diminish themselves in any way: just be
their best, open selves, dreaming their biggest
dreams. This radiance will come off them and
we’re going to laugh from a deeper place.”
the New England Center for Circus Arts.
Today, she’s a studio director, teacher, and
performer at Sky Candy, an Austin, Texas-based
aerial circus company. Even with all her experience, she’s never lost her sense of excitement
for what’s possible in the realm of performance
through the lens of clowning.
“I’ve delved into burlesque recently, and discovered that it and clowning are exactly the
same,” she says. “Burlesque is simply someone
getting up in front of an audience and saying,
‘Look at me and how alluring I am. Don’t you
agree?’ So when I do burlesque, I look at it as
just a clown, who happens to be a sexy clown.”
Tapping into the countless characters and
“A lot of people have a
spiritual relationship
with the red clown nose,”
says Joanna Wright ’08.
“I always carry a couple
with me in case of an
emergency.”
CIRCUS CLOWNS LIKE RIEFFEL are what
first hooked Joanna Wright on physical performance: After attending the circus as a child, she
created aerial routines on her swing set that
caused her mother to panic—and then pack her
off to Vermont’s Circus Smirkus summer camp.
“It’s a common story among us circus folk:
From a very young age it’s in our blood,” she
says. “We’re the ones climbing trees, jumping
all over things, dancing, joking—we just want to
do it all, even if we don’t quite know how yet.”
Her ardor intensified at Swarthmore, when
she took her first-ever physical theater class,
taught by Quinn Bauriedel ’94, co-founder of
the Pig Iron Theatre Company. Determined to
pursue this work, Wright went on to train at
multiple institutions, including the London
International School of Performing Arts and
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
35
colors we carry within us isn’t a skill
solely restricted to clowning, either,
according to Wright. We’re all performers of a sort, who paint on the way
we present ourselves to the world, to
each other, and to ourselves—even if
most of us do it unconsciously. It’s as
RuPaul says, “We’re all born naked and
the rest is drag.”
In the light of our human frailty and
mortality, clowns have the courage to
stand up and strip away our self-imposed strata and hold them up to the
light. What could be a braver or more
generous act than to allow us to laugh
at them—and, ultimately, at ourselves?
Clowning, like life, is a deceptively
difficult art, whether you’re plumbing
your psyche’s depths or the dizzying
heights of a trapeze.
Recently, Wright was standing 15
feet above the ground, training a new
trick. It involves going from standing
on a trapeze on one foot to dropping
down to land on your hips—in effect,
plunging headfirst toward the ground
while maintaining an aura of control
and grace.
“I looked down and it made me think
about being at Swarthmore, and our
ridiculous, scary journey of finding the
truth as humans, moving past our insecurities, fears, and pettiness to find
what’s greater,” she says. “It all comes
down to the fundamental human question: Why do this? Why do any of this?
I say, sure, it’s terrifying, but why not?”
She laughs, and it’s lovely, the laugh
only a clown who’s faced her demons
and bid them to dance can do. She
nailed that trick, by the way.
“That’s why we always joke that
clowning is like therapy, but cheaper,”
she says. “Moments like that are what
I live for.”
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FALL 2016
CLOWNS
GET
SERIOUS
What political issues are
most important to you?
KENDALL CORNELL:
Peace, equality, respect,
fairness, seven-generation stewardship, free to
be you and me, and the
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
JOHN RIEFFEL: Access
to affordable, high-quality health insurance and
education—we’re seriously behind. And, of
course, more funding for
scientific research!
JOANNA WRIGHT: Climate change and how
we are going to deal with
it, and the fundamental systemic inequality
in this country and how
it affects everyone who
isn’t a well-to-do white
man. The former, because it’s the precursor
for life on this planet (so
just a tiny bit important);
the latter, because it’s so
deep-rooted, prevalent,
and completely effed-up
in a way that is invisible
to too many. The question of how to educate
folks about privilege interests me deeply.
Political heroes?
KC: Mulan, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, Alice Paul,
Joan of Arc, Galadriel,
Aung San Suu Kyi, Shirley Chisolm, and many
inspiringly righteous others.
JR: Presuming that Leslie Knope doesn’t count,
Al Franken, the senator
and former SNL comedian. (Brazilian congressman/professional clown
Tiririca is also evidently
quite popular.) I was always entranced with the
strategies employed by
Mayor Antanas Mockus of Bogotá, Colombia, who used mimes and
clowns to direct traffic
and improve civility in
downtown Bogotá. The
world could benefit from
using mimes in the place
of armed police.
JW: I’m in awe of folks
like Gandhi and Martin
Luther King Jr. If we as
a species can take the
path of peace and rationality in the face of
mindless, unquestioning
hatred and violence—
ahem, Trump, ahem—
there may be hope that
we can continue to exist
on this planet.
Advice for our next
president?
KC: You go, girl!
JR: The USSR had a nationalized circus training
school. Why don’t we?
JW: Don’t settle! I know
that politics in our country is a festering cesspool of corruption,
stupidity, and prejudice,
but please keep fighting for what you know
is right and important.
(That’s to Hillary. To
Trump: For the love of
all that is holy, please resign ASAP and let someone qualified take over.)
How would a clown fare
in the White House?
KC: They’d have a great
time: lots of rules and
pomp and things to poke
fun at. Or it might be
heartbreaking in exposing institutional ills, like
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.
JR: Of the many clowns
who have been in the
White House, some have
performed more admirably than others. I imagine
all of them would have
benefited from professional clown training.
JW: Very well! Clowns
(and artists in general) tend to live in a
near-constant state of
existential crisis. That
gives you perspective
on what’s important and
what’s not, which can’t
hurt when you’ve got the
nuclear codes at your elbow. Add a great sense
of humor and an ability
to interact honestly and
humbly with all people—
(cough) Obama—sounds
like good president material to me!
Anything else?
KC: The loosely sewn-up
slit in the back of jackets
and skirts is supposed
to be undone after you
get home from the store.
Please take that stitching out—life is too short.
JR: I’m feeling a bit nostalgic because I just
bought a rechargeable seltzer bottle: the
old-fashioned kind. I’ve
only used it for cocktails, but have been very
tempted to squirt someone in the face with it.
JW: To copy the illustrious Dumbledore, I would
like to say a few additional words: rutabaga,
fortuitous, hegemony,
kumquat. Thank you.
IN A WORLD THAT OFTEN SEEMS DARK AND
DISHEARTENING, WHAT KEEPS YOU LAUGHING?
KC: A profound sense of irony. People’s tattoo choices. Puppies and
kittens. Farts.
JR: Slapstick comedians who pursue the impossible despite pies to the
face: Buster Keaton, the Three Stooges, and my all-time hero, Wile E.
Coyote. There’s a great poem, “Slapstick,” by Wisława Szymborska.
JW: As many wiser than me have said, “If you learn to laugh at yourself,
you will always be entertained.” The extent of human folly is endless, and
sometimes the only sane reaction I can find to the insanity of the world is
to laugh, and thereby render it a bit less scary.
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
37
He’s changing the world, one hip-hop
hook at a time
by Gina Myers
A
night after the Democratic National
Convention came to a close, hip-hop artist SCS took the stage at Showdown in San
Francisco to celebrate the release of his
debut album, First Day of School.
The messages of the preceding weeks
weren’t far from the rapper’s mind as he delivered his own
political platform through socially conscious rhymes and
catchy beats, dropping knowledge on the crowd as he welcomed them to “sit back, marinate / as thoughts elevate.”
In “Unity 101,” he spits, “A nation divided against itself
can’t stand / Frustrated the situation’s gotten so out of hand
/ Can’t continue to be conned by duplicitous behavior /
While a traitor like Trump touts himself as our savior.”
The longtime producer and founder of Richland Records,
Scott “SCS” Samels ’99 is taking a risk by stepping to the
other side of the recording studio glass. Though he has
rapped off-and-on for 20 years, beginning with early freestyle battles with his friends at South High School in
Minneapolis, he never felt the need to pursue his own art
more seriously until now.
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Swarthmore College Bulletin /
FALL 2016
MUSIC FOR THE GREATER GOOD
The urgency Samels feels as an artist comes through on the
album, which he wrote and recorded within a three-month
span. On it, he takes on major societal issues from the environmental crisis (“Nestlé”) to animal rights (“Man’s Best
Friend”), racism (“Unity 101”), banking fraud (“The Federal
Reserve, Part 1”), and mass incarceration (“Prisons for
Profit”).
Inspired by the success Sofia Ashraf had with her song
“Kodaikanal Won’t”—which called out Hindustan Unilever
for dumping mercury in India and whose viral video resulted
in a company response and a landmark settlement for factory workers there—Samels hopes to also effect tangible
societal change through his music.
“Whether it puts pressure on a local politician and forces
them to change their stance on a particular issue or gets a
huge multinational to alter policy—minor or major—I still
count it as a win,” he says. “It adds fuel to the fire to make
more records and videos for the greater good.”
Accordingly, the release of First Day of School coincides
with Samels’s provocative music video for “Housing Crisis,”
a topic that’s dear to his heart. Samels made his way to San
Francisco the summer after he graduated from Swarthmore,
and credits the bastion for progressives and liberally minded
people with making him who he is today. That said, he’s
upset with what he sees as the city’s grim future.
“HIP-HOP CAN REACH PEOPLE IN
WAYS THAT A THOUGHTFULLY
COMPOSED PAPER OR NEWS
ARTICLE SIMPLY CAN’T.”
—SCOTT “SCS” SAMELS ’99
LYDIA DANILLER
CLASS
IS IN
SESSION
“I didn’t feel like the hip-hop that we were making and
that the music industry in general was making did much to
address the major problems of the day,” explains Samels,
formerly known as S-Class. “Certain topics—cars, money,
clothes, clubs—tend to be recycled from song to song. While
it can be fun to talk about these topics, to drone on about
them incessantly is ultimately a disservice to the art form
and to our collective progress.”
Seventeen years ago, Scott Samels ’99 moved from Philadelphia to San Francisco “with a duffel bag, a few dollars, and a burning desire to start a
recording studio.” Today, he has a music label, a stable of artists, and a brand-new debut album, First Day of School.
“A lot of San Franciscans have been displaced and forced
to live elsewhere due to the skyrocketing cost of living,” he
says, “which has been detrimental to the heart and soul of our
beautiful city.”
In “Housing Crisis,” the emcee calls out San Francisco
Mayor Ed Lee and developers for turning the city into a playground for the rich, where elites feast on $10 cupcakes while
the peasantry ends up priced out.
“Double, double, toil and trouble, the city burns, technology
bubbles,” he raps in the video. “They’re ushering in new firms
nonstop; what happens when that bubble goes pop?”
THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE
Samels, who graduated with honors in French and minored
in English literature, has always had a thing for words.
“The English language lends its speakers vast amounts of
creativity, as a single word can mean many different things,
and the way in which one says something can also drastically
change its meaning,” he explains. “Combined with the further
freedom that poetry affords its writers, one has nearly limitless amounts of creativity at one’s disposal.”
Hip-hop became a natural outlet for Samels’s wit and
wordplay, while also granting him a space to express every
emotion imaginable in service of creating art with an outcome. It also provides an outlet for the values he developed
at Swarthmore: his unquenchable thirst to keep learning, his
concept of working to serve the greater good, and his respect
for community and meaningful friendships.
This genre proved a natural medium for his message.
“Hip-hop is a global phenomenon,” he says. “It can reach
people in ways that a thoughtfully composed white paper
or news article simply can’t do, both in terms of reach and
engagement.”
He’s right: As I write this, I’m listening to First Day of
School and find myself bobbing along to “Corporatocracy,”
a song about corporate welfare with a surprisingly catchy
hook: “Subsidies, tax breaks, loopholes, bailouts / We gotta
put a stop to these government handouts / At the end of the
day we all got to eat / Not just big corporations and Wall
Street.”
After all, music has the power to reach people—to stick
with us, shape us, maybe even save us.
+ PUMP UP THE VOLUME at richlandrecords.com or by emailing
scott.samels@alum.swarthmore.edu
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
39
I’M WITH HER
...AND HER...AND
HER...AND HER
Spotlighting women who ran
for office before the
19th Amendment
HER CAMPAIGN WAS HISTORIC, and not without controversy. A prominent lawyer and internationalist, she identified inequalities, pushed for equal pay, and sought social
change. Her supporters saw her as the country’s savior; her
detractors saw her as a traitor to society, womanhood, and
America itself. To millions, the question she raised was
beyond scandalous: Could a woman really run for president?
Over a century before Hillary Clinton became the first
female major-party presidential nominee—and well before
all U.S. women could even vote in an election—Belva
Lockwood tore down walls in 1884 as the first woman to run
a legitimate presidential campaign. She received just 4,100
votes, but hers were among the first cracks in that “highest,
hardest glass ceiling” finally shattered by Clinton.
Lockwood’s is one of hundreds of stories lovingly highlighted through Her Hat Was in the Ring, a digital humanities
project co-founded by Swarthmore’s Wendy Chmielewski
documenting women who ran for political office before 1920,
when the 19th Amendment granted all U.S. women the full
right to vote.
For the time, the concept seems mind-boggling: How could
women run for and win office without the universal ability to
vote? What men of that era would choose to vote for a female
candidate over her male opponent?
“We started the project over eight years ago thinking there were about 50 women who ran for office before
1920,” says Chmielewski, the George R. Cooley Curator of
the Peace Collection. “Historians assumed that the ratification of the 19th Amendment was the starting point. What
40
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
FALL 2016
we discovered: There were probably 5,000 to 6,000 women—
many of whom were actually elected to office.”
Thousands more women were appointed to office by
elected officials, Chmielewski notes, “but we have limited the
project to women who went before the voters. Right to election is a significant marker of full citizenship.”
Some of these women are widely known and researched:
Jeannette Rankin, for example—the first woman elected to
Congress (and the only pre-19th Amendment woman to win
a federal office). Also Belva Lockwood and fellow presidential pioneer Victoria Woodhull, whom some credit as the first
woman to run for the Oval Office, but whose campaign wasn’t
technically valid because she was too young … and incarcerated at election time.
But others are largely unheard-of: Susanna Salter, the
country’s first female mayor (1887, in Argonia, Kan.). Olive
Rose, a county register in Maine, and almost certainly the
first U.S. woman elected to any office—in 1853. Not to mention hundreds of school board members, county superintendents of schools, and municipal and state officeholders.
Even Swarthmore’s own Lucretia Mott received a nomination for U.S. vice president—as well as a handful of voice
votes at the 1848 Liberty Party convention—though it’s
unlikely our Quaker matriarch had any knowledge of the
nomination beforehand or intention of running.
“Most people don’t realize that to be elected, you need to
be an elector, that is a voter,” says Chmielewski, who started
Her Hat Was in the Ring in 2008 with Jill Norgren, a professor emerita of political science at John Jay College and the
WENDY CHMIELEWSKI / HER HAT WAS IN THE RING
by Elizabeth Slocum
True then, true now, true always: “There will
never be a new world order until women are a part
of it.” —Alice Paul, Class of 1905
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
41
A TIP OF THE HAT
Belva Lockwood (1830–1917)
In addition to her presidential run, in 1880,
Belva Lockwood became the first woman to
argue a case before the Supreme Court.
Lockwood also helped the Eastern Cherokee win
$5 million in reparations from the U.S.
government.
Victoria Woodhull (1838–1927)
Technically the first woman to run for president, Victoria Woodhull spent Election Day in
jail for running a story in her newspaper attacking the hypocrisy of her critics. Her championing of women’s sexual/marital autonomy earned
Woodhull the sobriquet of “Mrs. Satan.”
Jeannette Rankin (1880–1973)
Two years after being instrumental in Montana’s
granting full voting rights to women, Republican Jeannette Rankin became the first woman
elected to the U.S. House. She would also cast
the only congressional vote against the U.S. declaring war on Japan after the bombing of Pearl
Harbor.
Susanna Salter (1860–1961)
In 1887, the Prohibition Party’s Susanna Salter
became the nation’s first female mayor, drawing
global attention to tiny Argonia, Kan. Her nomination may have been a joke played by anti-temperance men, but the joke was on them: Salter
won and served her one-year term.
Graduate Center of the City University of New York. “Some
states gave women early partial suffrage—for educational
offices or even presidential candidates, in some cases. What
we’ve found is as soon as states allowed women to run, they
ran.”
THE IDEA FOR Her Hat Was in the Ring was sparked when
Norgren reached out to Chmielewski at the Peace Collection
while researching a biography on Belva Lockwood.
Information on Lockwood is hard to come by—“Belva’s
grandson sold all of her papers for scrap after she died,”
Chmielewski says—but bits and pieces of her life story have
made their way to the Peace Collection over the years.
Recognizing Lockwood’s significance, and figuring sources
on other early candidates would be equally difficult to find,
Chmielewski and Norgren set out to create a database honoring all the women who campaigned for office before 1920.
Thinking it seemed like a manageable project, the pair pored
over women’s suffrage texts, news articles, ballots, state statistical reports—picking up a few names here, a dozen there.
42
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
FALL 2016
Then one obscure article from 1912 referenced 750 elected
women from Kansas alone, to the researchers’ shock and
delight.
About half of the women had run for educational offices,
since school suffrage was one of the first voting rights
afforded to them by states—it was seen as an extension of
women’s roles as mothers. But Chmielewski and Norgren
never anticipated just how many female candidates there
could be. Even 100 years ago, no one knew how many women
were in office.
“We still come across articles from this timeframe that
say, ‘Look! A woman elected to school board!’” Chmielewski
says. “And it’s like, yeah, and there were three-dozen women
before her, but you didn’t notice them.”
IT TOOK MORE THAN a century for someone to notice.
For decades, the data on early candidates had been scattered
in state archives, historical societies, hard-to-obtain newspapers, and statistical reports, and the sources only became
nationally and globally accessible once they were scanned.
As records have made their way online, Her Hat’s candidate count has grown, to more than 3,300 women in
over 4,500 campaigns. A couple of years into the project, Chmielewski and Norgren brought on board a third
researcher—Kristen Gwinn-Becker—to design and host their
database and website, which provides biographical information, photos, and other resources. It’s searchable by a candidate’s name, state, office, or party—plus it can aggregate and
combine data among all those categories.
Several modest grants have funded some Swarthmore
interns, but Her Hat is mostly a passion project for
Chmielewski, Norgren, and Gwinn-Becker, who run the site
largely on their own time, their own dime.
Chmielewski has long been interested in women’s history: She has three degrees in the field. Among the hundreds
of memorabilia items in Her Hat’s collection is a needlepoint she created in the ’70s that reads, “A Woman’s Place Is
in the House—And in the Senate.” But Chmielewski emphasizes that it’s not her story that’s important; it’s those of the
thousands of women who braved laughter, derision, outrage,
and worse to throw their hats in the ring. Win or lose, each of
them paved the way for Hillary Clinton’s historic run, often
without much fanfare or recognition: “There are 3,000 biographies that could be written, and dozens of scholarly monographs,” Chmielewski notes.
So what would Belva Lockwood think of Clinton’s candidacy, 132 years after she first ran for president?
“She would have been so pleased to see a lawyer, and a
woman who had been secretary of state, receiving the nomination,” Chmielewski says. “Belva believed in the efficacy of
global communication, and she would’ve seen that as a real
positive: someone who had an international outlook.
“But she’d think it had taken far too long. Why hadn’t a
woman been nominated before this?”
+ DELVE DEEPER at herhatwasinthering.org, and explore a gallery
and women’s suffrage timeline at bulletin.swarthmore.edu
class notes
THE PLACE TO FIND ALUMNI-RELATED ITEMS
ALUMNI
EVENTS
SPIRITS & RAPPINGS:
19TH-CENTURY
SÉANCES
Oct. 31
Visit the Friends
Historical Library this
Halloween to learn
about the Spiritualism
movement that swept
mid-19th- and early
20th-century America.
Books and documents
from the archives show
what some prominent
Quakers—some alive at
the time, some already
deceased and sending
messages from the spirit
world—had to say about
the trend.
LAURENCE KESTERSON
GARNET HOMECOMING
AND FAMILY WEEKEND
Oct. 28–30
Save the date for the
seventh annual Garnet
Weekend. Learn more:
swarthmore.edu/
garnetweekend
A resident adviser helps with luggage at Wharton as students arrive on Move-In Day. Swarthmore welcomed the Class of
2020 in August with a host of unifying traditions, including Orientation and First Collection.
1937
John Wood Jr. died April
1 in Newtown, Pa. He received a law degree from
the University of Pennsylvania in 1940 before joining the American Friends
Service Committee in
southern France, where he
helped refugees escaping
Francisco Franco’s regime
in Spain. John returned
to the U.S. as a conscientious objector during
World War II and married
the late Jean Brown in
1942. The couple had four
children: John Wood ’67,
Roger Wood ’69, Elizabeth
Wood Fritsch ’73, and
Susan Wood.
John had a law practice
and was active in the
Bucks County Bar Association, serving as president
in 1967. He was on the
boards of Jeanes Hospital
and Friends Fiduciary
Corp. Besides his children,
John is survived by sister
Sarah Wood Fell ’49, seven grandchildren, and six
great-grandchildren.
1939
John Roberts, a former
member of the Swarthmore Board of Managers, died June 14. John
majored in engineering
at Swarthmore, where he
met his wife of 70 years,
the late Jane Martin
Roberts. In 1947, John
founded Southern Lightweight Aggregate Corp., a
leader in manufacturing
lightweight aggregate
products. He was chair-
man of the company, now
called Northeast Solite,
until his death.
John and Jane’s support
of the Science Museum
of Virginia helped create
its Space and Astronomy
Exhibit. An endowment in
their name has allowed
more than 27,000 underprivileged children and
adults with disabilities to
visit the museum at little
to no cost.
In addition to Jane,
John was predeceased
by a daughter, Nancy.
He is survived by two
children, Joan and John;
four grandchildren; and 11
great-grandchildren.
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
43
class notes
Dorothy Webster
VanDenburgh died April
28. Son Charles writes,
“She had fond memories
of Swarthmore and took
great delight in reminiscing
about photos she had
taken there as a student.
I was always amazed at
her detailed memory of
students’ names and her
favorite places on campus.
She would point to a
window on the top floor of
Parrish Hall and exclaim,
‘That’s my room.’ Her
education at Swarthmore
served her well and, in
turn, instilled in me a great
love of reading.”
1941
Libby Murch Livingston
lizliv33@gmail.com
Cheers for Barbara
Ferguson Young, the sole
classmate to represent
us at our 75th Reunion. I
had hoped to attend but
realized it was hard on
my daughter to drive to
and from Maine to indulge
her mother. We had a
busy month with two
weddings—in Denver and
Massachusetts—within
two weeks. She was the
one to get me to each. It
was time for me to wake
up. Sorry, Barbara.
My, but weddings these
days are interesting. No
longer can you count on
the proper church-tocountry-club reception, or
organ music and chicken
salad. And remember your
sneakers. Our Massachusetts family wedding
44
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
1942
Eleanore Green Akina,
a doctor and ordained
Episcopal deacon, died
March 29 at home in
Kailua, Hawaii. Eleanore
received a medical degree
from Penn and worked in
internal medicine before
changing her specialty
to child psychiatry. She remained in private practice
until her 2000 retirement.
In the 1980s, Eleanore
FALL 2016
was ordained an Episcopal
deacon. She also played
piano and organ, and
volunteered reading music
backstage for the Hawaii
Opera Theatre. Eleanore
is survived by son Henry,
a nephew, two hanai (or
adopted) daughters, and
many godchildren.
Donald Pelz died Feb. 27.
Don earned a psychology
master’s from the State
University of Iowa and a
social psychology Ph.D.
from the University of
Michigan, where he was a
professor and researcher
for four decades, retiring
in 1987. Don married the
late Edith Bennett in 1958
and adopted her three
children; the pair had a
fourth child a year later.
In the 1980s, Don
became active in the
Grey Panthers, working
for economic and social
justice, and he continued
his leadership role in
that group until his final
illness. Don is survived by
children Erica, Stephanie,
Jeff, and Jonathan, and
six grandchildren.
Mary Steeves Shern died
April 19. After Swarthmore, Mary performed
in radio soap operas,
owned several businesses, wrote seven books,
and taught and wrote for
the Georgia Institute of
Real Estate. She worked
to improve the quality
of life for special-needs
children in Wisconsin and
Hawaii, volunteered at the
1996 Olympics in Atlanta,
and earned the National
Association of Realtors
Lifetime Real Estate
Educator Award. Mary
was predeceased by two
children, Guy and Katherine, and a sister. She is
survived by children Sally,
John, Barbara, Susan,
and Michael; a brother;
15 grandchildren; and 18
great-grandchildren.
1943
Betty Glenn Webber
bettywebber22@yahoo.com
616-245-2687
No grass grows under the
feet of Herb Fraser. After
a Father’s Day gathering
of three generations in
Massachusetts, he and
son Peter ’68 made their
annual trip to Peter’s
home in Alexandria, Va.
The gallivanters’ itinerary
next included 10 days at
their New Hampshire family cabin before returning
to Herb’s home in Indiana.
