Here's What We've Been Doing

Mildred Carrillo ’90: In March, Mildred was selected for the El Diario/La Prensa “Latinas Destacadas” award in recognition of Women’s History Month. The award honors prominent and successful Latinas for their contributions to the community and business world. El Diario/La Prensa is the largest Spanish newspaper in the Northeast, and the oldest Spanish newspaper in the country. Mildred is featured in the Sunday, March 20th issue. Check out El Diario/LaPrensa online at www.eldiariony.com/noticias/index.aspx.

Marysol Castro ’96: Marysol is the weather and feature correspondent of the ABC News weekend edition of Good Morning America. Marysol came to ABC News from WPIX-TV in New York, where she worked as a general assignment reporter. Prior to that, from 2000 to 2002, Castro worked as an anchor and correspondent for News 12, The Bronx. Since being named Good Morning America’s weekend feature correspondent last summer, she has been reporting for the weekday edition of Good Morning America.

Marilyn Hendricks ’87: In New York City, I founded a musical theatre parading troupe to promote and preserve the tradition of the escola de sambas (samba societies) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I am looking for people interested in parading. The troupe is a nonprofit membership group. All levels of dancers and musicians are welcome: mimizinha@att.net.

Maria R. Mirabal Hipps ’97, Esq.: On September 4th, 2004, I married Jerome Hipps in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, in the presence of family, friends, and several Wes alumni. Some of the attendees included Angela Yee ’97 (maid of honor), Nicole Rodriguez Leach ’97 (bridesmaid), Vanessa Rodriguez ’99 (bridesmaid), Santi White ’97, Semeka Smith Williams ’97, Benny Vasquez ’97, Juno Shaye ’98, and Tony Schloss ’97. I’m happy to report that everyone is doing well and pursuing careers in their respective areas of interest in the arts (music and film), education, marketing, medicine, and the law. My husband and I are the proud parents of two. Our healthy and beautiful baby boy Moses Joaquin Hipps was born on 1/11/05. His big sister Nia is now 18 months old. I returned to work at the end of March and am having some serious separation anxiety issues. Hopefully, it’ll get easier with time.

Jamillah Muhammad Lamb ’93 (producer) and husband David Lamb (playwright) brought their play, Platanos and Collard Greens, to Wesleyan during Homecoming/Family Weekend 2004 as the feature presentation of the 12th Annual Dwight L. Greene ’70 Symposium. Lance Simmons ’73 (on the right) was one of the many attendees at this year’s symposium.

Cheryl A. Riddick ’80: After 14 years with AT&T Universal Card Services and Citi Cards in Jacksonville, Florida, I’ve joined The Community Foundation as vice president of grantmaking services. “It’s a bit strange. I’ve moved from a corporation with 4000+ division employees locally — big brother, if you will — to the not-for-profit sector in an office with fewer than a dozen staff.”

Harold M. Davis III ’69, MD: Harold has recently written a paper on stress management that many will find to be of benefit. An excerpt can be found in this newsletter and a PDF version of the entire document can be downloaded by clicking here.

Alexander Li ’93, MD: I am a graduate of class of 1993 and was an active member of WAASU and the Tri-Minority Council. I’ve been active in Asian American issues since graduation. Since Wesleyan, I attended medical school at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and was one of the founding members of a national medical student association, Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA). I went on to complete my dual medical training in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Texas in Houston and an epidemiology fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. I have since joined the San Francisco Department of Public Health and now serve as the medical director of San Francisco's public safety net health center, Chinatown Public Health Center. I also serve as coinvestigator on a large NIH funded San Francisco Day Laborer Health Project. My interests include improving systems of care for immigrants, people of color, and vulnerable populations.

Marian Wells ’00: In August 2004, I completed my master of science degree in counseling at the University of Memphis. I also began a new job as a career consultant for the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.

Shawn Dove ’84: I am currently serving as vice president of New York operations for MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership. The Mentoring Partnership of New York provides capacity building support to more than 150 community and faith-based mentoring programs in New York City, as well as partner corporations with public schools and community organizations to launch workplace mentoring programs. We are particularly engaged in an effort to recruit more Black and Latino male mentors, having launched an initiative called the Male Mentoring Project. So if any WESU brothers are in New York City looking for a way to invest their time, talent, or treasure in the life of a young person please contact me at sdove@mentoring.org>. The Dove Nest is in North Plainfield, New Jersey. Four kids, including twin boys, give me and my wife, Desere, a wonderful run for our money!

Thomas G. Oey ’84: I am a biracial Indonesian Chinese American who graduated from Wesleyan in 1984 with a degree in classics, and from Vanderbilt University with a Ph.D. in religion in 1991. I am researching the history of the Asian diaspora communities in Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Houston, Texas. I am interested in economic and social history and the development of Protestant Christianity among the communities. I am teaching at Shaoxing University School of Finance and Management. I welcome visitors to Shaoxing. It was the ancestral home of Zhou Enlai and Lu Xun, and has a developing international community based on textiles and light industry.

George Obulutsa ’03: I am currently in Nairobi, Kenya, doing an editorial internship for Reuters News and generally enjoying the little free time I have.

Sujata Sidhu ’01: After graduating in 2001 I was a union organizer for the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees for two years and am now attending Penn Law as a Public Interest Scholar.

Rochell Isaac ’97: I am an adjunct professor at Long Island University and Borough of Manhattan Community College. I recently published Black Girls Who Eat Sushi: Life Stories and am currently a hopeful Ph.D. candidate at Temple University’s African American Studies Department. I would love to catch up with Wes buds currently living in New York. rochebaby@aol.com.

William H. Foster III, MALS ’86: I am a professor of English at Naugatuck Valley Community College. This summer my book, Changing Image of Blacks in Comics, will be available from Fine Tooth Press of Connecticut. Another book, Looking For a Face Like Mine, is an anthology of my published and presented research on the image of people of color in both comic strips and comic books. I am also the creator of a traveling educational exhibit on the same topic.

Jenina Nunez ’04: I am currently working on my master’s in social sciences at the University of Chicago. My concentration is in organizational behavior and research methodology. I am scheduled to graduate this summer, upon which I plan to enter the workforce. I’m applying for a number of things right now, and I’m in the waiting phase.

Monica Santana Rosen ’97: I am now married and have a baby boy, Antonio. I graduated from Harvard Business School in June of 2004. My husband Patrick and I are living in Chicago. I was recently awarded a two-year fellowship through the Broad Residency in Urban Education to work with Chicago public schools on their education reform efforts.

Rikkia JoHanna Hunter ’03: I am currently a behavioral specialist and therapeutic mentor at a small private agency in Connecticut. I am about to take time off to have my first child, a baby boy due in February.

Nathalie Perez-Cino ’95o;95: My husband, Ron Cino, and I gave birth to a baby girl on December 4. Here’s a picture of Giovanni and Isabella. Classmate Janet Calderon ’95 finished her doctorate program and is back in Orlando, Florida. We can’t wait to see everyone at Reunion!

Charisse R. Lillie ’74: A partner with the Philadelphia-based law firm of Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll, Charisse was recently named vice president of human resources for Comcast Corporation and senior vice president of human resources for Comcast Cable in Philadelphia. In her post, she will be responsible for all aspects of human resources throughout Comcast including hiring, compensation, benefits, diversity training, and development for 68,000 employees.