Class Note 1995
First, a friendly hello to the class of 1995 from Jon Landy: “Tammy and I have three kids, Matthew (11), Alex (8) and Emma (7). We live in Bethesda, Maryland, very close to Phyllis and Steve Fagell, who also have three kids of roughly similar ages.”
Congratulations to Zack Lehman, who has been named headmaster of the Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He joins the Hill this July, after serving for six years as the assistant head of school for advancement at Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine. Zack and his wife, Amy, also have three children (seems to be a trend): Mitchell (13), Griffin (11) and Avery (8). The press release on Zack’s appointment reads: “Zack stood out as an exceptionally intelligent, energetic and entrepreneurial leader, educator and fundraiser who is devoted to young people.” Best of luck with your new role!
Casque & Gauntlet celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, so I reached out to some of the knights and ladies of the 1995 delegation to find out what they are up to. I heard back from two members who, coincidentally, both have interesting ties to Africa.
Joe Dadzie, originally from Accra, Ghana,wrote in to share: “I’ve been with Microsoft since graduation and still enjoy it. I took a sabbatical last summer and visited Dartmouth with my wife, Miyuki, and our 9-year-old son. While we were there we visited friends on the East Coast, including Alyse (Kornfeld) Streicher and family in Scarsdale, New York. I also went to Ghana for the inauguration of the new campus of Ashesi University. A good friend of mine, Patrick Awuah, founded the university to make a liberal arts education—similar to that offered at Dartmouth or Swarthmore—available in Ghana. My wife and I have been supporters (financial, raising awareness, volunteering, etc.) of the university since its founding. The new campus has a seminar room named after my wife and me and a dormitory quad named after my parents. I still play soccer and keep in touch with John Griffin and Gretchen Freeman Cappio.”
Rukmini Callimachi is living in Dakar, Senegal, where she is the West Africa bureau chief for the Associated Press. She has been with the AP since 1993 and has worked in Africa for the past five years. She also spent a year reporting for the AP on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina from New Orleans. Rukmini was too modest to share this, but thanks to Google I learned that she was a 2009 Pulitzer Prize finalist for her in-depth investigation of the exploitation of impoverished children in West and Central Africa and in 2011 she won the Eugene S. Pulliam National Journalism Writing Award from Ball State University for her article, “Haiti-Hotel Montana.” I look forward to reading your work, Rukmini. Congratulations on the accolades!
Joe Santos will attend the spring session of the Alumni Council May 17-19. If you have any questions or issues you’d like him to address while he is on campus, please drop him a line at ajsantos2000@gmail.com. The deadline for this column caught me in the thick of rehearsals for a Cole Porter revue in Boston so it is a bit lighter on news than usual. Mea culpa. To make up for it, let me pose a question to you all: Where will you spend Memorial Day weekend? Send your answers to me for our next class column, and as always, keep your news coming!
—Kaja (Schuppert) Fickes, 345 Commonwealth Ave., No. 8, Boston, MA 02115; kaja@alum.dartmouth.org