Ginny Curry Hille writes,
“Had a happy Midwest
Ramble in May when my
Seattle kids flew in to escort me to Minneapolis to
see granddaughter Steph,
then on to Bloomington,
Ind., to see her sister Jess
at the university there. It
was my first visit to the
upper Mississippi—so fun
to see—and wonderful as
always to be with my farflung family.” Ginny enjoys
her retirement community—with lots of bridge and
“bad” golf—and, fortunately, is still driving.
For a moderate-size
city, Grand Rapids, Mich.,
has an extensive medical
community that offers
opportunities to be a volunteer subject for training
upcoming professionals.
I did patient simulations
until I aged out. I do,
however, have annual
visits from beginner med
students learning how to
relate to elderly patients:
speak up and don’t talk so
fast; don’t assume a tottery gait equals a tottery
mind; we are interested
not just in our own lives
but also about you and
how you see your future.
I also have a nursing stu-
dent come multiple times
a year for a more in-depth
longitudinal study of an
older patient. My “kids”
have all been dynamic and
interesting contacts.
Our numbers are sadly
diminished by the loss of
several classmates. Just
too late for the spring Bulletin, I received word from
his son Benjamin ’78 that
David Whipple died Jan.
2. He was active during
World War II at home as
an engineer and in the
Pacific as a Navy radio
technician. His advanced
degrees from MIT led to a
40-year career as an electrical engineer at Draper
Laboratories, marked by
awards from NASA and
MIT for space-program
contributions. He was
extensively involved in the
Cohasset, Mass., community, from Cub Scout
master to blood donor. In
addition to running, playing tennis, and swimming,
Dave was in a local jazz
band—a carry-over from
playing jazz clarinet at
Swarthmore. In addition
to Ben, Dave is survived
by Jacqueline, his wife of
71 years; another son; and
two daughters. Carrying
on the Swarthmore legacy
are granddaughters Carolyn ’09 and Elizabeth ’18.
Ira Greenhill died Feb. 21
in NYC, his lifelong home.
He graduated magna cum
laude before entering
the Army in World War II,
retiring as a major after
service in Korea and the
Reserves. After Columbia
Law School, he practiced
in the city for six decades,
first with his father and
later with his sons. He was
a talented woodworker
and cabinet maker, as well
as a tennis player, self-described “pretend” golfer,
and Scotch aficionado.
Charles Tachau died
May 16. His service in the
Battle of the Bulge during
World War II earned him a
Share your personal and reunion
pics: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
ALUMNI IN ACTION
From left: Gabriel Tajeu ’03,
Don Lloyd-Jones ’86, and Henry
Feldman ’67 hiked up Barker Peak, above
Lake Tahoe, between lectures at the 2016
American Heart Association Seminar on
Epidemiology and Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases in Tahoe City, Calif.
Brothers Dave
’64 and Peter
Jaquette ’74 explored
Machu Picchu in Peru
in April, the second
such visit for Dave, who
last journeyed to the
archaeological site 50
years ago.
Gloria Chan ’02 signed copies of
Colorful Leadership at a party
celebrating the book’s launch.
Seattle alumni and friends saw
Raghu Karnad ’05, author of
Farthest Field: An Indian Story of the
Second World War, at the Elliot Bay Book
Co. in August.
The Seattle Book Club has grown so large and successful that a few alumni, led by
Andy Dannenberg ’74, are working to create a separate nonfiction book club.
Kristan McKinsey
’80 and husband
Bennett Johnson got in
the spirit of the
Prohibition era during
an exhibition at the
Peoria Riverfront
Museum in Illinois.
Tom Mayer ’61 and wife
Lois also attended.
JIM DWYER/PEORIA RIVERFRONT MUSEUM
1940
was in a girls’ camp in the
Berkshires. Swimming,
boating, and hiking in the
laurel-filled woods. Babies
and dogs, deep-beat
music till the birds took
over in the early morn. On
to Denver for our second
wedding and who-knowswhat, but the joy of celebration, the gathering of
our huge clan will be again
the center of it all.
Sad news: Caroline
Underwood died Feb. 26
at Pennswood Village in
Newtown, Pa. Caroline
earned an M.S. in library
science at Western
Reserve University, then
was commissioned in the
Navy Reserve and worked
as a personnel officer and
in other capacities at the
Naval Proving Ground in
Dahlgren, Va. She retired
as a commander. She
then worked as a postwar
administrative officer in
the School of Math at the
Institute for Advanced
Study in Princeton, N.J.
Caroline volunteered as a
monitor and bookmarker
for Recording for the
Blind; as librarian and in
other positions at First
Presbyterian Church of
Cranbury, N.J.; and as
librarian and a choir member at Rossmoor Solos.
+ SEND YOUR PHOTOS/BLURBS TO BULLETIN@SWARTHMORE.EDU
Bronze Star. A University
of Louisville law degree
led to a dozen-year
practice before he entered
Virginia Theological
Seminary to begin a
50-plus-year calling as
an Episcopal priest in
Kentucky. During his
tenure in Louisville’s West
End, Charlie was active
in civil rights, with a few
brief stints in jail. After
retirement he served in
administrative capacities
for the Episcopal Diocese
in Kentucky and in interim
pastorates there and in
Montana and Dominica.
We’d like to hear from those
who have not spoken up
lately. Recognize yourself?
1944
Esther Ridpath Delaplaine
edelaplaine1@verizon.net
Our condolences to Mat
Ewell’s wife, Ruth, and
sons Peter and Louis upon
Mat’s death March 8. Mat
graduated from Avon Old
Farms School in Connecticut before enrolling at
Swarthmore. He left after
two years to join the Army
Air Corps and earned
a Distinguished Flying
Cross after completing 99
missions. He continued
his education at St. John’s
College in Annapolis, Md.,
graduating in 1950. He
taught math and science
at the Harley School in
Rochester, N.Y., and was
head of its middle school
from 1964 until his 1980
retirement.
William Busing died April
14. Bill excelled in math
and science at his Scarsdale, N.Y., high school, and
graduated from Swarthmore with high honors.
In the service, he was a
lieutenant junior grade in
New London, Conn., and
postwar at Pearl Harbor.
Studies in physical chemistry at Princeton and two
years at Brown preceded
his career as a researcher
at Oak Ridge National
Laboratory in Tennessee.
His crystallography work
brought worldwide recognition and distinguished
awards. Away from work,
he served the Unitarian
Universalist Church in
administration and teaching. He was recognized as
a pioneer and supporter
of equitable health care
for mental illness. An
enthusiastic hiker of the
Appalachian Trail, he was
a member of the Trail
Club. Bill had family at
Swarthmore: daughter
Barbara Busing Wachs ’75.
I, Esther, have joined
Quakers holding “Black
Lives Matter” signs
in Bethesda, Md., and
met with organizations
addressing racism to
determine appropriate responses. I am also a mem-
ber of a support group
that comforts bereaved
members of our Bethesda
Friends Meeting.
And always, I beg for
any items you care to
share, such as weddings,
grandkids, great-g’kids,
and vacations.
FALL 2016
FOLLOW US
on Facebook at
facebook.com/
SwarthmoreBulletin
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
45
class notes
1945
Verdenal Hoag Johnson
verdij76@comcast.net
It has been busy. Edward
’46 could not get into the
car a few months ago, so I
got home/health care from
three wonderful helpers.
They came in the morning
to get him up and dressed,
and stayed a few hours so
I could do my chores. They
returned in the evening to
put him to bed.
Recently, Edward
couldn’t get out of bed, so
we called our fire department and the men (“We
have to stop meeting this
way”) took him to the hospital. Daughter Fran and
I spent all day with him in
the ER, with many negotiations about outpatient
and inpatient admissions
and Medicare and health
insurance. Fortunately,
the hospital has wonderful
case managers who took
care of everything once
he was admitted. He was
there for a week before
moving to a rehab facility,
the great place two miles
from home where I spent
six weeks after I broke my
leg eight years ago. Our
children have been back
and forth from Massachusetts and Long Island, but
now things are settling
down in a routine.
Edward and I have talked
about the end of life and
what we expect and hope
for. At Swarthmore, I was
in a play called A Decent
Birth, a Happy Funeral. We
have had such a wonderful life (right now, we are
a week short of our 70th
wedding anniversary), so
there are no regrets and
it will be a happy funeral.
When we die, we want
our ashes co-mingled
46
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
and sown over the ocean
waters at Grimes Cove in
Maine, where we spent
many happy summers. A
bench will be erected on
the rocks and a plaque
installed: “We loved it so
much we decided to stay.”
Our souls will stick around
mentoring those we loved
and then will go on to
another generation for
reincarnation.
We lost Janet Stanley
Mustin in the spring. She
and Frank ’44 had been
married for 70 years.
Several reunions ago, we
had Sunday brunch at the
Mustins’ beautiful home.
Janet was a renowned
artist in her community,
submitting her works
to exhibits and leading
therapeutic art classes.
She was also well-known
for her volunteer work.
In addition to Frank, she
leaves three daughters,
eight grandchildren, and
five great-grandchildren.
1947
Marshall Schmidt
kinmarshal@aol.com
We mourn the March 24
passing of Don Smith. We
send our sincere condolences to Jane Ann Jones
Smith ’48 and family.
Don earned a master of
civil engineering from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1951. Don joined the
consulting engineering
firm of Andrews & Clark in
1952, retiring as president
in 1989. Major design
projects during his career
included the Long Island
Expressway, the Meadowbrook Parkway, Sunken
Meadow State Park, and
the 1964–65 World’s Fair.
Don served on the boards
of Friends Academy in
FALL 2016
Locust Valley, N.Y., Friends
World College, the Village
of East Williston, Habitat
for Humanity in Nassau
County, Peconic Land
Trust, and the Brecknock
Hall Foundation. He is survived by Jane Ann, his wife
of 66 years, three children,
and six grandchildren.
Kinnie ’46 and I have
a new address, as we
have moved from a villa
to the “big house” in our
senior hybrid community,
Princeton Windrows.
Our new address is 2417
Windrow Drive, Princeton,
NJ 08540. We are joining
Dick Esrey ’50, Naomi
Lichtman Rose ’54, and
Ned and Helen “Greenie”
Green Neuburg ’48.
We celebrated the
Swarthmore graduation of
Abby Schmidt ’16, marking
the temporary end of five
consecutive generations
of female Swarthmorean
Stablers, Clarkes, and
Schmidts that started
in 1894 (plus three
husbands—the Quaker
matchbox phenomenon).
Swarthmore’s fiscal year
ended June 30. As class
agent, I thank all classmates who donated to the
Alumni Fund last year.
1949
Robert Norman
robert.z.norman@dartmouth.
edu
Marjorie Merwin Daggett
mmdaggett@verizon.net
At my retirement community in Lebanon, N.H., I,
Bob, am sometimes asked
what I do at my Dartmouth
office (luckily I still have
one). Among other things,
I occasionally work on a
paper for potential publication based on a talk I
gave four years ago. As
you know, doing anything
now takes even longer. So
the paper may never get
finished, unless it rises on
my priority list.
It was good to hear from
Lise Wertheimer Wallach,
who stopped teaching a
few years ago and is now
a senior research scholar
at Duke. “I’ve mostly
been at home the last five
months due to a broken
hip (partially replaced).
Slipped on ice in January,
but improving. Like you,
I’ve had a research paper
in progress—with husband
Mike ’54—for a couple
of years, a follow-up on a
book we wrote on different
conceptions of mind.
“I’m delighted to have
brother Mike Wertheimer
’47 (I get attached to
Mikes) becoming an honorary member of our class.
I have fond memories of
the times we spent together in our overlapping years
at Swarthmore.”
Our class philosopher,
Bill Hirsch, plans to visit
Maine with wife Roberta
for theater and seafood.
In return he offers us food
for thought: “What is the
key senior challenge? I
believe it might be ‘adjustment to change.’ What do
you think?”
I sadly report the passing
of four classmates.
Joanne Donovan Banta
died June 21. Her fascination with the life sciences
led to a summer course
at the University of Oslo,
Norway, a laboratory
assistantship at Yale and
Woods Hole, and three
years at Huntington Laboratories, Harvard University. She met husband Joe
during these years, and
the pair married in 1954.
She joined Joe in working
for the CIA in Germany,
including maintaining
files on suspected double
agents. Living in Europe—
first in Frankfurt, Germa-
ny, and then Milan, Italy—
Joanne honed her German
and learned Italian,
became a proficient skier,
and developed a lifelong
taste for Northern Italian
cuisine and Alfa Romeo
cars. After returning to the
U.S., she was a committed
volunteer, from recordings
for the blind to relief for
the homeless. A fearless
advocate for feminism and
a dedicated swimmer, she
was also a gifted classical
cellist and pianist and
took up gouache painting
in her final years. Joanne
is survived by husband
Joe, two sons, and two
grandchildren.
Kathleen “Kay” Blau
Shapiro died Jan. 24. She
served as president of the
Sisterhood of Congregation Shaarey Zedek and on
the board of the Lansing
Jewish Welfare Federation. With the American
Red Cross, she settled
Vietnamese immigrants,
believing in the importance of aiding refugees
from war-torn nations. Her
commitment to civil rights
dated back to the 1940s.
She also volunteered with
Planned Parenthood. She
is survived by two sisters,
three children, seven
grandchildren, and three
great-grandchildren.
Lloyd Craighill Jr.
passed away March 28,
and wife Mary “Maryly”
Nute Craighill ’50 died
two weeks later. Lloyd’s
parents were Episcopal
missionaries in China. He
and Maryly married on his
Swarthmore graduation
day. After he studied for
the priesthood, they began
missionary work in Japan
in 1951. Following doctoral
studies in Asian art history
at Harvard, he studied
painting under a Chinese
master in Beijing and
earned a top prize at a Paris exhibition. After studying
under a master luthier, he
built and rebuilt cellos,
Share your personal and reunion
pics: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
violins, and violas, giving
lectures on acoustics of
stringed instruments of the
early Renaissance. He is
survived by four children,
brother Peyton (sister-inlaw Mary Roberts Craighill
’57), and sister Kate.
John Kennedy died Jan.
8. Upon turning 18, he
enlisted in the Navy. At
Swarthmore he received
highest honors in philosophy. He graduated from
Yale Law School in 1952,
and in 1957 he married
Barbara Allen. As a lawyer
he was known for his
integrity and concern for
others’ well-being. He was
well-known for his eccentric wit and his passionate
progressive politics. At our
50th Reunion he wrote, “I
feel that capitalism must
be abolished in favor of
a socialist, cooperative
system but have no idea
how this can be accomplished.” He is survived by
his wife, four children, and
10 grandchildren.
1950
Dot Watt Williams
625 Broad St., Apt 301
Grinnell, IA 50112
dorothy4@illinois.edu
Richard Farrar enjoyed
San Poncho, Mexico, this
winter. It’s gotten crowded, but its beach is still
beautiful. He keeps busy
with abstract painting and
enjoying ballet and chamber music performances.
(Bach is his favorite
composer; poor Mozart is
only second place.)
Georgeann “Tommy”
Thomas Haykin is “too
busy to write,” says
husband Dave. Recently
diagnosed with diabetes,
Tommy no longer rides her
motorcycle nor flies their
airplane. Dave checks
her glucose three times
a day, but her diet hasn’t
changed much. She and
Dave are active in the
Unitarian church they
founded 50 years ago.
Their children are a special-ed teacher in Florida,
an engineer in Pittsburgh,
and a neurologist in
Pittsburgh. They have two
granddaughters, 10 and 8.
Adrian Kuyper and wife
Elaine still travel, despite
all-too-frequent doctor
visits. A Caribbean cruise
in February focused on
Mayan ruins in Guatemala,
Belize, and Mexico. In
September they were to
visit Kenya and Tanzania
for the fourth time to
watch the annual migration of animals between
the Serengeti and the
Masai Mara. At home they
have a busy schedule of
concerts and plays, and
are helping their church
find a new minister.
Ruth Merson Neleski
notes that classmates
probably don’t have much
news to report “because
we are getting rather old
and don’t move and shout
as much as we used to.
Now we list broken bones
(my hip) [me too, Ruth]
and sore spines. But I love
living in the mountains of
Arizona where it’s rarely
too hot or too cold and
almost never rains except
for brief summer showers.
No traffic jams, everything
within a few minutes,
nice people—even kids. I
enjoy reading about class
achievers and Swarthmore
in general.”
Jerome Ravetz writes
from Oxford, England, how
pleased he was to attend
President Valerie Smith’s
inspiring talk in London:
“Very encouraging for
the future. Whenever one
worries about America
one remembers what ‘race
relations’ were like when
we were students.”
Jerry was cited by The
Guardian as “one of the
U.K.’s foremost philosophers of science for more
than 50 years.” He is the
author of a thought-provoking article reflecting
on the troubles facing
contemporary science.
Read it at bit.ly/Ravetz.
Gertrude “Gee-Gee”
Joch Robinson says the
very late spring in Guelph,
Ontario, and research by
her son and grandson
give concrete evidence
of climate change. Son
Beren, a fish biologist at
the University of Guelph,
has tracked the effect the
long winter has had on
the survival of stickleback
fish born last fall, while
grandson Calder, studying
ocean science at Dalhousie University in Halifax,
investigates the effect
of water temperature on
them. Gee-Gee believes
that groups of fish behave
like groups of people. This
summer she traveled to
Tunkhannock, Pa., where
son Markus renovated
the Robinsons’ summer
cottage. Her extended
family gathered in August
to celebrate the completion of the renovation.
Alan Ward was back in
Westwood, Mass., after
escaping the summer heat
of Hilton Head, S.C. He
had a fun trip to Berkeley,
Calif., to watch his
granddaughter graduate
from high school with
lots of honors. “My son, a
psychology professor at
Swarthmore, and daughter
came along and helped
me navigate airports. My
Aussie-mix dog, Leo, was
very upset with me for
leaving without him and
takes me for lots of extra
walks to make up for it.”
I am sad to report we
have lost another classmate. Mary “Maryly” Nute
Craighill died April 13, two
weeks after the death of
husband Lloyd ’49. She
was born in California
but grew up in Adana
and Talas, Turkey, where
her missionary parents
ran medical clinics. She
met Lloyd at Swarthmore
where she campaigned
to eliminate quotas on
Jewish students. Married
in 1949, she transferred
to George Washington
University while Lloyd
attended Virginia Theological Seminary. She translated Turkish, French, and
German for the CIA, and
cataloged Kurdish papers
for Harvard’s library. The
Craighills were missionaries for the Episcopal
Church in Kyoto, Okinawa,
Sapporo, and Osaka, Japan. In 1979, the Craighills
were appointed professors
at Kansai Gaidai University in Hirakata, Japan.
In retirement in Amherst,
Mass., Maryly led courses
in Old English and early
British literature. She is
survived by four children
and a brother.
1951
Elisabeth “Liesje”
Boessenkool Ketchel
eketchel@netscape.com
Anne Thomas Moore was
kind enough to write about
the reunion for those who
couldn’t make it. Thanks,
Anne, and thanks also to
Andrea Wilcox Palmer for
suggesting it.
“Six of us showed up at
our 65th Reunion. Good to
keep crossing paths with
Woody Thomas, wife Merrillan Murray Thomas ’53,
and daughter Jeananne;
Dave and Anita Dabrohua
Wesson; and Clarkson and
Andy Wilcox Palmer at
meals or when riding golf
carts. Three classes were
ahead of us in the parade
as we walked to the
amphitheater’s accessible
entrance opposite Wharton. The trees were a lot
taller than in 1951, but the
animated sound of alumni
talking before Collection’s opening moment of
silence was very familiar.
President Valerie Smith’s
joyful presence and her
talk covering so many
facets of College life and
administration evidenced
a solid beginning in her
first year. Dan Singer,
Anne Ashbaugh Kamrin,
Barbara Bruce Rutledge,
Joyce Kimball Burbank,
and Miriam Strasburger
Moss sent regrets, and
certainly there were others who would have liked
to have been present.”
Joyce “Kim” Burbank
writes, “I had planned to
join Anne Thomas Moore,
but decided it was time to
replace my right knee. So,
while our small contingent of classmates was
reuniting, I was embarking
on physical therapy. I did it
so I could spend 10 days in
Maine in August enjoying
the surf, the lobsters,
and my daughter. It has
been fun living so near
Anne—only 45 minutes
away. We’ve kept in touch
throughout the years,
starting with sharing an
apartment in Evanston,
Ill., then by attending each
other’s wedding, visiting
while our families were
young, and stopping to
see each other en route to
family gatherings. Swarthmore friendships are very
rewarding.”
Ralph Lee Smith, who
faithfully contributes
interesting material for
this column, writes, “I
am a lifelong lover of old
homemade wooden things,
including old dulcimers.
The house is full of this
stuff. Susie and I are
cleaning out and downsizing. Today, I unpacked a
box that contained:
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
47
class notes
1. A fishhook bender.
This excellently carved
little item sat next to an
Outer Banks fisherman
as he hauled in his lines.
Shaking fish off the hooks
sometimes caused them
to bend out of shape. The
fisherman fixed the hook
with his bender before
casting the line again.
2. Two maple sugar taps.
These hand-cut little
spouts were inserted into
maple trees to get the sap,
which was boiled to make
sugar and syrup.
3. A corn shucker. This
piece, carved smooth and
thin, looks like a small
wooden shoe with a pointed tip. One would insert
two fingers and use the
tip to shuck corn, thereby
saving one’s fingers from
becoming raw.
“Now, folks, I ask you:
How can one bear to get
rid of stuff like this?”
Winifred Armstrong
writes, “The summer
Bulletin had a nice article
about my archiving (bit.ly/
WinArmstrong). The new
editor, Jonathan Riggs,
wrote it. I just heard from
Robin Cooley Krivanek
in response to the earlier
piece about the Lemlich
award … nice.”
Elizabeth Lewis Harker
died last year in San
Mateo, Calif. She had a
wonderful life with late
husband Jack Harker
’50. She and Jack met at
Swarthmore, which she
attended on a Pepsi math
scholarship. Married in
LA in 1950, they started
their lives together in
the Bay Area by moving
to Berkeley. While Jack
attended grad school, Elizabeth supported them by
working in San Francisco.
He was a Californian, and
she wanted to pursue the
modern Californian dream:
liberal politics, modern
design, and Eichler architecture. She found it in
Palo Alto, where they lived
48
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
for 55 years. According
to their son, they were as
much in love at the end as
when they first came to
California.
1952
Barbara Wolff Searle
bsearle70@msn.com
I’m overflowing with news
this quarter. Keep it coming—I love it.
Franz Leichter writes,
“My retirement activities
revolve around grandchildren (four, but not one
Swarthmorean, sadly),
NYC’s rich cultural life,
and traveling. In November
last year, I went with much
of my family to London for
a ceremony at the Israeli
Embassy acknowledging
the Righteous Among the
Nations designation of the
FALL 2016
woman who smuggled me
out of Austria after the
Nazi Anschluss in 1938.
When, through serendipity, we reconnected,
we worked together for
this designation by Yad
Vashem, the Holocaust
museum in Jerusalem.
“In December my
companion and I traveled
to Tokyo, where she had
been invited to the opening of a film on the Japanese consul in Lithuania
who in 1939 gave thousands of visas to Jews
contrary to government
instructions. She and her
family received one of
these precious visas.
“In March, again joined
by my family, it was off to
Vienna for a screening of
a documentary about my
mother. … It was shown on
Austrian public television
on International Women’s
Day. My mother, a political
activist, established the
Women’s Section of the
Labor Exchange and
did pioneering work in
showing wage inequality
between men and women
and in working conditions
for women. (Doesn’t that
still resonate today?)
She had a Ph.D. from
Heidelberg, where she
studied under Max Weber.
She did not survive the
Holocaust.”
I have two long letters,
from Harlan Flint and
Roger Feldman. I will
quote briefly from each
and then return to them
next quarter. Harlan
writes, “Your notes give
us a snapshot of many
interesting and successful
lives. It’s funny that at our
age when things generally
slow down, they also seem
to speed up. Our children
reach middle age too soon,
and our grandchildren
are way older than they
should be. But on our
good days, we don’t seem
to be much older than we
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should be, as long as we
stay away from mirrors. …
My passion for skiing was
cut short at 82 when my
wife’s Alzheimer’s began
to require more of my
attention. We soldier on
as best we can, enjoying
our straw-bale cabin on
the Rio de Los Pinos in
northern New Mexico’s
wilderness. The cabin and
my lifelong journey to get
there is the subject of my
new book, Journey to a
Straw Bale House: The
Long Road to Santa Rita in
an Old Hispano Neighborhood on the Northern
Edge of New Mexico. If
one were to Google my
name, it would reveal my
earlier book, from 2012,
Hispano Homesteaders:
The Last New Mexico Pioneers, 1850–1920.” More
next time.
Roger’s Christmas letter
arrived in April. (That’s
OK. I’m happy to hear from
him whenever.) He writes,
“2015 was, in one sense,
a year in which I had little
fully committed time. My
routines were reduced to a
weekly one-hour exercise
class; a weekly two-hour
lip-reading class; for six
months, a daily effort of
reading and editing Ebola
messages for ProMED;
and a twice-a-month
church-organized foodbank effort, collecting
outdated foods from one
store and bringing them
to a church that housed
and fed the homeless. I’ve
given up banjo lessons—
wish I were better at it,
but wishing is ineffective.”
