CC Magazine Fall 2025

INTO THE BLUE

Fresh Out We catch up with some of Conn’s most recent grads to find out: What are they doing now?

Into the Blue Emily Hazelwood ’11 and Jamie Sussman ’26 work together on sustainable solutions for offshore industries.

Camel Nation Rising A decade after Conn decided to go all in on athletics, the Camels are reaching new levels of competitive success.

Notebook Transforming the campus, In the Round, new VP, Curtain Call, Athletic Hall of Fame inductees, Lessons from Latvia, Still Magic, Lobbying for Libraries, Playhouses and

Dear Friends,

Fall has always been my favorite season, and there is no better place to enjoy its beauty than on our stunning arboretum campus. Higher education is facing fierce winter weather but due to the strength of our educational mission, the commitment of our faculty and staff, and the generous support of our alumni and benefactors, Conn will blossom with new growth to nurture generations of future Camels. We must continue to move forward by “embracing the hill.” The phrase came to me on one of my runs across campus, where the hill was both a physical challenge to climb and a reminder of the determination and resilience that define our community. It reflects our spirit—grounded in who we are, strengthened by challenge and united in purpose.

Despite these challenges, as you will see in this issue of CC Magazine, we are “making waves” in more ways than one. One feature spotlights Emily Hazelwood ’11, whose company, Blue Latitudes, is leading the global Rigs-to-Reefs movement by transforming decommissioned oil platforms into thriving coral ecosystems. Even more inspiring, Emily is extending these opportunities to today’s Camels, partnering with faculty and guiding current students like Jamie Sussman ’26 through handson marine science research. It’s a striking example of the ripple effect of a Conn education: the wellspring of curiosity nurtured in our classrooms expanding into world-changing solutions while also opening doors for the next generation.

Closer to home, our athletics program has been making waves of its own. From the pool to the pitch, Conn athletes are excelling at the highest levels. Our men’s swim team and women’s cross country and track & field teams have posted recordbreaking performances, and our men’s soccer program has achieved standout conference accomplishments that remind us of the determination, discipline and teamwork that define Camel athletics. These triumphs reflect the same drive and resilience that prepare our students for success in every field of life.

This issue also highlights our Outcomes project, the clearest measure of our mission in action. At a time when many question the value of a college degree, we showcase the stories and data that demonstrate the power of a Conn education. From alumni on Wall Street, to graduate study at Cornell, to careers at Mystic Aquarium and the Royal Ballet in London, our graduates leave prepared to dive into the unknown, to chart new courses and to lead with creativity and courage.

Since my last CC Magazine letter, I celebrated my first anniversary as your president. I wish to express how much your warm welcome, passion for all things Conn and steadfast support have deepened my gratitude and joy in serving this truly extraordinary institution.

With gratitude,

Andrea E. Chapdelaine, Ph.D.

From the President CC

CONNECTICUT COLLEGE Magazine

EDITOR: Amy Martin

ART DIRECTOR: Benjamin Parent

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Sean D. Elliot

SENIOR WRITER: Melissa Babcock Johnson

WRITER: Tim Stevens ’03

CLASS NOTES COMPILED BY: Alumni Relations

CC Magazine is published by the Office of Communications. We are committed to covering a diverse group of stories in order to profile the human condition as seen through—and sometimes written by—our alumni, faculty, students and staff; we strive to publish features and photography that illuminate the College’s story.

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CONNECTICUT COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Seth W. Alvord ’93, Chair, Jessica L. Archibald ’95, Maria Wyckoff Boyce ’85, Vice Chair, Bellaluna Castellanos Palacios ’25, Young Alumni Trustee, Andrea E. Chapdelaine, President, Loulie Sutro Crawford ’89, Lawrence B. Damon III ’93, Marisa G. Fariña ’93, Hannah E. Gonzalez ’23, Young Alumni Trustee, Kim-An Hernandez ’99 P’28, Jonathan A. Krane ’90, Sydney L. Lamb ’21, John D. Linehan P’18 ’23 ’24, Erica L. Lovett ’14, Jennifer Lapan Mann ’94, Sarah A. Mudho ’98, Devon Danz Preston ’93 P’28, Leslie Rosen ’02, Peter D. Skaperdas P’17, Vice Chair, Dwayne C. Stallings ’99, Vice Chair, Jonathan S. Stavin ’85, Diane E. Stratton ’91, Randall T. Suffolk ’90, Maarten D. Terry ’83, Anne A. Verplanck ’80, Shawnia A. Yon ’24, Young Alumni Trustee, Tamah Nachtman Wiegand ’68, John S. Zeiler ’74

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Angela Bannerman Ankoma ’97 P’27, Taylor Austin ’24, Laila Bera ’23, Michael Boswell ’10, Vice President, Alexandra Felfle ’10, Daniel Garcia ’02, Susan Mabrey Gaud ’68 P’07, Emily Mond Gurry ’09, Susan Peck Hinkel ’65, M. Grant Hogan ’07, Deion Jordan ’17, Julia Kaback ’18, Betty Fluegelman Kahn ’68 P’92, Jennifer Lapan Mann ’94, President, Natalie Fine Margolis ’91, Nicholas G. McLaughlin ’25, Rasheed Mitchell ’13, Samantha Capen Muldoon ’88, Matthew C. Murdock ’13, Steve Owen ’80 P’12, Allan Rogers ’14, Katrina Sanders ’92, Annie M. Scott ’84, Tamsen Bales Sharpless ’89, Secretary, Michael S. Stryker ’86, Aidyn Urena ’10, Richard Vancil ’82 P’13, Veronica Venture ’86, Vice President, Yoldas Yildiz ’18

CC Magazine Copyright 2025 by Connecticut College, all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect official policy of the College.

For Class Notes submissions: classnotes@conncoll.edu

Correction: The Spring 2025 issue incorrectly stated that Anita DeFrantz ’74 is the only Camel to earn an Olympic Medal. She is actually one of two; Tim Young ’92 won a silver medal in the quadruple scull rowing event at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Visit us online at ccmagazine.conncoll.edu.

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Transforming the Campus

Ona warm, early fall evening, students chat with friends or listen to music as they walk to and from the top of Tempel Green and the College Center at Crozier-Williams. What was once a busy roadway is now a serene tree-lined promenade dotted with benches, nooks and tables for studying and socializing. Much of Cro has undergone a transformation, too. Previously cavernous and cool, the interior is now warm and cozy, with natural color schemes, varied seating options and quiet alcoves. The ground floor features an entirely new Oasis eatery—complete with an outdoor patio—and a renovated Susan E. Lynch

1962 Room (formerly the 1962 Room) with enhanced technology and a flexible seating design to accommodate events of all sizes. Upstairs, the former Cro’s Nest has been replaced with a bright and airy Humphrey’s pub featuring both indoor and outdoor space for gatherings and performances. An official opening and ribbon-cutting event is planned for Oct. 24.

Both projects were identified as priorities of the College’s 2018 master plan and the Defy Boundaries campaign. Funding for the Cro renovation includes generous support from Susan E. Lynch ’62; Devon Preston ’93 P’28; Hans and Marian Baldauf P’24; an anonymous

donor; and the Class of 1969 Memorial Campus Beautification and Improvement Fund. The Cro Boulevard Pedestrian Promenade was made possible with generous support from Robert Hale Jr. ’88 and Karen Hale P’20.

Now, construction is underway in the area between Cro and the Plex to turn what had been a roadway and parking area into green space with pedestrian pathways and inviting spaces, including an amphitheater, for students, faculty and staff.

Look for full coverage of the completed transformations in an upcoming issue of CC Magazine.

In the Round

BLACKFISH IN THE BLACK BOX

Orca enthusiast Finley Regan ’27, an environmental studies major, theater and art double minor and Social Justice and Sustainability Pathway scholar, will present scholarly work he created as a final project for his “Dramaturgy” theater course at the American Society for Theatre Research conference in Denver, Colorado, in November. Regan’s work explores the impact and ethics of captive orca performance through an analysis of Tilikum, a play by Kristiana Rae Colón inspired by the 2013 documentary Blackfish, about the death of a SeaWorld orca trainer caused by a captive orca.

20K+

@ConnCollege followers on Instagram. Join the herd today!

It’s about choosing integrity when no one’s watching.

—BOARD OF TRUSTEES CHAIR SETH ALVORD ’93 ON THE HONOR CODE AT THE 111TH CONVOCATION AUG. 25

GIFT OF LIFE

After participating in a Gift of Life donor registration drive with his Men’s Lacrosse teammates earlier this year, Michael Moran ’26 learned he was a match for a 25-yearold woman with Hodgkin lymphoma. After undergoing additional testing, Moran donated stem cells in September. “I was given the opportunity to help somebody, so I felt it was my responsibility to do so,” he said.

GOOD FOR GHOST SHRIMP

A new study by biology professors E. Carla Parker-Athill and Taegan McMahon found that chemical byproducts from the amphibian-killing fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis—commonly known as Bd—may actually help ghost shrimp, which play a critical role in freshwater ecosystems, survive. The study, published in August in PeerJ, offers deeper insight into how these compounds affect non-amphibian organisms.

CONN’S NEWEST 483 STUDENTS HAIL FROM 26 COUNTRIES, INCLUDING:

▪ Armenia

▪ Bangladesh

▪ Czech Republic

▪ Ethiopia

▪ Ghana

▪ Kazakhstan

▪ Norway ▪ Pakistan

▪ Switzerland ▪ Ukraine

▪ Uzbekistan ▪ Zambia

CAMEL SWAG COMES IN ALL SIZES

I believe that dance is a healing action.

WHO’S AT THE TABLE?

A new Center for Housing Equity and Opportunities in Eastern CT report paints a revealing picture of who’s shaping housing and land use in Connecticut. Spoiler: Local boards are not representative of the communities these decisions affect. The report, co-authored by Professor of Sociology Ron Flores, draws on two years of statewide research. Holleran Center scholars and Summer Civic Leaders Ava Gebhart ’27 and Josh Caskey ’27 and former Holleran Center Fellow Annika Brown ’23 helped gather and analyze the data for the report, which reveals that 10% of board seats in both New London and Fairfield counties are vacant; another 10% are held by members serving expired terms; and older, white men hold a disproportionate number of seats.

WELCOME NEW TRUSTEES:

▪ Bellaluna Castellanos

Palacios ’25 (YAT)

Sydney L. Lamb ’21

—PROFESSOR OF DANCE DAVID DORFMAN ’81 IN AN ARCHIV3 FEATURE PIECE ABOUT HIS IMPACT ON THE MODERNCONTEMPORARY DANCE LANDSCAPE

▪ Jennifer Lapan Mann ’94

▪ Randall T. Suffolk ’90

▪ Tamah N. Wiegand ’68

15,005 lbs

of donations—ranging from appliances to clothes to household goods—collected during Give ’N Go, an annual student moveout donation program designed to reduce waste. The donations were distributed to numerous local organizations in partnership with the United Way.

New Vice President for College Advancement

AllisonGomes, a proven advancement leader with nearly two decades of experience, is Connecticut College’s new vice president for College Advancement. She began her tenure on Sept. 15.

“Connecticut College’s commitment to academic excellence, fostering the whole student and creating global citizens resonates deeply with me,” Gomes said. “What excites me most is the opportunity to help strengthen the bonds between the College and its community—alumni, families and friends—so that together we can support the dreams of current and future students.”

Gomes joined Connecticut College from Bennington College, where she served

Curtain

Call

After 27 years directing arts programming at Conn, Rob Richter ’82 officially retired in August.

Richter, who majored in theater and anthropology and went on to earn a master’s degree from Wesleyan University, oversaw the popular onStage series and developed the related academic programming, in consultation with academic departments across campus, for decades.

“I’ve prided myself on bringing in artists and ensembles who might not be seen anywhere else in Connecticut, or even New

as vice president for institutional advancement. She led a team of 15 during the leadership phase of a $100 million comprehensive campaign, working closely with college leadership to secure tens of millions in lead gifts. Her strategic vision and collaborative approach also helped rebuild the advancement team and launch innovative initiatives, such as a scholarship matching challenge, to expand the major gift pipeline.

Previously, Gomes held senior advancement roles at Baystate Health Foundation, Smith College and The Williston Northampton School. Across these institutions, she consistently exceeded fundraising goals,

developed high-performing teams, and forged deep partnerships with boards, alumni, donors and community stakeholders. Her experience spans strategic planning, campaign design and implementation, major and planned gifts, volunteer engagement and communications.

Gomes holds a bachelor’s degree from New York University and an MBA from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has presented her work at national conferences of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and has been published in the Journal of Education Advancement & Marketing.

“Allison brings nearly two decades of advancement leadership experience, a proven record of securing transformational gifts, and a passion for building relationships that strengthen and sustain the institutions she serves,” President Andrea E. Chapdelaine wrote in an announcement to the College community.

“I am confident that Allison’s leadership will be a tremendous asset as we strengthen our advancement efforts and build an even brighter future for Conn.”

England,” Richter told the CT Examiner.

Those acts have included Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Pacifica Quartet, violinist Regina Carter, the Ronald K. Brown/Evidence dance company and A Far Cry chamber orchestra.

Richter counts a Martha Graham Dance Company retrospective, a SITI Company rework of The Trojan Women and a 2014 performance by the Pakistani rock band Khumariyaan— for which he traveled to Islamabad as part of a U.S. Department of State’s

Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs diplomacy initiative—among his favorite performances.

A scholar of the Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O’Neill, Richter is also the author of Eugene O’Neill and Dat Ole Davil Sea.

In September, Richter was honored with a Certificate of Accomplishment from U.S. Sen. Christopher S. Murphy in recognition of his work “opening doors to artists” and “giving students and the community new opportunities to educate themselves and engage with the arts.”

“Your steadfast

commitment to fostering creativity and supporting students has inspired both peers and generations of learners, setting an example for others to follow,” Murphy wrote. “The compassion, vision and dedication you brought to your role brings tremendous pride to the State of Connecticut.”

New Hall of Famers

The Connecticut College Athletics Hall of Fame welcomed two classes and eight inductees during a special ceremony in September. A total of 120 individuals and two teams have been enshrined since 1989.

Class of 2024

Basil Donnelly ’86

Men’s Rowing

A four-time Dad Vail College Nationals participant at the stroke, Donnelly led the lightweight to a silver medal in 1983, a fifth-place finish in 1984 and a bronze medal in 1985. He finished his career leading the lightweight four to the gold medal in 1986. A New England Rowing Championship gold medalist in 1983 with the lightweight eight, and silver medalist in 1986 with the heavyweight eight, he was a two-time team captain and MVP.

Isabella Franz ’17

Women’s Cross Country and Track & Field

A seven-time NCAA Championship qualifier, Franz has the most appearances of any Conn female athlete. She ranks second in program history in the 800 meters, the 1,000 meters and the mile, and third in the 1,500 meters. Franz is a two-time All-NESCAC honoree in the 800 and New England DIII champion in the 800 and 1,000.

Nicolle Jasbon ’15

Women’s Water Polo Jasbon made an immediate impact in her debut season, earning Collegiate Water Polo

Association Rookie of the Year honors. She went on to lead the Camels to CWPA Division III titles in 2013, 2014 and 2015, earning CWPA DIII Most Valuable Player honors all three seasons. The threetime All-American and 2015 Anita L. DeFrantz Award winner finished her collegiate career as the program’s alltime leader in goals (222), assists (128) and steals (253).

Fran Shields P’14

Men’s Lacrosse Coach, Retired Athletics Director

Over five decades, Shields brought the Men’s Lacrosse program into national prominence, improved the competitiveness of Conn’s 28 sports, significantly enhanced athletics fundraising, oversaw $16 million in facilities improvements and enriched the lives of countless colleagues and studentathletes. As head coach of Men’s Lacrosse, he led the Camels to a 170-138 (.552) record in 23 seasons, resulting in four Top 20 national rankings, an ECAC New England DIII championship, an ECAC second-place finish, and 12 All-America players.

Class of 2025

James Butler P’10

Retired Men’s Cross Country and Track & Field Coach Butler’s impressive coaching career spans 30 years. In 2002, his Cross Country squad qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history, and he was named New England DIII Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. In 2004,

he was honored as NESCAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. Butler developed 14 NESCAC and New England DIII champions across his career, along with one relay squad and 23 individual NCAA Championship qualifiers. He also guided Michael LeDuc ’14 to nine All-America finishes and three individual NCAA titles.

Astrid Kempainen ’15

Women’s Soccer

Kempainen led the Camels to a 16-3-1 record and the first NESCAC team championship in Conn’s history in 2014. After dispatching Williams College in the conference title game, Conn went on to claim its first NCAA postseason win since 1998 with a 3-1 victory over Swarthmore in the opening round. Just the second player in program history to earn NESCAC Player of the Year honors, Kempainen closed out her senior season with NSCAA First Team All-America and D3soccer.com First Team All-America honors.

Benjamin Parens ’18

Men’s Lacrosse

The most dominant faceoff

specialist in program history, Parens is a three-time U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association All-American, a three-time All-NESCAC selection and a two-time Nike Specialist of the Year. He remains the program’s all-time leader in ground balls (475) and faceoff wins (853). A twoyear team captain and 2018 Anita L. DeFrantz Award winner, Parens led the team to a national ranking in 2018, the program’s first in five years.

Valerie Urban ’17

Women’s Swimming and Diving

Urban led the Camels to a topsix NESCAC Championship finish in each of her four seasons—with a program-best third-place showing in 2017— as well as two top-15 NCAA Championship finishes, with a program-best 10th place showing in 2017. The 2015 NESCAC Champion in the 1,000 freestyle, Urban is a sixtime All-America honoree and was a 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year nominee. A team captain and Brown-Brooks Award winner, she finished her career with program records in the 500 freestyle, 1,000 freestyle and 1,650 freestyle.

Lessons from Latvia

Aspiring journalist Ellis Iurilli-Hough ’27 shares how he was inspired by the Baltic people’s fight for truth.

BY ELLIS IURILLI-HOUGH ’27

Aa nascent journalist, I am faced with the harsh reality that I may be out of a job before I even start. At the hands of artificial intelligence, social media influence and politicians who wish to silence the press, my future career could become obsolete.

In the midst of this shifting journalistic landscape, I spent the month of June on the other side of the world. Our Conn-funded Summer Global Travel Program, “Media and AI in the Baltics,” was centered in Riga, Latvia, and was designed, with support from Conn’s

Activism strengthened my longing for justice, which is also essential for journalism.

— ANŽELIKA LITVINOVIČA

International Curriculum Development Fund, to deepen our understanding of global media infrastructures. Our nine-person group, led by Associate Teaching Professor of Slavic Studies Laura Little and Associate Professor of

English Jeff Strabone, traveled from the Baltic Sea to the border of Russia to hear from experts and tour independent media organizations.

We learned of the many occupations of Latvia, from the German Teutonic Knights to Nazi oppression and Soviet expansion. We watched films produced by local documentarians highlighting the everyday life of citizens living in the former Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. And we did the touristy stuff too, like perusing the historic old town and wandering museum halls.

For four weeks, I got a glimpse into how Latvians live and consume news on a daily basis, and how journalists are fighting to keep democracy alive in a country that has only been independent since 1991. Those stories—the stories of real reporters—have irrevocably shaped my understanding of media around the world.

THE LATVIAN PERSPECTIVE

Our first introduction to Eastern European media was with a reporter who made his career in the heart of the former Soviet Union. Born in St. Petersburg in its final year as Leningrad, Grigor Atanesian became a freelance writer in Moscow and now works for BBC Russian in London.

All media in the Soviet Union was controlled by the state, but when the empire collapsed in 1991, independent journalism began to emerge. Today, Atanesian told us, Russia’s leadership continues to pose threats to media, but he works diligently to avoid the country’s censors.

“Trying to reach an audience from which you have been physically separated—I cannot visit the country— requires thinking hard about your audience: What do they care about, what do they read and watch in their spare time, and what is the right framing, angle and tone of voice to tell the story you are trying to tell?” he said.

It’s important work, he added, because “BBC Russian is consumed by millions of Russian readers every day.”

Atanesian, who studied journalism in the United States at the University of Missouri, left this aspiring American journalist with some guarded optimism.

“American publications and newsrooms have more resources than their colleagues in any other country, and perhaps more freedom than anywhere else,” he said. “Journalism as an industry will keep shrinking. But no profession or trade ever fully disappears.

“So why not try to do what you love and be among the very best in

your profession—and hope to stay afloat even if all the boats around you capsize?”

RUSSIAN INFLUENCE

We eventually neared the Russian border, journeying in the Latgale region to Daugavpils, the second largest city in Latvia. More than 80% of Daugavpils’ population speaks Russian, and the influence from Russia and Belarus in the media is clear. Anželika Litvinoviča, a young journalist and activist native to Daugavpils, was quick to warn us about the dangers of Russian propaganda and the effect it has had on regional media in the area.

Trying to reach an audience from which you have been physically separated ... requires thinking hard about your audience.

— GRIGOR ATANESIAN

“The Daugavpils case is really interesting to study. … Media outlets have always been in the hands of politicians. Media has always been a tool to make money, not actually inform the citizens of Daugavpils. It’s a completely biased business model supporting different political players,” she explained.

As an activist, Litvinoviča has spoken at rallies supporting Ukraine. She primarily works in media literacy training, traveling throughout Daugavpils and Riga to educate the population about disinformation. At the same time, she works as an intern for Re:Baltica, a nonprofit media organization that produces free and accurate news.

