Class Note 1996
With the mid-year months upon us, temperatures in this part of the world are quickly rising, summer vacations are in full swing and everyone’s kids are suffering from the doldrums of seasonal break. It’s fitting then that all my updates for this Class Notes installment are from classmates in the educational sector—whose schedules lend themselves well to sending in updates with the school calendar easing up for the summer!
Maryam Kia-Keating wrote in with two exciting updates in her life. First, she recently got tenure at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she is an assistant professor in the clinical psychology program. I remembered seeing a recent Facebook post from Maryam confirming the great news: “Tenure and ‘Yo Gabba Gabba’ all in one week. Don’t know if I’ll be able to top this.” As if that professional development were not enough to celebrate, by the time these notes are published Maryam and her husband, Brett, will have welcomed their second baby (who joins their elder daughter) in May! She said they are all very excited for the new member of their family to arrive. I would say that news definitely trumps “Yo Gabba Gabba” for sure!
Also from the world of higher education, I heard from David Weinberg with some great news of his own. Having never written in before, it was the “perfect time” to provide both an update of where he’s been in addition to details of where he’s going. After graduating from law school at the University of Pennsylvania and a short stint of “pretending to practice law,” David spent the last eight years at Seton Hall University’s law school in various positions in admissions and career services. As of May he was moving to New Orleans to become the assistant dean for admission at Tulane Law School. He’s looking forward to life in the “Big Easy” and suggested “any classmates hitting New Orleans for a conference or just some fun should feel free to reach out.” His last note then struck me at my core: “I also realize that some of the kids of ’96s might be college-age now (scary!), so I’m happy to talk about law school admissions as well!” While I wish Dave all the best in his new position and new city, some realizations of age are best left unsaid!
My last set of updates comes from Miriam Cherry, whose career developments allowed her to stay in the same city. Miriam, a faculty member at Saint Louis University’s School of Law, will be a visiting professor next year at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She said the visit at their neighboring school will give her the breathing room she’s needed to complete various writing projects she’s had in the works. While at “Mizzou” she will be teaching classes in business and employment law and is looking forward to getting to know the faculty and students there. Miriam also recently bought a new house in St. Louis, Missouri (complete with requisite cherry tree), which has her in the throes of spring cleaning and yard work. Her quest for the new home was chronicled in an episode of HGTV’s House Hunters that premiered early this year and replays every few months.
Congrats to all our hardworking educators (and “educator-adjacent” folks) on the completion of another academic year! Everyone else please keep sending those updates in and we’ll get your news into an upcoming Class Notes! With this issue reaching everyone around in June, don’t forget to also make your Dartmouth College Fund and ’96 class contributions today in time for the June 30 end to the academic/fiscal year!
—Garrett Gil de Rubio, 1062 Middlebrooke Drive, Canton, GA 30115; ggdr@alum.dartmouth.org