There’s lots more news,
but it will have to keep.
Some time ago, I reported the death of Marguerite
“Margie” Ridge Perrone.
The Bulletin received a
touching note from her
husband, Charles: “Last
year I scattered Margie’s
ashes, as she wished, in
Chester County, Pa., in a
Share your personal and reunion
pics: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
small clearing on a wooded hillside near Ludwig’s
Corner. The clearing is
secret and quiet, dappled
by partial sun. Margie’s
candid blue eyes favored
partial sun. She shunned
extremes. The ground
cover is sparsely flecked
with modest woodland
blooms. Down the slope,
the lake and its far shore
glow through the canopy
of leaves. As a girl Margie
returned to this valley
on horseback again and
again. By now her ashes
have entered the living
earth to emerge in season
as modest blooms. She is
so easily pleased.”
The Bulletin also reported
the death of Howard
Fussell. He was the retired
vice president of Lavino
Shipping Co. and in that capacity did much traveling.
He won many tennis tournaments and was a master
gardener, a frustratingly
clever chess and bridge
player, a wonderful writer,
an ardent reader, a devotee
of The New York Times
crossword puzzle, and a
talented musician. Did you
know Howard? Please send
remembrances.
1953
Carol Lange Davis
cldavis5@optonline.net
In May I visited Margery
“Marky” McCloskey Laws
in Madison, Conn. Susie
and Bob Fetter joined us
for lunch on their way
to Vermont to see Bob’s
brother, Tom ’56. Shortly
thereafter, Bob attended
Alumni Weekend, where
he saw Francis Ashton and
Merrillan Murray Thomas.
I also chatted with Stanley Mills, who goes into
Manhattan a few times
each week to help the
new owner of his music
business.
Did everyone see the
Bulletin story online about
the late Phoebe Burnett
Snetsinger? Phoebe was
responsible for sighting
8,398 birds—a record she
held well after her death in
1999. On what would have
been her 85th birthday
June 9, Google honored
Phoebe and her immense
legacy with a daily doodle.
As usual, most of my
news is about classmates
we have lost.
Elizabeth “Betsy” Alden
Bowers died peacefully
Dec. 15 in Richmond, Va.
She is survived by husband Don; children Ken,
Cathy, and James; and
five grandchildren.
After spending time at
Swarthmore, Betsy graduated from Cornell with a
botany degree in 1954 and
received a master’s from
the University of Illinois.
In the 1960s she taught at
an integrated preschool
in Charlottesville, Va., and
in the early 1970s, she
was a founding member
of FOCUS Women’s Resource Center. From 1973
to 1978, she served on
the Charlottesville school
board. She also served
on the Charlottesville and
Henrico County Democratic committees.
Betsy was a longtime
member of the NAACP.
She was a court reporter
for the Charlottesville
Observer, and in 1986,
she graduated from the
University of Virginia law
school. In 1988 Betsy and
Don moved to Richmond,
and she started a private
family-law practice. Some
of her greatest satisfaction came from court-appointed work representing
children and women. She
joined the Virginia Women
Attorneys Association
and took part in lobbying
efforts. She had a lifelong
appreciation of plants as
a gardener and lover of
parks and walks in the
woods.
Ivan Gabel died June
11 in Jenkintown, Pa.,
after a lengthy illness.
Ivan worked for Merit Oil
Corp., culminating his
career as president and
CEO from 1987 to his
2000 retirement. Ivan was
trustee and former board
chair of Jewish Family
and Children’s Service of
Greater Philadelphia, Congregation Rodeph Shalom,
and Einstein Healthcare
Network. He was also a
lifetime honorary trustee
of the Jewish Federation
and former trustee of
Jefferson Health System
and the United Way. Ivan
is survived by his wife
of 61 years, Ruth, and
three children: Joanne
Hamilton, Bruce Gabel,
and Barbara Sklar.
George Hastings writes
that his wife, Iliana
Semmler, died June 17.
George and their daughters were by her side.
Iliana (I remember her
fondly as Jonny) received
an M.A. from Penn and a
Ph.D. from the University
at Albany, SUNY. She
taught English at the
University at Albany with
specialties in American
literature and literature
and medicine. Iliana was
an accomplished pianist
and enjoyed classical
concerts. She traveled
extensively and loved the
company of family, friends,
and her two Siamese cats.
In addition to George, she
is survived by children
Rada Hastings, Judith
Singer, and Geoffrey
Hastings. Son Douglas
Hastings predeceased her.
1954
Elizabeth Dun Colten
lizcolten@aol.com
Harriet Donow Cornell,
Naomi Lichtman Rose,
and I lunched together, and we discussed
politics, families, health,
and Swarthmore, not
necessarily in that order.
I mentioned Naomi’s ambitious travels in our last
column, and, understandably, Harriet—a county
legislator—is especially
busy this election year.
Summer, for me, means
Maine—Ocean Point, to
be exact—where our farflung family gathers for a
too-short visit.
In June, Peter Sielman,
a justice of the peace, officiated at the wedding of
grandson Daniel Shaiken
(son of David Shaiken ’82
and Martha Sielman ’82).
Daniel is a graduate of
Tufts veterinary school.
Also in June, Ruth
Durant Seeliger’s
granddaughter married in
Michigan, and Ruth met
a great-grandchild there.
Although she has stepped
down as chair of the board
of the Foundation for Contemporary Theology, she
still serves as administrator. Daughter Christine,
a cancer survivor, lives
with Ruth in Houston.
Ruth spent two months
last December in Oregon
with sister Kathryn Wolfe
Roether ’49, and says she
is eternally grateful for her
Swarthmore education
and friends.
Barbara Hill Lindsay
passed away last fall, but
the College received few
details on her life and
death. Please share any
stories or memories you
have of Barbara.
Phyllis Hall Raymond
“says it all” for many of us:
“No new address or travel
or excitement, but maybe
that is OK.” Since her
house abuts the College,
she attends musical
events on campus and is
active in the Swarthmore
Friends Meeting. Incidentally, I have a recently
updated class list, which I
will gladly share.
I pass on the following:
Did you know that the oldest McDonald’s employee
is a Singapore fry cook—
age 92—according to a
May 16 article in Time?
And, from Will Rogers:
“We could certainly slow
the aging process down
if it had to work its way
through Congress.”
1955
Sally Schneckenburger
Rumbaugh
srumbaugh@san.rr.com
I am delighted to quote
from the June 11 San
Francisco Examiner: “The
Commonwealth Club gave
activist and philanthropist
James Hormel its first
Champion of Civil Rights
and Social Justice honor
at its 28th Distinguished
Citizen Awards. That is
one among seemingly
countless honors the
human rights pioneer has
earned during decades
of public work, including
serving as the first openly
gay U.S. ambassador to
Luxembourg (and enduring years of controversy to
get the job).” Congratulations, Jim.
In contrast to the
timeliness of the previous
entry comes news from
William Shepard’s 2014
Christmas letter, which
I recently uncovered.
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
49
class notes
You already know that
Bill and Elza settled into
their new house, having
repaired and sold the one
damaged by the 2011 New
Zealand earthquake, and
that the second edition of
Bill’s book on Islam was
published. Further news
is that on the previous
Christmas, their son and
his family visited, staying
in their old house. Their
son, a beamline scientist,
co-authored a publication
that appeared in Nature;
his wife is a social judge;
and their girls are enthusiastic karate students.
The death of Bill’s sister, a
paraplegic who advocated
for the disabled, brought
Bill to the U.S., where he
spent time with their son
and his family. Bill and
Elza’s daughter Christina,
who teaches at an all-boys
high school, lives near
them in Christchurch, so
they are closely involved
with their grandson, who’s
active in swimming, karate, touch rugby, and piano
lessons—even, in a school
talent competition, playing
a piece he composed.
Bill and Elza find support
and fellowship in their
church’s home group.
William Dominick had an
interesting 2015. It began
inauspiciously in February.
Attempting to chase a
squirrel away from his
bird feeder, Bill slipped on
black ice, cracking a bone
in his right knee. That led
to eight weeks of therapy
while using a walker and
sleeping in a recliner. He
has not given up on protecting his bird feeder, but
he watches for hazards
now. In April, he and wife
Phyllis Klock Dominick ’57
joined their five children
at one son’s beach home
in Nag’s Head, N.C., for an
enjoyable “7-D” family reunion. During the summer,
Bill and Phyllis watched
grandchildren perform,
one in ballet and two in
50
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
baseball. The older baseball player was selected
to join a Little League
All-Star team for a trip to
Japan to play against a
Japanese All-Star team,
making his old pitcher
grandfather beam with
pride. In June, Bill and
Phyllis attended our 60th
Reunion; then in July, they
were in Vermont for the
40th Taft reunion, which
included many of Phyllis’s
relatives. Another reunion
took them to Connecticut,
this one with seven of
Phyllis’s girlfriends from
junior high. Finally, following the family tradition
in which all 12 adults and
11 grandchildren meet at
an exotic location every
five years, they went to
Antigua. This was their
first experience with an
all-inclusive resort, and
they thoroughly enjoyed
the beautiful beaches,
delicious meals, tennis
courts, and outstanding
Caribbean weather. Plans
for 2016 included a trip
to Maine and at least
one college and one high
school graduation.
Despite these activities,
Bill writes, “With Phyllis’s
scoliosis and my various
aches and pains, we’ve
decided to make the
move” to Cedarfield, a
Richmond, Va., continuing-care retirement community, whenever a vacancy occurs. Like so many,
they are in the “awesome
task of downsizing.”
We have lost another
classmate. Gwilym Owen
Jr., of Pittsboro, N.C., died
peacefully Feb. 6. Our
condolences to his family.
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FALL 2016
1956
Caro Luhrs
celuhrs@verizon.net
We had a wonderful 60th
Reunion: no rain and the
campus looked spectacular with endless lush,
green grass, huge old
trees, and beautiful flowers. Fifty classmates were
expected back; almost
all showed up. Although
we are now in our early
80s, those who returned
looked amazingly fit and
cheerful—enough so to be
frequently mistaken for
the reunion Class of 1966.
A few of us stayed at
the Inn at Swarthmore, a
delightful place located on
campus near the train station. Student-driven golf
carts easily whisked us
back and forth to events.
Saturday morning,
President Valerie Smith
welcomed all the classes
at Alumni Collection in
Scott Amphitheater. We
were impressed by her
joy, warmth, and excellent
communication skills. We
realized how much more
complex and multifaceted the role of college
president has become
over the past 60 years.
We are pleased to have
a president with such
understanding of and
passion for the job.
There were many multiclass activities throughout
the weekend, but our
class spent as much
time as possible with one
other. Thanks to Gretchen
Mann Handwerger’s good
planning, we had all our
weekend meals together
as a class instead of being
lumped in with others.
Our 2015–16 scholarship
recipient, Mohammed
Bappe ’19, joined us for
lunch Saturday. Carolyn
Cotton Cunningham
arranged a moving memorial for each of the 18
classmates who had died
since our 55th Reunion.
Our records now show
70 deaths since 1956.
This includes anyone who
was ever in our class.
Since there has been little
tracking of classmates
who didn’t graduate, the
actual number of deaths is
certainly larger than 70.
Saturday afternoon,
two of our classmates
gave interesting talks.
Chris Lehmann-Haupt
shared material from a
book he is writing about
working at The New
York Times, where he
was a book review editor
and obituary writer. His
theme centers on the
distant and competitive
relationships among the
staffers. France Juliard
Pruitt moved us with the
story of the four harrowing years she and cousin
Chantal “Cathy” Juliard
Astore spent hiding from
the Nazis in the South of
France during World War
II. Most classmates knew
this and wished they had
recognized years ago what
the young Juliard girls had
gone through.
After dinner Saturday,
former U.S. Sen. Carl
Levin spoke about the
presidential election,
opening with “Hillary
will win.” He said this
definitive statement was
intended to “keep us
awake” during his talk.
Sally Pattullo McGarry
organized our auction for
the Class of 1956 Scholarship Fund, with Jack Finkelstein as auctioneer. We
raised several thousand
dollars. Auction items
included 12 beautiful and
very old Swarthmore china
plates, copies of France
Juliard Pruitt’s book Faith
and Courage in a Time of
Trouble, and a Walt Kelly
drawing of Miz Ma’m’selle
donated by Peter Svirsky,
who, unfortunately, could
not be with us.
President Smith, who
was very visible and
engaged with our class,
auctioned herself off as
a luncheon guest. Two
classmates won separate
bids for this.
A fine time was had by
all. And by the way, our
class had the highest
participation rate—70
percent—of all the other
reunion classes in giving
to the Swarthmore Fund.
Good work!
1957
Minna Newman Nathanson
jm@nathansons.net
Ferris Hall, who—like
many of us—recently
turned 80, “celebrated”
by retiring. A radiologist
at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in
Boston for 45 years and
a professor at Harvard
Medical School, Ferris
loved interpreting musculoskeletal and mammography images, and, most
particularly, teaching.
However, the related IT
became increasingly timeconsuming and difficult.
He came to view medical
students’, residents’, and
fellows’ computer skills
as he did those of his children and grandchildren:
the payback for parenting.
Ferris and wife Nancy,
who celebrated their 57th
wedding anniversary last
year, moved into a Boston-area retirement home
known for its in-house
courses, lectures, and musical events—some given
by the retirees. Although
they lost their eldest
daughter to cancer, their
two remaining children
and five grandchildren
are healthy. The couple
enjoy watching their
oldest grand, a Middlebury
College sophomore, play
lacrosse.
Jeremy Stone spoke in
April during a Swarthmore
Peace and Conflict Studies event on lessons he
and late wife B.J. Yannet
Stone learned in “catalytic
diplomacy.”
1958
Vera Lundy Jones
549 East Ave.
Bay Head, NJ 08742
verajonesbayhead@
comcast.net
David Porter died in
March after a fall during
a walk. He is survived
by wife Helen and her
daughter, Cathrin Lawton;
his children David,
Everett, Helen, and Hugh,
and their spouses and
children. David, who
received a classics Ph.D.
from Princeton, played
the harpsichord and piano
and taught classics and
music. He married the
late Laudie Dimmette
’57 in 1958. David was
president of Carleton
College (1986–87) before
joining Skidmore College
as president from 1987 to
1999. He then taught at
Williams College, Indiana
University, and Skidmore,
and received honorary
degrees from Skidmore in
1998 and Carleton in 2011.
Karen Hultzen Belleau
died in June. She received
a French degree from
Swarthmore and a master’s in early childhood
education from Wheelock College in Boston.
Karen was a teacher
for 28 years. She loved
visual and performing
arts, traveling, reading,
writing, and gardening.
She sang for many years
with the oratorio society.
Karen is survived by sons
Peter, Michael, and Alan;
daughter Susannah Owen;
and five grandchildren.
She was predeceased by
husband Dean Ridlon.
The class sends its
sympathy to the families
of David and Karen.
I am sorry to report
only sad news. Please let
me know what you are
doing—your classmates
would like to hear!
1959
Miriam Repp Staloff
staloff@verizon.net
In a note about his
contribution in memory of
Johanna Mautner Plaut
’58 to the Joseph Conard
Fund, Charles Miller sent
along a brief “memoir” of
his Swarthmore days. I will
paraphrase:
“I scarcely knew Johanna, but she was the
daughter of Franz Mautner, who taught German
and was one of the two
teachers who most influenced my undergraduate
experience. The other: J.
Roland Pennock.
“Like other alumni, many
of my fellow students
became lifelong friends,
or at least remained acquaintances. Perhaps you
can imagine a sociogram
composed of these people.
Reinhart Wettmann was
a Fulbright student from
Germany (1956–57). Lee
Bigelow ’58, Reinhart,
and I were roommates in
Mary Lyon. Later, I spent a
Fulbright year in Freiburg,
Germany, where Reinhart
lived. We three have re-
mained in touch regularly.
“Maurice Eldridge ’61,
a longtime Swarthmore
administrator, has been
a friend since college.
His 2009 baccalaureate address (bit.ly/
Maurice09) is one of the
finest documents about
Swarthmore I have read
since graduation.
“David Porter ’58 and I
met in 1955 through our
shared interests in classics and music. He later
added an interest that his
first wife, the late Laudie
Dimmette ’57, introduced
him to, the novels of Willa
Cather. David was my
model humanist from the
beginning of our more
than 60-year friendship.
I am honored to own inscribed books and articles
from him on Homer, Greek
tragedy, Horace, and David’s distinguished piano
teacher, Eduard Steuermann. On David’s death in
early 2016, the president
of Skidmore, where David
himself had once been
president, wrote an obituary titled “The Death of
a Renaissance Man” (bit.
ly/DavidPorter). To mark
my retirement from Lake
Forest College in 1999,
he gave a lecture-performance: ‘The Well-Tampered Clavier: Play—Musical and Otherwise, the
Intellectual Playfulness
in the Music of Charles
Ives, John Cage, Henry
Cowell, and Erik Satie.’
David was a sophisticated
and unapologetic punster.
He was an imaginative and
profound thinker about
every subject that he
touched in his scholarship.”
Please share your lives
and memories. Just don’t
do it in PDF files; they’re
beyond my equipment’s
capabilities.
Read a tribute to David Porter ’58 by Charles Miller ’59 at bulletin.swarthmore.edu
1960
Jeanette Strasser Pfaff
jfalk2@mac.com
It seems that John Vincent
was the sole classmate at
Alumni Weekend in June.
He reports that he had
a positive impression of
and interaction with our
new president and that he
enjoyed Maurice Eldridge
’61’s Collection address.
We couldn’t ask for a
better representative.
Thanks, John.
I had asked you to tell
us about postretirement
careers or occupations.
Larry Helm rephrased
that as “Aged Life” and
describes his post-Navy
activities in what I take to
be genuine “Navy-speak.”
“Drove a Fairfax County
school bus part time—a
hoot. Then, got kinda
bored so did the ticket-punching and taught
in Fairfax County high
schools before locking
in as part-time AP U.S.
history teacher at our
local magnet—Thomas
Jefferson—for about eight
years.” Coincidentally, he’s
also an AP U.S. reader—“rewarding and fun.”
Mimi Siegmeister Koren:
“I became a part-time
reporter for a very smalltown newspaper in Larchmont, N.Y., from age 65
to 70. It was something I
had dreamed of doing and
never imagined possible.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I
then took up painting with
pastels, building on the
drawing I had done sporadically all my life. Most
recently, I have become an
environmental activist as
co-founder and co-chair
of my synagogue’s Green
Committee. It reminds me
of my first political activ-
ism in the Ban the Bomb
movement freshman year.”
John Palka retired early
and spent the better part
of a decade writing My
Slovakia, about his family
history. He then turned
to writing a biweekly
blog (naturesdepths.
com), which satisfies his
fascination with the living
world and provides “ongoing stimulus to the mind
and the creative impulse.”
Martha Merrill Pickrell
embarked on music composition for piano at age
67. “I’ve had a wonderful
time with it. Last year, I
had printed a few copies
of two books, Times and
Places (second edition—21 pieces) and Late
Discoveries (10 pieces).
Copies of both are in the
Swarthmore library, along
with a CD for each. I love
most of my pieces like
the kids I never had. Most
are relatively easy to play.
Now I am starting to work
on orchestration for a
few of them. Let me know
if you would like further
information.”
Janet Lockard: “The
main addition to my life
since retirement is a
passion for greyhounds.
I work with a volunteer
group that takes greyhounds from the track
when they are through
racing and finds them
forever homes. This group,
Greyhound Friends for
Life, also brings in Salukis
from Dubai and galgos
from Spain, as well as
greyhounds from Korea
and other places. My two
raced at the Caliente track
in Mexico, part of the U.S.
circuit. Tracks in Arizona
are closing now (whoopee!) so we are inundated
with dogs. Anyone interested in a loving, gentle,
beautiful canine couch
potato?” (More, pg. 13)
Marcia Montin Grant,
having retired from
founding and directing
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
51
class notes
the liberal arts curriculum
at Ashesi University in
Ghana, continues her
adventurous career as
interim provost of the
American University of
Paris for 2016–17.
Joan Schuster Faber
renamed my request
“Retirement (Rewirement)” and says, “I have
discovered a modest
talent for and a deep,
deep pleasure in playing
the piano. My teacher
insists that her students
perform regularly for one
another. After overcoming
my initial terror, I found
that I actually enjoy it. I’ve
started playing chamber
music as well. I’ve learned
something complex that
demands both mental and
physical dexterity I didn’t
know I had.”
John Harbeson is in his
fourth term on his condo’s
association board, which
he says should qualify as
a second career for all the
work it takes. “That course
in local government with
Professor Gilbert had an
influence.”
Chris Clague recommends Roger Williams
and the Creation of the
American Soul by John
Barry, which depicts the
17th-century Quakers as
anything but the gentle,
reasonable folk that we
mostly assume they were.
Harriet Shorr died
April 9 after a two-year
illness. She is survived by
husband Jim Long ’71 and
daughters Ruth Baguskas
’89 and Sasha Baguskas.
Jeremy Dummer died
May 31. After a lifetime of
strenuous activity including quarterbacking for
Swarthmore, skiing, and
golf, Jere succumbed to
complications of vascular
disease in his legs. He was
a mechanical engineer,
an aircraft accident
investigator, and, later in
life, a business manager.
Vivi-Ann Hall Lowe died
52
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
in October 2015. Susan
Pickett Worf died in June.
We send our warmest condolences to these classmates’ family and friends.
Let me know if you have
memories to share.
Richard, my husband of
three months, died July
10. Death did us part too
soon.
1961
Pat Myers Westine
pat@westinefamily.com
As I write, our 55th Reunion is three weeks past.
There weren’t many of us,
but those who attended
enjoyed reminiscing about
our Swarthmore days and
catching up on the past
55 years. At the Saturday
class luncheon, Maurice
Eldridge was elected to
replace Jon Van Til as
class president. Jon, back
in Indiana with wife Agnes,
“thanks his classmates for
their wonderful support
and wishes Maurice many
joyful years as he assumes
the position.” Thanks from
all of us, Jon.
During Alumni Weekend,
we stayed in Mertz and
David Kemp halls; visited
the new Matchbox and the
even-newer Inn at Swarthmore; attended SwatTalks
and class discussions; had
a Saturday morning conversation with President
Valerie Smith; marched in
the Parade of Classes to
the Scott Amphitheater
(it’s amazing how close
we’re getting to the front
of the lineup); listened to
Maurice speak at Alumni
Collection; and sang
Fauré’s Requiem with the
Chester Children’s Chorus.
Maurice has had a busy
year. He retired from the
College in June as vice
FALL 2016
president for college and
community relations and
executive assistant to
the president. Two weeks
after Alumni Weekend,
he married Pat Brooks
’60 at the Swarthmore
Meetinghouse with music
by the Chester Children’s
Chorus. With Pat, he will
stay in Swarthmore, continuing as vice president
and secretary of the board
of trustees for the Chester
Charter School for the
Arts, which he helped establish, and serving on the
Chester Children’s Chorus
board of directors.
Steve Davidson is
“retiring from Boston
University after 31 years
(and before that UChicago
and Northwestern). I’m
not sure what I will do in
the next phase. A year of
milestones: I turned 75,
and our two children and
their spouses gave Harriet
and me a party for our
50th anniversary.”
We send our sympathy to
Margie Doehlert Barovich,
whose husband, Don, died
shortly after they moved
to Foulkeways, a Quaker
retirement community in
Gwynedd, Pa.
Barbara Price died Feb.
18 in New York City. The
College was notified of her
death by her estate’s executor. If you have memories
to share about Barbara,
please let me know.
As you can tell, reunion
attendees re-elected me
as class secretary. I am
delighted to serve and ask
that you send me your
updates, holiday letters,
etc., so I can continue to
keep our class in touch.
1962
Evelyn Edson
268 Springtree Lane
Scottsville, VA 24590
eedson@pvcc.edu
As I write, I am aware that,
due to the vagaries of the
magazine’s publication
schedule, you may have
sent in notes before
receiving my last column.
Don’t panic. Those of you
who submitted, your notes
will be seen.
Caroline Hodges Persell,
professor emerita of
sociology at NYU, chairs
a committee that has created a residents’ website
for their 250 neighbors at
Kendal on Hudson, the senior community where she
and husband Charlie have
lived happily for 10 years.
(Anyone interested can
visit kohresweb.org.) Caroline also confirmed that it
was indeed her playing in
the string quartet pictured
in the Kendal ad in the
New Yorker. She enjoys
participating in Kendal’s
music program—one of
those things we did not
have much time for in our
preretirement lives.
Robin Ridington completed a video biography
of Charlie Yahey, the
last Dane-zaa Dreamer,
combining the Dreamer’s
words and songs recorded
in the late 1960s with narrative recorded in 2015 by
Charlie’s grandson Randy
Yahey. Robin will return
to the Doig River First
Nation in the spring to
translate the material with
Billy Attachie. Later, Robin
and wife Jillian will cruise
along the British Columbia
coast in Swanstar, their
32-foot Nordic tug, and
attend the Pender Harbour
Chamber Music Festival.