“I became an activist as a reaction to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” she said. “I think it gave me the feeling that I am brave enough. Activism

strengthened my longing for justice, which is also essential for journalism.”

MY FUTURE IN JOURNALISM

We were in Latvia on June 8, 2025, when U.S. President Donald Trump deployed National Guard and activeduty Marines into Los Angeles to respond to immigration crackdown protests. Every day during the protests, our group, nearly 6,000 miles from the action, diligently followed the headlines.

As I watched members of the press being arrested, shot by rubber bullets, tear-gassed, and intimidated by guns and riot shields, I realized what it took to be a reporter—to put your life on the line for the sake of the truth.

It reminded me of something that Joosep Värk, an editor at Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR), had told us during our tour of their newsroom in Tallinn, the capital of Latvia’s neighboring country, Estonia.

“During times of war,” he said, “it is never asked, ‘Why do I have to work today?’”

He was referring to ERR’s coverage of the war in Ukraine, and how reporters at the station are eager to be assigned to a new story or to come into work on their day off.

The pieces were suddenly coming together. The media organizations, activists and journalists we met during this trip are all fighting to report the truth by any means necessary. In that moment, I realized that real journalism is a universal phenomenon, and real reporters are ubiquitous no matter where you are in the world.

Hopefully, one day, I will join them in their mission.

Ellis Iurilli-Hough ’27 is a civic literacy and philosophy double major and Media, Rhetoric and Communications Pathway scholar from Melrose, Massachusetts. All opinions and observations in this piece are his own.

Still Magic

A career art retrospective captures the spirit of Emeritus Professor Maureen McCabe.

BY TIM STEVENS ’03

Over the course of her 55-year career, internationally known collage artist and Joanne Toor Cummings ’50 Professor Emeritus of Art Maureen McCabe has returned many times to the intertwined themes of fate and magic. This fall, 65 pieces of her playful yet carefully composed artworks— many of them rarely seen works from her studio and private collections—are on display at the University of Connecticut’s William Benton Museum of Art. The career retrospective, “Fate & Magic: The Art of Maureen McCabe,” runs through Dec. 14.

The exhibit functions not just as a survey of McCabe’s impressive career but also of her taste. It features several found objects of inspiration—items that make up what the artist calls “the material culture of magic that I have collected for decades”—and 15 works from her personal collection created by other artists, including her former Connecticut College colleagues Associate Professor Emeritus of Art Ted Hendrickson and the late Professor Emeritus of Studio Art Barkley L. Hendricks and her former students Jenn Collins ’98 and photographer Tod Gangler ’75. In person, McCabe remains just as enthusiastic about art and energetic as ever. Her studio, which occupies much of the first floor of her home, is dotted with in-process projects and past works. Throughout the house are other works and objects that delight and inspire her—more of that material culture of magic. Even with many of the pieces that typically cover her walls currently

on exhibit at the Benton, the house hums with color, texture and creativity.

Handing over a copy of the illustrated exhibit catalog, which includes an essay by Benton Curator and Academic Liaison Amanda A. Douberley, McCabe is proud to assert that the exhibition “captures the spirit” of her work.

“Amanda took a fresh look at my work in a way no one has done before. She wanted to see everything and selected many works that haven’t been seen in decades,” McCabe explains. As a result, she found herself restoring and reframing several works for showcasing.

The collection reaches back to 1970, the year before McCabe began teaching at Conn, with three pieces including Blood Stocking, a work Douberley dubbed “a decisive turn” in McCabe’s career, as it “directly references the body through the artist’s use of materials and resonates with emerging feminist and body art of the 1960s and 1970s … [and] also reach[es] back in time to the reliquaries of medieval Christianity that she encountered as a child in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.”

This kind of context and observation permeates the exhibit. As McCabe reveals, she frequently marks the back of her works with a collage of images. “I tell what the materials are in the piece and what the meaning of the piece is,” she explains. “But I also include what’s happening in real time, what’s going on in the world as I am working.” As the backs of the works aren’t visible while on display, the Benton includes wall labels and text to explain the broader contexts of the work.

Reflecting on her time at Conn, as a career retrospective is bound to make one do, McCabe acknowledges it required a balancing act to be both a professional artist and a teacher.

“My girlfriends were all moving to New York and telling me, ‘Come with us; you don’t want to be a teacher,’” she reminisces. “And, in some ways, being a teacher can ruin you. It depends what kind of artist you are. But you need a job, and for me, Conn was like a walking Britannica. I did a whole series on alchemy, and the Chemistry Department would give me all these things, vials and measures made with beautiful wood, because they were going all digital. Or I needed a piece of ancient Latin translated, so I’d reach out to [the late Elizabeth S. Kruidenier ’48 Professor of Classics] Dirk Held and he’d write back, ‘OK, Maureen, this is what’s happening.’

“So yes, I taught for 40 years and I learned a lot from my students,” she continues. “But I’m a professional artist. You have X number of years; you never know what’s going to happen. But I’ve been here in this studio since 1977. I’ve sold hundreds of works. I had art dealers in Washington, D.C.; Chicago and New York. I’ve been in exhibits with all kinds of artists. Once, in Mexico City, I was in an international show and there was my name, Maureen McCabe. And just above it? René Magritte. So wild!

“I started long before the digital age. I used to be avant-garde, up and coming, and now I’m art history,” the artist concludes. “But I’m still creating.”

Lobbying for Libraries

Ellen Paul ’07 works to ensure equal access to information for all.

BY MELISSA BABCOCK JOHNSON

Government may move slowly, but Ellen Paul ’07, the executive director of the Connecticut Library Consortium (CLC) since January 2022, works hard to move it in a direction that benefits readers of all ages. Her advocacy helped pass two state bills this spring: one that could lower the costs of and increase access to e-books and another that requires school libraries to outline how they will handle book challenges and build their collections.

It’s an important part of her work at the CLC, a state-mandated, nonprofit library membership organization with a mission to support, strengthen, connect and champion Connecticut libraries.

“I get to advocate for some of the most important causes in front of us,” Paul says.

The first of its kind in the nation, Senate Bill 1234 was signed by Governor Ned Lamont on May 29. It would prohibit libraries in the state from entering into contracts or license agreements with publishers of electronic books and digital audiobooks that contain certain lending and licensing restrictions.

“Libraries regularly pay four to 10 times more than an average consumer to be able to license an e-book or audiobook for their community to borrow,” Paul explains, “but these are metered licenses that disappear from a library’s collection after two years or 26 borrows, whichever comes first.”

Those terms and conditions make it nearly impossible for libraries to build broad or deep collections, Paul says. “How can you do that when your entire collection disappears every two years?”

Many avid e-book borrowers know

the pain of waiting for their turn to read a hot title—some waitlists are longer than six months. “In some cases, by the time your name comes up, the book will have hit two years or 26 borrows, and that library has to evaluate whether or not they repurchase that title.”

The law will go into effect once one or more states with a total population of 7 million move forward with similar laws. Paul is now working to make that happen. “What Connecticut did is a model for the rest of the nation,” she says.

FREEDOM TO READ

The second bill, SB1271, which Paul refers to as the “freedom to read” bill, requires all libraries in the state, including school libraries, to outline how they decide what books they’re going to buy, what books they’ll remove to make space for new acquisitions, and what they’ll do when someone objects to a book in the library’s collection.

Paul worked with the national group EveryLibrary, which builds support for libraries and helps Americans fight book banning in their communities; the Connecticut Association of School Librarians; and the Connecticut Library Association to draft a comprehensive bill that addressed the need for each public library and school library in the state to create their own material collection policy, a collection development and maintenance policy, and a material reconsideration policy.

“In the case of a school library, those policies need to affirm that the school library is there as a mechanism for voluntary, not compulsory, inquiry—it

may be there to support the curriculum, but it is also there to encourage recreational reading and the love of reading,” Paul says.

The bill also dictates that all policies must be in accordance with existing nondiscrimination statutes in Connecticut, and that a book cannot be removed from a library’s collection just because someone finds it offensive.

“It’s a huge legislative victory for libraries in Connecticut,” says Paul. “We’re trying to ensure that everyone is able to see themselves in a book on the library shelves. Representation matters.”

Paul sees a direct connection between her time at Connecticut College and the impactful work she’s doing now. During her sophomore year, she and three other Camels from the Class of 2007 formed the Connecticut College Democrats.

“That was the start of my political involvement,” recalls Paul, who double majored in government and French and worked for Congressman Joe Courtney after graduation. “Working on campaigns and on political issues was something that excited and thrilled me.”

Paul also worked in Shain Library— her “second home”—for all four years at Conn. After five years of working for Courtney, Paul enrolled at Southern Connecticut State University and went on to earn a Master of Library Science degree, which led her to the CLC.

“I’m able to use my past political and advocacy work and marry that with the issue that I believe in, which is access to education, knowledge, literature and reading—equal access to information for everyone.”

Playhouses and Privilege

Professor Emeritus Abigail Van Slyck and Daniel De Sousa ’07 team up to chronicle the architecture of elite childhood.

BY TIM STEVENS ’03

It’s a familiar sight to anyone who has spent some time around children: small plastic playhouses made by companies like Little Tykes or Backyard Discovery. They sit in backyards and side yards, providing the families’ kids with entertainment for a year or two. Perhaps as many as three. They’re cute, simple and easy to get rid of once the kids grow bored, grow up, or both.

The predecessors/inspirations for these ubiquitous objects of childhood, on the other hand, were built by the likes of the Fords and Vanderbilts for their children. Elaborate examples of the privilege enjoyed by the children of the elite, they were anything but cute, simple or easy to get rid of.

“They’re on an entirely different level,” enthuses Daniel De Sousa ’07.

It is these early examples of children’s playhouses that fascinate Dayton Professor Emeritus of Art History Abigail Van Slyck and inspired her latest book, the 2025 Fred B. Kniffen Book Awardwinning Playhouses and Privilege: The Architecture of Elite Childhood, which features drawings by De Sousa, Van Slyck’s former student.

It was all the way back in 2006, when De Sousa was still studying architecture at Conn, that Van Slyck was initially interested in chronicling the creation and style of the playhouse at the Breakers, a Gilded-Age mansion in Newport, Rhode Island.

“I was assuming that because [the Breakers] was designed for the Vanderbilts by Peabody & Stearns, the most prominent architects of their time in the U.S., that there would be an enormous paper trail,” she recalls.

Unfortunately, that was not the case—the Newport Preservation Society, which now owns and operates the mansion, was instead “so excited for me to take on the project because they had nothing,” Van Slyck remembers. “So, I needed a scale drawing, and that’s where Dan came in.”

De Sousa had impressed Van Slyck with his knowledge of and interest in architecture and art history, and he quickly agreed to take on the task.

“We measured it by hand with tape measures and graph paper and field sketching,” De Sousa recalls. “It was a lot of fun. It has all the frilly details of a full-size building, just at two-thirds size. It has a stove! I had never seen anything like it.”

At that time, Van Slyck became aware of a Swiss Cottage playhouse built for Queen Victoria’s nine children at Osborne on the Isle of Wight. She quickly came to see it as a progenitor of an entire generation of playhouses for the children of the elite. Enabled by a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award to live in the United Kingdom for four months to study it, she returned to America with an idea for a new book. In working

with Pieter Martin, her editor at the University of Minnesota Press, the idea really began to take shape.

“He said to me, ‘Why did they stop making them? They were a real phenomenon for a certain period, but they don’t seem to be so now. Why?’” says Van Slyck.

In digging, she found that public acceptance spelled their doom.

“When built by movie stars, these houses became fodder for fan magazines,” she explains. “Fans can’t have it exactly, but can have their own version. But that means they lose their effectiveness, their appeal, as a tool for the superelite. So, the book is really about the rise and fall of these exquisite playhouses and cottages.”

Van Slyck’s rich research is illustrated by the drawings created by De Sousa, who now works at the Historic American Buildings Survey, where he produces high-quality documentation of historic buildings.

“He brings this level of expertise, helping me to understand these buildings in ways I couldn’t have on my own,” Van Slyck says of the partnership.

De Sousa calls the experience— and the end result—“fascinating.”

“My drawings end up public for my job, but this was the first time they were part of a synthesis. The whole is better than the sum of the parts.”

The Problem of Piracy in the Early Modern World

Co-edited by John Coakley, associate registrar for curriculum

In the early modern period, both legal and illegal maritime predation was a common occurrence, but the expansion of European maritime empires exacerbated existing and created new problems of piracy across the globe. Seeking the meanings and motivations behind piracy, this collection of original scholarly essays highlights case studies from around the globe, revealing that while European states attempted to fashion piracy into a global and homogenous phenomenon, it was largely a local and often idiosyncratic issue.

Bartholemew and the Summer of Grace

By Lisa (Kingman) Forness ’81

Bartholemew, a small cricket who lives beneath a yellow and blue dinghy on the shores of Cape Cod, decides to finally introduce himself to the four children who come to stay at a small cottage on Bay Street each summer. It turns out to be the best summer yet, filled with new friendships, exciting adventures and unforgettable memories. Illustrated in color by Dominique Hance, this chapter book for children ages 6-12 reminds readers that the most valuable treasures in life are best enjoyed together, and that friendship, love and kindness are what matter most.

#BIDENWON: The Art of Recovery

By Cathy Hull ’68

With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Hull, an award-winning authorillustrator, wittily writes and scathingly draws her own conclusions as she takes readers image by image through four years of pivotal events and watershed moments during the Biden administration.

Barkley L. Hendricks: Piles of Inspiration

Everywhere

By Susan Hendricks and David Katzenstein ’76

With large, double-page spread illustrations, this book takes the reader on a journey into the otherwise publicly inaccessible home and studio of the late renowned artist and Professor Emeritus of Studio Art Barkley L. Hendricks, showcasing the environment that both inspired and energized him. A collaboration between photographer David Katzenstein and Hendricks’ wife, Susan, the book features writings from the artist’s own journals alongside the stunning photographs of his personal surroundings, offering an unprecedented look into Hendricks’ life and creative process.

Brownie

By David Katzenstein

’76

This collection of photographs was created by Katzenstein as he traveled the globe between 1979-1989 using the Kodak Duaflex camera, a successor to Kodak’s famous Brownie camera. Throughout the project, Katzenstein’s goal was to embrace the camera’s limitations as a means of pushing the boundaries of composition, juxtaposing foreground and background while heightening the use of color. The result is a colorful, personal and sensitive view of the world.

Terrance McPhee and the Toy Eating Tree

By Kathleen MacInnis Kichline ’69

In this delightfully fun sequential story, young Terrance McPhee launches his paper airplane from the top of a hill, only to have it soar off course and land in the limbs of a tree. Friend after friend comes to help free Terrance’s plane from the clutches of the branches—first by hurling an action figure, followed by a gorilla toy, a basketball, and even a boomerang—but the tree seems to gobble each one

up. When the unlikeliest of helpers comes along—a butterfly!—the friends are in for a big surprise. Kichline’s rollicking rhymes and Scott Ward’s vibrant illustrations make this a wonderful read-aloud for families and educators of young children.

Little Movements

By Lauren Morrow ’09

Black choreographer Layla questions all of her personal and professional life choices when she takes a residency in a very small, white Vermont town. There, she finds that creating art for art’s sake is not as valued as exploring familiar tropes of struggle and oppression. She must contend with the institution’s director and her dancers while managing a long-distance relationship with her husband. Little Movements explores issues of race, class, art and ambition, but perhaps most importantly, it’s a novel about self-discovery—about what it means to push through despite all that might stand in the way.

Gilbert and the Ghost

By Heather Pierce Stigall ’91

Gilbert often feels invisible, just like the ghost living at 632 Savannah Street. Despite his family’s disbelief, Gilbert leaves gifts for the ghost: a friendship bracelet, a plate of cookies, even a drawing with a note. When each disappears one by one, Gilbert finds that believing and friendship are worth the effort. Gothic, whimsical illustrations make this picture book perfect for the spooky season, while its earnest themes make it worth a read all year round.

Adventures of a Bitterroot Boy

By George Reeves ’87

These far-fetched fables chronicle a slightly embellished 1970s childhood in small-town Hamilton, Montana, inspiring chuckles and resonating with the sometimes mischievous youngster who dwells within us all.

Fresh Out

At a time when more Americans than ever are questioning the value of a college degree, we catch up with some of Conn’s most recent grads to find out: What are they doing now?

BY AMY MARTIN

On a crisp spring morning, Alyce Powers ’22 starts her workday with a warm greeting to Juno. He’s not technically a coworker, but he is perhaps the friendliest (and one of the most famous) beluga whales in the world. She then inquires about the status of some recently rescued sea turtle hatchlings, helps a colleague locate a particularly elusive crustacean, and gets to work setting up her classroom at Mystic Aquarium to prepare for the impending arrival of students from Groton’s Ella T. Grasso Technical High School.

As the aquarium’s education and conservation program specialist, Powers helps support local community conservation projects and leads a variety of educational programs for students of all ages, from preschoolers to college students and adult learners. It’s a job that’s perfectly tailored to her interests and experience, and a great start to what Powers hopes will be a long career in conservation.

“I found what I really wanted to do through an internship at the aquarium recommended to me by a professor,” says Powers, who majored in biology with a concentration in ecology, minored in art and conducted research at Conn. “Before this internship, I didn’t really know there was a whole field in informal education and conservation.”

Like Powers, 95% of Conn’s Gen Z alumni are employed or in graduate school within one year of graduation. It’s an impressive statistic, especially as more Americans than ever are questioning the value of a college degree. So CC Magazine partnered with the Hale Center for Career Development to go beyond the data and catch up with some of Conn’s youngest alumni to find out exactly how they are already putting the liberal arts into action. ▶

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY

MELISSA BABCOCK JOHNSON, KATIANA SMITH AND TIM STEVENS ’03

I found what I really wanted to do through an internship at the aquarium recommended to me by a professor.

— ALYCE POWERS ’22

95% of Conn’s Gen Z alumni are employed or in graduate school within one year of graduation.

Prospective students come to Conn hoping to intern and eventually work in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. Our proximity to these areas is a big draw.

— CHERYL BANKER, HALE CENTER DIRECTOR OF EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT

WHERE THEY WORK

Conn’s newest grads work at big-name companies—Amazon, Google and Disney, to name a few—and at startups, hospitals and medical centers, local businesses, nonprofits and community organizations. And the vast majority of them—79%—do so in New England or the mid-Atlantic region.

“Our prospective students come to Conn hoping to intern and eventually work in New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. Our proximity to these areas is a big draw,” says Cheryl Banker, the Hale Center director of employer engagement and prebusiness adviser. “We have lots of partnerships with businesses and organizations in these regions and the Camel Alumni Network runs deep, so many of our graduates are able to launch their careers in one these vibrant cities.”

Ichiro Kubozono ’24, a global wealth management GTP analyst with UBS, is one of them. A quantitative economics and econometrics major and scholar in the Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts at Conn, Kubozono was first introduced to the global financial services firm through the Hale Center’s Camels Connected program, which pairs current students with alumni working at the organizations they are interested in. Kubozono connected with Billy Fleurima ’22, a global markets analyst at the company, and

completed an internship there during his junior year. He received a return offer before graduation and started full-time in a twoyear rotational program in August of 2024.

“I love New York City because there are people from all walks of life, and I have a lot friends from Connecticut College here. In my program, there are two other Connecticut College alumni, and we try to have brunch often to catch up,” Kubozono says. “I have a very strong support network here that has really allowed me to feel like I belong and enjoy the city.”

Another proud NYC Camel is Quinn Kilmartin ’22, a major gifts coordinator for the Center for Reproductive Rights, a global legal advocacy organization.

“Living in New York City with your best friends in your early 20s is the dream,” Kilmartin says. “I was recently at a birthday party, and there were four dozen Conn grads there. The city is so big, but constantly running into friends makes it feel much more manageable.”

For Kilmartin, working in the field of reproductive justice is also a dream. At Conn, she majored in human development and biology with a minor in psychology and joined the Public Health Pathway to explore reproductive rights advocacy.

“My All-College Symposium presentation was an analysis of the legal strategies at the Center of Reproductive Rights, and

my first job was on the legal strategies team at the Center of Reproductive Rights,” says Kilmartin, who spent three years on the legal side before moving into fundraising and donor engagement in June. “The liberal arts and the Connections curriculum set me up so well for the reproductive rights movement, because it is so interdisciplinary. I could not have imagined a more fulfilling position for myself.”

WHAT THEY DO

The top industries for new grads include banking, consulting and finance, with 20.4% of the Class of 2024 working in those fields one year after graduation; followed by health and medicine, with 19.6%; energy and the environment, with 10.6%; and tech, with 9% of the class employed in the field.

Megan Bidgood ’25 wasted no time launching her career in health research. Just weeks after Commencement in May, Bidgood started a full-time position as a clinical research coordinator in the Cardiac Psychiatry Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Bidgood, who double majored in psychology and human development and was a scholar in the Holleran Center for Community Action, now spends her days researching how positive psychology and motivational interviewing can improve mental health and health behavior adherence in patients with heart failure.

“The lab I’m in is so lifestyle focused and patient-first. I’ve loved all the face-to-face interaction—every person is so different with such a unique set of experiences,” says the aspiring clinical psychologist, who plans to pursue graduate school after two years. “It’s really rewarding.”

The liberal arts and the Connections curriculum set me up so well ... because it is so interdisciplinary.

