Class Note 1994
Issue
January-February 2023
Hi, ’94s. I have lots of nuggets to share. Please keep reading!
Ally Hyun Rich provided us with a nice update. Ally moved to Cleveland in 2018 BC (before Covid) with her spouse and children. She is counsel with Squire Patton Boggs, where she works with the white-collar and government investigations groups. Given the state of affairs, she is likely finding herself awfully busy.
Ally writes, “At our 25th reunion Lauren Campisi Smit and I reconnected and we’ve hung out a few times, both pre- and post-March 2020. Lauren is a doctor with the Cleveland Clinic practicing family medicine. Last fall I was in Miami, where I got the chance to meet up with Matt Feeley, who is currently the deputy chief of the healthcare fraud unit for the U.S. attorney’s office based in Miami. It was so lovely to see Matt after so many years and we joked that both of us have lived away from our respective home states ever since we graduated yet we are still devoted to our hometown teams.”
When traveling to San Francisco for a conference, Ally also connected with Brian Buenneke, who has been with Pantheon Partners now for more than 20 years.
Ally shared another connection from the same trip: “At one of the conference events Neil Smith and I saw each other across a crowded bar and we both stopped dead in our tracks. Neil is a partner in the Boston office of K&L Gates, where he practices in the white-collar group, which he joined after a number of years working for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the enforcement division. It was fun to catch up with him and we even managed to impress and horrify some of his colleagues when we were able to warble out the first few lines of the alma mater (hat tip to tequila and cigars).”
It comes as no surprise that Ally is looking forward to our 30th reunion and will be ready to give a rouse with a will. I can’t wait to join her!
I close with heartbreaking news of the death of classmate Thanalakshmi Subramaniam. “Shimi” made a mark wherever she went. After growing up in Singapore, Shimi moved to the United States to attend Dartmouth, where she was a leader in the arts and the community. Shimi majored in drama and women’s and gender studies, was a member of Casque & Gauntlet and Panarchy, and was a Tucker fellow.
Shortly after graduation she moved to San Antonio, Texas, where she dazzled the city with her fiery compassion and iridescent talent. She joined the Jump/Start Performance Co. and built an independent performance career featuring every kind of dance you could imagine, from hip hop and hoop to belly dancing and pole dancing. She loved merging her love of movement with her advocacy for people of all identities. After marrying her beloved Oscar Alvarado in 1997, they lived in a converted former bar that quickly became a popular venue for performing artists and shows such as It Came from the Lounge and the Miss Southtown Pageant, an all-gender beauty pageant with great local culture.
Friends describe her as a fighter for social justice, art, women, people of color, and general righteousness. She was known as a beautiful and graceful dancer, a mentor to the youth she taught, an inspiration to those she fought for, and a bold co-conspirator to those she befriended. Shimi was hit by a car in San Antonio and died on December 2, 2020.
Thank you for sending me your news. From the emails I’ve received, it sounds as though you’re finding meaningful ways to celebrate and enjoy this milestone year. In the next several columns I will keep sharing updates.
—Laura Hardegree Davis, 520 Meadowlark Lane, Brentwood, TN 37027; lauradavis723@mac.com
Ally Hyun Rich provided us with a nice update. Ally moved to Cleveland in 2018 BC (before Covid) with her spouse and children. She is counsel with Squire Patton Boggs, where she works with the white-collar and government investigations groups. Given the state of affairs, she is likely finding herself awfully busy.
Ally writes, “At our 25th reunion Lauren Campisi Smit and I reconnected and we’ve hung out a few times, both pre- and post-March 2020. Lauren is a doctor with the Cleveland Clinic practicing family medicine. Last fall I was in Miami, where I got the chance to meet up with Matt Feeley, who is currently the deputy chief of the healthcare fraud unit for the U.S. attorney’s office based in Miami. It was so lovely to see Matt after so many years and we joked that both of us have lived away from our respective home states ever since we graduated yet we are still devoted to our hometown teams.”
When traveling to San Francisco for a conference, Ally also connected with Brian Buenneke, who has been with Pantheon Partners now for more than 20 years.
Ally shared another connection from the same trip: “At one of the conference events Neil Smith and I saw each other across a crowded bar and we both stopped dead in our tracks. Neil is a partner in the Boston office of K&L Gates, where he practices in the white-collar group, which he joined after a number of years working for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the enforcement division. It was fun to catch up with him and we even managed to impress and horrify some of his colleagues when we were able to warble out the first few lines of the alma mater (hat tip to tequila and cigars).”
It comes as no surprise that Ally is looking forward to our 30th reunion and will be ready to give a rouse with a will. I can’t wait to join her!
I close with heartbreaking news of the death of classmate Thanalakshmi Subramaniam. “Shimi” made a mark wherever she went. After growing up in Singapore, Shimi moved to the United States to attend Dartmouth, where she was a leader in the arts and the community. Shimi majored in drama and women’s and gender studies, was a member of Casque & Gauntlet and Panarchy, and was a Tucker fellow.
Shortly after graduation she moved to San Antonio, Texas, where she dazzled the city with her fiery compassion and iridescent talent. She joined the Jump/Start Performance Co. and built an independent performance career featuring every kind of dance you could imagine, from hip hop and hoop to belly dancing and pole dancing. She loved merging her love of movement with her advocacy for people of all identities. After marrying her beloved Oscar Alvarado in 1997, they lived in a converted former bar that quickly became a popular venue for performing artists and shows such as It Came from the Lounge and the Miss Southtown Pageant, an all-gender beauty pageant with great local culture.
Friends describe her as a fighter for social justice, art, women, people of color, and general righteousness. She was known as a beautiful and graceful dancer, a mentor to the youth she taught, an inspiration to those she fought for, and a bold co-conspirator to those she befriended. Shimi was hit by a car in San Antonio and died on December 2, 2020.
Thank you for sending me your news. From the emails I’ve received, it sounds as though you’re finding meaningful ways to celebrate and enjoy this milestone year. In the next several columns I will keep sharing updates.
—Laura Hardegree Davis, 520 Meadowlark Lane, Brentwood, TN 37027; lauradavis723@mac.com