Then it’s back to Maui for
the winter.
Arlie Russell Hochschild
writes with her fond
memories of Gordon
Wilcox. She and husband
Adam live in Berkeley,
Calif., across the bay from
younger son Gabriel and
three blocks from older
son David ’93 and their
two granddaughters,
10 and 8. David’s wife,
Cynthia Li, has a medical
office at their house. “We
love the connections
more than we can say,”
Arlie writes. Her latest
project is her forthcoming
book, Strangers in Their
Own Land: Anger and
Mourning on the American
Right, based on five
years of interviews with
tea-party enthusiasts in
Lake Charles, Sulphur,
Longville, and Baton
Rouge, La. “Political belief
is a new topic for me,
and it has been amazing
getting to know people
with such different views.”
After numerous visits to
the area, she has invited
some right-wing Louisiana
friends to visit Berkeley.
“We shall see how it looks
through their eyes.”
I submitted this column a
little late, as my husband
and I had been traveling
through the maritime
provinces of Canada;
we enjoyed the dramatic
scenery and learned a lot
about American history
from the other side. I now
look forward (?) to a knee
replacement in August.
Write to me.
FOLLOW US
on Facebook at
facebook.com/
SwarthmoreBulletin
1963
Diana Judd Stevens
djsteven1@verizon.net
Is 1963 the only class to
have freshman roommates
(or any roommates)
receive College honorary
degrees? Bob Putnam
received his in 1990, and
freshman roommate Leo
Braudy received his in
June. Leo writes that
he and wife Dorothy
had a wonderful time at
Commencement, which
included a stay at the new
inn. Two videos of Leo’s
speech are on YouTube
(bit.ly/Braudy).
First-year roommates
Barbara Seymour and Austine Read Wood Comarow
continue to create. Two
of Barbara’s Tiffany-style
watercolors of the
College are in the inn. In
addition, the recipient of
the College’s Suzanne P.
Welsh service award and
all nominees received a
signed Seymour print. In
the main merchandise
tent at the 2016 U.S. Open
was a custom-made U.S.
Golf Association Polage
by Austine. Mastering
the Mysteries of Light,
an exhibit at Las Vegas’s
Springs Preserve that
opened in July, featured
some of Austine’s innovative polarized light works,
including early works that
illustrated Polage’s evolution since Austine started
working with it in 1967.
TV alert from David
Gelber: Season 2 of Years
of Living Dangerously
premieres Oct. 26 on
the National Geographic
Channel. It will focus on
the race against time; that
is, can climate solutions
keep pace with the
accelerating consequenc-
es of greenhouse-gas
emissions? David reports
Tom Spock ’78 and Nathan
Graf ’16 supported Season
2’s production. He also
writes it’s been the most
satisfying work he’s
done. He looks forward to
Season 3.
Sympathy is extended
to Beth Welfling King
on the May 23 death of
her 104-year-old mother,
Elizabeth Stammelbach
Welfling ’33. (More, pg.
12)
Updates on previous
class notes: Alison
Archibald Anderson
moved from her 1880s
Philadelphia rowhouse to
one of the three remaining
cooperatives in Center
City. Alison will retire in
January from the University of Pennsylvania Press,
where the workload has
increased with no increase
in staff. She will spend
more time on other activities. Her son’s symphony
was performed professionally in May. Alison has
had no recent word from
Claire Bishop Nyandoro,
who lives in Zimbabwe.
The renovation of Dan
Menaker’s Upper West
Side penthouse progresses, dragging along the
bank account with it. Wife
Katherine Bouton is president of the Hearing Loss
Association of America’s
NYC chapter. Son Will left
publishing to concentrate
on Chapo Trap House,
an irreverent podcast.
The housing issue with
which Kathie Kertesz was
dealing has been resolved.
She found another
house-share in Mill Valley,
Calif., her hometown of 39
years. Bruce Leimsidor’s
teaching experience in
Odessa, Ukraine, was
positive while his stay in
Ukraine was not because
of extreme right-wing
nationalism. Bruce visited
the small town of Velyki
Share your personal and reunion
pics: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
IN MEMORIAM
1933
Elise Stammelbach
Welfling
May 23, 2016
1938
David Goldsmith
May 4, 2016
Emily Lomb
Nesmith
Oct. 19, 2015
1939
Mary Bowers
May 13, 2016
John Roberts
June 14, 2016
1940
Dorothy Webster
VanDenburgh
April 28, 2016
1941
Pearce Rayner
May 6, 2010
Keith Whitsit
Nov. 9, 2000
1942
Mary Capehart
Crutchfield
April 11, 2011
Kathryn Gerry
Bardwell
Feb. 2, 2016
Sampson Rheams
June 27, 2008
1943
Dolores Garbeil
Daroff
Feb. 11, 2010
Charles Tachau
May 16, 2016
1944
Allan Hamilton
March 14, 2014
Selden Kirby-Smith
Ferlinghetti
April 28, 2012
Audrey O’Brien
Glausser
July 21, 1997
John Zerbe
July 11, 2016
Alumni death notices received by the College from May 15
through Aug. 6, 2016.
1945
Helen Dodd
July 5, 2014
1946
Gale Colton
Bushnell
June 10, 2016
Walter Kistler
Dec. 12, 2008
Karl Weger
July 5, 2007
1948
James Caraher
March 18, 2015
John MacMillan
April 6, 2009
John Saile
Nov. 2, 2008
Clarence Sobba
Sept. 7, 2013
1950
John Goertner
April 7, 2016
Caroline Reynolds
Hiester
Aug. 16, 2007
1952
Hamilton Carson
Jan. 14, 2016
Nicholas Wagner III Howard Fussell
Dec. 9, 2013
June 6, 2016
1949
Joanne Donovan
Banta
June 21, 2016
Ruth Friedenthal
Kanter
May 11, 2016
Beatrice Prescott
Goodman
June 5, 2003
Navy
William Auer
Aug. 14, 2009
Kent Balls
June 5, 2011
Robert Condon
Nov. 30, 2011
Gerald Dodd
Sept. 25, 2015
William Lamdin
May 22, 2009
Junetta Kemp
Gillespie
May 28, 2016
Malcolm Forbes
Sept. 22, 2014
Ivan Gabel
June 14, 2016
Irving Kennedy
Nov. 22, 2006
Gordon Pratt
March 28, 2013
Iliana Semmler
June 17, 2016
1954
William Jones Jr.
June 10, 2006
Mary Ann Smith
O’Nan
April 21, 2007
Henry Lampe
Oct. 28, 2012
Barbara Swarthout
May 11, 2016
1958
Karen Hultzen
Belleau
June 7, 2016
1959
Sergei Retivov
July 27, 2015
Robert Lowrie
Dearborn
March 20, 2014
Jeremy Dummer
May 31, 2016
Lucy Eskridge
Rockstrom
Nov. 6, 2014
Susan Pickett Worf
June 22, 2016
1961
Edgar Stephens
March 13, 2000
Nan Pecker Tellier
Oct. 31, 2014
1966
1953
1955
James Polt
Jan. 20, 2014
1960
1951
Robert Binkley
Erling Haabestad Jr. March 23, 2012
May 4, 2016
George Lee Jr.
Jan. 18, 2012
Dorothy Pennell
Lukens
Anne Smith
Oct. 18, 2013
Weatherford
June 7, 2016
Horace Salop
Oct. 25, 2013
Howard Stein
Oct. 14, 2012
1957
Stephen Burstein
Unknown
1977
Roland Ben
June 7, 2016
1978
Randall Thomas
Dec. 9, 2015
1979
Felice Yeskel M’79
Jan. 11, 2011
1989
Brendan Kelly
May 25, 2016
1993
David Myers
June 1, 2016
2002
Alice Hershey
July 28, 2016
FALL
FALL 2016
2016
// Swarthmore
Swarthmore College
College Bulletin
Bulletin
53
53
class notes
Mosty, ancestral home of
his father’s family. Before
World War II, 35 percent
of the town’s population
was Jewish. Today, not a
single Jew is left there,
just the ruins of a synagogue where many were
burned alive. The current
Ukrainian government has
established an “institute
of national memory” to
enforce a revisionist,
nationalistic version of
Ukrainian history. Bruce
notes that Western
governments sweep this
under the rug since it fits
the anti-Russian agenda.
Cay Hall Roberts reports
that the Robertses’ RV
isn’t gone but is going.
She and Dick traveled by
Amtrak and plane this
summer to visit Glacier
National Park and family
in Washington state and
San Diego. Kevin Cornell
installed a solar-powered electric fence to
keep critters from his
raspberries. Last spring,
he and wife Pat traveled
to Colorado and Arizona.
Larry Phillips’s night job
is co-founder of a startup
developing software to
facilitate management
of Type 2 diabetes.
Working with Cooperative
Metropolitan Ministries in
Boston, Alice Handsaker
Kidder helped teach 27
trainers in the ESPERE
curriculum on forgiveness
and reconciliation. Ted
Nyquist shot videos on
tips for growing rhododendrons for the Midwest
Chapter of the American
Rhododendron Society.
Ted earned his pilot’s
license while at Swarthmore and has started
flying again. He and wife
Gidget hope to fly to Philly
in a single-engine Cessna
for our 55th Reunion. Like
father, like son: Author
Bob Putnam interviewed
son Jonathan about These
Honored Dead, Jonathan’s
first book. In June, Jim
54
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
Patton and Barbara Seymour stopped for a quick
visit with Paul ’65 and me
in Maine.
Sandy McConnell Condry
celebrated her 75th birthday with Andy Hoff Knox
’64 and husband Jonathan, seeing Hamilton in
New York City, and with
Betsy Maxfield Crofts and
husband Dan, stargazing
in Pennsylvania. Sandy’s
celebration also included
trips to Baja California,
the Galapagos, and the
Amazon rainforest. In
May, Ricky Strong Batt,
Mary Williams Clark, Beth
Welfling King, Suzi Merrill
Maybee, Connie Kain
Milner, Mary Kay Dewees
Pietris, Cay Hall Roberts,
Jane Jonas Srivastava,
Diana Judd Stevens,
Atala Perry Toy, and Polly
Glennan Watts gathered
to celebrate their 74th and
75th birthdays, reminisce,
and catch up.
Do let me know how
you celebrated your 75th
and what catching up
you’d like to do with your
classmates.
1964
Diana Bailey Harris
harris.diana@gmail.com
swarthmore64.com
Marvin “Spike” Lipschutz
sends his “first submission
since graduation: three
sons, all born the same
year, all different ages—
lawyer, engineer, ice
cream entrepreneur. Lisa
and I celebrated our first
grandchild, born May 17 to
our oldest son and wife,
married in August 2015 by
Judge Jed Rakoff.”
Roz Stone Zander notes,
“What a difference our reunion made to my sense of
connection. Off and on for
FALL 2016
seven years (no kidding), I
had worked on my second
book, Pathways to Possibility, which appeared
in bookstores June 21,
along with an audiobook.
This has been a year of
adventure. Hansjorg and
I visited national parks
in Tanzania and Rwanda
to monitor work we’ve
supported to end the ivory
trade and took a side trip
to South Africa, renewing
contacts with friends
there. Life is expanding
despite creaking bones.”
Michael Gross reports
that he, Elizabeth Morrow
Edwards, and her husband
David O’Dette “formally attended our 52nd
Reunion to show that this
class still exists, though
we lingered over morning
coffee too long to make it
to our place in the parade.
We met Jerry Blum—the
weekend contra-dance
master—at the chorus
concert, in which Elizabeth and David sang, and
I, Michael, regretfully did
not play. We encourage
everyone to consider
these off-year events.
With no dear classmates
with whom to hang out
and no class presentations to attend, we
discovered a campus just
as full of bright, friendly,
and interesting people as
it was in 1960–64, and we
attended whatever events
appealed.”
Peter Freedman rooted
for Bernie but is “ready
to vote for Hillary. My son
turns 50 in November,
and my oldest grandson
starts college this fall in
Portland, Ore. I have fond
memories of our 50th.”
Paul Booth is “busy as
ever serving on the Democrats’ Platform Drafting
Committee, helping with
Clinton’s campaign.”
(Watch his Democratic
National Convention
speech: bit.ly/BoothDNC)
Andrea Hoff Knox
and husband Jonathan
Hodgson “celebrated our
18th wedding anniversary
by canoeing on the Brandywine River. Thanks to
retirement, we went on a
weekday and were nearly
alone with breeze, ripples,
and birdsong for three
hours. This life, too, has
great charms.”
Ann McNeal “will clerk
Mount Toby Friends Meeting in Leverett, Mass.,
till September 2018. I
love this community, and
the opportunity to serve
such a large and vibrant
meeting will challenge
me to grow in spirit and
strength. I still create
abstract paintings.” In
August she rafted the
Colorado River through
the Grand Canyon. (“Yes,
again!”)
The Berkeley Poetry
Festival in California recognized John Simon with
a Lifetime Achievement
Award in May. “Berkeley
City Council passed a
proclamation for the occasion, which I wrote and
suppose will eventually go
on the wall in my granddaughter’s study along
with all the other swag.”
Anne Cochran Sloan’s
“third replacement part,
a right hip, has joined my
collection, which already
contained two knees.”
Catherine ’66 and Bob
Kapp “still love Port
Townsend, Wash. Bob
decided to relive his youth
(anyone else remember
the Vespa he drove down
U.S. 1 from New York to
Swarthmore, sans helmet,
gloves, etc.?) and bought
a gorgeous 2009 Vespa.
In short order, he dumped
it twice, hurting himself
each time (the more
recent incident involved a
broken collarbone). The
Vespa is now under new
ownership.”
David Winn’s “daughter
Catherine, presumably
the last of ’64’s red-diaper
babies, finished her freshman year at Wellesley.
I’m pretty much free to
pursue my twin goals of
becoming a rodeo bull
rider and making cameos
on The Young and the
Restless. Meanwhile, I am
still laboring in the fruitful
vineyards of ISIL at State.”
Bernard Beitman
lectured about his book
Connecting with Coincidence: The New Science
for Using Synchronicity
and Serendipity in Your
Life at the Mid-Manhattan
Library Sept. 29. “What’s
a Swarthmore football
player doing writing about
coincidences? Coincidences alert us to the
mysterious hiding in plain
sight. They’re clues to
hidden potentials like the
ones that helped me avoid
getting tackled.”
Meg Hodgkin Lippert and
husband Al spent 10 days
in May visiting daughter
Dawn in Honolulu. Meg
returned to Beijing in July
to teach storytelling to
Chinese teachers of English for two weeks, as she
did last year. She traveled
to Xian and Chengdu,
where her father was born
in 1909 to Quaker medical
missionaries at a clinic
they founded there.
1965
Kiki Skagen Munshi
kiki@skagenranch.com
The reunion inspired
several classmates to
contribute for the first
time. Ursula Bentele Tenny
writes, “Having retired a
year ago after 34 years of
teaching at Brooklyn Law
School, I have returned to
my roots at the Legal Aid
Society.” She also joined
the NYC Swarthmore book
BENNETT LORBER ’64
SCIENTIFIC STANDARD-BEARER
Bennett Lorber ’64 received the Lifetime Achievement
Award from the Anaerobe Society of the Americas, an
international bacteriological organization. Previous
honors for Lorber include the Alexander Fleming
Lifetime Achievement Award from the Infectious
Diseases Society of America and 13 Golden Apple
Teaching Awards. He is the Thomas Durant Professor
of Medicine at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School
of Medicine and a member of Swarthmore’s Board of
Managers.
group. Keith MacAdam
writes from a Scottish
mountain-climbing trip
that he is “(mostly)
retired.” He and wife
Phyllis have been married
47 years. “I’m proud of
our two children: Daniel, a
graphic artist in Chicago,
and Alison, an NPR senior
editorial specialist in
D.C.” Keith still enjoys
teaching at the University
of Kentucky, “but only
one (physics) course per
year.” Gretchen Schwarz
Hillard lives in the Bay
Area and “retired over
10 years ago from local
government, specializing
in affordable housing.”
She and husband Ed have
three children and two
grandchildren. “My life is
focused on spending time
with them, especially in
the summer for vacations
in Santa Cruz [Calif.],
Berlin, and Seattle.”
Katherine Johnson
teaches piano privately
and band, orchestra, and
choir to home-school
students. Son Noah
Courant and his wife have
a 1-year-old son, and son
Ernest Courant and his
wife and their daughter
live in Petaluma, Calif.
The last Bulletin listed
two deceased classmates
who didn’t make it into our
notes because of glitches.
Alan Scott Douglas died
unexpectedly Nov. 16,
2015, at home in Pocasset,
Mass., and Carol Replogle
died Nov. 1, 2015, in Pennsylvania. We’ll miss them.
Peter Meyer and wife
Kristen returned from
a vacation in Spain and
conference in Lisbon, then
went to New York for a
memorial for Ron Tropp,
driven by Jon Steinberg.
Peter is still “catching
cars” as a flagging and
communications worker at
road races with Sports Car
Club of America. Leonard
Barkan’s book, Berlin
for Jews: A Twenty-First
Century Companion, will
be published by the University of Chicago Press
in October. He describes
it as a “Jewish love letter
to Berlin.” Grant Miller
works as the coordinator
of large-scale networking
for President Obama’s
science adviser. “We are
developing the next-generation internet. My husband and I split our time
between Northern Virginia
and Rehoboth Beach, Del.”
Their older son is adopting
his sixth kid, their daughter works at a successful
startup in San Francisco,
and their younger son
plans to go to graduate
school. Blaine Garvin “will
stumble into my 46th year
of teaching politics at
Gonzaga University, bound
and determined to make
it to 50.”
Share your personal and reunion
pics: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
Ursula Poole Carter and
husband Richard welcomed their ninth grandchild June 2. “I am happily
occupied with a host of
postretirement pleasures
and responsibilities.” Julie
Diamond was married and
“after a City Hall wedding,
we (Herb Ginsburg and
I) had a party at our
apartment Memorial Day
weekend for family and
friends. Jon Steinberg and
his wife, Gloria Jacobs,
attended. My other news
is of a Christmas-week
trip to Pakistan, with my
daughter, her husband,
and their two daughters,
to visit relatives on her
late father’s side.”
Tom Kramer travels and
runs. “I’m registered to run
the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October.
If I finish, that will be 40
years in a row.” Ron Hale
alleges, “I am finally retiring as director of the New
Mexico Alliance of Health
Councils.” Jerry Nelson
has catching up to do: “My
inbox went over 6,000,
but I’m working on it.”
George Thoma hosted a
trio of Swarthmore externs
in computer science and
engineering in January,
and one served as a summer intern. Dick and Gay
Sise Grossman celebrated
their 50th anniversary
with a big party. Daniel
Kegan has been drafting a
father-of-the-bride toast
for daughter Amelia. Dan’s
son, Benjamin, finished an
MFA in film at Columbia.
Finally, Dave Darby wrote
about a recent trip to Hungary. “This was a pleasure
trip … but I did meet with
the Rotary Club Budapest
City, where we shared
information on a neonatal
hospital project they and
the Billings [Mont.] Rotary
Club are sponsoring in
Kotor, Montenegro.”
Email or call me to get on
the list for a fuller version
of the notes. We’d love to
hear from everybody.
1966
Jill Robinson Grubb
jillgrubb44@gmail.com
swarthmore66.com
A wood thrush’s song
graced our 50th Reunion’s
Collection in the amphitheater. Before Maurice
Eldridge ’61’s Collection
address on “The Fullness
of Life,” several classmates received awards:
Bill Belanger received the
Joseph B. Shane Alumni
Service Award for his service to the College; Dare
Rust Thompson received
the Arabella Carter Community Service Award for
her work with the League
of Women Voters; and
David Clark received the
Eugene Lang ’38 Impact
Award for his pioneering
work on the internet. Our
class gift included a fund
to pay two Swarthmore
summer interns to teach
in the STEM program for
children of the Chester
Children’s Choir. Thanks
to John and Paula Lawrence Wehmiller ’67 for
pursuing this avenue.
About 100 classmates
showed up, slung their
garnet “If Not Now,
When?” packs on, and
spent three days smiling,
listening, and talking.
This festival of friends
and discovery included
Carl Stieren dancing to
music of Daniel “Freebo”
Friedberg and Roger North
with 20 classmates; Delia
Fortune Laitin returning
for the first time with an
art quilt and a pamphlet
on what to feed goats;
Janaki Tschannerl Patrik
dancing with ankle bells
and an infinitely expressive face as she acted out
story characters; Sandy
Moore Faber explaining
the origin of the universe,
complete with diagrams,
in 20 minutes; Tom Webb
leading us in a memorial
service for 40 classmates
and planting stakes
with their names; and
Professor Emeritus Chuck
Gilbert remembering Jack
Nagel as a top student
with whom he has enjoyed
continuing interactions
over the years.
There’s more. Brenda
Porster read her stirring
poem about the Syrian refugees lost in boats. Judy
Walenta continues her 25year battle with cancer.
Terry and Melissa “Mimi”
Carroll Chapin love living
in Alaska, playing music,
carving ice, hiking, having
their two sons as best
friends, and being part of
a community. Joe Becker
left early to welcome his
grandchild home from the
NICU. Janet Griffin Abbott
is taking grandson Liam
to the Grand Canyon. Bob
Levering recommended
Cathy Wilkerson’s book,
Flying Close to the Sun.
We were treated to a
ravishing concert by the
Chester Children’s Choir, a
show by class artists, and
songs from the era.
Many classmates were
concerned about the environment and divesting the
College from fossil fuels.
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
55
class notes
John Robinson worried
about income inequality. Rich Truitt asked
President Valerie Smith,
in light of the value placed
by many corporations
and other organizations
on collaboration and
teamwork, what her views
were on the importance
of athletics in the lives of
students at Swarthmore.
Faculty members are
concerned about sustaining the humanities while
computer science rockets.
They’re trying to agree on
what Swarthmore’s nature
should be.
Cynthia Grant Bowman
spoke about sexual
assault in her law school.
Swarthmore has an advisory team to investigate
and adjudicate problems
and promote healthy
relationships.
In keeping with the
people we were on June
6, 1966, and those who
shaped us over the
preceding four years, we
continue to fuse social
consciousness, academic
ardor, and an interest in
the world around us. Judy
Richardson, Penny Patch,
Walter Popper, and Cathy
Wilkerson shared their
experiences in the civil
rights movement.
Judy Richardson’s
dad worked in a plant
where he organized the
United Auto Workers local.
People left groceries on
their porch in support.
Judy’s first and only year
at Swarthmore came when
Chester was segregated.
Black female waitresses
in the dining hall were not
afforded safety precautions until Judy burned
herself on a heating pipe
while working there. She
went on to be extremely
active in the Swarthmore
Political Action Committee
(SPAC) and Students
for a Democratic Society
(SDS). With the women
of the Student Nonviolent
56
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
Coordinating Committee,
Judy wrote Hands on the
Freedom Plough.
Penny Patch, also on the
panel, helped desegregate
a roller rink, participated
in sit-ins, and registered
voters in the South.
Walter Popper was hit
by a trooper’s car door
while on a picket line and
thrown in jail. His mom
protested with him.
Cathy Wilkerson worked
for paved sidewalks and
trash pickup in Chester’s
black neighborhoods while
in SPAC. Active in SDS
and the Weathermen,
Cathy also understood the
challenges faced by black
NYC students: Schools
ran two shifts, often used
substitute teachers, and
taught only half the curriculum. Students’ buses
were egged. Cathy’s gentle
explanations showed her
profound compassion.
We were saddened to
hear that Elena Jenny-Williams’s husband, Beat
Jenny, died. Her children
live close by—son Jonathan across the border
in France and daughter
Alexandra with her husband and three children in
a Geneva suburb.
Roy Van Til suggested
we start an Airbnb called
Route 66. Check it out:
swarthmore66.com.
Thanks, Tom Webb, for a
wonderful reunion.
1968
are on the line, companies turn to Marc J.
Sonnenfeld.” Marc, the
longest-tenured partner at
his firm, lives in Haverford,
Pa., with his wife, a lawyer,
and the youngest of their
five children. He sails and
hikes during summers in
Maine, where he lives near
Dick Gregor. Dick made it
to the reunion, wit intact,
despite a heart attack and
several surgeries this past
year. That’s class spirit.
But fortune conspired to
prevent Maureen “Mickey”
Durham from attending.
We wish her good health
for future reunions.
Sue Almy spent 22 years
in rural development and
agricultural research in
Africa and Latin America. For 20 years, she’s
been a New Hampshire
state representative,
six as Ways and Means
Committee chair. Sue
says, “We struggle to hold
together the essential
services budget, which
our tax system makes so
difficult to achieve.” Sue
is also active as a state
ACLU board member, local
conservation commission
member, affordable-housing coalition member, and
board president of her
homeowners’ association.
Richard Kast, in his
first contribution to class
notes, writes that he went
from Swarthmore to San
Jose, Calif., where he married and had kids, then to
Boulder, Colo., and back to
California. He joined IBM,
which sold its disk-drive
division to Hitachi. Hitachi
sold it to Western Digital.