— QUINN KILMARTIN ’22

Ryan Mach ’24, who majored in economics with a minor in finance, wasn’t sure exactly what he was looking for in a career until he was inspired by a junior-year internship.

“I interned at an ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance)friendly investment shop—no weapons, oil or bad governance practices. I really liked a lot of aspects of it,” he explains. “When I came back for my senior year, I started taking a hydrology class that I really liked. And this narrative starts to take shape: I interned at this ESG-friendly firm. I enjoyed this environmental class. So every job search I did, I included ‘environmental’ as one of the keywords.”

That keyword helped him find Triumvirate Environmental, a Somerville, Massachusetts-based firm that provides sustainable environmental solutions to leading companies in the life sciences, health care, education and advanced manufacturing.

“We go in and say, ‘Is this as efficient as it can be? Where are

Top 5 Career Fields

you losing money? Is this being done sustainably? How can we improve it?’” says Mach, who serves as a business development analyst for the company. “Triumvirate’s in a pretty heavy stage of growth right now, looking to expand our footprint across the U.S. I go out to meet with new prospects, and I negotiate with them through the sales cycle and get them on board.”

Internships also helped Mach’s classmate Duc Tran ’24 refine his career goals, in part by helping him understand what he wasn’t interested in. A computer science and mathematics double major interested in tech, Tran interned at Microsoft in 2022, and then at Two Sigma, a financial services company, in 2023.

“Microsoft is such a big company that I felt I really didn’t get to make much of an impact,” he says. “Two Sigma is a very small firm. I worked on the model engineering team, which helped the researchers have the best data to predict where the market is going. I loved it, because the people were so smart and the work was challenging, but something was still missing; I wanted to work on something that has a lot of users, where I would be able to see the impact.”

Tran has found exactly what he was looking for at OpenAI, the San Francisco-based technology startup known for popular AI tools, including ChatGPT. As an infrastructure software engineer, he keeps a close eye on viral social media trends.

“Part of my job is to make sure our system can scale up when there’s a lot of traffic, to make sure we still have a functional app. So when a trend that uses OpenAI image generation, like the Studio Ghibli trend in March, goes viral, our traffic shoots up significantly,” he explains. “It’s exciting to work for a company that is really a market leader. It’s been really fun, because it’s not in every workplace that you get to sustain that kind of traffic and solve problems on that scale.”

DESTINATION: GRAD SCHOOL

Within 10 years of graduation, nearly half of all Conn alumni earn an advanced degree.

Anike Roberson ’24 decided to go straight into a food science Ph.D. program at Cornell University after graduation. A chemistry major and Food Pathway scholar, she participated in Conn’s Summer Science Research Institute program during her sophomore year, working in a lab with Hans and Ella McCollum ’21 Vahlteich Associate Professor of Chemistry Tanya Schneider.

“That summer taught me that I really, really like research. It lit a fire in me to pursue graduate studies—to sit with a question, to figure out answers, to write papers and to contribute to academia,” she says.

Within 10 years of graduation, nearly half of all Conn alumni earn an advanced degree. About a quarter of new grads choose to get started right away, enrolling in master’s, business, medical, law and Ph.D. programs at top universities, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Georgetown and Dartmouth, within their first post-grad year.

At Cornell, she works in an analytic wine flavor chemistry lab studying time-temperature dependence in canned wines. “I’m trying to see how quickly H2S gas [which can produce a rotten egg smell] forms at different temperatures,” she explains. “After Cornell, I’d like to do a post-doc and then move into academia at a college similar to Conn.”

Before I studied abroad in London, I never would’ve thought I’d move away from the U.S. ... The Dance Department gave me the confidence to follow a dream.

— CATJA CHRISTENSEN ’23

The path wasn’t quite as linear for Catja Christensen ’23. She grew up immersed in the performing arts, but she didn’t realize just how far—quite literally—her love of dance would take her until she got to Conn. As a dance and English double major and scholar in the Media, Rhetoric and Communication Pathway, she spent four years studying communication across the disciplines. As a junior, she studied abroad at King’s College London and fell in love with the city.

“Before I studied abroad in London, I never would’ve thought I’d move away from the U.S. But being in the Dance Department with a community of people who think outside the box encouraged me to ask myself, ‘What if I just go down this path and see what happens?’” she says. “The Dance Department gave me the confidence to follow a dream.”

With support from her professors and Conn’s fellowship advising staff, Christensen took a leap and applied for—and was granted—a Fulbright Research Award to pursue a master’s degree in dance choreography performance at the University of Roehampton in London, one of the leading institutions for graduate studies in dance.

“It was just the most incredible year of being allowed to nerd out on my favorite thing—which is dance—and connect with these brilliant people across different fields,” she says.

After earning her degree, Christensen landed a position as a front-of-house coordinator at The Royal Ballet School and was quickly promoted to marketing and communications executive.

“I love being in London, I love being surrounded by the arts, and I love working in such a big and historic organization,” she says. “It is genuinely a dream job— I’m unbelievably grateful.”

Prepped for success

At Conn, career preparation begins on day one. Students explore what drives them and create personalized action plans while building the academic and professional skills to thrive in life and work. And they are supported by Hale Center career advisers at every step of the way— and long after graduation.

77% of recent graduates completed at least one internship during their time at Conn

20% completed three or more internships

$4,500 in flexible funding is available for all Conn students to support funded internships, research and other careerenhancing experiences

90+% of recent graduates would recommend the Hale Center and its programs

Learn more about Connecticut College outcomes, read more alumni stories and see exclusive videos:

INTO THE BLUE

Emily Hazelwood ’11 and Jamie Sussman ’26 work together on sustainable solutions for offshore industries.

By Melissa Ba B cock Johnson

he stark twin oil platforms emerging from the calm open ocean appear small at first. But as the motorboat moves closer, the conjoined metal towers become increasingly formidable. When the boat finally docks next to a platform, about nine miles off the California coast, a few signs of life—rig workers and sea lions— appear. But the handful of visitors, most of whom don wetsuits, flippers, goggles and oxygen tanks, are here to explore the vibrant and hidden world beneath the water’s surface, where colorful fish, mussels, scallops, corals, sponges, sea anemones and other marine creatures have been flourishing on and around the structures for decades.

One of the divers about to weave between the submerged metal beams teeming with ecological colonization—and get a selfie with a particularly gregarious fish—is Jamie Sussman ’26. The biology and environmental studies double major, who also happens to be an Aquarius, spent one of the final Thursdays of summer break with two other divers on the boat: Connecticut College alumna Emily Hazelwood ’11 and her business partner, Amber Sparks, who co-founded the marine environmental consulting firm Blue Latitudes LLC in 2015. Sussman, a junior marine scientist for the firm, had joined Hazelwood and Sparks on a celebratory dive to mark Blue Latitudes’ 10th anniversary that August weekend.

“There’s no other feeling like when you’re first descending underwater and you look around in amazement,” Sussman says. “I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is such a special experience.’ You just want it to last forever.”

AT THE INTERSECTION OF INDUSTRY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Over the past decade, Blue Latitudes has made huge waves in the Rigs-to-Reefs movement, which began in 1979 when Exxon relocated an oil rig from Louisiana waters to a permitted artificial reef site off the Florida panhandle. The program gained traction in 1984 with the passage of the National Fishing Enhancement Act, which required artificial reefs in U.S. waters to be built and placed in a way that enhances fishery resources. The bill also called for a long-term artificial reef plan.

It can cost millions of dollars more to scrap and remove a decommissioned oil platform than it would to allow a suitable one to remain a thriving environment for the sea life that has accumulated on it over the decades. In California, for example, 23 of the state’s 27 platforms are in

federal waters and are good candidates to be reefed once they’re decommissioned, which would result in over a billion dollars in saved costs. And the benefits don’t stop there: California’s Rigsto-Reefs law passed in 2010 mandates that 80% of that savings, or about $800 million, go back to the state into an endowment fund for marine preservation and conservation.

“Having these opportunities for win-wins, where scientists can work with industry to protect our environment, is the future of conservation,” says Sparks, who was honored with Hazelwood on the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the energy sector category.

As part of its ongoing Rigs-to-Reefs involvement, Blue Latitudes used a National Science Foundation grant it won in 2021 to develop its proprietary Fisheries Location Assessment Technology (FishLAT), a patent-pending rapid assessment tool that uses machine learning to predict how the removal, reefing or installation of offshore infrastructure will impact the environment and fisheries.

Last year, FishLAT helped the Coastal Conservation Association, the United States’ largest fisheries NGO, select 40 future artificial reef sites out of a pool of 900 candidates in Louisiana’s coastal waters. Hazelwood, a New Hampshire

There’s no other feeling like when you’re first descending underwater and you look around in amazement.

—JAMIE SUSSMAN ’26

resident, and Sparks, who lives in California, hope to expand FishLAT’s capabilities to new regions off both U.S. coasts.

While most of their work so far has focused on California’s coastal waters and the Gulf of Mexico, where more than 600 retired oil rigs have found a new purpose as artificial reefs, Blue Latitudes has gone international. In 2017, the firm provided technical assistance for a rig decommissioning in the Chinguetti oil field off the coast of Mauritania in Africa.

In 2020, they designed, developed and executed ROV-based marine life surveys on PETRONAS’ oil platforms in Malaysia to assess species richness and the abundance of corals, fish and invertebrates. These surveys were among the first comprehensive ecological assessments to use ROVs to describe the marine life assemblages found on platforms in the South China Sea.

“New regions mean new regulations and new marine life,” Sparks says. “We’re still working on a big research project in Gabon off of West Africa, and we also just got our first project in Alaska, so we’re moving up to look at those platforms. With these new areas, we need to bring new types of services, because different marine ecosystems have to be assessed in different ways.”

‘SEEING IS BELIEVING’

Hazelwood and Sparks have also started to change the way the world thinks about offshore resource management, ocean energy and structure recycling, through their work with their nonprofit organization, the Blue Latitudes Foundation. Part of the battle is convincing people that human-made structures make good artificial reefs.

“When you tell people an oil platform is a good candidate for an artificial reef, nobody believes you, because they’re going to look up images of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill or only see what it looks like above the surface,” says Hazelwood, who majored in environmental studies at Conn and went on to earn a Master of Applied Science in marine biodiversity and conservation from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Blue Latitudes is eyeing the increasing number of offshore wind turbines as the next set of artificial reef candidates, and Hazelwood says the same perception challenges exist—people can’t imagine a thriving marine environment beneath wind turbines and instead see them as eyesores. “When you Google, ‘What does it look like under a wind turbine?,’ it’s really hard to find any images.”

Hazelwood hopes to change that. “We have always known that seeing is believing. We understand the power of media when it comes to communicating these challenging topics. Words can only go so far. Scientific studies can only go so far.”

nascent Blue Latitudes get off the ground a decade ago with fiscal sponsorships through her nonprofit initiative, Mission Blue.

She concluded her speech with praise for Hazelwood and Sparks. “We need to think differently about the ocean. We need to take action, and my scientific partners here are taking action.”

More event highlights included a screening of the film Transecting Borneo, which is available on Matador Network and chronicled a visit in 2017 to the Seaventures Dive Rig oil platform in Malaysia. In just 37 minutes, the film captures a vibrant snippet of Blue Latitudes’ research. In the 37 transects Hazelwood and Sparks analyzed in Borneo, they noted over 1,500 individual fish and over 126 different species of fish.

Most surprising was that the natural reefs in the area only yielded a median of 23 fish per transect while the artificial reef under the rig averaged 83. Hazelwood says in the film, “What this tells us is that the habitat provided by the rig is successful and it is attracting fish, it’s producing fish, and it means that fish are choosing that habitat more often than the natural reef habitat. They’re working.”

We understand the power of media when it comes to communicating these challenging topics.

—EMILY HAZELWOOD ’11

That’s why communication is a key part of the Blue Latitudes Foundation’s work. And as the old saying goes, ‘A picture is worth a thousand words,’ so the foundation has formed fruitful relationships with various photographers and videographers. Felix Kunze, whose portfolio includes the September 2024 cover of Vogue, and Joe Platko, a BBC Blue Planet II contributor, shot their recent dives.

The images are shared on social media and with news outlets to spread awareness. The team has also made two awardwinning documentary films, they present at conferences and speak at schools, and they have launched a Virtual Ocean Expedition project, where they use 360 video to take students underwater to explore various habitats virtually.

“Sharing scientific information effectively is something that I’ve been really proud of,” Hazelwood says.

HOPE FOR THE OCEANS

On Aug. 22, the day after the platform dives with Sussman, Blue Latitudes celebrated its 10th anniversary in Laguna Beach, California. The sold-out event kicked off with a keynote address by pioneering marine biologist and oceanographer Sylvia Earle, Ph.D., a National Geographic Explorer at Large who was the first woman to lead the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Earle, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday, helped a

Meanwhile, Sussman—who holds an Advanced Open Water Diver certification from the Professional Association of Diving Instructors and a Scientific Diver certification from the American Academy of Underwater Scientists— joined Hazelwood and Sparks on a few recreational dives during the anniversary weekend. Two days after the excursion to the conjoined oil platforms Elly and Ellen, they visited a kelp forest near Catalina, an island located 22 miles off the coast of Huntington Beach. Sussman had a plane to catch, so he didn’t have time to suit up, but he did a little snorkeling.

“There are these giant black sea bass that look like dragons, and there’s a lot more fish diversity in these near-shore kelp forests, which provide really cool imagery as tons and tons of kelp block out the sun,” Sussman explains. “It’s like you’re swimming through a forest.”

I think the biggest crisis we’re facing right now is a lack of hope for the oceans. But I do think there’s a lot to be hopeful for.

—EMILY HAZELWOOD ’11

CONNECTIONS

Sussman first connected with Hazelwood through “Conservation Biology” with Associate Professor of Biology Maria Rosa, a Career-Informed Learning course in which students work to solve real-world problems brought by alumni working in related fields. Sussman visited California with Hazelwood and Sparks for the first time in October 2024 to study Pacific Coast sea star populations threatened by an epidemic of sea star wasting disease that has killed more than five billion of the creatures, commonly known as starfish, since 2013. (A team of international scientists just identified a strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida as the cause in August.)

Now, Sussman reviews ROV footage, uses his minor in statistics to analyze data, and helps prepare reports and proposals for Blue Latitudes LLC’s worldwide clients. “It’s been super exciting, and it’s really affirmed that marine biology and maybe marine consulting is what I want to go into one day,” he says. “I am so thankful that Conn has this great alumni network and fosters a very good campus feel so that even after people have graduated, they want to help another Conn student.”

For Hazelwood, it’s a full-circle moment. “It’s really cool to share the oil platforms and artificial reefs and this big problem of decommissioning with another student from Connecticut College,” she says.

“I feel like we are leaving the planet in a better place each year that goes by. I think the biggest crisis we’re facing right now is a lack of hope for the oceans. But I do think there’s a lot to be hopeful for.”

A decade after Conn decided to go all in on athletics, the Camels are reaching new levels of competitive success. The future could be even better.

BY AMY MARTIN

oments after the final whistle blew in the 2024 NESCAC Men’s Soccer Championship final, midfielder Marco Perugini ’27 closed his eyes, pumped his fists and let out a cry of pure elation. Victory. Finally.

The Camels had reached the pinnacle in 2021, when they won the NCAA Division III Championship. But the NESCAC Championship— arguably a more difficult tournament to win considering the conference is easily the best in DIII—remained elusive. Conn made the finals in 2021 and 2022, but fell to Tufts and Amherst respectively.

In March, it was elation in the pool as Justin Finkel ’25 swam the last individual race of his illustrious collegiate career. Finkel was looking to defend his 2024 NCAA DIII title in the 200 butterfly. He was seeded second; earlier that same morning, University of Chicago’s Cooper Costello posted the fastest time in prelims, setting up a showdown in the final. But Finkel, who had already won his third national title earlier in the meet, was the clear crowd favorite.

TOP 20%

This year was different. Conn came into the tournament seeded No. 6 after a regular season that saw few losses but five ties. They drew No. 3 Amherst in the quarterfinals, and after a 1-1 draw in regulation and two overtimes, came out on top in penalty kicks. The Camels got hot at just the right moment; they would never trail en route to a 2-1 victory over No. 4 Williams in the semis and a dominant 3-1 win over previously undefeated No. 2 Middlebury in the finals on Nov. 10. The Camels would ride that momentum right back to the NCAA Final Four and finish just one PK shy of a second national championship.

NCAA DIII programs for the 2024-2025 academic year

Costello held a slight lead during much of the opening 100, but Finkel—who would later tell his coaches he was “in the zone”—tracked him down over the back half of the race. As the crowd chanted his name, Finkel took a narrow lead by the 150 turn and poured it on down the stretch, covering the final 50 in 27.05 seconds to Costello’s 27.79. He touched the wall in

1:42.64, shattering his own NCAA DIII record of 1:43.21. “It was so loud in that natatorium, it was deafening,” remembers Director of Athletics Mo White.

Then in May, on the final day of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Track & Field Championships, all eyes were on Grace McDonough ’26 in the 1,500 meters. She wasn’t favored to win, but Conn’s coaching staff thought she had a chance—she had won the race at the New England Championships a few weeks prior. She started off well, right on the lead runner’s heels. And then, she tripped.

“There was a collective gasp as she tumbled and fell all the way to last place,” White recalls. “She gets up, and she’s bleeding—and she’s smiling. She just gives this little laugh and takes off.” With determination and grit, McDonough pounded her way back to finish third, earning six points for the team and garnering First Team All-America honors. Later that same day, she’d cruise to a second-place finish in the 5,000 meters; with McDonough’s points, the team finished 17th overall.

It was a fitting conclusion to Camel Nation’s best year yet. Conn was among the top 20% of NCAA DIII programs for the 2024-2025 academic year, earning a recordhigh 318.75 points and No. 63 ranking in the final Learfield Directors’ Cup Division III standings, compiled annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

406

NESCAC All-Academic selections for 2024-2025 (a record)

The success was realized on and off the field and the accolades piled up: 71% of teams qualified for conference championships; two teams and 19 individuals qualified for NCAA championships; Conn tallied 28 All-America honors, including the first in women’s hockey; three student-athletes— Finkel, McDonough and Women’s Ice Hockey forward Claire Sammons ’25—were named NESCAC Player of the Year; Finkel was named National Swimmer of the Year for the second consecutive year; Men’s Soccer garnered National Coaching Staff of the Year honors; and the Camels earned a record 406 NESCAC All-Academic selections, with Finkel and McDonough also earning Academic All-America honors. Now early into the 2025-2026 campaign, the Camel Pride is palpable. This is a program on the rise. And that’s no accident.

Ten years ago, the College launched a deliberate effort to elevate and invest in athletics as a key driver of the student experience. In 2016, athletics was identified as a top priority of the strategic plan Building on Strength, and the College started a new fundraising and engagement initiative, now called the Camel Athletics Network, spearheaded by former athletes Tim Armstrong ’93 and Luke Beatty ’93.

#63 Learfield Directors’ Cup DIII ranking — Conn’s highest ever

In 2019, the College went a step further and adopted the Action Plan for Competitive Success, a step-by-step roadmap for elevating the student-athlete experience, investing in coaching excellence, expanding recruitment efforts, enhancing athletic facilities and building a stronger network of supporters.

Those efforts have resulted in more than $35.8 million in investments by the College and donors, including $18 million in endowments for coaching staff, $11.8 million for facilities and equipment, an 800% increase in recruitment spending and a 100% increase in the annual operating budget.

“The success we are enjoying today is a direct result of these strategic investments. Every team has benefited, every student-athlete has benefited, the entire Conn community has benefited,” said Dean of Students Victor Arcelus.

“We have proven that Conn’s athletes and coaches will rise to the challenge if we continue to invest in them. We are so proud of what we’ve accomplished, but we still have so much more potential. We have to keep this momentum going.”

DOUBLE RECRUIT

Blessing Kieh ’28 is turning heads on the pitch and the track.

Blessing Kieh ’28 had quite the rookie year. In the fall, Kieh, who hails from Monrovia, Liberia, played in 13 games and recorded four points on one goal and two assists as a forward on the Women’s Soccer team. In the spring, she sprinted her way to first place in the 100 meters and fifth place in the 200 meters at the 2025 New England Division III Women’s Track & Field Championships and qualified for the NCAA DIII Championships in the 100, where she finished ninth and earned Second Team AllAmerica honors.

This year, she plans to run indoor track, too.

While she may already be a successful multisport athlete, Kieh, who intends to major in psychology, admits soccer—or “football” as it is called in her native Liberia—is “life.”

“Soccer has done so much for me,” she explains. “Growing up, girls weren’t officially allowed to play, so I was the only girl among the boys playing. I actually enjoyed it. I played every day, and my parents and siblings encouraged me. So, soccer is everything.”

Kieh was one of the first students recruited when LEAD Monrovia Football Academy, which trains student-

athletes in grades 4-12, opened in 2015. She eventually joined Liberia’s U-17 National Women’s Team and scored a goal against Niger in the African U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers in 2020. At LEAD, Kieh excelled in both soccer and academics. She earned a scholarship in 2020 to the Westminster School in Simsbury, Connecticut, where she naturally joined the girls’ soccer team. When former Westminster teammate Priscilla Ameyaw ’26 made her debut on Silfen Field in 2022, Kieh made the trip to New London. She met Head Coach Norm Riker and the team and liked Conn’s small, diverse and beautiful

THE ENCORE What’s next for Conn’s winningest athlete?

