News From Alumni
This Site Currently Under Deconstruction
What's going on here?
This carries updates from alumni, posted by alumni. It's meant to work like the section in the back of alumni newsletters that tells you where everyone is. This, once working properly, won't require the services of an editor. In the meantime, address information on what you're up to to wespan@wesleyan.edu, and we'll post it here.
Notes From Alums
September 2001
Chip Smith '64 writes that he and his wife left Philadelphia for Lafayette, NC a year and a half ago. He staffs Freedom Road part-time, and has been working on union and anti-death penalty campaigns.
Ilana Sumka '97 works for the Service Employees' Internation Union (SEIU) in Manhattan. She's currently trying to raise releif funds for the families of the 50 janitors killed inthe September 11th attack, and the thousands left unemployed. You can read hear appeal here.
Julie Meyer '79 writes that she is living in Washington, DC and working as Executive Director of a small nonprofit called the Lambi Fund of Haiti. It supports the popular movement in Haiti, mostly peasant organizations, with small-scale economic development projects and intensive field support and training. She's married to a Costa Rican who runs an organization which advocates for the Latino community in DC, and they have three boys, ages 14, 11 and 4. She's still good friends with Wes alumnae Suzanne Sangree and Laura Worby (living in Baltimore and DC, respectively), and living down the street from
a current Wes student, Masai.
Trevor Griffey '97 write that he'd like to form a local WesPAN group in Seattle, and writes: "I've been active for the past three years in electoral politics during the campaign season, bad jobs during the rest of the time. I'm sort of
in between worlds now, working on some kind of freelance writing but still helping in an advisory roll on some local city council and ballot initiative campaigns. My most recent work was as campaign manager for a Seattle city-wide initiative to increase funding for homeless shelter and services (I-71, www.shelterwithdignity.org). Last year, I worked on a No campaign against a really horrible state-wide initiative that would have killed public transportation funding in Washington state, and I also was campaign manager for Joe Szwaja (www.joeforcongress.org), who got 20% of the vote in his run as a Green party candidate for US Congress position 7. The year before that, I worked on city council races. I've been writing for a local homeless newspaper for the last year and a half, have been an editor for IMC street zines at the WTO and IMF meetings in late 99 and early 2000, and I'm currently trying to break into more paid stuff. Odd jobs are plenty, but not especially worth mentioning."
He also sends news of several area alums: Suzanne Wall '80 is "a kick-ass labor organizer here in Seattle," Chris Hannsmann '99 ('98?) was working for Citizen Action in Seattle and before that with a group in Montana and is now "taking her well earned break and resuming a more 9-5 job," Heather Rhodes-Weaver ('92?) is in Seattle working on sustainable energy tied with economic development in struggling rural areas, particularly the use of wind power to help
diversify and strengthen struggling small farms.
Brian Edwards-Tiekert '00 has just returned from eight months in Chiapas, Mexico doing human rights work for Global Exchange and working on the new Chiapas Independent Media Center (http://chiapas.indymedia.org) and will be setting back up in the Bay Area (Oakland) in October, where he'll be back in his former house with, among others, Matt Rahaim '00 and Amanda Snyder '00, both of whom are teaching. He sends news that Carl Robichaud '99 is living with Elsie Kagan '99 in Oakland--he's working on disarmament for a nonprofit, and she's teaching mural painting to troubled youth. Dan Firger '01 has just arrived in the Bay Area; he's working for GreenPeace, through the GreenCorps program, on a campaign to force the city to build a solar power plant. Brian also reports that Ben Sayre '99 is living in San Francisco and interning for the San Francisco Bay Guardian.
Peace!
I'm Batina Abdul-Mumin which means the Witness to Wisdom who Serves the
Almighty Guardian of Faith. (You guys can find me in the class of 1991 when I
was Nicole Bish). Had 3 dreams about Wesleyan in the past 2 months!!! It's
time for me to get in touch and stay in touch! So hook me up with my people. I
miss you guys. I'm loking for Roberta G. & Brooke Tippens and missing the
spirit of my class! I was a frosh when we demonstrated against Wesleyan's
investment policies and am working in my own way to be progressive. That spirit
needs to be maintained by every means necessary!!! So i'm glad i thought to
look you up on the net... Right now I'm a public school teacher outside of
Newark; i'm a mother of 2; as you can see i am a Muslim by choice and
researching Women in Islam to fight against the serious sexist brainwash that
has afflicted women and men who have bought into the control propaganda. so i
try not to get too stressed cause i'm trying to do it all and stay true to the
Almighty & the miraculous Holy Qur'an who i encourage all to read. Keep in
touch and get me online!!! Peace. queenofsol1@netzero.net