Katie Bode Darlington
katedarlington@gmail.com
On the cover of 2016’s
Super Lawyers, Pennsylvania and Delaware is
Marc Sonnenfeld with the
legend, “The securities
king of Pennsylvania.
When millions of dollars
FALL 2016
FOLLOW US
on Facebook at
facebook.com/
SwarthmoreBulletin
During all this, Richard’s
job and phone number
stayed the same, and his
paycheck kept on coming.
He recently climbed
Cloud’s Rest (9,900
feet) in Yosemite with his
youngest child. Afterward,
Richard took summiting
Mount Everest (29,000
feet) off his bucket list
and chose a cruise to
Alaska so he could see the
Mendenhall Glacier before
it shrinks further.
Staying at high altitudes,
David Thoenen led an
American Alpine Club
team to Armenia and
Georgia in September
2015 to conquer Caucasus
summits with partners
from the Armenian Alpine
Club and the Alpine Club
of Iran. Objectives for
2016 included a sprint up
Mount Kilimanjaro accompanied by lovely wife and
porter Maria.
Charles Floto is retiring
from the Law Library
of Congress, and Diana
Royce Smith is retiring
as secretary-treasurer of
the Boulder, Colo., Rotary
Club. Now on Alumni
Council, Diana asks
that classmates contact
her (diana1319smith@
comcast.net) if they have
professional clothing to
donate to students for job
interviews. Donations are
due Nov. 1.
Bob Bartkus was elected
a fellow of the College of
Commercial Arbitrators
and is now with McCusker
Anselmi Rosen & Carvelli
in New Jersey. Not interfering with his obsession
with growing tomatoes is
the book he is writing for
American Law Media on
arbitration in New Jersey;
or the book he is co-editing on New Jersey federal
civil procedure, where he
contributed a chapter on
federal injunctions; or the
editorials he wrote for the
New Jersey Law Journal.
Bob sponsored a Swarth-
more intern at his law firm
this year, and is trying to
persuade Swarthmore to
sponsor a day for lawyer
grads to talk to students
about being lawyers.
Hal Kwalwasser writes,
“As everyone knows, there
is considerable unhappiness about the amount of
testing kids endure these
days. I’m working on a
project to explore doing
away with big standardized tests in favor of using
the data generated when
students use computerized learning programs for
diagnostic and accountability purposes.”
Bob Mueller received an
award for distinguished
service from the Philadelphia Area Independent
School Business Officers,
recognizing his leadership
in building the organization to 180 schools and
colleges and $150 million
in programs. Bob is executive director of the group’s
Health Benefit Trust. Bob
and a select squad of
Swatties are starting to
plan our 50th Reunion.
From NASA, John Mather
writes that he expects
“to be writing science
papers when I’m 100.” He
plans to attend our 50th
and has agreed to speak
to us about the James
Webb space telescope at
the reunion, which is the
same year the telescope
will launch “through really
brilliant work on the part
of the engineers and
managers.”
Homeless? The College
provides free dorm rooms
for 50th Reunion attendees. Failing memory?
A new-and-improved
21st-century Halcyon with
before-and-after pictures
and bios is planned for
distribution. Want to rekindle that youthful sense
of infinite possibility? Join
us! As secretary, I enjoy
connecting with classmates. You will, too.
1970
Margaret Nordstrom
hon.margi@comcast.net
In my last class notes, I reported that John Benditt’s
book, The Boatmaker, had
made the long list for the
2016 PEN Literary Awards.
I’m delighted to report that
it has now received the
Goldberg Prize for Debut
Fiction from the Jewish
Book Council.
In June 2015, Meredith
“Merry” Hunt and her
husband David Lillvis
celebrated son John
Hunt Lillvis ’03’s graduation from Kresge Eye
Institute’s ophthalmology
residency. John then
moved from Ann Arbor,
Mich., to Cleveland with
wife Denise Finley Lillvis
’03 and daughter Nora.
Denise is finishing a
Ph.D. at the University
of Michigan, and John is
doing a fellowship year in
pediatric ophthalmology at
the Cleveland Clinic.
Retired from full-time
ministry as Episcopal
priests, Merry and David
are busier than ever,
presiding and preaching
occasionally, and visiting
and babysitting for their
other son, Matthew Hunt
Lillvis ’98, wife Vina,
and their three children.
Merry frequently visits her
nearly 101-year-old father,
who lives by himself in
southern Michigan—encouraging news for us
all. She writes, “We live
in Interlochen, Mich.,
where we met up last year
with Bruce Bush and wife
Rhoda, and connected
with their travel-agent
daughter, Sarah. Come
visit!”
Nan Galbraith “retired”
from the Woods Hole
(Mass.) Oceanographic
Institution in September
2015, meaning she now
works only about 20
hours a week, except
when on research cruises
where 18-hour workdays
are standard. She is in a
climate research group
that deploys long-term,
open-ocean moorings to
measure meteorology,
ocean circulation, and
chemistry, and does the
team’s programming, data
management, and web
development. She and
husband Chris became
grandparents, keeping
them busy since they live
near their granddaughter.
They expect at some point
to slow down but enjoy
this life phase.
Arlene Zarembka is also
transitioning to retirement. She works at her
law office—primarily doing
estate planning, probate,
and same-sex co-parent
adoptions—but is down to
a four-day workweek. The
Supreme Court’s marriage
decision in June 2015 was
a big event for her. Arlene
and partner Zuleyma married in Canada in 2005,
but their marriage was not
recognized in their home
state until 2014, when
the ACLU of Missouri
successfully challenged
a state amendment
prohibiting recognition
of same-sex marriages.
Arlene and Zuleyma
were among 10 plaintiff
couples in the lawsuit.
Unsurprisingly, in October
2015 Arlene received the
Ethics in Action Award
from the St. Louis Ethical
Society for her work in
civil rights, civil liberties,
and social justice. The
Ethical Society said it was
inspired by her “dedication
to defending the rights of
her fellow human beings.”
So should we all be.
Sad news. Bonnie Betts
Armbruster died March
Share your personal and reunion
pics: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
1 in Bend, Ore. She
attended Swarthmore for
two years before joining
Volunteers in Service to
America, where she met
future husband Harry
VanderVelde. She received
a B.A. from San Francisco
State University and a
Ph.D. in education from
the University of Illinois at
Urbana–Champaign. She
remained at the university
as a distinguished professor until her 2009 retirement. Our condolences to
Harry, their three children,
and their granddaughter.
I encourage you to send
news. My next deadline is
in January, but I’m happy
to hear from you whenever
the mood strikes.
1972
Nan Waksman
Schanbacher
nanschanbacher@comcast.net
Jonathan Betz-Zall is
retiring gradually from two
librarian positions but will
still teach environmental
science. He is heavily
involved with socially concerned Quakerism through
the American Friends
Service Committee.
Sincere condolences to
Linda Bovard, whose husband died in February.
Heidi Frantz-Dale retired
as pastor of St. Andrew’sin-the-Valley Episcopal
church in Tamworth, N.H.
She and husband Duane
will move back to Amherst,
Mass., where they have “a
wonderful group of family
and friends.”
Bob Griffin is retiring
as a software engineer,
researcher, consultant,
and CTO near Boston,
and a guest lecturer at
MIT, University College
Cork, and other schools.
He will still write and
compose, and his requiem
for chorus and orchestra,
Weep with Those Who
Weep, premieres this year.
Wife Lotta (the lyricist)
will sing in the premiere,
as will son Garth Griffin
’09 and Deborah Prince
Smith ’69. Bob has also
published two volumes of
children’s stories.
Mark Gromko worked
at Bowling Green State
University for 31 years in
biological sciences and
then as vice provost for
academic affairs. Now in
Iowa City, Iowa, Mark’s
main amusement since retiring has been landscape
photography and travel.
Michael Hucles teaches
history at Old Dominion
University. Mike and wife
Janis Sanchez-Hucles ’73,
a school psychologist with
a part-time private practice, have been married for
42 years.
Ron Jones spent 19 years
as a principal scientist
in the Silicon Valley and
retired five years ago. His
spare time is devoted to
lacrosse, soccer refereeing/coaching, and racing
bicycles.
Bibi Jordan completed
a 500-mile pilgrimage
across Spain, hoping “for
a revelation to transform
[her] life, but it was not
what [she] imagined.”
Bibi runs an Airbnb on an
organic orchard in Malibu,
Calif., where guests “stay
in a yurt, a safari tent, and
a Zen retreat, and enjoy
discovering synchronicity
over all-organic, homecooked meals at [the]
communal table.”
Lorna Kohler plays and
teaches an impressive
number of instruments
in a variety of genres and
venues. She recently released Wishbone Drum, a
collection of songs written
over 35 years.
Paul Lauenstein’s
“passion is amending the
Constitution to overturn
Citizens United v. FEC
[and] … restore government of, by, and for the
people.” Paul is concerned
about climate change and
water quality; he devotes
considerable time to testifying on those issues.
Sara Moore-Hines
specializes in dance/
movement therapy in her
private practice and has
a separate practice as a
Breema bodywork practitioner and instructor.
Sara has been active with
Pennsylvania mental-health professionals,
developing licensing for
therapists and strengthening consumer protections.
Lee Walker Oxenham is
a New Hampshire state
rep and climate activist
who has spent three years
promoting Swarthmore’s
divestment from fossil-fuel
stocks, “including a night
on the floor of Parrish with
100 students after a rally
in Clothier.”
Bill Prindle and wife
Rosalyn bought a small
horse farm for their rescue
mare and her companions.
After years of energy and
climate work, Bill will go
part time next year to focus on his “four-leggeds”
and writing poetry.
Bertha Fuchsman Small
works in a clinic and hospital, but is cutting back
involvement with Doctors
Without Borders to
occasional training trips in
the field. Bertha is thrilled
with her granddaughter,
whose laughter “is a salve
for the world’s ills.”
Carola Sullam Shepard’s
third year of retirement is
her year of travel. “Just
returned from three fabulous weeks in Turkey, a
country of incredible treasures—cultural, historic,
etc.” Future trips include
boating the Columbia and
Snake rivers and a visit to
Central America.
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
57
class notes
ALUMNI PROFILE
1974
Randall Grometstein
rgrometstein@verizon.net
Sad news: The death of
Jay Kempe’s brother Reid
’73 reminded Patty Gilles
Winpenny of another loss.
“My middle son, Reid,
passed away unexpectedly March 30, 2013, of a
seizure that resulted in a
terrible fall; he never came
out of the coma. It has
taken three years and a
58
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
few months to grasp fully
this loss. Ned and I named
him after Reid Kempe; with
Reid Kempe’s passing, I
can’t help but hope that
he and my son have met
in the great spiritual realm
beyond.” It is good to hear,
therefore, that Patty and
sons Patrick and Tristan
are well. Our condolences
to Patty and Jay.
With both children in college, Demetrios Karis and
his wife are downsizing
from the suburbs back to
Cambridge, Mass.
Kevin Quigley is expanding Marlboro College’s
MBA and M.S. in management degree programs to
include concentrations
in conscious business,
collaborative leadership,
social innovation, and sustainable food systems.
Davia Temin went on
a Swedish study tour in
June with the Harvard
Kennedy School’s
Women’s Leadership
Board. She then went to
London “for some floating
high-powered women’s
poker game featuring
dealers like Brad Pitt and
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
(yes, really).”
Deb Johnson cut back
on work to care for her
mother—“a wonderful
experience for both of us.
She died last December.
Partner John Olson and
I now are contemplating
moving to Oregon where
we can have a small farm
or large garden. I reassure
myself that all these
steps are developmentally
appropriate.”
Tori Haring-Smith says
husband Bob retired as
an IT support specialist at
West Virginia University. Tori “will retire as
president of Washington
& Jefferson College in
June 2017—counting the
days. One reason for the
retirements is our first
grandchild: Saul Philip
Haring-Smith, born Feb.
FALL 2016
9. Grandparenting is the
best.”
In September Vaneese
Thomas released The
Long Journey Home, “a
blues album showcasing
my original songs and one
co-written with Carolyn
Mitchell. Please go to
iTunes or Amazon and
support your class sister.”
Joann Bodurtha “had
first revival of S’more
at Baltimore. Stephanie
Lechich ’14 and I live
in the same building,
had fond memories of
playing Swarthmore
basketball, and work at
Johns Hopkins. About 25
alums across 60 years of
graduation gathered for
a wonderful happy hour
in Fell’s Point. Hope more
classmates (and others)
will join us next meeting.”
Alan Glaseroff writes,
“Ann Lindsay ’73 and I
still teach at the medical
school and see patients
at Stanford, where we
co-founded a clinic
for complex chronic
conditions. In our 43rd
year of marriage, we
find ourselves with two
amazing grandchildren.
Rob Lippincott and wife
Jenifer relocated to the
Bay Area. We attended
a Grateful Dead reunion
concert with them and
Gerry Lax and wife Dodie
Hamblen around New
Year’s, along with Jesse
Lax ’18. Nothing’s changed
except we are grayer (as is
the band).”
Pete Jaquette, who still
plays in the Narwhals
with Tom Sahagian and
Dan Gibbon, writes, “Son
Jonathan ’11 married
Elizabeth Comuzzi ’11 in
Sedona, Ariz., with other
Swarthmoreans attending,
including our daughter
Lissie ’07; my brother
David ’64; the bride’s
mother, Kate Harper ’77;
and Tom.”
Donata Lewandowski
Guerra writes, “Tiz and I
took in Old Spanish Days
in Santa Barbara, Calif.,
with daughter Hollis and
her British husband, Matt,
and Milan Expo 2015. My
mixed-media and jewelry
business peaks at holiday
season (See: facebook.
com/bordeauxlanestudio).
We will visit son Jules in
LA and get back with Hollis for the Santa Barbara
Solstice Parade in June.”
Pat Heidtmann Disharoon
reports, “Husband Russell
and I are proud grandparents of six grandchildren
[through age 5]. Being a
grandmother is amazing—
the lovely, cute toddlers
you can cuddle and read
stories to and treat to
ice cream and then send
home. Ana, James, Mihai,
Aaron, Amelia, and—most
recently—Adelina.”
Jay Kempe still wins sailing races, most recently as
watch leader aboard the
Spirit of Bermuda in the
2016 Newport to Bermuda
race. He won the Queen’s
Certificate and Badge of
Honour at the Queen’s
Honours List in June.
Last word goes to
Jean-Marie Clarke: “My
life has been the novel
I never wrote. One day,
turning the page, I saw
an illustration showing a
scholar who is supposed
to be Doctor Faust. A bit of
iconographic research revealed it was Johann Fust,
Gutenberg’s creditor and
successor. The portrait
hangs in the Rathaus of
my town, Staufen im Breisgau [Germany], where
the historical Faust is said
to have met his Maker.
History seems to be made
of layers and folds, like
the brain or the earth.
This is also the town that
gave geothermal drilling
a bad name by putting
groundwater in contact
with anhydrite. The
result is an earthquake
in extreme slow motion,
like living with the effects
of a sudden insight.” We
look forward to that novel,
Jean-Marie.
1976
Fran Brokaw
fran.brokaw@gmail.com
As I write, memories of
our reunion (40 years?!
How can that be?) are
clear in my mind. What a
great time. We welcomed
three classmates back
to campus for their first
reunion ever: Manley
Huang, Paul Schofield,
and May Zia. Manley lives
in Palo Alto, Calif., and is
an immunology scientist
researching novel cellbased cancer treatments.
Paul is a retired nuclear
engineer and enjoys the
sunshine of San Diego.
May is retired and moved
from her longtime home
of Columbus, Ohio, to
Harrisburg, Pa., where she
makes music.
Roger Karny, who
entered with ’74 but
graduated with us, was
excited to see the bench
from Longwood Friends
Meeting—now in McCabe
Library—where Sojourner
Truth and William Lloyd
Garrison are reputed to
have sat.
I was privileged to facilitate a panel discussion,
“The Last Mile: Packing
for the Big Trip,” with
three other classmates.
Alan Symonette spoke
on the importance of
community and resilience
while caring for his wife
and mother in their final
weeks. Derrick Gibbs, who
specializes in real estate
law, spoke about wills,
trusts, and health care
directives, as well as a
“life care checklist.” May
Share your personal and reunion
pics: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
LAURENCE KESTERSON
Laurie Tompkins and
husband Larry Yager
retired from the National
Institutes of Health and
moved to Hawaii, where
they operate a fused-glass
studio and enjoy life in a
very small town.
Mark Vander Schaaf
is retiring as regional
planning director for the
Metropolitan Council in
the Twin Cities. Mark has
several postretirement
projects lined up and
hopes to squeeze in travel.
Cigus Vanni is retiring
after 41 years in college
advising and has opened
an LLC (Cigus the College
Fairy). In addition to
finding a needy school at
which to volunteer, Cigus
is “determined to visit
every thrift store within
500 miles.”
Bill Weber and Amy
Vedder ’73 “teach two
graduate seminars on
applied conservation at
Yale’s School of Forestry
and Environmental
Studies. … [They] take
4–5 students to Rwanda
each May–June to look at
how three national parks
are managed and how
local communities relate
to those parks.” They also
enjoy their home in the
Adirondacks and traveling.
“I can never remember my dreams, so his stories are a pretty good substitute,” says friend
David Byrne, the Talking Heads frontman, of writer Barry Yourgrau ’70.
MESS AS MUSE
Household chaos inspired him to write—
and to recover
by Peter Baker ’07
IT STARTED, LIKE MANY a literary
adventure, with a knock on the door.
Barry Yourgrau ’70’s longtime girlfriend
was locked out of her apartment, so she
stopped by the small Queens one-bedroom he uses as a writing studio.
He wouldn’t let her in, but through
the barely opened doorway she caught
a glimpse of Yourgrau’s secret: There
was stuff everywhere—old newspapers
and magazines, books inherited from
his father, postcards and other travel
souvenirs, defunct laptops, “tumbleweeds” of plastic grocery bags—all
covered in varying levels of dust and
grime. Shocked, she gave him an ultimatum: Fix it.
His attempt to comply—and to
figure out how things got so bad in the
first place—is documented in Mess:
One Man’s Struggle to Clean Up His
House and His Act, an intertwined
comic memoir and wide-ranging study
of severe clutter published by W. W.
Norton last summer, greeted by rave
notices in The New York Times, USA
Today, and elsewhere.
To write the book, Yourgrau—an
author of surrealist short fiction and
children’s stories—became an expert
on hoarding. He talked with leading researchers of the phenomenon (including psychiatrist Sanjaya Saxena ’85),
met with decluttering professionals,
and scoured psychology literature for
insights into humans’ attachment to
their belongings.
It’s more common than you might
think: Some 6 million or more Americans meet the clinical criteria for
hoarding disorder, and many more
struggle with extreme clutter.
“When I do readings, people come
up to me with tears in their eyes,” says
Yourgrau. “And that makes me feel
good—not that they’re suffering, but
that I’ve helped give the subject a little
more legitimacy, something a little
more dignified than the reality-show
gawking.”
Yourgrau traces his own “susceptibility to the power of objects” in part to
the instability of an itinerant childhood. By the time he and his twin, Tug
’70, arrived at Swarthmore in 1966,
they had already lived in South Africa
(where they were born), Minnesota,
Massachusetts, and Colorado, following their academic father from professorship to professorship.
This sense of impermanence didn’t
abate at Swarthmore. Politics, he
recalls today—primarily anger over
the Vietnam War and anxiety over the
draft—made the campus something of
a “disorienting whirlwind.”
It was amid this whirlwind that
Yourgrau started writing fiction and
helped found the Swarthmore Review,
a journal of experimental literature.
Eventually, he found his way to his preferred form: extremely short stories,
most of them two pages or less, laced
heavily with surreal imagery.
In one story, a son removes his
napping father’s head and wears it as
a hat. In another, a man’s friends steal
his tongue from his mouth and hide
it. (Yourgrau’s fiction was one of the
reasons his girlfriend was so shocked
to discover his hoarding problem. His
stories, she observed, were so relentlessly economical, so trimmed down.)
This fall, two of Yourgrau’s fiction
collections—Haunted Traveller and
Wearing Dad’s Head—return to print
from Skyhorse/Arcade, aided by the
attention earned by Mess. Looking
back over his oeuvre, he’s noticed some
striking thematic resonances with his
memoir.
In one story, “My Ship,” the
first-person narrator stashes a gloomy
trinket in a storage facility cluttered
with items he can’t let go. In another,
“Bags,” the narrator hides from police
in his childhood bedroom with his stolen loot—more than 200 grocery bags.
“I tend to fixate on things one at a
time,” says Yourgrau. “In my fiction,
that gave me my style. But in my studio, it got me in a little trouble.”
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
59
class notes
Thomas, a retired geriatrician with a health-coach
business, spoke about
healthy aging, and I talked
about hospice, palliative
care, and advance care
planning. We had a great
time dining (in the Served
Meal room at Sharples)
and then dancing under
the stars (well, under a
tent, actually) to Nathan
and the Narwhals, a band
that gets better and better.
I had the delight of dining
with Anne Kapuscinski
and husband Wayne Barstad—the first time I had
seen Anne in many years,
despite living less than
five miles apart. We promised it wouldn’t be another
five years. I can’t name
all who attended, but we
had a new mascot at the
Parade of Classes: Gunnar, an 8-week-old yellow
Lab belonging to Liz Loeb
McCane and husband Jim.
Check out photos on the
reunion website and mark
your calendars for our
45th: June 4–6, 2021.
Several classmates
couldn’t make it because
their children had the
audacity to schedule
weddings during Alumni
Weekend. This included
Steven and Mora Fisher
Mattingly, whose daughter
got married. (Rumor has
it Steven made the cake.)
Barbara “B.J.” McCarthy
Green stayed home in
Indiana to celebrate son
Jonathan’s marriage.
Congratulations to all.
Others unable to join us
included Tom Quinn, who
teaches at the University
of Washington in Seattle
and gets paid to talk about
fish, which have fascinated him since before
Swarthmore. He conducts
field work in western
Alaska on salmon, bears,
and their ecosystems. He
also researches salmon
and trout in Washington,
studying their behavior,
60
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
ecology, evolution, and
conservation. I wonder
if Tom ever gets to see
Cynthia Campbell Kimmey,
who has been in Seattle
for 34 years. She is a
retired rehabilitation physician who uses her skills
to care for her mother.
Kate Conway spent three
years as a program officer
with the U.N. Environment
Program, assisting 66
developing countries in
phasing out inefficient
lighting. She is now happily home again, gardening
in upstate New York.
Kelly Tillery feels like he
is playing in a Bachelor
Father remake, as all three
children and the family cat
live with him. He is writing
a play about Lincoln,
Grant, and Frederick Douglass—“Only Swarthmore
folks would understand.”
Stan “Po” Cope is a
medical entomologist and
president of the American Mosquito Control
Association, a position
that became very busy
when the Zika outbreak
began. He is director of
entomology and regulatory
services at Terminix and
lives in Lake Bluff, Ill.
Arthur Bryant continues
his brilliant law career,
winning the Clarence
Darrow Award from Mass
Torts Made Perfect and
the Western Trial Lawyers
Association Dale Haralson
Fallout Award, given in
recognition of extraordinary dedication, diligence,
and commitment to the
pursuit of justice.
FOLLOW US
on Facebook at
facebook.com/
SwarthmoreBulletin
FALL 2016
1978
Donna Caliendo Devlin
dmcdevlin@aol.com
Larry Jarvik, publisher
at Penny-a-Page Press,
reports that he has
published Ken Moskowitz
’76’s “groundbreaking
study of Bulgarian productions of American plays,
Adaptation in Bulgaria.
In April, Ken gave a talk,
introduced by Ambassador Elena Poptodorova,
at the Bulgarian Embassy
in Washington.” The book
is on Amazon; view Ken’s
talk at bit.ly/Moksowitz.
Rob Thomas ’81 shares
the sad news of the
unexpected death of
brother Randy Thomas,
who attended Swarthmore
for two years. “A colorful
individual who lived a
nontraditional lifestyle,”
Randy was a keyboardist
and recording musician
who lived with his wife
in Philadelphia. Our
condolences to Rob and
his family.
1980
Martin Fleisher
marty@meflaw.com
Lots of news—I’ll begin
with Lisa Diaz Nash,
whose update I inadvertently omitted last time.
Lisa’s kids are now in the
working world, one in
Brooklyn and one headed
for LA. Lisa gave a talk, in
conjunction with the TEDWomen conference, on
the power of clean water
to transform the lives of
women and girls, and how
we can help protect this
amazing resource.
Debbie Wood Blevins
writes about the wonderful time she had at our
2015 reunion. “The campus and our colleagues
have changed subtly, but
the essence of the experience took me back to a
time, place, and people I
loved. I am so thankful I
went—and I’ll go again.”
Steve Schall continues
his executive-search business in NYC, recruiting
leaders for international
nongovernmental organizations and local/national
nonprofits. Steve has been
in NYC for nearly 35 years,
working on community
development and social
justice. He’s also “a 20year season-ticket holder
for the New York Red Bulls
(that’s soccer, folks) with
Dan Melnick ’81.”