When Justin Finkel ’25 answers my call, he quickly lets me know that not only was this his first day of work at his new full-time job, it is also his birthday.

I apologize for interrupting a day of celebration, but he isn’t bothered.

“It’s my 22nd birthday,” he insists. “The first birthday that doesn’t matter.”

It’s that humility, sense of humor and work ethic that carried Finkel through his illustrious swimming career at Conn. With four NCAA individual national titles, 12 AllAmerica selections, two National Swimmer of the Year designations, three consecutive NESCAC Swimmer of the Year honors and eight individual NESCAC titles, Finkel is easily the winningest athlete in Conn’s history.

He’s also exceptionally smart. The aspiring doctor was named a 2025 College Sports Communicators Academic AllAmerican and the Men’s Sport Student-Athlete of the Year for

Now in her second year, Kieh’s star continues to rise. At Conn’s first game of the 2025 season, she headed in a corner kick in the 72nd minute to score the winning goal against visiting Emmanuel College.

“Soccer brings so much happiness to me,” says Kieh, who hopes to play professionally after graduation. “When I’m feeling stressed about other things and then I go on the field, I feel so happy because when you love something, no matter what, you’re going to be happy doing it.” —Melissa Babcock Johnson

Region I by the Division III Commissioners Association.

“I majored in biology on the pre-med track. It was a challenging workload, academically. Then, swimming is a very challenging sport to be a member of the team, let alone perform at a high level. It was definitely demanding,” Finkel says. “I think Conn equipped me with all the right tools to have a strong balance and hold myself to a high standard.”

To prepare for medical school, Finkel is working at a dermatology office in the Hartford Healthcare Medical Group. The job gives him the chance to experience life in the medical field by day, while he hits the books at night and on weekends in preparation for his MCATs.

He also continues to challenge himself physically. Alongside fellow Conn grads Sam Groleau ’25 and Andrew Bartolomucci ’25 and current Camels Matthew Morris ’26 and Diego Ortiz ’26, Finkel competed in his first triathlon in July in Augusta, Maine.

SIDELINE SUPPORT

Women’s Soccer’s Mia Hernandez ’20 is back in Camel blue.

Two years after her own graduation from Conn, New London native and four-year Women’s Soccer letterwinner Mia Hernandez ’20 was recruited by her former head coach, Norm Riker, to rejoin the team as a full-time assistant coach.

“It felt like coming back home,” says Hernandez, who helped herd the Camels to NCAA Championship appearances in 2016 and 2017.

In 2019, only one of Conn’s 28 teams had a paid assistant coach. Now, that number has risen to 24, thanks in large part to extensive fundraising efforts. Hernandez’s position was made possible by the Hale Endowed Fund for Coaching Excellence.

“We would not be where we are today without the generosity of Robert Hale Jr. ’88 and Karen Hale P’20,” says Director of Athletics Mo White. “They set the foundation and inspired others to join the effort to build a stronger NESCAC-level coaching and staffing model to support and advance our teams.”

Coming in as an assistant coach, Hernandez says she benefited from already knowing Riker’s style, both from having played for him and having coached premier youth teams with him for two years at Southeast Soccer Club.

“It made for a smooth transition,” she says. “We have this system for everything we do that is so effective. As an assistant coach, you have so many roles, whether it is running warm-ups, ordering food for the team, or laying out the uniforms so the

team looks their best.

But I’m an organized person, so I feel like I’ve developed to fill each responsibility pretty quickly and comfortably.”

Having been part of Camel Nation in some capacity since 2016, Hernandez has witnessed the program’s evolution firsthand.

“I think the budget has been the No. 1 improvement. We’ve gotten official team gear and updated uniforms. It’s allowed Norm to be more effective in recruiting. And looking wider, it has gotten more people involved,” she says.

“The community base has skyrocketed, and the team culture has grown and improved alongside it,” she adds. “I love it. Everything feels like it is in a really great place right now.”

—Tim Stevens ’03

“I’ve done two other sprint triathlons since then, and I think I caught a bug,” he says. “I’m the type of person who always needs something to pursue next, so I’m glad I found this new avenue.”

One thing’s for sure: When Finkel sets his mind to something, there’s just no stopping him.

—Tim Stevens ’03

ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER

CAPTAIN OF THE CLUB

Aidan Trainor ’26 sets an example on the ice and in the classroom.

Aidan Trainor ’26, the captain of Connecticut College’s Men’s Club Hockey team, is a big advocate for collegiate club sports as a way to expand the athletics experience to more students.

“Club sports can give people such a great community and let them explore athletics they might not otherwise try in an environment that’s competitive but more manageable and perhaps easier to balance than a varsity team.”

He says “perhaps” because club sports at Conn still require significant effort and focus.

Trainor, an economics major and finance minor from Hightstown, New Jersey, explains, “We practice two days a

CAMELS IN THE OFFICE

Sana Bhat ’26 interned with Tim Armstrong ’93.

week from 9 to 10:30 at night. Then on the weekends, we’ll play anywhere between one and three games, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. We play up and down New England and then into New York. We go as far as Poughkeepsie and northern Vermont.

“We want to be competitive, we want to win,” he continues, “and we all also want to do well in class. It can be tough to handle that dynamic sometimes. But we tell the younger guys, like the older guys told us when we were younger, that school comes first. What we do in the classroom is as important as, if not more important than, what we do on the ice.”

As captain, Trainor says he works hard to set the tempo for the team and lead by example, especially when it comes to academics.

“My freshman year, I got help from some of the older guys on the team,” recalls Trainor. “And now, I tutor some of the younger guys. We have pretty diverse academic interests on the team, so we usually have people who can help others who are a few years behind them.”

Over his four years on the team, Trainor says he has seen Club Hockey, and club sports in general, grow and evolve.

“Club Hockey has grown increasingly competitive. The fan base has expanded, too. And it isn’t just hockey. Generally, I think club sports are attracting more and more people. I think that’s great,” he says. “Club sports have given me and my

NCAA ADVISER

R.J. Casey ’26 advocates for fellow student-athletes.

The voice of R.J. Casey ’26 carries a long way. A neuroscience major and American studies minor from Nashville, Tennessee, and point guard for the Men’s Basketball team, Casey is one of 43 student-athletes from across the U.S. who advocate for their peers within NCAA Division III.

Casey (No. 5 below right), who also works as a senior admission fellow, joined Connecticut College’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) as a sophomore. Then, as a junior, he was selected to represent the entire NESCAC for the NCAA Division III SAAC. Casey attended a quarterly meeting in Indianapolis in July and plans to travel to Washington, D.C., in January for the organization’s national convention.

“We engage in a lot of discussion about current collegiate sports, including legislation and new NCAA initiatives,” he says. “There’s always something to talk about.” He seeks input throughout the year from fellow student-athletes on the Conn and NESCAC SAACs before casting his vote on issues affecting all NCAA players. “I want to help create the best possible experience for all student-athletes.”

As part of his duties, he recently wrote to several NESCAC-state Congress members in favor of the SCORE Act, a bill introduced in the House of Representatives in July that aims to standardize regulations for Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals and establish new requirements for studentathlete benefits.

His experience on the Men’s Basketball team is behind his passion for creating a great experience for other student-athletes. Casey says his favorite part has been building

custom QR experiences. The company, which now counts 75% of Fortune 500 companies among its users, was a perfect fit for Bhat, who is interested in the intersection of business, data and strategy, particularly in the areas of product, growth, marketing and finance.

“From the first interview, I knew [Flowcode] was where I wanted to be,” recalls Bhat. “Tim has created this culture there that’s so open to change and growth. Even the way the office was arranged. He’s the CEO of the company, and he sat right behind me in this open plan. It was awesome.”

relationships with his teammates in what he calls “a super tightknit group.”

“I love the direction Conn’s athletic program is going. Men’s Basketball had a pretty solid year my sophomore year—every time we won a game, it was the first time Conn had done something in 20 years. And now, you look around and every team is doing something amazing. It’s exciting,” he says. “Soccer is going on these crazy runs; lacrosse has improved significantly. It seems like the whole athletic program is just trending in the right direction.”

—Melissa Babcock Johnson

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

From 2019-2025, Conn produced:

■ 1,858 NESCAC All-Academic selections

It was an inspiring experience for Bhat, who hopes to someday start her own business.

“He’s a visionary; you can just tell talking to him that he’s thinking of something great to do next,” she says. —Tim Stevens ’03

■ 9 College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans

■ 4 United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America selections

■ 2 Fulbright fellows

■ 1 Watson fellow

TEAM IMPACT

Men’s Soccer reached new heights with honorary Camel Landon.

Eleven-year-old Landon Pereira thought he was going to Tempel Green to bid farewell to his honorary Men’s Soccer teammates before they headed to Las Vegas for the 2024 NCAA Final Four. But the Camels had something else in mind.

“This whole season and last season, we’ve appreciated your support. You’re not just a fan anymore. You’re a brother. You’re a teammate,” forward Elliot Spatz ’26 told Landon, who was gathered with the team on Freeman Field.

“With that being said, we thought it would be a little unfair if one of our teammates didn’t travel with us to the Final Four. So, Team IMPACT is going to be personally flying you and your mom with us to Vegas,” added defender Jack Lavorel ’25, as the team erupted into cheers and began chanting Landon’s name.

“The look on his face when we told him was just great. It was a surreal moment for him; it was a surreal moment for us,” Lavorel remembers.

Landon had officially joined the team—there was even a signing event—in 2023 as part of Conn’s partnership with Team IMPACT, a nonprofit that matches children facing serious illness and disability with college sports teams to create life-changing experiences for everyone involved. As an honorary Camel, Landon attended practices and games, participated in the team huddles and bonded with the team off the field, too.

“We went bowling, to the movies and we played mini golf, which was my favorite,” Landon says. He also celebrated two

birthdays with the team, and several of the players came to cheer him on at his own soccer game.

TEAM IMPACT PARTNERSHIP

■ 11 total honorary Camels

■ 9 participating teams

■ Current partnerships: Men’s Basketball

Men’s Cross Country Women’s Field Hockey

“They were all giddy and excited to be there—he definitely had the biggest cheering squad that day,” remembers Landon’s mom, Megan, who added that Landon joined the Camels soon after he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

“We were blessed to have them on our side as we were learning about diabetes and the new life we were entering with our son. Having a program like this was a very positive thing for Landon at a very tough time.”

While the Team IMPACT program officially lasts two years, Landon, now 12, is a Camel for life. Despite being busy with his own middle school soccer team, he was right back on the sidelines for the first home game of the 2025 campaign. Which is good, because with Landon on the team, the Camels went 26-5-14, won their very first NESCAC Championship, made their second Final Four appearance and came just one PK shy of winning a second national title.

“I created a genuine connection with Landon, and the team really relied on his support on and off the field,” says Lavorel. “I hope in the future that every team gets to have a Team IMPACT child be part of their programs.”

—Amy Martin

THE LONG RUN

As Conn’s longest-serving active head coach, Ned Bishop ’84 has witnessed the transformation of Camel athletics.

In the fall of 1980, when Ned Bishop ’84 joined Conn’s fledgling cross country and track & field teams as a first-year student, things were, well, a bit different.

“The only thing down at the Athletic Center was Dayton Arena. Dawley Field wasn’t really a field; it was more of a clearing. The Athletic Department offices, pool and basketball gym were in Cro, and the athletic trainer office was just a room in the infirmary,” remembers Bishop. “I was not only running varsity cross country, but by my senior year, I was also president of the track club, since we had this sort of dual club varsity status—we were funded through the student government. We were really coaching ourselves during track season. [Then athletic director] Charlie Luce was doing everything he could to support us, including driving us to meets in his own car.”

After graduation, Bishop stayed on as a volunteer assistant coach for a year—“Charlie found me odd jobs he could pay me for so I could make something,” he says— before first becoming a part-time head coach and then equipment manager, “so I had a full-time job in the department.”

Now in his 42nd coaching season—currently as head coach of the Women’s Cross Country and Track & Field teams, but he also coached the Men’s Track & Field team for 14 years—Bishop has witnessed nearly the entire arc of varsity athletics at Conn.

“This department has a real history of being able to get things done, but right up until the

launch of the Camel Athletics Network, we were still very much doing more with less,” he says. “And to a degree, that’s still true compared to our NESCAC peers, but we are doing more with a lot more than we used to.”

The impacts of the Camel Athletics Network and the Action Plan for Competitive Success on Bishop’s programs have been monumental, particularly in the areas of assistant coaching, recruiting and the ability to support more student-athletes. The men’s and women’s running programs each have a dedicated head coach and share three assistant coaches who specialize in jumps; sprints and hurdles; and throwing. The additional funding and recruiting successes have led to larger teams, too, with more than 100 Camel running and field event athletes on the rosters for the last three years.

2019-2025 WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRYAND TRACK & FIELD HIGHLIGHTS

■ 16 All-America selections

■ 60 All-Region selections

■ Two CSC Academic All-America selections

■ 14 New England Champions

■ Two NCAA team qualifiers (2023, 2024)

■ 26 NCAA individual qualifiers

■ Ranked No. 8 among all DIII programs in the 2025 USTFCCCA Program of the Year final standings; finished as the topranked program in the NESCAC

“Part of the success we are having is that track & field, with so many different events, is a sport of numbers. A bigger team is generally a better team. And in the old days, there’s no way we could support 100+ athletes, financially or practically,” he says.

“Last year was exceptional. It’s not just one athlete doing well, it’s a whole bunch doing well and making NCAAs. We had six women earn first- or second-team All-America. And that’s translating into recruiting with a different caliber of athletes being interested.”

Bishop adds that he’s excited to see just how much more the Camels can accomplish.

“I’ve reached an age where people have started asking me, ‘When are you going to retire?’ And my answer is: ‘Not just yet.’ I’m still really enjoying what I’m doing.”

—Amy Martin

CC Magazine welcomes your Class Notes and submissions. Please contact your class correspondent, email notes to classnotes@conncoll.edu or submit Class Notes online at: conncoll.edu/news/cc-magazine

denotes a Reunion class year. The next Reunion is May 29-31, 2026.

Correspondent: Mona Gustafson Affinito, 723 Water Street, Apt. 1001, Excelsior, MN 55331, 612-760-5007, forgivenessoptions@earthlink.net Congratulations to us! I’ve sent this information to known ’51ers, but I want everyone to know that we have some generous people in our class. The following letter was received on July 14 from Lynne Crider, the associate director of annual giving: “There were 23 donors for the class this year. That’s just two shy of the goal of 25, but the dollar goal of $15,000 was surpassed by almost $11,000 for a total dollars raised of $25,672. So a great job by the class.” Other people really do care! After our last Class Notes column, I received an email from a member of the Class of ’66 expressing interest in the manuscript I mentioned I was working on. (The working title has changed, by the way, to How Could These Lovely People Have Let It Happen?: A Psychologist’s Intimate Journal.) Now to the important stuff. Amity Pierce Buxton is alive and well in her retirement home, Piedmont Gardens, in Oakland, Calif., with her two children living nearby—one with his wife and two children. Her only problem is a broken leg, which prevents daily walks in her neighborhood. Arien Hausknecht Mack writes: “I am the director of the New University in Exile Consortium, which I founded in 2018. It is based at The New School, the home of the first University in Exile, where I taught for many years. The Consortium is now an expanding group of 72 universities located in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Europe, Ireland and South Africa. Each university Consortium member commits to hosting at least one threatened, displaced scholar—of which there are currently more than 300.”

Phyllis Hoffmann Driscoll still lives in Hilton Head, SC, in the same single-floor house she and Frank moved into 35 years ago. (He passed away 10 years ago.) She still walks the golf course in the early morning (weather permitting) with a

neighbor who’s her daughter’s age. She’s decided to sell her car; South Carolina is very expensive for insurance, etc. Her daughter is “delighted” by her decision. Phyllis’s neighbors help her with shopping and errands, and a young man comes weekly, or whenever she needs him, to help. She pays him to shop and help with things around the house. “It’s like having my family living with me … I’m lucky, I have such wonderful neighbors. I’m everyone’s grandmother.” Helen (Johnnie) Johnson Haberstroh writes, “A medical kerfuffle last fall persuaded me to bequeath my beloved Honda to my newly driving-licensed grandson. When that door of independence closed, along with my Prints with Tints shop on Etsy and forgoing future ads about House Portraits in the local village mags, windows opened. (1) Online Kroger delivery became my new grocery wheels, ushering in a learning curve. Two bunches of bananas (10 in all instead of two singles) arrived on my doorstep. A frenzy of baking banana bread filled my freezer. (2) Having downtimed my art projects, I joined two fun-loving bridge groups, where we forgive and forget the missteps. Between deals, a new House Portrait popped into my future. (3) Changing hairdressers to my retirement community’s salon brought yet another House Portrait commission, curiously bookending a beginning 40+ years ago. (4) Designing and printing the annual Christmas card was underway in July instead of November. Throughout the new year, individually painted greeting cards became a creative incentive for prayer, thanks and congrats when inevitable sickness, tragedy and kind deeds swirled in this eldercare environment.” Barbara Wiegand Pillote and husband Bob celebrated their 72nd anniversary and then moved into the new Kensington Bethesda assisted-living facility in Bethesda, Md., with Bob Junior living a block away. I, Mona Gustafson Affinito, miss my daily 8 p.m. conversations with Harriet Bassett MacGregor, which began in January 2024 when her husband, Bob, died. Harriet passed on peacefully, even contentedly, on July 20, 2025. I miss her in writing this column—my primary source for answering questions that come up. I miss her checking every day to see whether I’d written on my blog, just as it had been her job to remind me to attend extracurricular events at CC. And I haven’t yet given up the habit of saving my Wordle scores to share with her daily. (P.S.: You’ll find an example of Helen Haberstroh’s house art on this page.)

53Correspondent: Sue Weinberg Mindlin, sue@mindlin.com Betty-Jane (BJ) Englander Golboro has had a busy life! After graduation, she taught kindergarten and then moved to the New York City area with her husband, Alan, and worked for the National Council of Jewish Women. She and Alan and their three children moved to the Chicago area, where BJ became a docent for 40 years at the Art Institute. She was also a Great Books leader for 40 years. She continued her docent work in Florida at the Norton Simon Museum during those same years—Wow! (Mr. Mayhew would have been so proud. He really inspired so many of us.) Alice Dreifuss Goldstein has moved after 60 years in Rhode Island to Lexington, KY. She’s surrounded by children, grandchildren and great-grandkids.

Alice has been teaching adult education classes for the University of Kentucky, focusing on the Holocaust, but also on antisemitism and demography. She also teaches a weekly class on the Bible. Incredibly, she says her pace has slowed down! AnnEllen Fine Guth took her children and spouses to Italy’s gorgeous Lake Como area last summer. Carol Gerard McCann is enjoying her newest great-grandchild. This little boy is the 13th generation of the family ancestor, George Soule, who arrived in our country on the Mayflower! Carol still enjoys cooking and is an active daily Wordle competitor. (How many of us are also hooked on this fun activity?) Carol still plays bridge, as so many of us did during our college years and probably still do. Joan Fluegelman Wexler’s P’79 family keeps growing. She keeps in touch with her farflung clan via Zoom. I, Sue Weinberg Mindlin, am in contact with a few fellow alums at our Kansas City Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, where I have been a docent for 45 years. Elizabeth (Betsy) Dawe Piebenga ’66 is also a docent, and Holly Bawden ’06 is the curatorial assistant for Global, Modern and Contemporary American Art. I am saddened reading of the deaths of so many of our classmates. And it’s a bit disconcerting to read our class’s column at the beginning of the Class Notes section in CC Magazine. We aren’t that old!

Correspondent: Elaine Diamond Berman, 100 Riverside Blvd., Apt. 20C, New York, NY 10069, elainedberman@ comcast.net Our class president, Suzanne Krim Greene P’85, said that she and Helene Zimmer-Loew “are continuing to see the world.” In late spring, they started in Aberdeen, Scotland, then joined an expedition cruise and traveled north to the Faroe Islands, and then continued farther north, well above the Arctic Circle, where they hiked and visited many local communities. Sue said the people were extremely gracious. In October, they plan to go to Australia and Melanesia for hiking, snorkeling and kayaking. In February, they plan to traverse the Amazon River in Peru. Judy Hartt Acker wrote a letter accompanying a request for contributions through the Connecticut College Fund. She plays duplicate bridge a few times each week and is in a Bible study group at her church. Jeri Fluegelman Josephson lives in a senior residence in Charlotte, NC. She and Buddy moved there several years ago when Buddy developed Parkinson’s, and her son and daughter-in-law lived nearby. Buddy passed away more than three years ago. Jeri’s daughter has lived in London for many years. Her daughter’s son, who grew up in London and married an American girl, now lives in Brooklyn and has made Jeri a great-grandmother. Sebastian, her great-grandson, is 18 months old. Condolences to Elaine Manasevit Friedman, who lost her husband, Bob, in late spring after a long illness. 60

Correspondent: Millie Price Nygren, 1048 Bedford Street, Fremont, CA 94539, 408-464-2907, m.nygren@att. net Jean Curtiss Britt P’87 took a hiking trip to the Engadine Valley in Switzerland with her daughter, Sarah Britt ’87. They had been in the area many times in the winter and wanted to experience it in the summer. “A beautiful experience in a beautiful country!”

2026 ALUMNI AWARDS

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Three volunteers at St. Luke’s Church in East Hampton, NY—Lysbeth (Lys) Marigold, Ayse Manyas Kenmore ’61 and Susan Hillman Crandall ’60—realized that they’re all CC grads.

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Correspondent: Bonnie Campbell Billings-Wauters, 1348 Winding Oaks Circle W, Vero Beach, FL 32963, 802734-1876, bsq22@aol.com We’re back! My plea for news, or my “cri de coeur,” as Cynthia Norton Scoggin put it, elicited a hearty response, including from several who had never submitted before. It is nice to note how many classmates who were only with us for one or two years had such formative and rewarding experiences at Conn that they continue to identify with our Class of 1963. Marian (Pooh) Bingham moved last year from Cali-

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fornia to Greenwich, CT, to be near her daughter and tend to her husband, now in a memory care facility. “I’ve been on a roller coaster, gradually adjusting to living alone and getting back to my art.” Pooh has heard from Linda Osborne and would love to be in touch with any nearby classmates. Marcia Mueller Foresman and her husband have lived in Vero Beach, FL, for many years and recently “resized” to Oak Harbor in Vero. A series of medical issues—from COVID to orthopedic surgery—limited their winter activities in recent years, but they love their new community and are back at the bridge table, as well as playing golf and croquet. “We still love to travel”—they planned a cruise from Iceland to New York over the summer, followed by time in Chatham, MA, “connecting with friends from our old neighborhood, where we summered for many years.” Marcia, Nancy Feuerstein Milsten, Susan Kellogg Grigg, Agnes Cochran Underwood, and I, Bonnie Campbell Billings, hope to gather again for lunch in the coming season. After years of summering in Maine, Elana (Lanny) Brown Anderson and husband Bill have been full-time in Lanny’s historic family community on Deer Isle for more than a dozen years. With four generations together on the island, she is now “Great Lanny” to great-great-granddaughter Mayotta! Travel last year included two wonderful trips to Canada, one to celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary—“not bad for a second marriage!” Lanny observed. She is especially proud that Bill, at his “ripe old age,” has become a certified EMT! Lanny stays in good contact with several classmates, including Linda Osborne, Cynthia Nichols Tra-

vers and me. Jeannette Cruise Pease is grateful to be in good health, with all extremities working reasonably well, albeit slowly. “I tested my stamina with a Road Scholar trip to Chicago. What a beautiful city. I enjoyed all the varied experiences included.” After 30 years as a high school librarian, in both the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California, she retired to San Juan Capistrano some 30 years ago. “This morning, I enjoyed a nice long catch-up chat with Anne Brown Dunn. We plan to get together this fall.” Cynthia Norton Scoggin reported that her husband, Jim, died last year of metastasized spinal cancer from an enlarged prostate. While it was initially diagnosed as benign, after a year it became malignant. “Be vigilant if you have this issue in your family. I live in a condo in Vallejo, Calif., near great trails. Walking with my two beloved dogs keeps us all fit! I have set up a painting studio in my former dining room after removing the hospital bed. I am done with formal entertaining, so the family, when visiting, eats on the terrace. Fortunately, I live in a benign climate. The place has a nice pool for the grandkids—ages 5 and 7. Both are on swim teams, so no worries about water safety.” Cynthia has joined a group of seniors in a “virtual village” of seniors helping seniors with tasks, rides, etc., as well as providing social activities. There is a National List of Villages (www.vtvnetwork.org), if you want to find one near you. “It’s worth joining and supporting.” Nancy DiMatteo Hall left Conn after sophomore year to get married. After junior year at Colby College and after having kids, she finished up at the University of Maine. She still lives in Maine, in Saco. “While at Conn, I met

STAYING TRUE TO HERSELF

Debby Dearborn ’67 followed a diverse and fascinating career path—as both a writer and landscape designer—that was shaped by her experience at Connecticut College. Looking back, Debby says, “The College taught me how to think, how to read, how to write. And that has stayed with me for all these years, in addition to the friends that I still have.”

Debby

Dearborn ‘67

Debby retired to New Hampshire, where she spends time gardening and hiking. She also takes advantage of opportunities at the College, recently participating in a class on winter tree identification offered by the Arboretum. She says, “These majestic trees and shrubs give form to the beautiful stone that defines Connecticut to me. ”

Debby has also made a significant philanthropic contribution to Conn in the form of a charitable remainder trust that was funded with a gift of real estate. In 2022, Debby made Conn the irrevocable beneficiary of the trust, and spun off part of the trust to establish an endowed scholarship fund. She will continue to receive payments from the trust for life. When the trust terminates, the remainder comes to the College and will be added to her scholarship fund. She shares, “I’ve been so happy with the scholarship and the opportunity that it has provided for these young people.”

As Debby considers her legacy at Conn she says, “I consider myself an ordinary person. I think it’s good for people to realize that they don’t have to be the head of a Fortune 500 company in order to help.”

To inquire about creative ways you can support the College, contact the Office of Gift Planning at giftplanning@conncoll.edu or call (860) 439-2416.

Susan McGuire Gay; we became lifelong friends, with our families closely knit as well. Sue made many friends, and I am so very sad to tell them all that she passed away in April, in Winchester, Va. Everyone has lost a very remarkable woman in their lives.” Madeline Siegfried Lesnik and husband Steven are still in Chicago with a place in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., to avoid the cold winters, which Steven especially dislikes. They travel and at writing were preparing to visit CC and New York City, and to spend time in Maine. “We miss the East Coast and visit whenever possible. I miss all my friends from Blackstone and Katherine Blunt. On a visit to Conn, I was thrilled to still see Crozier-Williams and so many areas that hold loving memories for me. I keep many teachers, professors and others close in my thoughts. And, of course, we delight in our children and grandchildren.” Katherine (Kitsy) Converse P’88 transferred after her sophomore year at Conn (Branford and Harkness) to Penn. Though she graduated from Penn, her oldest, Jennifer Schelter ’88, is a CC alum! “My freshman roommate, Virginia (Gina) Greenlease Faltico, is now deceased; my sophomore roommate, Linda Mueller, married an Italian and is now back in the U.S. We’re from a transitional generation of ‘married with kids’: as Gloria and women’s lib brought birth control and career. My art major turned into interior design. I’m grateful to CC for a great start and proud to see how it’s grown. Divorced with four kids and eight grands, I live in Philadelphia, Cape Cod and Paris—my retirement home! The most amazing thing I remember, other than not passing a chapel attendance requirement, is from freshman year.” She remembers Robert Frost’s words from a talk in Harkness in 1959: “Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee and I’ll forgive Thy great big one on me!” Judy Long has no intention of moving from her home of 60 years in Sag Harbor, NY,, where she serves on the Village Historic Preservation Board. She writes and has self-published a memoir. She travels to NYC to visit her daughter every other week and spends every August in Owl’s Head, Maine. Diana Sherman Peacock and husband Dick moved to Carmel, Calif. (from Los Altos Hills, Calif.), nearly five years ago to be near their daughter and family, their 13-year-old granddaughter, and their son. “We live in a golfing community in Carmel, as we love the game and play often. We winter in Indian Wells, in the Palm Springs area. I was a travel consultant for many years, and we traveled to many places by air, sea and land, with our favorite being Africa. I enjoy staying in contact with Gail Martin

I’m grateful to CC for a great start and proud to see how it’s grown.

— LINDA MUELLER ’63

Reed, Wallace (Wally) Coates Paprocki and Jeanette (Jay) Cannon Ruffle.” Jay and her husband are actively retired in Burlington, VT. Book club, walking and hiking and exercise, and Zumba classes four times a week keep Jay busy and fit! “It makes me smile, in Zumba Gold class, to look around the room of about 40 people, many of us in our 80s, having so much fun just dancing, doing what we can do!” Jay also helps refugees in her neighborhood, most recently Afghan families, plus eight Afghan girls who are students at Middlebury College. There were many family events this summer, including a celebration day in Greensboro, VT, with all 15 (including seven grandchildren, ages 8 to 20) coming from California, Israel and Montpelier, VT. “We enjoy keeping in touch with friends through the years, from Army days in Germany to Peace Corps friends (Philippines) and, of course, CC friends Wallace (Wally) Coates Paprocki, Gail Martin Reed and Diana Sherman Peacock.” It was encouraging to hear from many about how much they enjoy keeping up with classmates and our Class Notes. Hope you’ll contribute to the next issue!

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Correspondents: Susan Peck Hinkel, 1064 N. Main Street, Danby, VT 05739, rerob@mac.com; Pat Antell Andrews, 2800 S. University Blvd., Unit 4, Denver, CO 80210, pandre0615@ gmail.com Having served as class co-presidents for over a decade, Margorie Landsberg Goldsmith and Judith Trauner Stone are relinquishing their positions. “It was an honor and an interesting 10 years. Hopefully, someone else or two will step up.” Marge is happy to answer questions from interested classmates (margegoldsmith@optonline.net). In San Francisco, Margery Tupling Knyper is “continuing to pursue good health and navigating prospects for the future.” One son is an anesthesiologist nurse, the other is getting his counseling certification for hypnotherapy. She is very pleased for them. Cathy Fullerton Stentzel and husband Jim celebrated 60 years of marriage in August.

“We’ve had a wonderful life together!” In December, they moved to assisted-living facilities in Pennsylvania so Jim could get the help he needed. “We were sad to leave Shepherd Village Cohousing in Shepherdstown, WV.” Milanne (Mimi) Rehor continues as president of Arkwild, which she founded in 1992. The organization’s goal has been to save the Abaco Island Spanish Colonial Horse, a subbreed introduced to the island in the 19th century from Cuba. The last horse died in 2015, but Mimi and Arkwild are collaborating with ViaGen Equine to clone

two horses using frozen tissue from the last mare. ViaGen has cloned a Przewalski’s horse using cryopreserved genetic material, and once funding is secured, Mimi plans to proceed with cloning the Abaco horses. Donna Hershiser Engelson forwarded the sad news of the death of Jennifer Faulds Goldsborough. Jennifer received an MA from CC in art, specializing in art history, and was an expert on historic silver and other “lavish legacies.” She published numerous books on her specialty—including one on the antique silver of New London, based on an exhibit at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum that she helped curate, and another on women silversmiths in the Colonial period. Jennifer worked as a museum curator for 30 years and served as an associate faculty member in Smithsonian-Parsons’ American Decorative Arts master’s program, a core-curriculum instructor in Sotheby’s graduate American Works of Art program, and an adjunct professor of art history at Chesapeake College. The fun days at Reunion 2025 led Virginia (Ginny) Chambers Keim to think back: “My main takeaway from our great time together concerns the degree to which our generation of women is once again pioneers. We were early in setting a standard for young mothers and wives to return to the workplace in the beginning of the women’s movement, and now I see how many of us are reinventing retirement—not really retired but pursuing sidebars of our personal passions and careers through consulting, board participation and the like. What a pleasure to see all this in action!” It was a proud moment for our class when Karin Kunstler Goldman received the Unity Award at Reunion for her career as an assistant attorney general in New York, as well as for her lifelong dedication to social justice. Congratulations, Karin!

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Correspondents: Carol Chaykin and Bridget Donahue Healy; ccnotes66@ gmail.com Margaret (Peggy) Silliman Tuttle P’94 GP’25 and daughter Kathryn Tuttle ’94 P’25 visited Conn to watch Peggy’s grandson Walker Mulligan ’25 play on the men’s tennis team versus Wesleyan. Carol Chaykin sings with the Nashir Chorale and was happy to see Marianne David in the audience at the chorale’s June performance at Merkin Hall in New York City. After the concert, Carol and Marianne caught up at a late lunch at a nearby restaurant. Katherine (Kate) Curtis Donahue and husband Bill spent a week near Peebles, Scotland, with their three sons and their families—12 in all, ranging in age from 5 months to 81 years. (Bill is the twin brother of Bridget Donahue Healy.) Bill and Kate celebrated their 80th birthdays with walks and dinners, and wine and scotch, followed by silly games. After 15 years of living in Sedona, AZ, and enjoying the beautiful hikes there, in mid-July Deborah (Debby) Nichols

Losse and husband John moved to Mirabella at ASU, a retirement community on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe, where Debby taught for 37 years. Within a week of their move (facilitated by daughter Kate and son Owen) Debby and John were busy with the many class offerings and enjoying seeing old friends and making new ones. Carol Potter Day sent a lovely photo taken with Adair Albee Hendrickson in September 2023 at Applebee’s in Sarasota, FL, together with the note “Adair RIP. We had the best times. Miss her.” Ellen Schwartz Allington and husband Ken live in northern Wisconsin, where Lake Superior is a favorite getaway for both summer and winter fishing. Ellen sent a great photo of the lake trout she caught over the Fourth of July weekend. Betsey Staples Harding wrote: “No real news from me, except for the fact that I was so fortunate to have known Priscilla Gray Platt ’68, and to have attended her memorial service [on June 14 in Yarmouth, ME]. Over several years, she taught me a great deal about compassion and connection to what truly matters. Singing at the end of her service, our words, sung to ‘When the Saints Go Marching In,’ were powerful: ‘When we all have food to eat,’ and ‘When our leaders learn to cry.’ In dying, as in living, Priscilla made a difference!” Liane Stearns Gowen and husband Dick celebrated their 56th anniversary in August and still live in the family home in Palmer, MA. Dick has memory issues, and Liane continues to care for him at home. Their granddaughters, Madeleine Grace Gowen and Emma Rose Gowen, started their first years at Mount Holyoke College and Muhlenberg College, respectively. Don’t forget that we have a reunion in May! Mark your calendars now: Friday, May 29–Sunday, May 31, 2026. Hope to see you in the spring! A final note: We send sincere condolences to the family and friends of Adair Albee Hendrickson Please continue sending your news and photos. We want to share them!

67Correspondents: Deborah Greenstein, debbyg837@verizon.net; Marcia Hunter Matthews, marciamatthews3@gmail. com The class sends condolences to Patricia Roos Frutig, whose husband died in December 2024 after 55 years of marriage. She has three adult children: one in Colorado with her own law practice; one in D.C., having left the Department of Justice for a more stable position; and one starting her own business counseling folks about their financial lives. Four grandchildren under age 8. Pat still practices law from home and volunteers with caregivers to serve our aging population. Susan Leahy Eldert and Christine Miller St. Jean ’67 met for lunch on Cape Cod in July. Debby Greenstein and Margie Lipshutz Simon had dinner in Philadelphia in June. Debby also reports that a group of ’67 classmates met for lunch in D.C. in June., which they began doing after our 50th reunion and have continued twice a year, except during COVID. Along with Debby, the recent gathering included Wendy Thompson Noyes, Judy Betar Metro, Anne Maloney Black and Laura DeKoven Waxman P’95. If other classmates in the area want to join, contact Debby. Wallis Lindburg Nicita celebrated her 80th birthday in Palm Springs, CA. Rita York Fogal, Patricia McClure and Marcia Hunt-

er Matthews gathered for lunch in Venice, FL. Lynn Weichsel Hand lives with daughter Emily in Topsham, ME. Granddaughter Emily is a senior at Boston University. Lynn is inspired by the beauty of southern Maine and continues to enjoy painting. Etta Lou Berkowitz was at Conn with us for freshman year and would love to find Susan Deraney, also only with us freshman year. One of the first people to reach out to her in 1963 was Patricia Roos Frutig. Etta Lou is married to Donald Mostrom, lives in Des Moines, IA, and has retired after being a public school social worker. Elayne Zweifler Gardstein P’92 and Hank enjoyed a trip through beautiful Tuscany and Umbria, Italy. Elayne visited the Piero della Francesca frescoes in Arezzo, about which she had written a term paper for Miss Haywood’s Italian Renaissance class 60 years ago! Suzy Endel Kerner P’02 and husband Paul’s home on the Connecticut shore is, happily, a magnet for their nine grandchildren scattered across the U.S. Suzy and Paul enjoy their involvement with the nearby Lyman Allyn Art Museum and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Suzy’s documentary film Eva’s Promise is screening on PBS stations, at festivals, and in theaters, museums and universities in the U.S. and Europe. She participates in live and virtual talkbacks and is working on a collection of the paintings and poems of Heinz Geiringer, the teenage artist and subject of Eva’s Promise. Suzy is grateful for the caring, supportive friendships with CC classmates sustained by monthly Zoom gatherings. Bahira Sugarman feels gratitude and love as she “travels this Solo Journey toward the ancestors after her beloved, Rabbi Shayla Isenberg, left his bones behind” on June 14, 2023. She is deeply grateful for the multitude of blessings and cherished memories. Bahira celebrated her 80th birthday in Crescent Beach, FL. Ethel Bottcher Cullinan and her daughter, son-in-law and grandson spent two weeks in Seoul, South Korea, visiting her son and his family. Her grandchildren speak Korean, French and English. “Seoul is a huge, modern city, very spread out, with over 25 million in population. Great food!” They saw lots, including the Demilitarized Zone. She and her husband are preparing to move into the continuing-care community that she developed in Macon, GA. Pamela Batson Healey slipped while walking and broke her femur, which required surgery. After 20 years, Sara Markun Dean retired from working in international sales and marketing for two medical manufacturers. She loves retirement: She’s in two book clubs and is an ESL volunteer for two students. She loves her daily walks and her five grandchildren. Marcia Hunter Matthews is grateful for her Conn friends. Frequent phone calls and visits with Jim and Judy Macurda Oates have become very important as Bill’s and Jim’s cases of Parkinson’s prog-

ress. Dinners with Hal and Bonnie Burke Himmelman ’66 are frequent treats in Kennebunkport, ME. And monthly Zoom gatherings with Judith Rosman Hahn, Nancy Blumberg Austin, Rae Downes Koshetz, Susie Endel Kerner P’02, Dana Freedman Liebman and Susan Leahy Eldert are comforting.

Avery Halsey Dickinson writes that Margaret (Margo) Dolan, who died on Feb. 27, was one of the most able and original art dealers of her generation. She was active in the art world, and a British colleague, Gordon Cooke, wrote a lovely tribute: “Born and raised in Pennsylvania, her career centered on Philadelphia, where she and her husband, Peter Maxwell, founded their gallery, Dolan/Maxwell. Margo Dolan was a founder member of the IFPDA and never missed a fair. It was her contention that, if there was a print fair in New York, Dolan/Maxwell should take part. A passionate and intelligent connoisseur of the best in art, she was willing to take risks in business but also gave Ireland a lasting legacy, in the Ballinglen Arts Foundation, which has invigorated a community. Her quiet determination, her love of art, and devoted support of the artists she championed have illuminated the art world for over half a century, and her death robs us of an irreplaceable figure.” After spending May in the Galapagos and the Amazon, Gail Weintraub Stern returned to her mountain home in Sun Valley, ID. There she hosted Helen Epps over the Fourth of July and Ruth Cheris Edelson during the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference. Helen is active in nonviolent social change activities near her home in Washington, D.C. Ruth continues making and selling jewelry. Both remain active with frequent travel. “What a joy to spend ‘girl time’ with my two dear Harkness friends!”

If we get invited, we’re going.

— KATHLEEN DILZER MILCH ’69

Correspondent: Susan Cannon, susecannon@icloud.com Sally Yerkovich is not retired! She works full-time overseeing all of the fellowships and grants programs at the American-Scandinavian Foundation in New York City, and she teaches at Columbia. She’s been getting ready for an exhibition opening at Scandinavia House. The exhibition is drawn from the work she has been doing over the past eight years with Nordic traditional/contemporary artists in the Upper Midwest. She also volunteers on a major multiyear project with the International Council of Museums. Heather Morrison P’95, Laurie Cameron, Anne Sargent Walker and Mary Scheckman Hubka were looking forward to a fun mini-reunion at Laurie’s house in August. Kathleen Dilzer Milch has had an exciting year! Last fall, they sold their cottage in Osterville on Cape Cod, which freed up time and energy for other pursuits. In the spring, they traveled to the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, including a canal cruise at peak tulip blooming season, which was gorgeous! They attended a family wedding in Portland, OR. Their current philosophy is, “If we get invited, we’re going.” On a multigenerational trip to Ireland with their daughter and her family, they found they can just about keep up with a 5-year-old and an 8-year-old! The first half of August in Cape Cod was in a rental (less work for Grandma and Grandpa). Kathi and Jim are considering a move to a local continuing-care retirement community where they live near Rochester, NY. The waiting lists are lengthy; it may take a few years, and they are in no hurry. She has appreciated sharing information on this topic with fellow classmates in our Zoom sessions. Dilys Blum has finally retired! She can hardly believe she was at the Philadelphia Museum of Art as senior curator of costume and textiles for 38 years. “It’s been a dream career!” Her final exhibition at the PMA was “Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s” (closed Sept. 1), and she will continue to contribute to exhibition catalogues, including Selling Schiaparelli in America for the Victoria & Albert Museum’s “Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art,” opening March 2026 in London, 23 years after she curated the first U.S. exhibition dedicated to the designer! Mary Garlick St. George spent two weeks in April on an artist residency in a beautiful medieval town in the southwest of France. In June, she met up with old high school buddies in Copenhagen and Sweden for a bit of true nostalgia. Then in London, she stayed with her daughter and visited the Mall Galleries, where she was exhibiting with the Society of Women Artists. July found her work exhibited in Cornwall. She tries hard to keep her hand in by working in her studio on projects inspired by abandoned buildings. She also likes to do watercolor painting from their house in Sintra, Portugal, where she can walk directly into the Serra, a low mountainous wooded terrain. Katharine (Kate) Saner Pennington and husband Phil decided two years ago to move closer to their children, who live outside of Philadelphia. They found the right CCRC last fall and rushed to get the house sold and belongings downsized to fit into a two-bedroom apartment. They ac-

complished it all, moved into the new community on March 4 and still have PTSD from the experience! In May, they left for their annual four months living aboard their boat on the St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Islands. Kate enjoyed the one Zoom call she was able to join, as the topic of CCRCs was timely! She thinks these calls are a great way to reconnect and looks forward to more. Alice Boatright has been traveling to New Hampshire, New York and San Francisco to visit old friends and family whom she had not seen in ages. She recently released a new edition of her first book, retitled Shadows of Vietnam, which is now both historical and timely. Dagny Hultgreen Griswold’s husband of 44 years, Harry, passed away unexpectedly on April 26, age 89. Family and friends celebrated his life in July with photos of his adventures. Dagny is getting used to being alone, keeping busy on the boards of the Simsbury Historical Society and Farmington Valley Chorale, and serving on the zoning commission and the building committee. I, Susan Cannon, have enjoyed reading Lynne Hugo’s just-published 15th book, Mothers of Fate. The class extends sympathy to the family of Elizabeth (Betty) Butkus, who died on Nov. 9, 2024.