Heidi Rosa Lee is a
psychiatrist for the Mental
Health Association of
Westchester and lives in
Croton on Hudson, N.Y.,
with husband John and
son Alex, 22, who has
autism. Alex is doing really
well, she says, and she is
very proud of him.
Tiela Chalmers has lived
in San Francisco for most
of her post-Swarthmore
life. After law school there,
she worked for a firm for
10 years, and then moved
into the nonprofit and
legal-services sector. Now,
she is CEO of the Alameda
County Bar Association
and its Volunteer Legal
Services Corp. (which provides free legal services to
low-income communities).
“It’s a terrific job with
lots of opportunity to be
creative and try to make a
difference. In the last few
years, we have focused
on mentoring and training
new attorneys.” She has
two daughters—one a
Cornell grad working in
NYC and the other age 15.
She and partner Nancy
enjoy traveling and look
forward to more as the
nest empties.
Our faithful class agent,
Jodie Landes Corngold,
was over for dinner along
with husband Eric and our
friend Nancy Friedman
’82. Jodie ran the Boston
Marathon in April and is
training for the Philadelphia Marathon this fall. I
think the rest of us find
even the thought of that
exhausting.
Doug Perkins, a professor at the Peabody College
of Vanderbilt University, is
the 2016 recipient of the
Society for Community
Research and Action’s
Award for Distinguished
Contribution to Theory
and Research in Community Psychology. Speaking
of awards, my old roommate Ira Gitlin was named
Country Instrumentalist of
the Year at the 30th Annual Washington Area Music
Awards. Congratulations!
Anne Schuchat, deputy
director of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, is very involved
in dealing with the Zika
virus outbreak, including a
White House briefing.
Dean Baker had a
well-received op-ed piece
in The New York Times, “A
Progressive Way to End
Corporate Taxes.”
I, Marty, am happy to report that my team won the
Spingold Knockout Teams,
the main event of the
Summer North American
Bridge Championships.
This is one of the year’s
premier bridge events, and
most of the world’s top
players attended. I hadn’t
won it before, and it was a
great thrill.
And, finally, Melanie
Wentz is starting a career
as a park ranger. She will
work at the Rosie the
Riveter World War II Home
Front National Historical
Park in Richmond, Calif.
Share your personal and reunion
pics: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
As a change, our 40th Reunion will be held there.
Until next time …
1982
David Chapman
dchapman29@gmail.com
Dan Federman loves his
day job on the Yale medical
school faculty, “but what
I’m excited and passionate
about is my volunteer role
as medical director of
Community Health Partnership–Honduras. We
go twice a year to serve
17 indigent communities
in rural Honduras. Would
love to have Swarthmore
alums join us as dentists/
physicians/translators/
supporters.”
Beau and Susan Perkins
Weston ’81’s daughter Molly ’10 wed Jim Williamson
(a Princetonian) in Danville, Ky., in March. Many
Swarthmoreans attended,
including Beau’s aunt
Nancy Sherry Kashap ’57.
Bruce Weinstein is “writing a column on ethics,
character, and leadership
for Fortune magazine online” and travels the world
giving ethics keynotes.
From the Class of 1982
Facebook page: Lauren
Gabor features her fine art
online at laurengabor.com.
As for me, I have
finished two years on
the University of Virginia
faculty. I serve as the
area coordinator (think
department chair-lite)
for the finance group at
the McIntire School of
Commerce. I enjoy working
with undergraduates, and
I am excited about new
research projects slowly
working their way through
the journal review process.
My guitar playing is
slowly improving—mostly
classical and jazz. Wife
Kathleen is an editor for
the Core Knowledge Foundation helping to develop
school curricula, and sings
in Charlottesville, Va., and
Concord, Mass. Daughter
Emma graduated from St.
Anne’s-Belfield School
in Charlottesville and is
off to Lehigh University.
Son Matthew is a game
designer in Austin, Texas.
Please feel free to share
anything that you would
care to see posted.
1984
Karen Linnea Searle
linnea.searle@gmail.com
Lots of news—Ruth
Sergel happily shares that
her first book has been
published—See You in the
Streets: Art, Action, and
Remembering the Triangle
Shirtwaist Factory Fire.
Jocelyn Roberts Davis is
excited about her second
book, The Greats on Leadership: Classic Wisdom
for Modern Managers.
It’s a look at leadership
through the eyes of great
authors—from Plato to
Pericles, Shakespeare
to Churchill. Success magazine called it “a book of
substance that is a joy to
read.” Congrats!
Pepe Dugal runs a building consultancy business
in New Delhi, India. “My
wife, Janti, runs the kitchens of three successful
restaurant chains, one of
which will go international
this year. Elder daughter
Simrat received a B.A. in
history with a minor in
studio arts from Scripps
College in Claremont,
Calif. She works with a
world-famous photographer in Delhi as a historical archiver. Younger
JOHN BARTLE ’79
HONORARY DOCTORATE
John Bartle ’79, a dean at the University of Nebraska
Omaha, received an honorary doctor of humane letters
degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he previously taught. Bartle, grandson
of Binghamton’s first president, was honored for his
teaching, research, and public service. Bartle earned a
master’s from the University of Texas at Austin and a
Ph.D. from Ohio State.
daughter Gurbani will
soon graduate with a B.S.
in international hospitality
management from École
Hôtelière de Lausanne,
Switzerland, and will join
the international team of
her mother’s business in
Dubai.”
Ken Kozlowski is chief
investment officer for
the AXA Equitable Funds
Management Group in
New York, where he and
his team manage $100
billion of AXA’s mutual
funds. Last year, he hired
Jennifer Walsh ’15. Ken
is an empty nester—son
Joseph starts at Stevens
Institute of Technology
in Hoboken, N.J., this fall
and will join the golf team.
Daughter Jen graduated
from the College of New
Jersey in 2014 and works
in pharmaceuticals. Ken
and wife Colette (who
is from Swarthmore
borough—they met Ken’s
junior year) live in Wayne,
N.J., and will celebrate
their 30th anniversary in
October.
This spring, Brad Roth
served briefly as a visiting
law professor at National
Taiwan University, teaching public international
law. Brad, who for two decades has taught political
science and law at Wayne
State University in Detroit,
devotes much of his scholarship to sovereignty,
self-determination, and
secession; over the years,
he has addressed legal
aspects of cross-Strait
relations in journal articles
and conference talks.
Mike Radiloff sends his
regards from LA, where
he’s worked in the movie
industry for 27 years.
“After stints at Disney,
Warner Bros., and the
Weinstein Co., I co-founded an independent film
distribution company,
XLrator Media, five years
ago. We’ve since released
75 films (notably, Jimi: All
Is by My Side and CBGB)
and are now producing films for the global
marketplace. My business
partner and I were producers on five such films this
year—400 Days, The Last
Heist, The Curse of Sleeping Beauty, Wrecker, and
Paradox—and we start
production on our first
TV series next year. On a
personal note, my partner
Luis and I celebrated our
13th anniversary and are
the proud papas of an
adorable puppy, Zoe.”
Jorge Munoz became
manager two years ago
of a World Bank unit
overseeing the portfolio of
land-governance projects
worldwide. He’s traveled
extensively to countries
he never thought he would
visit, including Azerbaijan.
Jorge is the happy father
of two ballerinas (Sofia,
15, and Renata, 13). Wife
Natalia works at a child
care center near their
home. The family travels a
lot, last year to Bolivia and
this year to South Africa.
Jorge looks forward to our
35th Reunion.
In more international
news, Brad Beevers
and his family “have
finally bought a house
(after nearly 20 years in
Europe)—in a suburb of
Köln, Germany, where I
train lay members and
pastors in counseling.
Most of our students
are Russian–Germans,
which is a very interesting
German subculture—a
lot more like Americans
in many ways. Two of our
children study at a theological college in Bonn; the
third should begin studies
this fall in some scientific
field (he’s not sure which
yet—how unusual).”
Adrianne Pierce and wife
Laura are proud parents of
two young thespians, Hannah, a high school junior,
and Cate, an eighth-grader. Adrianne oversees the
classical world and global
education at the Hackley
School in Tarrytown, N.Y.
The family moved last
summer from Columbia
County to Greene County
and enjoyed their first
full summer in their new
house.
Salem Shuchman writes,
“Our daughter Michaela ’16 graduated from
Swarthmore in May and
received highest honors.
I continue to serve on
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
61
class notes
the Board of Managers
and will miss seeing my
daughter when I come
to campus for meetings.
Perhaps our twin sons will
also attend Swarthmore,
but they are only in sixth
grade so that is some
years away.”
Keep sending news!
1986
Jessica Russo Perez-Mesa
jessicaperezmesa@yahoo.
com
Karen Leidy Gerstel
kgerstel@msn.com
Our 30th Reunion did
not disappoint. Fifty-five
intrepid classmates
marched in the Alumni Parade, took in the
beautiful campus, and
reminisced with old (sorry,
middle-aged) friends.
It was all a blur, but we
learned the following.
Dave Allgeier is a veterinarian living near Penn
State. Hilary Damaser and
Jessica Russo Perez-Mesa bonded over starting
families late in life. Bettina
Lauf Forbes lost her house
to Superstorm Sandy but
still thrives in New Jersey.
Don Lloyd-Jones is a
cardiologist in Chicago.
Peter Walsh is a child and
adolescent psychiatrist
in New York City and
commutes from his horse
farm in North Jersey. Shep
Davidson is a Boston-area
lawyer. Janie Chang lives
in Taipei, Taiwan; her
oldest daughter graduated
from Swarthmore, and her
second daughter is Class
of ’17. Ed Gooding lives in
Princeton, N.J. Rafael
Richards is an anesthesiologist who tango dances
and lives in Baltimore.
David Sobel works at
62
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
Harvard in IT. Gregg Orsag
is a lawyer at a Pittsburgh
bank. Don McMinn is married with two young kids.
David Schutte and partner
Orlando live in NYC. Matt
and Jane Mitchell Eppley
have two children at
Swarthmore, and Jane is
a “cook and driver” for her
10-year-old son. Karen
Ohl’s oldest daughter is a
junior at Swarthmore and
worked Alumni Weekend;
Karen works at Nokia.
In other news, Common Application named
Jenny Rickard, University of Puget Sound vice
president for enrollment,
as its executive director.
Congratulations, Jenny.
Fellow class secretary
Karen Leidy Gerstel writes
for her and husband Jeff,
“Our son Dylan is Class of
’17 and loves Swarthmore;
our youngest is off to the
University of Kentucky to
pursue her horse passion.
We now have a place in
NYC, and our casa is Class
of ’86’s casa—come visit,
no matter the reason.”
I, Jessica Russo Perez-Mesa, live in Hawaii
with husband Carlos and
our two young children. I
am a pharmaceutical rep
who sings in the church
choir and attempts to do
CrossFit with my class’s
young punks. I also had
a reunion on campus in
April with members of
the Grapevine a cappella
group. Merantine Hens
and Joanne Wood Dexter
were there.
Karen and I had such a
good time that in a weak,
nostalgic moment we
agreed to take over as coclass secretaries. Please
send communications to
us from now on. Thanks to
Rikki Abzug and Ramona
O’Halloran Swenson for
years of great work!
FALL 2016
1988 1990
Mallory Easter Polk
malbsure@yahoo.com
Jim Sailer
jim.sailer@gmail.com
Occasionally, I’ll stumble
upon news of a classmate and my heart nearly
bursts with pride. Lately,
that’s happened often.
Biomedical engineering
pioneer Cori Lathan, a
lifelong advocate for
women and minorities in
science, technology, engineering and mathematics
and current chair of the
World Economic Forum’s
Global Agenda Council on
Artificial Intelligence and
Robotics, was interviewed
by TheDisruptory.com on
a mobile medical software
application called DANA
that is used as diagnostic
support to evaluate cognitive function.
Cindi Leive, editor of
Glamour, has teamed up
with Facebook for townhall events preceding the
election that focus on issues important to women
(more, pg. 23).
David Barnes had dinner
in July with Steve Coxe
and Nick Morse. David
writes, “Nick is starting as
head of a pelvic surgery
department in China,
so this will likely be our
last dinner together for
a while. Steve and I still
make music together (do
you remember our band,
Metrognome, at Swarthmore?) and released our
second album as the duo
Minus 103.”
As always, I love hearing
from you. Email me!
Great updates. Thanks,
everyone, for writing.
Congrats to David Ruby,
who wed Devora Eisenberg July 10 in Seattle.
Harold and Melissa
Layman-Guadalupe are
sending “kid No. 2”—son
Adam—to Miami University of Ohio to study music
education. Their eldest,
Jason ’19, loved his first
year at Swarthmore, and
Melissa and Harold love
hearing about everything
that has changed (meal
swipes and food points!)
and things that are around
from our time there (traying!). Son Benjamin heads
to 10th grade. Harold still
enjoys the ER’s hustle and
bustle, and Melissa still
teaches at the University
of Dayton, with one day a
week at her child-psychology practice.
Scott Field is opening a
comedy club in Nashville,
Tenn. An experienced improv comedian, Scott and
his partners are building
out the Third Coast Comedy Club, which aims to be
the home for local comics.
It will feature stand-up,
sketch, improv, plays, variety shows, live podcasts,
and video content.
Ellen McClure is now
an ordained lay dharma
teacher in the Buddhist
Society for Compassionate Wisdom. Ellen teaches
meditation classes,
officiates holidays and
services, and helps run
the Chicago temple. Next
year she will be acting
associate director of the
School for Literature,
Cultural Studies, and
Linguistics at the Univer-
sity of Illinois at Chicago,
where she has worked for
19 years. “Any familiarity
with the state of the humanities in public higher
education or the state of
Illinois will lead the reader
to conclude, correctly, that
the two developments are
not unrelated.”
Jessica Hines Turner
and husband Matthew
celebrated their 23rd
anniversary July 10. They
live in Atlanta, where Jessica is a psychology and
neuroscience professor
at Georgia State. Jessica
researches neuroimaging,
genetics, and psychosis,
and she was awarded
tenure this spring.
Greg Smirin has a new
job and a puppy. Greg
is president and board
member at Premise Corp.,
a Silicon Valley startup
focusing on innovative
data collection and
analysis techniques to
deliver real-time insights
to public managers and
corporations. They track
everything from food
prices in Ghana to health
outcomes in India. Now
to what you really want to
know: Greg, wife Sara, and
kids Zach and Eli added
Mowgli, a Bernese mountain dog puppy, to their
family, joining incumbent
dog Leo. The dogs get
along well, and the puppy
makes the Smirin home
one of the most popular in
Northern California.
Rebecca Parker is “in
Evanston, Ill., with husband Joel, who teaches
at the University of Illinois
at Chicago, and kids
George (seventh grade)
and Maggie (fifth grade).
At the start of 2016, I
moved from the Kellogg
School of Management at
Northwestern—where I
had done stints as registrar, head of institutional
research, and a crazy-fun
job in ‘change management and operational
Share your personal and reunion
pics: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
integration’ in degree
operations—to be the
director of student accounts for the university.
We are the department
that charges and collects
tuition and fees, which is
more fun than it sounds. I
am also not quite halfway
through a master’s
program in learning and
organizational change at
Northwestern. … The kids
and I have been attending
Evanston Friends Meeting,
and I’ve even done some
First Day School teaching.”
Aaron Smith started a job
with Red Hat in Westford,
Mass., and had a great visit from Kevin and Rachael
Henriques Porter.
Tanya Boudreau moved
from Istanbul to western
Ohio with her husband
and children. Her daughter
and son made a smooth
transition, and they all
enjoy U.S. life.
Andy Fortune and wife
San celebrated their 14th
anniversary. Son Liam, 9,
keeps them busy. Andy
started in the Corning Museum of Glass’s photography department in 1996
and is now the Collections
Photography Department
manager. “The museum
has an incredibly diverse
collection, and I continue
to be inspired, energized,
and humbled by working
with such challenging
material. On any given day
we may be working with
contemporary sculpture
in the studio alongside
objects made up to 4,000
years ago.” Andy writes
and plays music and
recently formed a band.
Phil Weiser is taking a
sabbatical, starting with
five months in Sydney
after two years in the
Obama administration
(the Justice Department’s
Antitrust Division and the
White House’s National
Economic Council) and
five years as dean of the
University of Colorado
Law School. Wife Heidi
Wald (a University of
Colorado medical school
faculty member) is also
taking a sabbatical, and
their kids (seventh and
third grade) take it on
faith that it will be an
experience of a lifetime.
Come January, they will
return to Colorado, where
Phil will go back to being a
law professor and directing the Silicon Flatirons
Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship
he founded there.
and wife Bea launched a
travel photo website,
pixeliciousplanet.com,
with the tagline “Travel the
world without leaving the
sofa.” Sign me up.
Speaking of signing up,
mark your calendars for
Alumni Weekend, May
26–28 (yes, Memorial
Day weekend). While the
math may seem wrong,
we’ll be celebrating a
quarter-century since we
welcomed President Al
Bloom at Commencement.
I look forward to seeing
you then.
Libby Starling
libbystarling@comcast.net
Joanna Vondrasek
joanna.vondrasek@gmail.com
Congratulations to John
Crosby, who married
Cole Wolford, a physician
turned artist (see more:
colewolford.com), on the
fifth anniversary of the
day they met in Buenos Aires, Argentina (where Cole
was learning Spanish and
John was on R&R from
his embassy assignment
in Kabul, Afghanistan).
Kristin Hovis and Karen
Pence attended the Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., wedding,
as did John’s cousin Reid
Neureiter ’87. John writes,
“We’re based in D.C. now
for my work, but I’m wrapping up my assignment
as deputy director of the
State Department’s Office
of Global Criminal Justice
in a couple of months, and
then Cole and I will start
language training for my
next assignment, as head
of the political and economic section at the U.S.
Consulate in Milan, Italy.”
After 13 years, Eric Stollnitz left Microsoft for the
Adobe Research Creative
Technologies Lab. Eric
I notice emerging themes
in these notes.
East to West: Zaneb
Khan Beams traveled in
February from Maryland
to attend the opening for
Alexandra Grant’s art book
Shadows, a collaboration
with Keanu Reeves, at
the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art. According
to the Los Angeles Times,
Alex, a painter, “turned
to photography to create
this series of 54 images
based on the movements
of Reeves, her longtime
friend.” While in LA, Zaneb
also visited Noah Salamon
’93, Andres Versage ’93,
and their families, and
hiked in Griffith Park with
Alex, her old roomie.
Paul Chi has lived in
Philly since 2000, when
he returned for graduate
school. Paul and wife Jenna McNeill’s sons—Alex,
9, and Ryan, 6—keep
them busy. Paul routinely
sees multiple Swatties
and met up with Jude
O’Reilley and wife Leslee;
Loren Passmore and wife
1992 1994
Kusia Hreshchyshyn ’93;
and their families for a
Yosemite vacation.
West to East: Michael
Cholbi, a philosophy
professor at California
State Polytechnic University, Pomona, returned to
Swarthmore this spring to
deliver the talk “Achieving
Self-Knowledge” (listen:
bit.ly/Cholbi). Jon Varese
relocated to Kinderhook,
N.Y., after nearly 20 years
in California: “It was time
to come home and be closer to family.” By sheer coincidence (if there is such
a thing for Swatties), Jon
is only a few houses away
from Stephen Lang ’73
and daughter Lucy Lang
’03, as well as Bonnie Yochelson ’74 and husband
Paul Shechtman ’71. “It’s
a regular Swat fest here,”
says Jon, who works
remotely as lead technical
writer for Salesforce.org
and as director of digital
initiatives for the Dickens
Project in California.
East to West (international version): Kathy
Sturm-Ramirez said
goodbye to Bangladesh
after almost six years and
relocated this summer to
Dakar, Senegal, where she
is the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention’s
resident adviser for
the President’s Malaria
Initiative. Husband Leyfou
Dabo is from Senegal, and
the family was excited
to spend a few years in
Dakar. The move gives
daughters Aicha, 9, and
Mariama, 7, an opportunity to cement their French
and pick up surfing.
Oops! North to South:
Tom Samuel and his
family moved to South
Florida and enjoy the lovely weather all year round.
Tom is interim director
of the Cleveland Clinic
Florida’s cancer center
and still sees patients as a
breast medical oncologist.
Son Jake, 12, competed
in the national spelling
bee for Christian schools.
Daughter Alayna, 7, and
son Mark, 4, “keep our
household very busy. We
are blessed and happy.”
Center: Jennifer Besanceney Latham has a
young-adult novel coming
out in January, Dreamland
Burning, about the 1921
Tulsa race riot/massacre, while husband Sean
Latham runs the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities at the University
of Tulsa. Mostly, though,
Jen says, “We’re trying to
cope with the fact that our
oldest kid is doing college
tours this summer.”
Congratulations to
Philadelphia’s Pig Iron
Theatre and founders Dan
Rothenberg ’95, Dito van
Reigersberg, and Quinn
Bauriedel on the theater
company’s 20th anniversary this spring.
Our alumni Facebook
page has been unusually
active lately, with classmates trying to decipher
the identity of Twitter
user @NinetiesSwattie,
who may or may not be a
member of our class.
1996
Melissa Clark
melissa.a.clark@gmail.com
It was wonderful to see
many of you at our 20th
Reunion. As Dom Sagolla
notes, “The Class of 1996
won Alumni Weekend. We
partied and laughed the
hardest, sang the loudest,
danced the longest, and
stayed up the latest.” We
thought fondly of those
unable to join us and hope
to see you at our 25th.
In the meantime, join our
class Facebook group,
where you’ll find photos,
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
63
class notes
videos, complaints about
the much-maligned food
truck, and other reminiscences.
Matt Robison sadly
missed the reunion, but
he had a good excuse: He
and wife Emily had Aaron
Emlen in March. Siblings
Ruth, 5, and Daniel, 3, are
very satisfied with the new
addition. Matt has also
been working up a storm,
consulting for ICF International on integrating
distributed energy into the
electric grid.
Kathleen Lawton-Trask,
her husband, and their
children—Alex, 4, and Will,
2—moved this summer
from England to Los Angeles. Kathleen was finishing
her doctorate and saying
goodbye to Oxford while
we celebrated on Parrish
Beach. She hopes to catch
up with LA Swatties this
fall and attend our 25th.
Jack and Sara Fox
Schecter moved from
Boston to Portland, Ore.,
last summer. Sara writes,
“It has been an incredible adventure, and we
love the opportunity to
explore a new part of the
country.” Jack works for
Nike in global intellectual
property litigation, and
Sara is a broker for the
Hasson Co. Children Max,
13; Rachel, 11; and Sam,
8, have adjusted to their
new home. They all looked
forward to a trip to Alaska
in August.
In the past few years,
Japhet Koteen got married
(to Kori Blitstein), started
a family (Bayla Koteen,
Class of 2037), and joined
the founding team of
FarmRaiser.com, which
raises money for schools
and nonprofits while
supporting local farms and
small businesses. Japhet
hopes to someday sleep
again, but doesn’t plan
on it. He dabbles in real
estate development and
planning.
64
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
Emily Bobrow, a senior
research officer at the
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric
AIDS Foundation, is
finishing a four-year study
of a program in Rwanda
that gives HIV-positive
pregnant women anti
retroviral medications and
nutritional counseling to
prevent their infants from
becoming infected. “We
documented a transmission rate of 1.1 percent at
24 months follow-up—an
amazing achievement.
This study helps document how we can create a
generation free from HIV.”
Emily’s work has taken
her all over the world,
including stretches in Malawi, Mozambique, Mali,
and Pakistan. She lives in
Chapel Hill, N.C., with husband Harsha Thirumurthy,
a health economist, and
children Reuben, 4, and
Mira, 1 1/2.
Joel Johnson is chief
marketing officer of Trout
Unlimited, the nation’s
largest cold-water conservation organization.
He’s become a rabid fly
fisherman, and lives near
D.C. with daughter Yunah,
3, and wife Kyong, an
architect.
Stacy Nakell lives with
partner Doug in Austin,
Texas, and is a psychotherapist specializing in
body-focused repetitive
behaviors like hair-pulling and skin-picking.
She published her first
peer-reviewed article
in 2013 in the International Journal of Group
Psychotherapy, exploring
the effectiveness of psychodynamic group work,
and is writing a book.
Jacqueline Morais Easley
bought a house in Fulton,
Md., for herself and her
kids (15, 13, and 8). She
works part time at Michael
Kors and is pursuing a
master’s in creative writing at Johns Hopkins.
Dom Sagolla lives in San
FALL 2016
Francisco, lecturing on
innovation and working
on a book that he hopes
to publish this year. Stay
tuned to @Dom on Twitter
for updates.
Andy Feldman finished
three years in the Obama
administration and is at
the Brookings Institution,
helping public agencies
through evidence-based
policy and innovation.
Kate Ellsworth is in
Boston, working as an
acupuncturist and chasing
after her child and dog.
Kaori Emery and husband
Joel also live in Boston
with their three girls.
Brian Wong is based in
Hangzhou, China, where
he had been vice president and special assistant
to the chairman for international affairs for the
Alibaba Group and leads
globalization initiatives.