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Correspondent: Myrna Chandler Goldstein, myrnacgoldstein@gmail.com Congratulations to Cynthia Conrad, who won the Camel Swag Days 2025 contest at our 55th reunion. Despite the on-again, off-again showers, the Class of 1970 enjoyed Reunion Weekend this past May 30–June 1. Barbara Hermann, Cynthia Conrad, Barbara Sagan, Martha Sloan Felch P’07, Nancy Pierce Morgan, Mary-Jane Atwater and Patricia (Patti) Bern-

The Class of 1970 enjoyed Reunion Weekend May 30–June 1.

L-R: Barbara Hermann ’70, Cynthia Conrad ’70, Barbara Sagan ’70, Martha Sloan Felch ’70 P’07 and Nancy Pierce Morgan ’70

stein enjoyed reconnecting. Mary-Jane Atwater offered an excellent summary: “Twenty-five classmates attended at least some part of Reunion, and we all vowed to return in five years! We attended the Sykes luncheon and a briefing and tour on campus improvements. The new spaces in Cro and the soon-to-be-completed Cro Boulevard pedestrian walkway, which replaces the road and cars, will be a huge improvement. We visited the new athletic facilities at the waterfront, too. A highlight was Saturday-afternoon journaling in nature (moved inside due to blustery weather), an opportunity for reflection and expressive writing led by Nancy Pierce Morgan. We enjoyed the Friday-evening lobster feast and our festive class dinner in the Blaustein Center. Most of all, I en-

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joyed our conversations and sharing stories—remembering our time at Conn and the classmates and faculty who had an impact on us, and talking about our lives today. It was great getting to know women I didn’t know well at Conn, as well as spending time with Reunion regulars. We plan to establish a periodic Zoom call to stay in touch; to join, please contact Martha Sloan Felch P’07 or me: msfelch1@gmail.com, mjatwater@gmail. com.” Karen Kuskin-Smith also wrote about Reunion. “Reunion seemed extra special this year—maybe because we missed our 50th and hadn’t been back to the college in 10 years. There was an added investment in getting to know each other better, even if we knew each other already. I came away feeling that I made some new friends. Most importantly, I was reminded what a special place Conn is!” Pamela Brooks Perraud visited Susan Frechtling Stewart in her Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C. Although they hadn’t seen each other since the 25th reunion, “the years melted away.” Susan said they had a great time catching up and visiting Old Town Alexandria and the “amazing” Marjorie Merriweather Post museum home. Susan splits her time among Maryland, Maine and an annual trip to England. Pam splits her time among Houston, New York City and France. “She continues her extensive work with the UN Women’s Caucus.” About 135 photographs of babies and children from the collection of Amelia (Lee) Marks and her husband, John C. DePrez Jr., have been loaned to the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, FL. (norton.org), for the exhibit “Veiled Presence: The Hidden Mothers and Sara VanDerBeek.” According to Lee, who is the retired owner of Lee Marks Fine Art, the photographs “are juxtaposed

To nominate a fellow Camel, scan the QR code at right. Nominations received after Dec. 31, 2025, will be considered for the 2026-2027 term.

with the work of contemporary 21st-century artist Sara VanDerBeek.” The museum notes that the “exhibition explores the ‘hidden mother’ in 19th-century portraits of children, where long exposure times required mothers or caretakers to keep children still, often concealed behind props or beneath textiles to an unsettling degree.” The exhibit is on view until the end of November. Contact Lee if you want an illustration. She and John own the reproduction rights. Gail Pheterson wrote from France. She is an emeritus professor at two universities there: at the Centre de recherches sociologiques et politiques de Paris (CRESPPS/CNRS) and in the Department of Psychology at the University of Picardie Jules Verne. She is also on the ad honorem faculty of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the University of Puerto Rico. “I live mostly in France and a few months each year in Puerto Rico. My current feminist engagements include projects in Middle Africa and the Caribbean; a book on the clinical politics of pregnancy; online psychotherapy; and lectures as occasions arise. Music and swimming keep me going; I play piano, organize concerts, swim, and most urgently, join forces across borders to resist escalating injustice in the world.” Russell Josephson, who spent his junior year at Conn, still lives in a beautiful valley in Kauai, Hawaii, although they plan to sell the home to retire. His wife, Vera, has been a grant writer for the National Tropical Botanical Gardens for 15 years. As of July 4, they had been married 37 years. “We traveled twice in the past year, unusual for us. Last June, we visited New Zealand. We loved it. I am ready to emigrate. Then in March, we were in London for a few days for a bar mitzvah and followed up with a short trip to Scotland.”

Correspondents: Lisa McDonnell, 79 Audubon Avenue, Binghamton, NY 13903, mcdonnell@denison.edu; and Lois Olcott Price, 933A Alto Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501, loprice@yahoo.com In answer to the query about our classmates’ most influential/life-changing class or professor: Jane Difley remembers Bernice Wheeler ’37, who somehow got Jane a stipend for the summer before senior year to spend the time volunteering at Environment Canada, sampling budworm populations in the forests of New Brunswick during that year’s outbreak. That led Jane (a CC English major) to apply to graduate school in forestry. The rest, as they say,

— BARBARA KAHN STEWART ’71

is history. Jane recently spent two glorious weeks at York Harbor in Maine, where she kayaked, saw “Guys and Dolls” at the Ogunquit Playhouse, saw lots of friends, ate lots of seafood, visited three art galleries, read, relaxed and walked a lot. Recently, Jane trained for and ran in a 5K race in Concord, NH, in support of the Equality Health Center—not much of a runner, but she finished! She also participated in an event at her gym and got a deadlift PR (personal record)—she passed her goal with a 135-pound lift on her third try. The most important class Ellen Parry took at Conn was Dean Johnson’s Expository Writing Seminar. She has used what she learned there in just about everything she has done in her life since then. Lucy Van Voorhees enjoys being a full-time farmer—she just pulled about a hundred shallots from her garden. Remembering Conn, she picked econ as a major, thinking she would go into business like her family, then spent her sophomore summer working as a tech in an internist’s office, where she got hooked on medicine. First she considered becoming an equine vet (been riding since she was a toddler) but found the regional vet school at Auburn did not admit women. So off she went to medical school—and just retired after 44 years in cardiology! She was probably happier taking care of people, and so glad she didn’t go into the family’s automobile business! Lois Olcott Price entered Conn as a potential premed major, then became interested in “history with a side of studio art,” and then art history. A course in American decorative arts with Edgar Mayhew opened the world of material culture as a way to understand history, and she was sold—until she later discovered art conservation, which added her interest in chemistry to the mix. “It has been a great ride.” After a series of unfortunate events (broken ankle repaired with surgery last year, suspicious spots on the same leg diagnosed as skin cancer and removed in May, and a car accident with whiplash in April), Anne Sigmond Curtis has had lots of physical therapy and is still improving strength and stability in her right leg. “Not yet 100% but getting better.” Husband John still has unpleasant vertigo events but managed to go on many ski trips. They had several fun trips together, including to the eldest granddaughter in Newberg, OR, where she is a film and business major and studying for her LSATs. They also took a great trip to Santa Fe, NM, in April, and caught up with Lois Olcott Price over coffee. Keeping up with the 10 grandkids and their activities keeps them busy, and they saw lots of family at their summer home in Minnesota. They were looking forward to September in Africa: Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Susan (Susie) Pool Moses took their boat Moseying Around on a 10-day South Puget Sound boating trip with

Life has both slowed down and sped up.

the Navy Yacht Club Everett. The weather was great, and they visited at least seven ports, including the state capitol, Olympia. Susie continues as president of their condo association, including dealing with new legislation that affects condos in many states. Daughter Lauren and her husband, Steve, moved to France last summer with Susie’s grandbaby boys, Wolf, Bear and Lynx—she misses them and tries to touch base weekly, though they are nine time zones away! Son Evan and girlfriend YiTing are expecting a baby girl; they live in Renton, WA. Susie and Dale had family reunions on both sides in Pennsylvania this past summer. In the it’s-a-small-world-after-all category, Patricia Stein Wrightson saw Ann Huckle Mallek on July 24 at the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society. “We live in the same town, northwest of Charlottesville.” Life goes on in Montreal for  Jennifer Maduro. There are friends and family south of the border she would like to visit, but she is looking to discover other places to visit, including in Canada, her home since 1973, for the time being. She is grateful to Conn and her fave professors, some of whom she keeps in touch with. Barbara Kahn Stewart recently broke two bones in her left foot. “Life has both slowed down (can’t do things as fast) and sped up (time goes by fast because everything takes much longer to do)!” Dancing is on hold while she recovers, but they can still play music and watch Netflix. Carolyn Swartz combined her experience with and love of writing and food and published a story on Eat, Darling, Eat, an ongoing web-based storytelling platform about mothers, daughters and food. It’s archived in the U.S. Library of Congress for “cultural significance.” Her story is about growing up in a two-family house with a mother and (paternal) grandmother who were polar opposites. She also writes regularly for the Manhattan magazine WomanAroundTown.com, most recently a highly opinionated food tour of Portland, ME’s East End/Munjoy Hill (where she lives). Susan Schmidt is grateful the temperature dropped 10 degrees today, and it’s raining on the gardens.

“My dog and I walk earlier and later. We both swim early before humans invade the beach, the incoming tide. We kayak Rachel Carson Preserve to survey shorebirds. Staying put this summer and welcoming guests. Maybe in September, I’ll fly to Boston, Cape Cod and Maine to see cousins.”

Correspondents: Barbara White Morse, barbarawmorse@gmail.com; and Ann Tousignant, anntousignant@gmail.com In Portland, ME, Glenn Morazzini P’09 continues to work as a psychotherapist and supervisor. He and wife Pam enjoy kayaking and camping around the remote ponds and lakes of Maine and spending time with their children, Russ and Tara Morazzini Talvachia ’09, and their four grandchildren. Marguerite Gemson Ashman and husband Jay celebrated their 50th anniversary last fall in the Andalucia area of Spain. Recently, they reconnected with Maria Spencer Freedberg and her husband, Paul, for lunch in Newburyport, MA. After spending 14 months sailing from Maine to the Bahamas, Norma Drab Goldstein and husband Allen embarked on another long sailing adventure, to Desolation Sound on the

west coast of Canada. Although retired, she continues to work with the governing boards of tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) across the country. Norma also serves on the board of the Magnolia Historical Society in Seattle. Sally Ann MacLaughlin Olivier commented that “we are all at the age where we are still kicking.” Her peripatetic career included work as a graphic artist and yoga instructor. Still active in yoga, she attended an inspirational yoga teacher course at Duke University and is now focused on the “senior body.” She sends best wishes to all—especially those “enjoying the vicissitudes of arthritis.” Since relocating back to Rochester, NY, she is

near her oldest daughter and family and has “been forced to learn the joys” of watching baseball. Fortunately, her grandson is profoundly talented at the game! Barbara McLean Ward continues her work with the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire. With a career in the field of American history, she is deeply troubled about the direction of our country. She invoked a quote from Benjamin Franklin when asked what kind of government we have, and he responded: “A democracy, if we can keep it.” Carol Blake Boyd was in a horrible accident in June; her car was rear-ended by a speeding vehicle clocked at 167 mph. She spent weeks in a trauma unit and then in a rehab hospital. Although it’s a long road to recovery, she expects to be OK. Carol reminds us that life can change in the blink of an eye and added, “Stay safe out there, fellow Camels. And enjoy each day life sends us.” Ruth Ritter Ladd and daughter Robin celebrated Ruth’s 75th birthday with an amazing educational cruise from Dublin, Ireland, to the Scottish mainland, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, Faroe Islands and around Iceland. A highlight was Grímsey Island, north of Greenland, where they hiked to the Arctic Circle and saw a couple of million (really!) puffins. It was a wonderful mother-daughter vacation, which happens all too rarely. Wendy Winnick Baskin reunited in June with Mary Quinn Melaugh and Joan Byrne. They were grateful to observe 57 years of friendship and celebrate their 75th birthdays. Instead of a birthday party for Joan and Wendy, their families organized a fundraising event for several nonprofits they support. Ann Tousignant and husband David Gute ’73 spent two months in France during the summer, taking a two-week tour of Brittany after David completed teaching at the Tufts European Center in Talloires, France. They were fascinated by the megaliths around Carnac, France, which are older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids. Northern Brittany was breathtaking and reminded them of Maine, Ann’s birthplace. They ended their travels in Paris just in time to celebrate the Fête Nationale.

73Correspondent: Hester Kinnicutt Jacobs, djacobs@midrivers.com Pamela Barnett Bakal reconnected with Melissa Ross DeMarsh, whom she hadn’t seen since 1970. Their husbands hit it off, so they’ve met up a few times. They all became grandparents recently, so it’s the main topic of conversation. Pam adds, “We do talk about music; we don’t talk about sports because they’re Boston fans and we’re New York fans.” In July, Joelle Desloovere Schon P’03 took a trip to the Seychelles followed by a “DNA tour” with her husband and

their daughter and her family, visiting countries in their combined DNA. “I am 100% Belgian, but the rest have Polish, Hungarian and Czech blood.” She is still in Nairobi, Kenya, for twothirds of the year and Westport, CT, for the rest, and still working for her husband’s children’s educational TV station, Akilli TV, as a video editor. “I’m really looking forward to retirement!”  Nina Davit continues to enjoy laid-back life in Wilmington, NC, including taking classes at UNCW, especially French ones. “We had a nice visit with Seth Cummins and his wife on their way back to Brooklyn from South Carolina, where they spend their winters. Next year I will have two grandkids in college! Time sure does fly!” Karen Hartigan Whiting’s granddaughter, Lily, entered the University of Toronto in August. Karen spoke with the program director at the Museum of the Bible about giving a talk for our nation’s 250th anniversary and a 2026 book release on biblical archaeology. “Last year, I was honored to be one of four journalists chosen by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism for a free trip and tour of archaeology sites.” Carol Proctor McCurdy has finally retired; they moved from their home in New Jersey of 44 years to a beautiful condo community in Niantic, CT, to be closer to their Old Saybrook beach cottage. “Still living among many unpacked boxes with unknown contents, but from what we can see of our living space, we are really going to enjoy it here.” Barbara Chalfant Applegarth still lives in Kentucky and practices in Ohio, and she feels lucky enough to keep in touch with roommate JoAnn Winsten. As for me, Hester Kinnicutt Jacobs, we arrived home on March 2 after a wonderful trip to Tahiti and New Zealand. Took my first helicopter flight to the Franz Josef Glacier. It was a quiet summer. We head to New Hampshire in October to gather with my siblings for four days. I am busy with my tomatoes, cucumbers and squash. I am also a busy volunteer with the local American Legion post as finance officer. I only joined last year, and I am still learning about all the programs for veterans, their families and students. I have been a veteran since 1994 and only now have become a member. Sorry, Pam Bakal, I am a Boston fan. Nancy Williams Ward visited Patricia Sherwin Garland in Curaçao this past March.

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Correspondent: Barbara Herbst Tatum, barbara.tatum52@gmail.com Martha Seely is not retired yet. Instead, she transitioned from a decades-long career in costume design and wardrobe styling to “what I hope will be my final career, as a jewelry designer” (she hopes to retire by 80). Martha de-

signs fine jewelry that references constellations and galaxies. “I didn’t choose the universe as my muse. It chose me. The sky, the stars, the moon … they’ve unified people across the world for eons.” She is excited to make jewelry that unites people and makes them feel beautiful. In this spirit, she’s thrilled to share that her Starburst Earrings took grand prize in the INSTORE Design Awards 2025. “This was my first grand prize ever. I am still grinning. Think exploding stars, but on your ears.” Nancy McNally Wagner celebrated July 4 and her birthday with her R&B dance club at McCall’s Tavern in Spanish Springs, FL. Scott Jezek retired from the practice of law in East Haddam, CT, after 46 years. He established his firm in 1980 after completing his judicial clerkship and retired as senior partner. He continues to rewrite laws and interpret insurance policies for a variety of nonprofits and trusts. He has worked with Attorney D. Jeanne Messick ’75 on several projects. Over the past 35 years, Scott has run more than 60,000 miles, completing 40 marathons and hundreds of other events, including taking first in age at the past three Block Island Triathlons. Age does have its advantages! Scott and wife Shea live at their lakefront home on Bashan Lake, East Haddam, CT, which serves as a magnet for sons Jesse and Zac and grandchildren Ryan, Leah and Milada. Becoming an expert in the use of leisure time is Scott’s latest endeavor. Michele Bierenbaum Reichstein continues her part-time work as a private practice psychiatrist. After 40 years commuting to New York City, her husband enjoys retirement from his cardiology career. They now spend much time with their three sons and their families, including one who decided, after the pandemic, to relocate back to New Jersey to be closer. Happily, this means Michele, her 99-year-old mother, and son and family frequently have four generations together! Her oldest son is in Nashville, TN, and her youngest son is in Charleston, SC, so Michele and her husband are delighted to travel. Sharon Bell is semiretired at her law firm. She and husband Greg have been married for 40

years. Their son is married and has started a business assisting estates with firearm appraisals and sales. “We are hoping for grandchildren but so far have three grand-dogs instead.” For the past 10 years, Sharon and her husband have had a place on the Florida Forgotten Coast (eastern panhandle) affectionately known as “Mayberry on the Gulf.” When Sharon had an office in Tulsa, OK, she often saw Patricia Whittaker Bullock, but retirement means their paths do not cross as frequently. Sharon enjoys canning and making jams, chutneys and pickles, “if the rabbits and squirrels allow me to harvest Greg’s garden first!” After visiting a friend in Florida, Nancy McNally Wagner sold her house and moved within a month. She has never been happier. Nan has seven grandchildren, some in Colorado and some in Washington, D.C. Following her hobbies, knitting and painting, Nan travels all over the world. Amy Cohen was delighted to host Marion Miller Vokey, Melissa Fleishman Pruitt and Marcia (Didi) Coyle in October 2024 at her home in Brewster, MA, on Cape Cod. They meet about every two years in various cities. Amy exclaimed, “There is nothing quite like being with friends who have known you for over 50 years!” Mark Samuels Lasner coauthored Grolier Club Bookplates, Past & Present. Written with Alexander L. Ames, a leading book historian, the book provides an introduction to the history of these marks of ownership that are miniature works of art in themselves. It showcases some of the most important bookplates produced in America from the Grolier Club, the New York City bibliophile organization, since its founding in 1884. Mark is currently co-curating an exhibition for the Grolier, scheduled to open in fall 2027: “Charles Ricketts, Charles Shannon, Oscar Wilde and Their Friends: Partners in Art, Life and Book.” Not surprisingly, items from Mark’s collection of late-Victorian literature and art, donated to the University of Delaware, will be featured, along with loans from private and public collections in the U.S. and U.K. Mark continues to work at the University of Delaware Library. He

and his partner (a professor of women’s and gender studies at UD) enjoy their life in Wilmington and Washington, D.C.—“attempting to match President Biden’s travel on Amtrak.”