Sean Wright was elected
to the Riddle HealthCare
Foundation’s board of
directors and was among
Philadelphia magazine’s
2016 Top Docs for plastic
surgery.
Rowan Phillips received
the Anisfield-Wolf Book
Award for his poetry
collection Heaven, and his
poem “Vall de Núria” was
published in The New York
Times in May.
Marcela Escobari was
named head of the U.S.
Agency for International
Development’s bureau
for Latin America and the
Caribbean, where she will
lead initiatives on poverty,
inequality, citizen security,
corruption, and climate
change.
I, Melissa, still work at
Mathematica Policy Research and live in Princeton, N.J., with my husband
and two kids, ages 6 and
8. As always, thanks for
sending your updates.
1998
Rani Shankar
rani_shankar@yahoo.com
Amita Sudhir
amitasudhir@gmail.com
This is the year many of
us turn 40, and Rachel
Breitman is going to Miami
with Cat Laine, Shirley
Salmeron, Jen Weiss Handler, Cathlin Tully, Tamala
Montgomery, and Maurisa
Thompson to celebrate.
In perhaps the most apt
description of life with a
newborn ever composed,
Justin Hall writes that
he and partner Ilyse
Magy “are delighted to
announce the birth of
daughter Delia Joy Orion
Maghally on Saturday,
June 4, at 3:42 p.m., the
first baby to be born at the
new San Francisco Birth
Center. With mother and
baby healthy, and father
weepy with gratitude,
they’ve settled into a new
lie ruled by the primal
diktats of an enchanting
preverbal roommate.”
Anna FernadezBuerhrens and wife Mary
live in Dorchester, Mass.,
with son Simon, 4. Anna
writes, “Simon is finishing
his first year of K-0 in the
same Boston public school
where Mary works. I am
still a program manager of
an adult basic education
center in South Boston.
I’m also helping start a
nonprofit, Hour House
Boston (in Mattapan),
a re-entry house and
program for formerly incarcerated men. We hope
that this program, whose
executive director is also
formerly incarcerated, will
help these men reconnect
with their families and
communities in positive
ways. I also play the
violin with chamber music
groups and in the Quincy
Symphony Orchestra.”
Sonja Downing earned
tenure as an ethnomusicology professor at Lawrence University. She and
husband Dewa Ketut Alit
Adnyana have a daughter,
4, who occasionally
agrees to play gamelan
music with them.
Emily Willits is beginning
a job at the Iowa attorney
general’s office as director
of the Administrative Law
and Licensing Division.
She and husband Craig
and their boys (3 and 5)
live in Des Moines and
are getting a puppy. Also
dealing with a puppy is
Katie Auld Aron, who lives
in Acton, Mass., with husband Zach and children
Maddie, 4 1/2, and Max, 1.
She works at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where she
brings breakthrough immuno-oncology therapies
to patients. Allison Marsh
was tenured and promoted
to associate professor at
the University of South
Carolina. She challenged
the process by making
her case solely on public
history (museum stuff
rather than the traditional
monograph), although she
now has a book contract
and needs to start writing.
She celebrated by traveling through Southeast
Asia over the summer.
Daniel Gallant is partway
through an Eisenhower
Fellowship trip studying
how arts organizations in
Japan and Spain address
funding, outreach, and
education activities. He
has been to seven cities in
Spain and three in Japan.
Noah Daniels starts a
tenure-track position in
the University of Rhode
Island’s computer science
and statistics department
this fall and will move
with wife Rachel to North
Kingstown, R.I.
Rob McGreevey writes,
“Oldest son Theo turned
11 and starts middle
school in the fall while our
youngest, Jacob, turned 3
this summer. Though our
guys are eight years apart,
they’ve developed a brotherly bond around a shared
love of music, soccer,
and ice cream trucks. I’ve
been on sabbatical, which
gave me time to (finally)
finish my book and spend
more time with my kids.
I’ve joined the Shade Tree
Commission in Narberth,
Pa. Wife Miriam Shakow
’97 is on the Narberth
Planning Commission, and
we’ve found politics in our
small town involve a surprising degree of drama
and intrigue. We feel like
we’re on the set of Parks
and Recreation.”
In New York, Rani Shankar co-hosted a fundraiser
for Sean Barney, a Democrat running for Congress
in Delaware (more, pg. 18).
I, Amita, had a busy
summer of travel and
gardening, battling long
airport lines and Japanese
beetles alike. Please write
in with your news, to me
or Rani, and happy 40th
to all those who complete
four decades this year.
2000
Michaela DeSoucey
mdesoucey@gmail.com
Emily Shu
emily.n.shu@gmail.com
As always, we enjoy
hearing from you and
sharing your news. We
are working from a new
contact list; please let us
know if you are not receiving emails from us twice a
year and would like to be.
First, a wedding and
babies to report: Rhiana
Swartz married Meg
Holzer in May in Sullivan
County, N.Y. Swatties in
attendance were Tracy
McNeil ’01, Michael Viola,
Sarah Cross ’99, Meredith
Hegg, Rhiana’s cousin
Mariah Peelle Sotelino
’99, Daniel Sotelino ’01,
and uncles Howard “Hap”
Peelle ’65, Robert “RB”
Peelle ’67, and Paul Peelle
’69. Also there in spirit
were Rhiana’s late grandparents Bob and Gemmy
Peelle ’39.
Will Untereker and wife
Wakana had daughter Noa
in April. They are thrilled
at the new addition; son
Billy, 4, no longer an only
child, is somewhat less
so (for now). They live
near Tokyo. John Loeser,
wife Kari, and daughter Sydney welcomed
daughter Madison in May.
John is entering his sixth
year as head of school at
Redwood Day School, a
K–8 independent school
in Oakland, Calif., where
he’s closing in on a $4
million capital campaign
and finished construction
on a 10,000-square-foot
facility for the students.
Alex Shaw brought
Consciência Negra to
Swarthmore (See: bit.ly/
AlexShaw00). Juan Mejia
directed Death by a Thousand Cuts, which made its
U.S. debut at the Seattle
International Film Festival
(See: bit.ly/DeathCuts).
Jo-Anne Suriel is in
NYC and started a job at
American Securities, a
private equity fund where
she reports on the firm’s
investments. Slava Lukin
lives near D.C. and works
at the National Science
Foundation. He and
wife Valentina “recently
completed a wonderful
train trip from Albuquerque, N.M., to Whitefish,
Mont. I highly recommend
taking the LA-to-Seattle
Share your personal and reunion
pics: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
day-and-a-half sleeper
car train trip to help disconnect from the wireless
world and watch some
gorgeous scenery roll by.”
Brian ’99 and Desiree
Peterkin Bell live in Center
City Philadelphia and
just celebrated their 10th
wedding anniversary.
Desiree’s boutique public-affairs firm has taken
on some amazing clients,
including the Democratic
National Convention
Committee, and served
as then-Mayor Michael
Nutter’s chief negotiator
to secure the convention bid. She has given
speeches on gender equity
around the country. Their
daughter is 8 and does
advanced gymnastics.
Marissa Colston is the
first director of diversity and inclusion at the
Westtown School, outside
Philadelphia, “still shaking
things up and working for
social justice.” She moved
to Media with wife Danie
Jackson and has seen
Ansa ’01 and Kelly Hines
Yiadom ’01 and their family, who also live there.
Alecia Magnifico and
husband Chris Cutler
live in Durham, N.H.,
where she is an English
education professor at the
University of New Hampshire. Chris train-and-bike
commutes to AppNeta
in Boston. Chris spent
several days with Chuck
Groom, Wayne Miller, and
Electra Kaczorowski ’01
on a Seattle trip. Alecia
excitedly shares that her
book Conducting Qualitative Research of Learning
in Online Spaces was
published this spring.
Sarah Archer’s book
Midcentury Christmas is
out this fall. If you’re keen
to learn more about aluminum Christmas trees,
or know someone who is,
procure a copy from your
friendly neighborhood
bookseller. My (Michaela
DeSoucey) book Contested Tastes: Foie Gras
and the Politics of Food
was published in June
by Princeton University
Press, after more than a
decade of researching and
writing. I am an assistant
professor of sociology
at North Carolina State
University in Raleigh.
Karen Lloyd is a microbiology professor at the
University of Tennessee,
researching ocean
microbes. She has two
daughters, 2 and 6. Becca
Stites Derrick lives in
Harwood, Md., with husband Lee and their three
children. She coaches her
daughter’s field hockey
and lacrosse teams and
owns BeeSweet! Cookies.
She enjoyed seeing
Swatties at the beachside
wedding of Sari Altschuler
’01 in March.
On the West Coast, Adrienne Aiona moved back to
Oregon with her wife and
toddler to take a job with
the city of Portland. She
looks forward to spending
more time with Mike
Arellano and his family.
Eva Allan and her family
moved from Connecticut
to Berkeley, Calif., last
summer, taking a few
weeks to drive across
the country. Husband
Dan was recruited by UC
Berkeley’s physics department, and she is a postdoc
in art history, although
she took last year off. She
wrote that it was great
luck to run into Massey
Burke outside the Cheese
Board and rekindle an old
Swarthmore friendship.
FOLLOW US
on Facebook at
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SwarthmoreBulletin
2002
Tanyaporn Wansom
swarthmore2002@gmail.com
I am heartbroken to
share the news of Alice
Hershey’s death July 28.
However, I know many of
us smiled when we saw
the pictures (with Alice’s
huge, infectious smile),
memories, and tributes
that friends and family
posted on social media.
Her sister, Elizabeth,
writes that Alice passed
away in the company of
her family and surrounded
by love. She had been in a
bicycle accident in Philadelphia in 2009 and never
recovered. Alice cherished
her time at Swarthmore,
the many friends she
made there, and the
reunions she attended. A
memorial gathering will be
held this fall in Philadelphia.
Imo Akpan married
Jeffrey Bingham in June
with Kaysha Corinealdi,
Bubu Banini, and Folasade
Jones attending. Imo
enjoyed a track mini-reunion in Chicago—where
she lives—with Jokotade
Agunloye ’01, Claire
Hoverman ’03, and
Jessica Zagory ’05, and
also met up with Jessica
Rickabaugh when she
was in town for a meeting.
Imo starts a hematology/oncology research
fellowship this year. Olga
Rostapshova, husband
Ivar, and daughter Aurora
welcomed baby Adrian
in March. Olga splits her
time among three jobs:
technical director at
international development consultancy Social
Impact; adviser for startup
nonprofit Precision Agri-
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
65
class notes
ALUMNI PROFILE
NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY ’04
HONORED ARTIST
Njideka Akunyili Crosby ’04 received the 2016 Prix Canson award, which honors international emerging artists
who work primarily in paper. The Nigerian-born, Los
Angeles-based artist combines drawing, painting, and collage to explore themes of literature, identity, and race. She
previously won the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s
2014 James Dicke Contemporary Art Prize, the Studio
Museum in Harlem’s 2015 Wein Prize, and recognition as
a 2016 leading global thinker by Foreign Policy.
culture for Development;
and directing the Weiss
Family Program Fund for
research in development
economics at Harvard.
Julia Bouwsma won the
2015 Cider Press Review
Book Award for her manuscript Work by Bloodlight.
Keetje Kuipers, wife Sarah
Fritsch Kuipers ’04, and
daughter Nela moved to
Seattle from Auburn, Ala.
Keetje left her associate
professor position at Auburn to write poetry and
prose full time, and Sarah
left Morris, Manning, &
Martin in Atlanta for Foster Pepper. After working
as a sound mixer for reality TV shows for a decade,
Taina Guarda is switching
careers and pursuing a
master’s in environmental
policy and sustainable
management from the
New School, creating designs for equipment that
skims water for plastics.
Arcadia Falcone is back
in the Bay Area with a job
as metadata coordinator
at Stanford University
Libraries. In January, Jon
Stancato launched Sing
a Secret (singasecret.
com), a free twice-monthly introduction to singing
techniques, and welcomed
Sonya Reynolds ’07 and
Katie Surrence ’01 to the
class. He hopes more
NYC-area Swatties join.
Steve Salter and wife
Lisa Dragoset moved to
Austin, Texas, in summer
2015 and had daughter
66
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
Isabel Renee Salter in
January. Also in January,
David ’03 and Lisa
Ladewski Whitehead and
daughters Abby and Olivia
welcomed Jacob Anthony.
Cris and Danielle Ortiz
and children Dominic, 3,
and Alaina, 5, welcomed
daughter Briseis in April.
Hilary Jensen Rice had
Lydia Jensen Rice at
3:14 p.m. March 14—a
double Pi Day baby. Loring
Pfeiffer and Gil Jones
’01 had Elizabeth “Bess”
Wheeler Jones in November. Loring, Gil, Bess, and
big sister Cleo, and Hilary
and Lydia enjoyed Alumni
Weekend and hope to visit
more often.
Correction: In previous
class notes announcing
son Sam’s birth, Becki
Cikoski Carter’s name was
misspelled.
I, Tanya, am well in Bangkok and was visited by my
brother Derrick ’05 and
Woot Lervisit ’04. If you’d
like to receive calls for
class notes, please email
swarthmore2002@gmail.
com. Many of the addresses I have are outdated; I
would love to update and
hear from all of you.
FOLLOW US
on Facebook at
facebook.com/
SwarthmoreBulletin
FALL 2016
2004
Njideka Akunyili
nji130@yahoo.com
Adrienne Mackey’s theater
company, Swim Pony Performing Arts, received two
big grants (for $50,000
and $55,000) to begin a
project combining theater
and game design in an
original performance, The
End, which will premiere in
May in Philadelphia.
Alex Edleson breeds
organic and biodynamic
vegetables in Germany.
Amy Robinson and husband Erik Oost, who live
in Brooklyn, had their first
child, Fritz Robinson Oost,
June 18. He is a delight.
Audrey Dorelien married
Jason Kerwin June 26 in
Minneapolis. Jason and
Audrey are assistant professors at the University
of Minnesota. Audrey was
happy that Jayanti Owens
’06, Dale Jennings, Justene Hill, and Nef Francis
celebrated the fantastic
wedding week with her.
Catherine Gaffney
moved to Tucson, Ariz.,
in 2011 to volunteer with
No More Deaths/No Más
Muertes, a humanitarian
group working on the
U.S.–Mexico border to
end death and suffering
of those crossing the
desert. They give food,
water, and medical care to
people in distress; search
for missing persons; and
report U.S. Border Patrol
abuses. Catherine invites
all to volunteer. She is also
a freelance grant writer.
Erik Elwood and Ann
Marie Lam are well—son
James is 3 1/2 and son
John was born in May.
They put roots down in
Pennsylvania and moved
into their first home.
After more than eight
years together, Evan
Moses married Susanne
Cooper April 2 in San
Francisco. Aaron Cantor
’06 was best man. They
had a fantastic time partying with guests, including
Art Yelsey ’73.
Grace Appiah married
Mike Townsend in Atlanta.
Sister Stephanie ’10,
Hernease Davis, Esther
Zeledon, Tamika Songster,
Khadijah White, and Emily
Alvarez attended.
Jake Schneider moved
from New York to Philly for
an in-house counsel job.
He is slowly settling into
Philly but misses Brooklyn
and its faster pace where
he lived a short walk from
Andy Scarborough and
Katherine Murnen, who
just had baby Neva. Aaron
Rubin moved to an adjacent neighborhood.
Joel Blecher is moving
to D.C. to become a
history professor at
George Washington
University. His research
and teaching focuses on
early and medieval Islam.
Wife and partner-in-crime
Summer Renault-Steele
will join him next year
after completing an
appointment as a visiting
philosophy professor at
LeMoyne College in New
York. They look forward
to reconnecting with East
Coast Swatties and those
passing through.
Mark Hanis joined Sam
Bell ’05 and wife Kate Kelly in welcoming Asher Bell
in May. Mark hiked and
camped the Grand Canyon
with Andrew “Stobo” Sniderman ’07 in February.
Mark also caught up with
Morgan Simon, Gerrit Hall,
and Autumn Quinn in San
Francisco. We send love
to Mark as he mourns
his father, who died in an
accident in Ecuador.
Morgan Simon’s first
book, Real Impact:
How Money will Help or
Destroy the World, will be
published early next year.
Morgan is an active impact investor, supporting
worker-owned co-ops,
renewable energy, and
other fun stuff with her
firm, Pi Investments.
Nick Martin is expanding
TechChange, which has
built online courses for
more than 100 organizations in fields like public
health, climate change,
human rights, and disaster
response. Four Swatties
were on staff this summer—Matthew Heck ’13,
Isabel Knight ’16, Tahmid
Rahman ’17, and John Sun
’17—and they’re always
looking for more.
Rebecca Ennen sent
updates for the residents
of Apartment 3S, the Barn,
2001–02, most of whom
expanded their families
in 2016: Ross Hoffman
and Elsa Waldman had
Beatrice Clementine;
Ester Bloom and Benjamin
Galynker ’03 had Jules
(joining Lara, 4); Rebecca
Ennen and Ari Weisbard
had Misha; and Nori Heikkinen ’03 and Jack Hebert
had Francis. Many of them
meet up in D.C. for visits
with Matt Rubin Blumin
’03, Jessie Blumin, and
Amira, 2. Everyone is well,
and all send love to the
other classmates who had
babies in 2016 (as well as
everyone else).
Rebecca Rogers and Danny Loss live in Somerville,
Share your personal and reunion
pics: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
“Modern homesteaders want to provide their families with a better life than they could
afford if they had to pay cash for the trappings,” says Anna Hess ’00. “Most of all, they want
to be healthy, happy, and cheerfully self-sufficient.”
HOME
SWEET
HOMESTEAD
Back-to-the-land living looks good on her
by Heather Shumaker ’91
IF YOU’D ASKED Anna Hess ’00
during her Swarthmore days if she’d
ever live in a 500-square-foot metal box,
the answer would have been a definite
no. After all, she’s a homesteading gal, a
biology type who likes to muck about in
wetlands and lovingly spread chicken
poo in her organic gardens.
Three years after graduating from
Swarthmore—age 24 and close to
broke—Hess searched out the cheapest
land she could buy (58 acres of wetland
and swamp in Scott County, Va.) and
began dismantling the decrepit house
that came with it. Hess envisioned
straightening every nail, saving every
board, and transforming the wreck into
a snug, sweet homesteading cabin.
Ten years later she’s actively homesteading, although the cozy cabin is
nowhere to be seen.
“We’re ‘trailersteading,’” Hess says,
a word she coined as well as the title of
her new book.
It’s also a growing trend among folks
searching for simple housing so they
can have the freedom to pursue more
fulfilling goals, whether it’s back-tothe-land living, early retirement, or
more time for travel and family.
Hess and husband Mark Hamilton work only 30 hours a week, split
between farm chores like tending the
goats, chickens, orchards, and gardens,
and income-producers like Anna’s
writing or Mark’s nifty automatic
chicken-waterer invention, the Avian
Aqua Miser.
This leaves them plenty of time to
observe frogs as they lay eggs in the
pond, to pursue their creative itches,
and to watch their honeybees gather
hazel pollen.
It’s the homesteading life Hess
always dreamed of, even if it looks very
different from what she—or anyone
else—originally dreamed.
“To be honest,” Hess says, “I embarked on Trailersteading: How to
Find, Buy, Retrofit, and Live Large in a
Mobile Home as a bit of a joke.”
She was startled when her how-to
e-book found worldwide fans, then
a New York publisher. It’s billed as
a more satisfying alternative to the
materialistic mansion-and-mortgage
lifestyle—“Anyone can really achieve
self-sufficiency,” says Hess.
Hess’s homesteading roots go back
to her childhood. She was born into a
back-to-the-land family who espoused
“voluntary poverty” and a life she
remembers as paradise.
“There were strawberries to eat,
cows to name (and then cry over when
they went to the slaughterhouse), and
hillsides to climb with book in hand,”
she says.
Hess now homesteads to the hilt,
harvesting everything from crookneck
squash, cabbage, okra, and sorghum
(for the goats) to Egyptian onions,
gooseberries, and raspberries along
with 40 other types of edible plants.
She hunts deer, raises chickens for
meat and eggs, and milks two friendly
goats named Abigail and Artemesia.
She’s also a cheerleader for what
she calls “the gentler, modern version of homesteading.” This includes
suburban families with chicken coops
in their backyards and city dwellers
with vegetable gardens. In fact, her
first book, The Weekend Homesteader,
offers simple projects like using logs
to grow mushrooms, installing rain
barrels, or building an under-the-sink
worm bin.
Today, Hess is where she wants to
be, home at the trailerstead: sipping
soup made from her own chicken
stock, splitting firewood, or embarking
on new experiments, such as tapping
black birches for their sap to make a
new type of syrup.
“It’s one of the greatest gifts,” she
says, “knowing that life at the poverty
line is not only possible, but full of joy.”
+ GET TO KNOW ANNA at waldeneffect.org
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
67
class notes
Mass. A trip took them
through Seattle, where
they visited Emily Ford and
Jon Ehrenfeld, and introduced son Gabriel to Emily
and John’s daughter Lila
(both 2). Highlights for the
budding Swatties included
toy trains, pretzels, and
a bath.
Thanks for the updates.
If you do not receive the
update request, make sure
that records@swarthmore.edu has your email
address. Big thanks to
Rebecca and Danny for
volunteering to take over
class notes. It has been an
honor to compile your updates—it is always exciting
and inspiring to learn of
the incredible things you
are up to.
2006
International and Public
Affairs and Sociology at
Brown University.
Mischa Stephens plays
the lead in the rock
musical Chess Sept. 15–
Oct. 15 in San Francisco.
“The music is all original,
wonderfully ’80s, and
oh-so-wonderfully ABBA,”
with lyrics by Tim Rice
(“who wrote the lyrics for
all the Disney movies—seriously, all of them”). Visit
and Mischa will get you
discounted tickets.
After a great time at
Alumni Weekend, Elyse
Betances returned to her
“NYC-adjacent” apartment
in North Jersey with her
boyfriend. Elyse is an
analyst for the Office
of Enrollment in NYC’s
Department of Education.
It felt like she had two
reunions, since Jaky
Joseph and Ja’Dell Davis’s
wedding was the weekend
before. She had a blast
and was excited to see
everyone doing so well.
Lauren Ullrich is now
a program analyst at
the National Institute of
Neurological Disorders
and Stroke, working to increase the diversity of the
neuroscience workforce.
Reena Nadler and Jacob
Ross ’05 married in May
on Maryland’s Eastern
Shore. They happily live
in D.C., where Jacob is
a systems engineer and
Reena works for the U.S.
Agency for International
Development.
CAPTIONED!
Wee-Jhong Chua
wchua1@gmail.com
As our first postcollege
decade ends, I want to
thank everyone for the
opportunity to serve as
class secretary. I had an
amazing time at the 10th
Reunion and look forward
to the years to come.
Jon Greenberg is busy in
the Bay Area—remodeling
his apartment in Alameda,
kayaking in the bay, and
playing ultimate Frisbee
for the San Jose Spiders
(the local pro team).
Caroline Carlson and
Zach Pezzementi ’05 had
daughter Nora June 11.
Alex Glick finished an academic general pediatrics
fellowship at NYU in June.
He will stay at NYU as a
hospitalist and assistant
professor of pediatrics.
Jayanti Owens was
named the Mary Tefft
and John Hazen White
Sr. Assistant Professor of
68
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
“Before I ate him, the admissions officer said that
there is a visit day for pterodactyls on campus
each fall semester.”
—Alex Gavis ’86
After finishing a Ph.D.,
Charlie Taylor accepted a
visiting political science
assistant professorship at
Denison University. Any
Swatties near Columbus,
Ohio, are encouraged to
get in touch.
Paul Thibodeau, a
psychology professor
at Oberlin College, was
featured in The New York
Times for his research,
which includes my favorite
“M” word, moist.
Katia Lom’s film Double
Note was selected for the
Bay Area International
Children’s Film Festival.
Joey Roth continues his
excellent design-entrepreneur work, where he
steeps elegant cups of tea.
Amelia Templeton is a
multimedia reporter and
producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting, covering
city hall, justice, and local
news.
Sonia Vallabh and husband Eric Minikel race the
clock to find a treatment
for a rare genetic disease.
They have received
many accolades for their
groundbreaking research.
Charles Coes shares
“sound design” credit
with Darron West for the
off-Broadway revival of
The Robber Bridegroom.
The Roundabout Theatre
Company musical played
at the Laura Pels Theatre.
Tim Cronin will join the
faculty at MIT to continue
his research as an atmospheric scientist.
Thanks for the updates
and on to 2017!
“Sorry, Mom, I thought I could wing it at
Swarthmore.”
—Bill Steelman ’63
“But the commute to class is only two minutes and
I’ll get the whole Crum dorm to myself!”
—Jim Pasterczyk ’81
FALL 2016
“If we don’t encourage enrollment, the College
may become extinct, too!”