Correspondents: Miriam Josephson Whitehouse, mirwhitehouse@gmail.com; and Estella Johnson, estjohnson1@aol. com Mark Warren, William (Bill) Thomson and Richard (Dick) Wechsler enjoyed an epic, rainy 20-mile ride Saturday afternoon at Reunion Weekend, with 1,400 feet of vertical climbing. Our 50th reunion was a great success, with 83 returning classmates and guests. Through extraordinary generosity, our Class Gift totaled $2.26 million! And 35.3% class participation. Well done! Sadly, we’ve learned of Vicky Leonhart Trefts’ death. We missed her at Reunion, and our classmates sent her a card and a copy of the Koiné Gold. Her husband reported that she enjoyed both immensely. Mark Warren is almost fully recovered from his November 2024 knee replacement and is back to biking outdoors, with 385 miles between mid-April and mid-June to prepare for the Pan-Mass Challenge on Aug. 2. Mark organized a get-together after the reunion with Stephen Cohan ’78 P’24, Stephen Brunetti ’76 P’17, Michael Ridgway and Richard (Richie) Glanz ’77. Maureen Fahey enjoyed seeing classmates at Reunion. She took a break from traveling in 2025 to concentrate on duplicate bridge. She earned her Life Master and Bronze Life Master titles; she directs games four to eight times monthly. Husband Stanley Williams went to Tennessee, Texas and Virginia for dancing and visiting baseball fields. Estella Johnson and husband Sekazi Mtingwa celebrated their 48th anniversary this year; they took a cruise to Alaska in September with Catherine (Cay) Young. John Lee co-hosts the award-winning Irish podcast Irish Stew: Conversation for the Global Irish Nation. He enjoyed a memorable Belmont Stakes weekend in Saratoga Springs, NY, with Guy Morris ’76, Dan Booth Cohen ’77 and David Rosenthal ’78. Marjorie (Margie) Rosenbaum Bassman still runs a full studio of private viola students. A new crop of 11- and 12-year-olds are starting their private lesson journey. Margie and Mitch enjoyed another August Viking cruise, this one around Italy, from Rome to Venice. Molto bello! Miriam Josephson Whitehouse and Elaine Carlson had dinner with Mark Warren as he passed through Maine—efforts to see one another more frequently! Even though the weather wasn’t the best, Jo Ann Douda enjoyed time with classmates at Reunion and seeing all the changes on campus. Bonus, she caught up with Elaine Kerachsky ’70, whom she hadn’t seen for over 30 years.  Elizabeth (Lisa) Goldsen Yarboro and Tim Yarboro also celebrated their 48th anniversary, with a trip to Anguilla. Pamela Cutler Baxter was delighted to attend Reunion. Her 2024 book, Listening to Nature’s Voice, was selected by the Garden Club Federation of Pennsylvania for its new GCFP Reads initiative. She reached a milestone of 25 years of writing From the Ground Up, a weekly gardening column for local newspapers in the Philadelphia area. She said writing the column has expanded her knowledge base, connected her with local gardeners and created a wonderful sense of community. Saylon Harris Johnson and Lester celebrated their 50th anniver-

sary a few days before Reunion. They met on the first weekend Saylon was on campus and married in the chapel the day before she graduated. Deborah McGlauflin published an article, “What If Buddhists Engaged in AI,” as part of Practice in Lion’s Roar online magazine

Correspondents: Kenneth Abel, 334 West 19th Street, Apt. 2-B, New York, NY 10011, kenn616@aol.com, and Susan Hazlehurst Milbrath, P.O. Box 3962, Greenwood Village, CO 80155-3962, shmilbrath@ gmail.com Charles (Chuck) Roberts is still going through millions of books at www.wonderbook.com. He has three stores and a three-acre warehouse in Maryland. The “treasure hunting” is hard work but still fun. He also oversees www. booksbyfoot.com, which provides books for designers and movies. He lives like a hermit in the forest with miles of wilderness behind him, sharing the land with bears, deer, snakes and more. He cuts his own firewood, and the woodstove provides almost all the heat he needs. His older son is a lawyer for the Department of Justice and has two sons under age 2. Chuck’s younger son manages the bookstores and has an infant son. In March 2024, Washingtonian magazine recognized Chuck for having a cool job—“It was very cool being called cool at this point.” Stuart Cohen volunteers as a “big” with his local Big Brothers/Big Sisters chapter, studies piano with the world’s most patient teacher and tries to improve his Spanish (with Duolingo). He travels when possible, and saw law school (NYU ’79) and CoCo classmate Jason Frank and his lovely wife, Laurie, in New Orleans, where they took in the Louisiana Derby at the historic Fairgrounds and sampled culinary delights at Commander’s Palace and Casamento’s. Stuart serves as a trustee, appointed by New York’s highest court, of the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection. The corpus of the fund comes from a portion of lawyers’ licensing fees and other sources, and it is used to reimburse victims of attorney theft for their losses. In recent years, the fund has reimbursed $10 million in client losses. Mark Heitner, MD, is in the master’s painting course at the Royal College of Art, a world-renowned postgraduate program dedicated to painting, enabling an intensive and focused learning experience. William (Bill) Eldon wrote in June while on a nineweek transcontinental trip; he was in Maine at the time. He met up with Lynda Batter Monro P’08, Louise (Holly) Wise P’10 and William (Bill) Morrison Frances (Terry) Sanderson Smith P’07 ’11 and husband Roger (Whit) Smith P’07 ’11 are enjoying their 48th year of marriage and a lovely retirement in rural New Hampshire. Children Chris, Alexandra (Allie) Smith Gilbert ’07 and Matthew Smith ’11 are all happily married and have produced six granddaughters. Terry volunteers for a local shop benefiting hospice and the Visiting Nurses Association. Whit is active as the town moderator and drives around on a Kubota tractor trying to look like he knows what he is doing. This fall, New York-based photographer David Katzenstein published two new books. Brownie is described as a vibrant collec-

It was very cool being called cool at this point.

— CHARLES (CHUCK) ROBERTS ’76

tion of photographs taken with a simple box camera, celebrating creativity and serendipity. Piles of Inspiration Everywhere is about the life and work of Professor Barkley L. Hendricks, so it should be of much interest to alumni who studied with him. David’s current exhibition, “Speaking Truth to Power: The Life of Bayard Rustin,” is at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. It opened on March 28 and will run for one year. His nonprofit, The Human Experience Project, represents the estate of Bayard Rustin. Marian Ahearn’s son Nathan Goodman’s wedding took place in Plymouth, MA, in September 2024. It turned into a mini CC reunion for Marian’s friends and relatives. In attendance were Lynn Goodman Rouse-Zoll ’66, Janet Shannon Farrell ’73, Robin Lipson Fishman ’78 P’15, Marian Ahearn, Alva (Veevee) Angle Scott ’78 and Marylena Simone Worthington Kathryn Tweedie Covey celebrated her 70th birthday with a bouncy castle and family from Nigeria, California, Montana, D.C. and Hawaii, including four of her grandchildren and two of her sisters, one being Susan Tweedie Sim ’79. Kate has retired after 39 years as a Unitarian Universalist religious educator, to cycle, canoe and play Texas hold ’em poker with her husband of 14 years, Mark Ziegler. Kenneth Nott is a professor of music history at the Hartt School, University of Hartford, where he has taught for 38 years. He has published extensively on the music of Handel, including editing  Jephtha for the Complete Works of Handel, published by Bärenreiter. He has taught a variety of courses for Hartt music majors, including “Perspectives on Music History,” “Opera History” and a seminar on “Music of the Baroque.” In 2021, he retired from regular work as a church organist and choir director, but he subs almost every weekend for friends and colleagues around Hartford. This keeps him in shape as an organist and replenishes the SGF (Spoil the Grandkids Fund). Last September, he attended the memorial service at St. John’s Niantic for John Anthony. A packed church celebrated the life and legacy of an extraordinary musician, mentor and friend. RIP! One of the college newspapers, the Conntrarian, recently interviewed Robert Huebscher P’05 (tinyurl.com/93ce2hev). After returning to campus to help celebrate WCNI’s 50th anniversary of going FM, Kenneth Abel is again doing regular shows for the station. His show is called The Revival; you can check the air times at wcniradio.org. Ken still works part-time at a high-end wine shop in downtown Manhattan and has visited various wineries on his vacation travels to Argentina and Sicily. He looks forward to seeing everyone soon at our 50th reunion.

Correspondent: Laurie Heiss, laurieheiss@gmail.com; and Susan Greenberg Gold, sbggold@gmail.com Alan Goodwin caught up with Sharon Golec Keniger and husband Roland for dinner in Paris at the end of Alan and wife Darlena’s two-week European tour. Sharon and Roland live in Paris. She and Alan didn’t know each other at Conn but met in 2023 at the 45th reunion. Alan and Darlena hit must-see spots on their Rick Steves tour, in-

cluding Rome, Florence, Venice, Bavaria, Lauterbrunnen Valley, Burgundy and Paris. Sarah Rabinowitz Mognoni sends greetings from Ahavah Farm (South Jersey) with husband Russ, the animals (four dogs, six rescued cats, and 17 horses), daughter Liz, and beloved grandchildren Greyson (6) and Waverly (2). Son Josh, who works for Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, and his wife, Meghan, are in Brooklyn. In June, Sarah released her first film, Lucky Gideon. It tells the story of a war widow during the Civil War who journeys with her courageous horse, Gideon, to find her son at Fredericksburg, Va. The film has been selected for the Equus film festival in Maryland and nominated for Best Short by a Female Director at the Toronto Nollywood Festival. Sarah is working on a second screenplay. Meanwhile, Lucky Gideon can be seen on YouTube at Ahavah Productions LLC - Home of Lucky Gideon. To meet the equine cast, just holler to mognoni@yahoo.com. Quarter horse Ollie and friends love visitors! Sarah’s farm is just 50 minutes from Philly, 25 minutes from Cherry Hill, NJ. J. Ellen Ramsbottom Jarrett P’13 says hello from Marblehead, MA, feeling lucky to enjoy coastal living. She still sculls in the ocean, works in the book business in Cambridge at Porter Square Books, and most importantly, enjoys every opportunity to be with her four granddaughters. Two of them belong to son Timothy Jarrett ’13. Ellen traveled to France in April but otherwise stays close to home. She hears occasionally from Paul Greeley ’79 P’13

and catches up with Christine Gould Reardon ’79 sporadically.  Barry Gross and wife Cindi visited their daughter and son-in-law in Barcelona during a tour of Spain. N.B. Correspondent Susan Greenberg Gold (and husband) walked across the Cotswolds in June, and correspondent Laurie Heiss (and book group) followed Genghis Khan’s trail across Mongolia in July, and still managed to file Class Notes on time.

Correspondents: Connie Gemmer, chgemmer58@gmail.com; and Lois Mendez Catlin, fabulois824@gmail.com Lois Mendez Catlin writes, “Our 45th was a blast! Wonderful to see so many of you and to both renew old Connections and make new ones. Please join our FB page: Connecticut College Class of 1980. We share updates and useful information regarding positions, health, life and aging gracefully. We would like to have as many participants as possible, so please spread the word.” Seth Marcus has written Agnes Knows Nature, a children’s book celebrating local native plants and animals. Hopefully it will encourage children to get outside and develop a love of the environment. Generally intended for children ages 3 to 8, this delightful picture book can be enjoyed by all. The story ends with a fun search-and-find scene featuring all the plants and animals Agnes meets on her nature walk, followed by a brief guide with photos and fun facts about the species. (See agnesknowsnature.com for more information.) Since graduation, native Bostonian Carolyn Cronin had lived in the Greater Boston suburbs. Now happily retired, she is again eligible to vote in Boston. Last December she moved to The Pryde, an LGBTQ-affirming, multi-income, over-62 apartment complex in the

Hyde Park neighborhood. As part of a short movie on The Pryde, Carolyn was filmed playing Wii bowling and greeting folks attending a mayoral debate. The film was expected to air on GBH. org in the fall. Deborah Elstein Lemen made a rewarding career transition in 2024 from working as a paralegal to becoming a luxury travel advisor with Largay Travel (debbielemenworldtravels. com). She now helps clients plan unforgettable honeymoons, milestone celebrations and custom trips around the world—combining her passion for travel with her professional life. Debbie attended the 45th reunion last spring and especially enjoyed spending time with Anne Verplank, Marcia Spiller Fowler, Celestine (Sue) Knizeski Devine and Elizabeth (Libby) Orzack Friedman. She also catches up with Bates Childress, who, like Debbie, lives in Mt. Pleasant, SC. She’s enjoying this new chapter. Marcia Spiller Fowler lives in Litchfield, CT, and enjoys retirement. She’s been involved with the Litchfield Land Trust for many years, first in monitoring properties, then as the acquisition chair and secretary, and now as the president. She loves animals; she is the dog adoption coordinator for Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) and has two rescue dogs of her own. “Anyone need a great dog?” She and Sue Knizeski Devine get together regularly and typically see Anne Verplanck and Eleanor (Nory) Babbitt every summer.

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Ruth Wagner Earl ’81 and Ann Goode Quinn ’81 gathered for Leona (Lee) Mazzamurro Joseph’s daughter’s wedding on Cape Cod in May. Jill Crossman Stone and Seth Stone moved to the Myrtle Beach area (Conway, SC) from Connecticut in

2016 and love life at the beach! Jill retired from a career in university/college administration in 2022, and Seth just retired in March from a 43year career in insurance underwriting. Both work at fun part-time retirement jobs at the Ripken Experience baseball complex in Myrtle Beach—Jill in the retail pro shop and Seth in the Power Alley Cards store. Jill actively volunteers at Myrtle Beach State Park, where she helps teach environmental education programs and serves as a member of the park’s dawn sea turtle patrol. Seth had been making audiences laugh for the past seven years by performing with the Carolina Improv, an improv comedy troupe. If any Class of ’82 folks are ever in the Myrtle Beach area: “Come look us up, y’all!”

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6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

5:30 - 9:30 p.m.

6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Anthony Catlin Jr. and Byron White got together for drinks, dinner and laughs in Boston. They are also in constant touch with William Charbonneau, Charles Griffiths, Stephen LaMarche ’86, Gaar Talanian ’86 and Gregory Bertschmann ’86 P’11 ’19. A caravan of Camels including George Consagra, Louisa Moore Consagra ’86, Lolly Jelks Crawford ’85 and Benjamin Ford convened on the porch of Elizabeth (Liz) Sargent Corcoran and Theodore (Ted) Corcoran’s home in Charlottesville, VA, the weekend of UVA graduation.

Alumni and friends are invited

Correspondent: Sue Brandes Hilger; submit info to tinyurl.com/42kw95wf The reunion was such fun, with around 40 classmates and guests reminiscing and laughing together—thank you to all who attended! If you couldn’t make it, we hope you’re there in 2030. To keep up with classmates, check out our Connecticut College Class of 1985 Facebook page. Cushing Anderson retired in 2022 after 20-plus years researching the practices and effectiveness of corporate education, which he loved. “It was great seeing everyone at Reunion.” He’s now filling his post-career dance card with running sailboat races and regattas in Rhode Island, playing squash in Boston, gardening wherever his wife asks and helping to save democracy by ensuring every vote counts equally. Recently, Cushing began writing a series of articles for the local newspaper about ice cream vendors in eastern Rhode Island, and he’d love to meet up with Camels in Rhode Island or Boston. Joanne (Jody) Bates Bliss is not retired yet (!), splitting time between Colorado Springs and Georgetown, ME. She enjoys flexibility, serving as a Master Law of Attraction Certified Coach. She coaches women who have felt the need to perpetually try harder their whole lives—and who are ready to stop trying so hard and just BE. She speaks at colleges and to groups to share “What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20.” She met up with Mary Clark Price and Margaret McClellan this summer at the North Atlantic Blues Festival. Jody missed the reunion,

ALUMNI INSIGHTS

Letter to Alumni from the CCAB President Jennifer (Lapan) Mann ’94

Fellow Alumni,

It is my great pleasure to say hello as I begin my threeyear term as president of the Connecticut College Alumni Association.

By way of introduction, I’d like to share a story about my favorite tree on campus. It’s not the iconic elm tree in the College seal. It’s the bonfire sugar maple (Acer saccharum ‘Bonfire’) that greets you as you reach the top of the winding Mohegan Avenue entrance to the College, just south of the campus safety gatehouse. This magnificent maple was planted in 2000 in memory of Virginia Bergquist Landry ’70, just a few months after her passing.

Ginny was an absolute force of nature who served on the Alumni Board while I was a student working in the alumni office in Becker House. I don’t remember the details of our introduction, just that we became fast friends back in the days of phone calls and making plans. When I studied in Washington, D.C., during my junior year, Ginny hosted me for family dinner. And after I graduated and we were both invited to meetings as alumni volunteers, we had a reason to roadtrip to campus. As Ginny and I only shared postConn life together for a couple of years, her tree is where I sit and spend a few minutes every time I’m on campus.

I’m about the age Ginny was when cancer took her, so I serve on the Alumni Board for the two of us. I’m ensuring that the vibrant alumnae of Ginny’s CoCofoWo era—and ALL 30,000 alumni represented in the generations since—can honor our own memories and relationship with the College, and celebrate our shared experiences. While we each only reside on campus for about four years, we’re alumni with roots at Connecticut College.

Your Alumni Board keeps engagement at the core of our work. We invite everyone to gather at meaningful events held in homes, at restaurants and museums, at performances and sporting events, and more. Do you wish to explore a new topic by listening to alumni presenters from the comfort of your

computer? We offer several each year on a wide range of topics. Want to recognize a classmate for an incredible achievement at your upcoming Reunion? The Alumni Board makes that happen. Obviously, we hope every alum will make the effort to come to campus. Choose Fall Weekend (the best time to see a bonfire sugar maple is with vivid red and orange leaves!), Reunion, Commencement, or take a detour whenever you’re on a roadtrip of your own through southeastern Connecticut. But if you can’t make that happen, we’d love to help you organize something for alumni in your area.

Your relationship with Connecticut College is like Ginny’s maple; it started as a sapling and continually reaches for what you need to grow stronger and thrive.

I’d love to start a conversation. Drop me a line (alumniboard@conncoll.edu) to request a topic for a future event, to offer to host a gathering of fellow alums, to share one of your own memories of Ginny, or just to tell me about your favorite spot on campus.

Facebook.com/ConnecticutCollege

Facebook.com/ConnCollAlumni

Instagram.com/ConnCollege

Instagram.com/ConnCollAlumni

Director of The Bang Group Jeffrey Kazin ’86 produced the debut dance work of Audrey MacLean ’12, an evening-length performance titled The Dance Show. L-R: Morgan Griffin ’12, Elisabeth Miller ’05, Jeffrey Kazin ’86, Audrey MacLean ’12, Grant Jacoby ’13 and Kathleen McGrail ’12

busy at her daughter’s wedding! After the reunion, Susan Brandes Hilger traveled with her husband to UCLA to celebrate their daughter’s undergrad graduation—a happy milestone. Susan’s busy getting her son’s business off the ground, consulting with clients, chairing a nonprofit board, and either playing tennis, biking, doing Pilates, traveling or reading. “Ever in Baltimore? Visit—there’s room for you!” Scott Brenner retired in 2023 after a rewarding career in software engineering and web development. Now he helps people stay safe online through his free Online Safety Zone newsletter (osz.kit.com), which offers practical tips for nontechies. Scott’s wife is also retired, and with their three daughters settled in their careers, they enjoy travel, family time and pickleball. Scott would love to hear from fellow Camels; reach him at webwiz@gmail.com. Transition is the theme for the Eley family. Last fall, John Eley (largely) left his Wall Street-adjacent career. They moved to Utah for the winter, and he worked as a ski patroller in Park City. John and wife Susie plan to split their time between Utah and New York for the foreseeable future. Susie continues to run her art gallery and spends more time working as a recovery coach, assisting patients with substance use disorder. Samantha (32) is an EMT/firefighter trainee in Fairfax, VA. Lauren (29) was married in September and works with children as a social worker. Megan (26) moved to Los Angeles to begin an applied behavioral analysis master’s program at Pepperdine. Leslie Graham Jobson lives in El Cerrito (San Francisco Bay Area) and works in Berkeley. Her love of history and literature (honed at Conn) led to a career in book publishing. Leslie started in New York City the week after graduation and is still in that field and loving it. Her focus is on the independent bookstores that are thriving across the United States. Daughter Lily started her sophomore year at University of California, Santa Cruz with a focus on humanities. “All is well here; I’d love to see anyone coming through.” Elizabeth (Libby) Marston Twitchell loved her summer off from working in an elementary school front office in New Hampshire. She went to our 40th reunion; then in July she traveled to South Carolina for a visit with several Conn classmates: Laura and Michael (Sean) Lee, Caroline and Duncan Robertson P’23, Judith Burger, and Paul Stueck and partner Peggy Harlow gathered there for ocean swims, flat-tire bike rides, and lots of laughs! Living in Chapel

Hill, NC, Laura Hayes Morgan notes, “Camels are everywhere!” She began her second chapter, as a realtor with Compass, a few years ago. She started to come across a lot of Camels, and they now have their own small affinity group: Camels at Compass. Her family is happy, and the kids are good: One’s a recent grad from Virginia Tech; another is at University of Colorado Boulder; their last one will graduate high school in 2026. Laura took her for a summer visit to Conn—still beautiful after all these years. “If you’re ever in the Triangle, I’d like to meet up.” Tina Libenson lives the good life in Colorado and loves it! After nearly 20 years working as a zoning and policy director in Denver’s Community Planning & Development Department, she’ll step down at the end of this year (yay pensions!) and then look for new adventures, most likely consulting in land use regulations, development and urban planning, and hoping to travel to work with different cities again. Tina’s three boys are firmly launched, and she enjoys time in the garden, hanging out with her longtime partner, Jeff, and traveling within the U.S. and internationally (finally—never did that study abroad year that she should have!). Coreen West Marks and her daughters got to see the sold-out Savannah Bananas show in Charlotte, NC, “which is a big deal—those tickets are hard to come by.” Andrea Tulin Houlilhan (living in South Burlington, VT) and husband Dana enjoy their newly achieved retirement. The first six months included a few trips. Adventures in the coming year range from easy trips to New York City to bigger adventures (New Zealand, Portugal?). They both enjoyed the 40th reunion and encourage more classmates to attend the next one! She enjoyed reconnecting with folks she knew well in college but also with people she hadn’t known. There were great conversations with a few people that left her wondering, “Why didn’t I know this person while I was at Conn?”