—Judith Leeds Inskeep ’60
+ See more captions: bulletin.swarthmore.edu
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SwarthmoreBulletin
2008
Mark Dlugash
mark.dlugash@gmail.com
Jordan, India, Hogwarts:
Rory Sykes continues to
prolong the writing of her
dissertation and con more
money out of institutions. She will remain in
Amman, Jordan, through
October before hopping
among Beirut, Jerusalem,
Ramallah, and briefly NYC
for 12 months under the
auspices of SSRC and
CLIR (acronym soup is delicious). She would love to
see anyone in the region:
Ahlan wa sahlan, fam.
After three years in
Tokyo, Rahul D’Silva is
spending a year in India
with his grandmother.
He is writing a novel and
consulting for startups
and individuals on content
and business strategy. He
doesn’t know where he’ll
move next or when he’ll
get a dog. He was excited
this summer to visit (after
three-plus years) Tristan
and Alyssa Van Thoen
Lawson in Boston and
Rachel Corballis ’07 in
D.C., and to host Omar
Ramadan Santiago in October to see the Taj Mahal
and elephants.
While Seth Nfonoyim-Hara was preparing his
defense in a biomedical
engineering Ph.D. program
at the University of Southern California, wife Nicole
Nfonoyim-Hara skipped
across the pond and made
quick work of a migration
studies master’s at Oxford
University. Since Nicole
was still in England after
Seth successfully defended, good buddy Sung
Choi joined him on an epic
road trip in May 2015 from
Los Angeles to Roches-
ter, Minn., where Seth
researches at the Neural
Engineering Laboratories
at the Mayo Clinic. After
Nicole earned her wand
(degree) from Hogwarts
(Oxford), she joined Seth
in Rochester, where she
constantly reminds him
of how cold it is, but is
nonetheless crushing it as
a grant writer and consultant for nonprofits by day
and the author of the next
great American novel by
night (more, pg. 17).
Ninjas and acrobats:
James Mendez Hodes’s
plan to expand NinjaGram
to St. John’s Graduate
Institute in Santa Fe,
N.M., ran into unexpected
opposition—for some
reason they object to ninjas interrupting classes.
Nevertheless, he escaped
with a master’s in Eastern
classics. James now
lives in Harlem, N.Y. He
finally got his (non-Valentine-related) black belt in
ninjutsu, and he writes tabletop role-playing games
for a living. On the side,
he runs those games for
children and then makes
fun of them online (bit.
ly/DungeonElementary).
He’s also still rap-translating Homer’s Iliad (bit.ly/
HomerRap).
Cover girl Joanna Wright
took the best kind of
beating in an intensive
one-year program at the
New England Center for
Circus Arts. Her trapeze
callouses are pretty
gnarly, and she can hold a
handstand away from the
wall for almost a minute.
She graduated in June
and returned to Austin,
Texas, to continue life as
a circus freak. (more, pg.
30).
In the news: Steph
Hsu founded a classical
music program that helps
underserved students.
The group was featured
by PBS NewsHour (bit.ly/
StephHsu).
Dominic Lowell is director of LGBT outreach for
Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
He was featured in March
in the Los Angeles Times
for his role in the rapid
response to a Clinton
campaign gaffe in the
lead-up to Nancy Reagan’s
funeral.
Patrick Christmas, Gwen
Snyder, Lillian Dunn
’07, and Dan Symonds
’11 were featured in
Billy Penn’s Who’s Next
series highlighting young
professionals making an
impact in Philadelphia. Pat
is senior policy analyst at
the Committee of Seventy,
a nonpartisan good-government group, and is on
the boards of Philly Coalition of Rising Education
Leaders and Southeast
Asian Mutual Assistance
Associations Coalition,
which serves refugee and
immigrant families. Gwen
has been executive director at Philadelphia Jobs
with Justice for six years
and is a committee woman
for the city’s 27th Ward.
New professors: Mary
Wootters is finishing
a postdoc at Carnegie
Mellon University. After
an epic job search, she
and husband Isaac Sorkin
’07 successfully solved
their academic two-body
problem—they are both
assistant professors at
Stanford this fall. They
look forward to sunshine,
biking, and hanging out
with Bay Area Swatties.
Mikio Akagi successfully
defended his philosophy
Ph.D. dissertation at the
University of Pittsburgh.
After a grueling year on
the academic job market,
he accepted an offer from
Texas Christian University
to be assistant professor
of the history and philosophy of science in the John
V. Roach Honors College.
Working life: Jonathan
Estey teaches math and
manages students with
disabilities at the Science
Leadership Academy in
Philadelphia.
Rasa Petrauskaite lives
in the Bay Area, where
she promotes compassion
for animals. She works in
investment, helping poor
people become middle
class and middle-class
people become rich.
Alex Hahn graduated
from Temple medical
school in May and began
an orthopedic surgical
residency at the University
of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.
Yusha Hu is two years
into her venture-backed
farm-to-table company,
Local Bushel, which was
featured in Edible Manhattan magazine.
Celebrations: Dan Peterson and Lucy McNamara
had Talia Simone Dec. 10.
Stephanie Charpentier
Muñoz and her husband
had Mateo David April 5
and are adjusting to life
together in Nashville,
Tenn.
David Stifler completed
his third year of Ph.D.
study in classics at Duke
University. In December
he married Elizabeth
Clendinning, who is
brilliant and wonderful—
despite not having gone to
Swarthmore.
Stephan Hoyer married
Elena Viboch ’09 in a
beautiful ceremony at
Olympia’s Valley Estate in
Petaluma, Calif. Swatties
there included officiant
Mark Dlugash, Eric Christiansen, Stephanie Duncan
Karp, Bizzy Hemphill,
Catalina Martinez, Meredith Leich, Lydia Thé, Evan
Trager, Cole Armstrong
’10, Emma Ferguson ’10,
Bevan Gerber-Siff ’10, Erin
Ronhovde ’10, and Colin
Schimmelfing ’10. Stephan
is a software engineer
at Google in Mountain
View, Calif., where he
uses machine learning to
solve scientific research
problems. Elena moved
back to San Francisco and
in July became director
of business development
and operations at Carmot
Therapeutics, a startup
that develops drugs for
diabetes and metabolic
illnesses.
Ashley Werner was
honored as a Democratic
Trailblazer by the Fresno
County (Calif.) Democratic
Women’s Club for her legal
advocacy.
And finally, Joe Grimm
transitioned to Alice
Grimm and survived her
first year teaching at
Deerfield Academy in
Massachusetts. Over the
summer she hoped to
make substantial progress
editing her dissertation
on the well-posedness of
free-boundary magnetohydrodynamic for a math
Ph.D. at UC Davis.
2010
Brendan Work
theworkzone@gmail.com
Peer into the celestial orb,
dear reader, and observe
the fortunes of the Class
of 20X as it enters the
sixth house. During this
moon’s birth phase, all
signs are in the ascendant
and, therefore, it is very
auspicious to observe the
divine symbols. Please
have your star chart at
hand as you read this.
As you have certainly
beheld, there is a luminous spiritual atmosphere
emanating from Julia
Luongo, who finished a
mechanical engineering
Ph.D. at the University
of Colorado and began
working at an environmental consulting firm in
San Francisco. She shares
her engineering aura with
nearby Rachel Cohen, who
decides if buildings should
fall or not as a structural
engineer in Oakland, Calif.,
and recently traversed
the heavenly domains on
a road trip to Montana.
Others whose material
incarnations walk the
astral plane near the Bay
Area include Jennifer
Spindel, a new postdoctoral researcher at the Joint
Genome Institute; Caitlin
O’Neil, who earned a master’s in public policy and
will transfer her quantum
energies to the California Legislative Analyst’s
Office in Sacramento as
a fiscal policy analyst;
and Yingjia Wang, who
works for Dropbox in San
Francisco.
The emergence of
Jupiter’s ecliptic nodes
augurs powerful events
in Brooklyn, which we
have duly observed in the
news of producer Matt
Thurm’s latest movie,
Untitled Colin Warner
Project, in post-Sundance
postproduction. His first
feature, Rover, is available
on Amazon and iTunes;
his second, H., was
featured in the Museum
of Modern Art’s “Best Film
Not Playing at a Theater
Near You” series; and his
third, 11:55 (“a present-day
urban Western parable”),
is wowing festivalgoers.
The harmonic quincunx
of nebulae near New York
indubitably points to the
empyrean apex of Sam
Goodman, a teacher who
recently acquired an MFA
from Columbia University
and works with Suzanne
Winter at Prep for Prep
and Robert Louis Stevenson High School, where
she tutors in bicorporeal
epicycles. Graduating with
a Columbia law degree in
May was cosmic wanderer
Lena Wong, whose planetary course is fated to collide with the California Bar
exam quite soon. Another
FALL 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
69
class notes
such collision was reported in New York, where
Zach Sinemus joined the
esteemed barristers of the
city, setting off a chain of
supernovae in the waning
ocean of Pisces, while any
further celestial disturbances are most certainly
the result of Romane Paul
being featured on Hillary
Clinton’s Stories website
(bit.ly/RomaneP).
Nearer to the ancient
perigee of our birth stars,
that is to say Swarthmore,
we can report that Ashley
Miniet graduated from
Temple medical school
and started a pediatrics
residency at Emory. If you
have noticed Saturn in a
state of exaltation, that’s
because Melissa Cruz
got married (keeping her
name) and started a job
as the behavioral health
consultant to North Philadelphia primary-care providers. Similarly, Neptune
evinces a fiery character
due to the efforts of Jean
Strout, whose work with
the Juvenile Law Center
on the U.S. Supreme
Court case Montgomery
v. Louisiana put juvenile
mandatory sentencing under review. Gary Herzberg
completed his first year of
an MBA program at Wharton, which you have no
doubt scried using karmic
geomancy, and Jimmy Gill
works in athletic communications at Rutgers.
Outside the traditional
loci of Swarthmorean spiritual chakras, Benjamin
Mazer completed medical
school at the University of
Rochester and will become
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SwarthmoreBulletin
70
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
a resident physician in pathology at Yale New Haven
Hospital. Under a waxing
balsamic moon, Helen
Hougen graduated from
the University of Virginia
medical school and began
her urology residency at
the Oregon Health and
Science University Hospital in Portland, down the
road from Seattle-based
Jānis Lībeks, a Facebook
software engineer for
three years and new member of the Washington
Ensemble Theatre. Jamie
Hansen-Lewis spoke at a
Swarthmore economics
roundtable about informal
economies in West Africa;
Travis Rothbloom inexplicably sent in a picture
of his cat; and the music
of the spheres swelled
joyously at the wedding of
Lisa Sambat to Tri Duong.
Lisa’s zodiacal zenith is
enthroned in a tropical
cycle, which means she
lives near D.C., works at
the Fairfax County Public
Schools, and hangs out
with Cathy Ng as much as
possible. In the fall skies,
expect to see the spiritual
essence of Joel Swanson
hovering over Chicago,
where he’ll pursue philosophy of religion studies at
the University of Chicago
and return “finally to
an environment where
people won’t have to ask
if Swarthmore is a town
on the moors of England.”
Saturn rejoices at Maria
Khim’s move to Jakarta,
Indonesia, where she
works at startup Go-Jek;
G Patrick’s amazing Medical Mission to Haiti; and
Nancy Chu’s upcoming
Princeton in Asia fellowship in Yunnan, China,
where she promises to
send hospitable cosmic
signals and “would love to
host any Swatties.”
While we record these
transcendent pulses with
great gladness, it is an inescapable galactic reality
FALL 2016
that the class as a whole
is in deep retrograde due
to a dearth of emails.
Remember to pay homage
to the Earth Mother and
send your updates.
2012
Maia Gerlinger
maiagerlinger@gmail.com
I am writing from a balcony in Mexico overlooking
the ocean, so you could
say my life is pretty good
right now. It seems as
though this year’s been
one of real change/commitment—people either
starting new chapters
after postcollege “years
of adventure,” or seeing
the efforts of grad school
or careers finally come
to fruition (med students
entering residency,
career people becoming
managers, etc.). But if this
is not you—and, honestly,
it’s not me—don’t feel as
though you are “doing
adulthood wrong.” It’s not
a competition; it’s a series
of unique and worthwhile
paths that you get to
choose to follow (or not).
Which means you are automatically doing it right.
Upstate New York and
NYC: Elissa Wong works
in toxicology at the
University of Rochester
Medical Center. She won
a fellowship from the National Institute on Alcohol
Abuse and Alcoholism,
which, honestly, I should
have won for Senior Week.
Manuk Garg “completed
the sale of his soul with a
swift transfer to McKinsey
and Co.’s New York office.”
Sahiba Gill is in her
second year of law school.
William Campbell finished
his first year of an MBA
at Columbia; this summer,
he interned and did “sci-fi
business stuff” at Los Alamos National Laboratory
in New Mexico.
Boston: Natalia CoteMuñoz was sad her four
years in Beijing came
to a close but is excited
to start a public policy
master’s at the Harvard
Kennedy School. Gabriela
Morales passed the bar
and is a corporate lawyer
at Goodwin Procter in
Boston. Xingyu “Alex”
Zhang is working on an
applied physics Ph.D. at
Harvard.
Philly and Pennsylvania:
Katherine Ernst is working
on a clinical psychology Ph.D. at Widener
University with a focus
on children, adolescents,
and families, as well as
a certification in school
psychology. Taylor Wuerker is a Comcast software
engineer and volunteered
at the Olympics this summer. John “Wes” Willison
and wife Hana Lehmann
’13 live in Northeast Philly;
Hana works at the Lang
Center, and Wes is pursuing a master of divinity
at Princeton Theological
Seminary. They have a
dog named Lincoln. Alex
Burka finished a robotics
master’s at Penn and is
working on a Ph.D. in
electrical and systems engineering there. Margret
Lenfest researched this
summer at Penn Vet’s New
Bolton Center in Kennett
Square; this fall she starts
her second year of vet
school. Kristen Allen is
starting a doctoral program at Carnegie Mellon
University in engineering
and public policy.
Baltimore and D.C.: David
D’Annunzio sent an update
that contained the word
“still” three times. He lives
in Baltimore and works for
ZeroFOX, a social-media
cybersecurity company.
Sara Blanco trains young
women to run for office
at Running Start while
pursuing a master of
public policy at George
Washington. She will soon
co-chair the university’s
Women’s Leadership
Fellows Program at the
Trachtenberg School of
Public Policy and Public
Administration. Holly
Kinnamont is a kindergarten teacher and librarian
at St. Andrew’s Episcopal
School outside D.C.
Midwest: Hannah “Alex”
Younger is a program coordinator/classroom assistant for the Art Institute of
Chicago’s summer camps.
She will get an MFA in
fibers and material studies
this fall, as part of which
she will be a teaching
assistant “helping college
kids when they accidentally tie themselves into
their looms.” Francesca
Bolfo is pursuing a second
art history master’s with a
focus on postcolonial theory at UChicago. She still
competitively show jumps
(“i.e., jumping horses over
big sticks,” she explains
patiently). Tiffany Lee
started a general surgery
residency at the University
of Cincinnati this summer.
South: This fall marks
Dante Fuoco’s fifth year of
teaching children with severe behavioral disorders.
To provide that nice yinyang effect, he also wrote
and performed a one-man
show that parodies white
New Orleans transplants
like himself. Joseph Willens teaches in New Orleans and owns a house.
Jennifer Yi is starting
her third year of a clinical
psychology program at the
University of North Carolina. She fosters dogs for
Independent Animal Rescue in Durham. Stephen
Youngblood graduated
from Duke law school and
lives in New Bern, N.C.,
where he is doing a twoyear clerkship with Judge
Louise Flanagan in the
Share your personal and reunion
pics: bulletin@swarthmore.edu
JONATHAN COHEN ’15
PAIN REDUCER
Jonathan Cohen ’15, an M.D./Ph.D. student at the
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine/Carnegie
Mellon University, was named the youngest-ever board
member of the American Chronic Pain Association.
As a student, Cohen works with faculty to promote
pain-management education, and recent projects
include developing a student-run pain clinic for
underserved community members in Pittsburgh.
U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of North
Carolina.
West Coast: Miyuki Baker is in graduate school
(where she researches
“how we cultivate hope
and resilience in a precarious and neoliberal society
through space, architecture, and environment”)
and gets to profit from
the best part of being a
student: summer vacation.
This summer she traveled
to Chile for a weeklong
performance-studies
conference. Halleh Balch
is working on a Ph.D. in
molecular and optical
physics (in which she
uses lasers). She also
teaches violin and plays
ultimate Frisbee. Eleanor
Glewwe is working on a
linguistics Ph.D. at UCLA.
Her second middle-grade
fantasy novel, Wildings,
comes out Nov. 1.
International: Andrew
Stromme will spend three
months in China and
Taiwan to practice Mandarin. Arsean Maqami is
a senior project manager
at WeWork. He moved to
Mexico City to launch the
company’s Latin American
division.
Everything/Nothing/
Transcending Time and
Space Through Art: Cecily
Bumbray, Tayarisha Poe,
and Vaneese Thomas
’74 collaborated on a
music video. Find it at
cecilymusic.com. Hanna
Kozlowska and Jon
Emont wrote pieces for
grownup publications.
Anastasia “Tasha” Lewis
presented her illustrated
Ulysses at McCabe (bit.ly/
TLewis12). Tayarisha Poe
is a Sundance Institute
2016 Knight Foundation
Fellow. And Michael Xu
gave a talk in Paris on
“Growth Hacking for Early
Stage Startups” (bit.ly/
MichaelXu).
2014
Brone Lobichusky
blobichusky@gmail.com
Welcome to another round
of rousing updates.
In New England, Cally
Deppen began a Ph.D.
in physical therapy at
Massachusetts General
Hospital Institute for
Health Professions. This
fall, Danny Hirschel-Burns
started a political science
Ph.D. at Yale. He intends
to delve into comparative politics on violence,
governance, and state
building. This summer,
Danny also officiated the
wedding of Mallory Pitser
and Zac Wunrow. The two
married in Vermont with
many Swatties attending.
Zac spent the rest of the
summer working at a
Ugandan hospital and is in
his second year of medical
school at the University of
Vermont. Congrats to the
happy couple.
Harrison Tasoff and Cici
Zhang began a master’s
in science journalism at
NYU.
Aarthi Reddy tutors
high schoolers through
A Better Chance Strath
Haven while doing clinical
research at the Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia.
This fall, she moved to
D.C. to begin medical
school at George Washington. Sarah Timreck
completed her commitment with Teach for
America in Alabama, and
moved to D.C. this fall to
begin a master’s in Middle
East studies at George
Washington. Patrick
Walsh lives in D.C. and
finished his first year as a
Federal Reserve research
assistant. In his spare
time, he tries to convince
himself that signing up for
a 26-mile run was not a
completely terrible idea.
Cody Ruben started this
fall at the University of
Florida as an electrical engineering Ph.D. candidate.
After completing a Centennial Conference internship, Katie Lytle began
an MBA/master of sports
administration program at
Ohio University.
Congrats, Emma Saarel,
who was named an outstanding grad of the David
Eccles School of Business
at the University of Utah.
Politico Paloma Perez
was promoted to deputy
communications director
and legislative aide for a
Texas congressman.
Nick Borkowski will
return to sunny California
to study law at UC Irvine
and surf at Orange County
beaches. Sounds like the
best way to do law school.
Since graduation, Sinan
Kazaklar has lived in London, working in finance
and traveling Europe.
In September, Maggie
Regan was set to swim
the English Channel as
part of a five-person relay.
Stayed tuned for more on
Maggie’s continuation of
her Swat swim career.
Your secretary, Brone
Lobichusky, was promoted
to her second year of medical school at Temple and
is holed up studying for
the first of many national
board certification tests.
This summer, she worked
on a research project
regarding hip arthroscopy
outcomes and spent the
weekends at the Jersey
Shore.
STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT
AND CIRCULATION
Title: Swarthmore College
Bulletin
Publication Number:
0530-620
Date of Filing: 8/30/16
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 2016
/ Swarthmore College Bulletin
71
spoken word
What are your key responsibilities?
Well, beyond my 3-mile-long title, [laughs] it’s really bringing the community together around diversity, inclusion, and
equity issues. It’s identifying the gaps or blind spots we’re
missing as an institution, and moving forward thoughtfully
to address them. But the biggest thing is really getting people
to engage in discourse and dialogue, even if it’s agreeing to
disagree.
Has that gotten more difficult in recent years?
At higher education institutions in general, we’ve gotten
away from it. We don’t talk to each other anymore. If we
don’t hear what we want to hear, we shut it down. But it can’t
be that way. With today’s political and civil rights climate
and the increase in social justice movements, we need to
have those difficult conversations. And where better than
Swarthmore?
UNITED SHE STANDS
by Ryan Dougherty
T. SHÁ DUNCAN SMITH wasn’t looking to move. She had
been with the University of Michigan for more than 20 years,
most recently as director of inclusion at its Ross School of
Business, earning accolades for her proactive approach to
building community and encouraging dialogue. But as soon
as she set foot on Swarthmore’s campus, she felt “perfectly
at peace,” at home, and among kindred spirits. The College’s
new associate dean of diversity, inclusion, and community
development, Smith explains why.
What drew you here?
The sense of ownership from students, faculty, and staff,
even on what some might consider the most mundane of topics. Everyone was eager to share their experiences and why
they consider Swarthmore special. But it wasn’t a rose-colored glasses “Miss America” speech—it seemed very organic
and authentic. There’s a real commitment here to building
true collaborations on campus and in the greater community.
72
Swarthmore College Bulletin /
FALL 2016
Why is your work rewarding?
If I can get up every day knowing I’m empowered to make
change, I’m happy. Even growing up, I was like the playground defense attorney, the social and civil rights activist.
It’s just a piece of my identity. This work isn’t easy—it’s usually off the grid, tackling stuff others don’t want to. But the
reward comes when you can get people to engage and work
closely together in the spirit of curiosity.
How was adjusting to the area?
Well, I brought a whole crew with me. My partner, Tony, and
I have a 14-year-old, a 9-year-old, a 7-year-old, and a baby on
board. But our transition has actually been really easy. We’re
surprised by how much we already feel at home, thanks to
how welcoming everyone has been. Plus, State Street in
Media reminds me of Ann Arbor, with a variety of shops and
restaurants we’re enjoying.
What do you do for fun?
I love to dance. I used to compete in international-style tango. That was a pro-am, and I was the “am.” I also really enjoy
writing poetry.
LAURENCE KESTERSON
LAURENCE KESTERSON
What does diversity mean to you?
A lot of times, people just think race, but I define it in the
broadest sense: identity in general, everything from sexual orientation, religious views, and political affiliation to
occupational status, and the ways in which those identities
intersect and engage. And once you move past the makeup of
all of those identities, you can focus on how to be inclusive
and equitable.
in this issue
40
MOMENT IN TIME
Mohammed Lotif, assistant
director of the Intercultural
Center, and Hanan Ahmed
’19 welcome students to
Swarthmore on Move-In Day.
VOTES FOR WOMEN!
I’m With Her...And Her...
And Her...And Her
Spotlighting women who ran for office before the
19th Amendment.
WENDY CHMIELEWSKI / HER HAT WAS IN THE RING
by Elizabeth Slocum
FALL 2016
Periodical Postage
PAID
Philadelphia, PA
and Additional
Mailing Offices
THE MUSIC MAN
p16
WITCH TRIAL
p12
A NATURAL WOMAN
p67
ISSUE
1
500 College Ave.
Swarthmore, PA 19081–1306
www.swarthmore.edu
VOLUME
CXIV
SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN
Politics,
not as usual
FALL 2016
E. PLURIBUS UNUM p18
LAURENCE KESTERSON
SEND IN THE CLOWNS p30
Facing an audience or a death-defying trapeze drop, aerial artist/clown
JOANNA WRIGHT ’08 knows all about fear. But no matter how upside
down the world may seem, clowns push through fear to find truth.
“So do Swatties,” she says.
HANG IN THERE
Swarthmore College Alumni Bulletin 2016-10-01
The Swarthmore College Bulletin is the official alumni magazine of the college. It evolved from the Garnet Letter, a newsletter published by the Alumni Association beginning in 1935. After World War II, college staff assumed responsibility for the periodical, and in 1952 it was renamed the Swarthmore College Bulletin. (The renaming apparently had more to do with postal regulations than an editorial decision. Since 1902, the College had been calling all of its mailed periodicals the Swarthmore College Bulletin, with each volume spanning an academic year and typically including a course catalog issue and an annual report issue, with a varying number of other special issues.)
The first editor of the Swarthmore College Bulletin alumni issue was Kathryn “Kay” Bassett ’35. After a few years, Maralyn Orbison Gillespie ’49 was appointed editor and held the position for 36 years, during which she reshaped the mission of the magazine from focusing narrowly on Swarthmore College to reporting broadly on the college's impact on the world at large. Gillespie currently appears on the masthead as Editor Emerita.
Today, the quarterly Swarthmore College Bulletin is an award-winning alumni magazine sent to all alumni, parents, faculty, staff, friends of the College, and members of the senior class. This searchable collection spans every issue from 1935 to the present.
Swarthmore College
2016-10-01
reformatted digital
The class notes section of The Bulletin has been extracted in this collection to protect the privacy of alumni. To view the complete version of The Bulletin, contact Friends Historical Library.