For the past 35 years, Jeffrey Kazin has had the distinct honor of being a founding member, principal dancer and now director of The Bang Group, a dance company in New York City. One of the most rewarding responsibilities, as his athletic abilities decrease, is slightly producing other artists’ work. For the past 10 years, he has produced a series in Cambridge, MA, at The Dance Complex, directed by fellow alum Peter DiMuro MFA ’83. Recently Jeffrey had the extreme pleasure of producing Audrey

MacLean ’12, who made her New York debut with her evening-length work, The Dance Show Aside from the marvelous creation it is, it was a thrill to be a part of a production starring five CC grads, including Morgan Griffin ’12, Elisabeth Miller ’05, Audrey MacLean ’12, Grant Jacoby ’13 and Kathleen McGrail ’12. Mike Stryker and wife Donna still split their time between Fort Myers, FL, and New London, CT. They recently met up with Andrew (Andy) Karp ’89 to celebrate Andy’s first anniversary of a successful liver transplant. Mike and Donna completed their open-water scuba certification, and they continue to play music in their band, The Rhythm Method, with Dave Warner and Ross Dackow ’87. In July, Mike was elected to the CC alumni board. 87

Correspondent: Jenifer Kahn Bakkala, 51 Wesson Terrace, Northborough, MA 01532, 508-523-8930, JKBBlue@ gmail.com Helen Murdoch still works at CYPHER Learning and is active on two nonprofit boards. She’s busy running a book blog, ballroom dancing and learning to play golf. “I’m definitely feeling the squeeze of being the sandwich generation, which I am sure many of us are experiencing.” In the past year, Helen has visited with Margaret (Peg) Harlow and Paul Stueck ’85,

as well as Susan Brager Murphy and Marjorie McEvoy Egan Eric Davies, Caarin Fleischmann, Alison Cornyn, Richard Brukner, Elizabeth Garvey, Michaele Wylde, Liza McLaughlin, John Cavaliere and Margaret (Maggie) Simonelli enjoyed summer weather at Claudia Caffuzzi’s house in Ridgefield, CT.

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Correspondent: Deb Dorman Hay, camel89news@gmail.com Mike Nelson and Geoff Wagg met up in Quechee, VT, for a beer while their wives ran the Covered Bridges Half Marathon. Beer > Running! Roxandra Illiaschencko Antoniadis ’59 P’89 dedicated a tree on campus in the memory of her daughter, Gabrielle Antoniadis. It is a scarlet oak overlooking Freeman Field near Palmer Auditorium.

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Correspondent: Kristin Lofblad Sullivan, kls.sullivan@gmail.com Sandra Albrecht Wurzburger saw Lucy McDonough when Lucy came to Charlotte, NC, to walk in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Walk MS Event on April 26. Lucy’s son also lives in Charlotte, so he walked too. Sandra also got to see Hedi Dur Charde and Matthew Charde ’87, with their son, Max, in Florence, Italy, on June 21. “They flew from their home in Zürich, Switzerland, to see me and my family, who were there.” Hedi Dur Charde and Matthew Charde ’87 have lived in Zürich since 2022. She writes that they love life in Switzerland, living in the city and savoring all it offers while also enjoying being close to the mountains and many beautiful towns and villages. When not working or appreciating city life, they hike, ski or travel, sometimes with their three grown sons or other family or friends. “We had a great visit with Sandra Albrecht Wurzburger and her family in Florence in June. And in May, John MacRae ’88 and his wife and daughter visited us. When back in the U.S., I catch up with Lucy McDonough and other local Conn alums whenever I can. If any alums visit Zürich, please look us up. We love to welcome people here!” Abbe Bartlett Lynch lives in Sammamish, WA, with her husband and three kids (23, 18 and 15) and works part-time at a horse barn, where both she and her daughter ride. She has been in Washington for 15 years and “can’t really imagine living anywhere else.” She and Julie Evans Perry ’97 traveled to Walla Walla, WA, where they enjoyed hot, windy bike rides and doing “just a few” wine tastings. She hopes

to make it to the 40th(!) reunion. Emily Kessler writes: “It was wonderful seeing everyone at our 35th reunion. While it was a bit mad that I chose to drive up to Conn and back from NYC in one day, I wasn’t brave enough for an overnight in the dorms. Those of you who did must have spines of steel! I commend you.” After being fully remote for four years, Emily again commutes downtown for a new role at BNY, where she is a human-centered design lead within the HR team. She and partner Scott celebrated their 19th anniversary; Scott is a digital media manager for a film

I wasn’t brave enough for an overnight in the dorms.

— EMILY KESSLER ’90

and television postproduction facility. “Looking forward to staying in touch until we meet again for alumni events or anything in between!” After years of in-house corporate communications leadership roles, positions at PR agencies large and small, and government affairs roles, Jason Stewart has hung up a shingle. Through his one-man

communications shop he has worked with clients such as U.S. Steel, Duracell, Combe, Wella Company and Avangrid. He has advised (and done all the writing) on projects including a tech transformation, crisis communications, internal comms, PR strategy and community engagement. “It’s been a whirlwind! I have room to take on a client currently, so if anyone needs anything, I’m here!” As for me, Kristin Lofblad Sullivan (your boomerang class correspondent), I have been nudged into an earlier-than-expected but not totally unwelcome retirement from Harvard University, where I had been working for the past 20 years. If you are looking for me, I will either be paddleboarding on Cape Cod or training for my next half-marathon in and around Cambridge. (See also: Age is just a number.)

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Thomas Gately P’25 and Linda Smith Munyan visited Prescott (Scott) Hafner’s ’80 family vineyard in Sonoma County, CA, in March. Robert Stephen Stigall and Heather Pierce Stigall still live outside of Philadelphia. A few of their chicks have left, but their nest is not quite empty. Steve still does Ironman and half-Ironmans and competed in the World Championships in Nice, France, in September. Heather’s newest picture book, Gilbert and the Ghost (Beaming Books, illustrated by Jess Mason), was published in August (see Ink on pg. 15). Natalie Fine Margolis is thrilled to become a member of the Conn alumni board! Her term started July 1 and officially kicks off with the CC board meeting on campus during Fall Weekend at the end of September. Hopefully, the brilliant fall foliage will be underway on campus and in the Arboretum! She was delighted to meet up with fellow Class of ’91 Camels in New York City in

the spring and early summer: Tod Preston and Jillian Avery Maver Ihsanullah, both of whom were part of the KB crew freshman year. In July, Natalie had an epic vacation with husband Mark in Dubai, Egypt and Greece. “The Luxor days— visiting the Valley of the Kings and seeing Tut’s tomb—were a standout experience for this anthro major, as were the smaller human stories, sights and sounds, such as hearing the call to prayer while looking out at the Nile.”

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Rebecca Rosen Shapiro, Maria Esguerra and Martha Maher Sharp reunited in New York City with their families to celebrate the New Year. Taylor Cleveland Pardun, Philae Knight ’94, Caroline Grossman de Lasa ’94, Kate Milliken Vaughey ’94 and Rebecca Rosen Shapiro also reunited in NYC.

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Christopher Martin oversees rehabilitation efforts for a river otter conservation program in Portland, OR. He describes the work as “equal parts muddy, magical and unexpectedly adorable.”

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Claudia Bachmann Bouchard P’29 received a scholarship from United Illuminated and EESmart to attend the NEED Conference (New England Energy Development) in Louisville, KY, July 13-17. The NEED National Energy Conference for Educators is a five-day interactive event that brings together passionate educators and energy industry professionals to explore all aspects of energy and STEM education.

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Pam Geiger celebrated the opening of her new coffee shop, Coffee Social, with business partner Erin O’Keefe. The warm-blooded sister of Geiger’s first business, Ice Cream Social, it can also be found in White Plains, NY. Tim Stevens has joined Connecticut College’s adjunct faculty, teaching a first-year seminar. He has also joined the staff at the film magazine and website MovieJawn.

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Correspondent: Nora Mirick Guerrera, noramguerrera@gmail.com Justin Chiu traveled to Minnesota to take part in the 2025 PDGA Professional Disc Golf Masters World Championships, placing 27th out of a field of 148 players. He reconnected with

Nora Mirick Guerrera while there. Kelly Hart eloped in Nicaragua, where she met her husband, Chance, who owns a surf hotel there, during her State Department assignment at the U.S. embassy. They welcomed a baby boy, Cassius, in October. As a reservist, Kelly was recently recalled as the JAG officer to a Navy SEAL team in Coronado, CA, where she serves alongside her sister, Lieutenant Amy Hart ’06, a Navy podiatrist also stationed in San Diego. Now more than ever, Kelly and Amy are proud to uphold their oaths to the Constitution and mentor Conn students interested in careers in public service to the American people. Kelly also enjoys being a guest lecturer in Professor Fleury’s International Relations courses. Ted Ketterer was recognized by Forbes as one of the top 10 CMOs of Brazil, where he works as the head of marketing for The Coca-Cola Company. Christopher (Chris) Percy moved with his partner to Minnesota and works as an equine-assisted psychotherapist. (That’s working in a relationship with horses in order to understand humans and heal from past trauma and current dysfunction.)

When not at the barn, he manages a hobby farm with a small flock of Icelandic sheep and an ever-expanding apiary with thousands of bees!

Births

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Correspondents: Stephanie Savage Flynn, stephaniesavageflynn@gmail. com; and Cecily Mandl Macy, cecily. mandl@gmail.com Lauren Trapido, husband Matt Kaplan and big sister Emma welcomed Keely Madison Kaplan on Dec. 11, 2024.

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Correspondent: Julia Jacobson, julia.jacobson@gmail.com Nicholas Young has been in Darien, CT, for eight years with wife Tracy and kids Graydon (9) and Weatherly (7). He’s become more focused on health, aiming to live to 100. He sails, plays tennis and skis with the whole family. Professionally, he enjoys helping families manage their finances as a wealth management advisor at Forbes’ “Best in State” team at Merrill in Fairfield, CT. As of July 1, Elisabeth Rohrbach was appointed to the board of the Teton County Library in Jackson Hole, Wyo., by the Teton County Board of Commissioners. With four other board members, her responsibility is to uphold and protect the vision and mission of the Teton County Library system: to be a welcoming community fostering literacy and lifelong learning. It is a three-year term that she can re-up for a total of six years. At least seven families from the 2006 Camel class got together last winter in Waterville Valley, NH, for many days of skiing and hanging. Camels in attendance included Nathan Dooley-Hayes, Graham Lincoln, Makena Cahill, Lindsey Abbey Lane, Virginia Fuller Marinaro, Peter Levitan and Edward (Ned” Leutz) What a small world: Emily Cohen has been serving on the board of the breast cancer nonprofit Runway for Recovery alongside fellow Camels Rachael Harris Asselin ’01 and Lillian Beck ’13. Each lost her mother to breast cancer, and they now work closely together to review applications and award impactful grants to families affected by this devastating disease. Emily is so grateful that Runway brought them together. In July, Christi Milum-Lott completed her doctorate in education, with a specialization

in early childhood education, from National University (formerly North Central University).

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Correspondent: Whitney Longworth, whitney.longworth@gmail.com Michael (Grant) Hogan had his 40th birthday bash in Covington, KY, on March 8. More than 80 people attended, including Evan Piekara, Mario Laurenzi ’90 and Christopher Bothur

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Emily DeClue Nadler brought her three kids to campus in March. Just like their mom, they all preferred South Campus. Sarah Trapido and partner Kurt Brueckner welcomed Malcolm Leo Brueckner Trapido on June 25.

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Correspondent: Grace Astrove, gca1223@gmail.com Claire Gould married Joseph Richardson Sprott in a quiet ceremony in D.C. on April 6. They plan to celebrate with friends and family (including Camel friends!) on a “tour” in 2026 in D.C., South Carolina, Connecticut and Washington.

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Lily Plotkin (director) and Ryland Hormel (producer) have spent the past three years collaborating on WICKET, a feature-length documentary that premiered at the Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco on June 27 at the historic Roxie Theater. After 41 years in the closet, Bboy Wicket confronts his past as a renowned breakdancing legend with a deep secret. In this intimate exploration of his legacy, WICKET reveals how falling in love— with an artistic pursuit, or a person, or yourself— can change the course of life forever.

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On the morning of the 2024 Commencement (May 19, 2024), Maurice Tiner ’17 proposed to Tonika Davenport at Unity House Multicultural Center.

Unity House was the first place Maurice landed when he arrived on campus in August 2013, and Tonika was the first person he met. Tonika was kicking off her sophomore year as an ALANA Big Sib, ready to welcome incoming students to campus. As Posse Scholars, Unity House has always been a special place for Tonika and Maurice. At Unity House, they found connection, sought refuge, studied, used the Unity House kitchen to make home-cooked meals and received support from the staff. Unity House was truly the place on campus that allowed them to feel a little closer to home. Dulmarie Irizarry, program coordinator at Unity House, and two of the couple’s closest friends, Ivan Reynolds ’17 and Derrick Newton Jr. ’17, helped to coordinate a beautiful surprise engagement surrounded by Conn staff, faculty and alumni. To make the day more special, Lauren Middleton, secretary of the college, secured front-row seats to the Commencement ceremony, where Maurice and Tonika cheered on the new grads, reconnected with the Conn community, and celebrated their engagement. This past March, they were married in a private ceremony in their hometown of Chicago. Much like their time at Conn, they remain best friends and now life partners. A beautiful Camel love story. Congratulations to the Tiners!

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It’s been a big year for Jack Beltz! On June 7, he was married to Amy Buck of Pittsburgh in beautiful Delray Beach, FL. Attending the wedding were fellow Camels Michael Iranpour, Nikolas Theopold, Kimberly Alley and Weston de Lomba. Earlier in the spring, Jack successfully defended his doctoral dissertation and graduated with a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Pennsylvania. 20

Kirby Heffrin Klepacki married Marc Klepacki ’19 on June 7 in Falmouth, MA. They met while working as Career Fellows in the Hale Center for Career Development and were both Lead Career Fellows. It was a great wedding; other Camels in attendance included Dot Wang (Hale Center for Career Development), Greg Bailey (CC art professor), Nicole Abraham ’19, Jack Elsas ’18 and Elly Elsas, George Tilneac ’18, Maeve Wilbur ’19, Olivia Haskell ’19, Andrew Eigner ’19, Matthew Delaporte ’17 (Career Fellow), Nick Miller ’18, and John (Jake) Easton

In Memoriam

1940s

Jane Worley Peak ’42 P’75 died July 8, 2025

Elizabeth Goodrich Barnes ’43 P’65 died May 9, 2025

Juana Guruceta Flagg ’46 P’74 died May 22, 2025

Virginia Talmon Raper ’46 died June 20, 2022

Janet Evans McBride ’48 died March 12, 2025

Shirley Reese Olson ’48 died October 29, 2024

Rita Singer Philipson ’48 died June 11, 2025

Barbara Ferguson Pieper ’48 died March 21, 2025

Cornelia Wilde Dickinson ’49 P’77 died May 5, 2025

Mildie Weber Whedon ’49 died July 1, 2025

1950s

Anne Clark Chadwick ’50 died September 9, 2022

Shirley O’Brien Morgan ’50 died August 12, 2024

Doris Eckhardt Proctor ’50 died May 18, 2025

Sarah Wheeler Rutter ’50 died May 21, 2025

Gladys Stevens Thacher ’50 died April 3, 2025

Harriet Bassett MacGregor ’51 died July 20, 2025

Mary Martha Suckling Sherts ’51 died April 1, 2025

Patricia Roth Squire ’51 GP’06 died May 21, 2025

Joan Andrew White ’51 died March 21, 2025

Eleanor Hart Condliffe ’52 died May 17, 2025

Patricia Wardley Hamilton ’52 died March 11, 2025

Patricia Preti Soule ’52 died March 7, 2025

Ivy Templeton Spracklin ’52 died April 25, 2025

Martha Paine Foster ’53 died May 19, 2025

Leta Weiss Marks ’53 P’76 died July 25, 2025

Teresa Ruffolo ’53 died May 11, 2025

Mary Ireland Rule ’53 died October 20, 2024

Caroline Robertson Gray ’54 GP’14 died April 1, 2025

Rosario Bascon Kuhnhenn ’54 died April 7, 2025

Suzanne Smith McQuinn ’55 died June 11, 2025

Barbara Friis Szczepanski ’55 died January 7, 2025

Mary English ’56 died July 4, 2025

Margaret Walsh Keenan ’56 died May 29, 2025

Helen Chesbrough Maitland ’56 died March 26, 2025

Margaret Thorp Tumicki ’56 died May 31, 2025

Nicoletta Andrews Herman ’57 died January 31, 2025

Kathryn Rafferty Tollerton ’58 died July 30, 2025

Mary Elsbree Hoffman ’59 died March 25, 2025

Mariby Burrowes Johns ’59 died March 8, 2025

Deaths as reported to CC between 3/12/2025 and 8/6/2025

1960s

Agnes Gund ’60 died September 18, 2025

Alice Fitzgerald ’61 died June 28, 2025

Judith Bassewitz Theran ’62 died April 3, 2025

Elise Irving Tucker ’62 died May 3, 2025

Cynthia Abell Allyn ’63 died July 2, 2025

Marcia Faney Bossart ’63 died April 18, 2025

Susan McGuire Gay ’63 died March 22, 2025

Elizabeth Turner Pochoda ’63 died May 8, 2025

Tirzah Dunn Scott ’63 died September 23, 2024

Karen Mathiasen ’64 died April 15, 2024

Virginia Haggerty Schwartz ’64 died July 16, 2025

Barbara Jones Dill ’65 died July 23, 2025

Jennifer Faulds Goldsborough ’65 died June 13, 2024

Jeanne Patenaude-Lane ’65 died July 13, 2025

Adair Albee Hendrickson ’66 died May 16, 2025

Margaret Dolan ’68 died February 27, 2025

Priscilla Gray Platt ’68 died May 1, 2025

1970s

Susan Kron Moody ’70 died May 3, 2025

Janice Leighton Brink ’71 died April 29, 2025

Susan Meyers Santora ’71 died March 23, 2025

Sandra Warner ’71 died April 20, 2024

Margaret Loewenbaum Knee ’72 died March 17, 2025

Marlis Gehrcke Jacobowitz ’73 died July 16, 2025

Dino Michaels ’73 died April 19, 2025

Emily Mitchell ’74 died April 18, 2025

Lawrence Roberts ’74 died April 21, 2025

Nora Alvarez Artibee ’75 died January 23, 2025

Victoria Leonhart Trefts ’75 died July 4, 2025

Nancy Connell ’76 died May 22, 2025

Sharon Feldstein ’76 died September 12, 2024

Barbara Merk ’76 died August 30, 2014

Colleen Sullivan Whipple ’77 died April 13, 2025

1980s

Lucia Nunez ’82 died September 30, 2024

Frederika Brookfield ’89 died July 9, 2025

1990s

Diane Tyburski Birmingham ’92 died July 31, 2025

Carly Merbaum Nasser ’94 died on April 2, 2025

The Art of a Life

Former Trustee Agnes “Aggie” Gund ’60, a passionate champion of the arts and social justice, died Sept. 18 at her home in Manhattan at the age of 87. Gund was a well-known philanthropist and collector of contemporary art whose impact reached far beyond Conn’s campus.

She served as president emerita and life trustee of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), where she oversaw a major expansion, particularly in the area of contemporary art, beginning in the 1990s; founded the nonprofit Studio in a School to restore arts education in New York City public schools; and later launched the Art for Justice Fund with $100 million in seed money to advance criminal justice reform nationwide. Over the course of her career, Gund built her own vast collection of contemporary artworks, all of which were donated or promised to museums or sold to fund philanthropic endeavors. “I believe in the power of art as a tool for advocacy and inspiration,” Gund told Christie’s in 2023.

At Conn, Gund’s vision and commitment to the power of ideas and creativity have left a lasting legacy. She served on the Board of Trustees from July 1971 through June 1975, and, in 2019, made a gift to endow The Agnes Gund ’60 Dialogue Project at Connecticut College. This initiative continues to help prepare a new generation of leaders to respect and engage in a broad range of ideas across political, social, racial and socioeconomic differences. “It is wonderful to see

Connecticut College taking the lead in educating students for a more just society,” Gund said when the project launched.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Gund attended Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut, and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in history from Conn in 1960 and a master’s degree in art history from Harvard University in 1980. Gund earned many prestigious awards throughout her life. In 1997, she received the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the U.S. government, from President Bill Clinton. In 1984, she received the Connecticut College Medal, the highest honor awarded by the College. She was also honored with the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, J. Paul Getty Medal, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award, W.E.B. Du Bois Medal and Royal Academy of the Arts Honorary Fellowship.

“Aggie Gund will be remembered at Connecticut College with gratitude and admiration,” said President Andrea E. Chapdelaine. “Her work, leadership and generosity inspired countless people and institutions.”

Gund is survived by daughters Catherine Gund, Jessica Saalfield and Anna Traggio; son David Saalisi; brothers Gordon Gund and Geoffrey Gund P’11; sister Louise Gund; 12 grandchildren; and many extended family members, including nephew Geoffrey Gund ’11. Her brothers Graham Gund and George Gund III predeceased her.

At Conn, a liberal arts education isn’t just about what students learn in the classroom—it’s about how they put that knowledge into action. From conducting groundbreaking research and becoming changemakers to competing on the athletic field to making a difference in their communities and around the world, Conn students turn creative ideas into impact every day.

When you give to the Connecticut College Fund, you ensure that every student has the resources, support and opportunities to bring the liberal arts to life and ensure that the life-changing power of a Conn education endures for generations.

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