Class Note 1996
Issue
May-June 2020
From new family members to awards to announcement of new ventures—our class continues to amaze with notable accomplishments across many facets of our personal and professional lives.
With respect to new arrivals, Michael Roberts and wife Alisha Davis announced the birth of their daughter, Sylvia Davis Roberts. “Little Sylvie was born January 8 at 5:15 a.m. Mom, dad, and big sister Alice are all over the moon with joy!” Also, Elizabeth Meyer Kelley (who in her “spare time” is director of class activities of the College) celebrated “Rennie Day” on January 17—the day when her daughter legally became a Kelley (though Rennie was truly theirs at 2 weeks old). The family now features “three kiddos within 33 months of each other” and Elizabeth proclaimed the experience as being “like the Iron Man of parenting.” And lastly, Melinda Holl Young and fiancé Greg White were engaged on December 24! Welcome to the ’96 family, Sylvie, Rennie, and Greg!
Jami Papa brought news of an exciting change in her life and career. Jami, a foreign service officer for the U.S. Department of State, announced, “After two crazy years, I am leaving Kabul today for the last time! Next stop will be Nairobi—visitors are welcome!” This change comes after 15 years of service in six countries and across three administrations. Matt Little also had a major change of his own. After five years as executive director of the Cascade Forest Conservancy in Washington State, Matt announced that he would run as an independent for the Clark County council—check out his website at mattlittle4clarkcounty.org.
Corby Thomas was gearing up for release of his first children’s music single, “Fun in the Yard,” in December. He has been the owner-operator of New York live music venue and restaurant Session 73 for 20 years. When son Jackson was born in early 2019, Corby started composing music and creating “Tunesy Time” jam sessions with his family. He will release additional singles in 2020 with the goal of “inspiring young imaginations and invoking a spirit of both curiosity and collaboration.” After a Kickstarter campaign, he headed to the studio to record his new compositions and worked with animators to produce accompanying music videos.
Congrats to Brandon del Pozo (the former chief of police of Burlington, Vermont). In January Brandon successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at the City University of New York. One of Brandon’s mentors paid his defense the highest compliment when he said, “We’d be in a better place in the nation if the police gave as much careful thought to how we should serve citizens as was laid out in the dissertation.”
Lastly comes news of several class authors (from each other no less!). Brad Parks, one of our class literati, was presenting at the Library of Virginia Literary Awards, where he ran into another of our prized writers, Erika Meitner. Erika’s work, Holy Moly Carry Me—a work Brad describes as “totally worth a read if you enjoy deeply human poems that grapple with everything from parenting to race relations to religious identity”—was nominated for the poetry prize at the ceremony. Erika has been traveling the country conducting readings at universities, bookstores, bars, and lecture halls for the better part of the past year. Probably the most amazing endorsement of her literary prowess came from our own Kerry (Fiacco) White, whose son, Thomas, needed a book of contemporary poetry for his AP English course—for which Kerry wholeheartedly recommended an autographed copy of a certain ’96 author’s Holy Moly Carry Me.
Not to be outdone, Brad had amazing news of his own, announcing that his The Last Act had been optioned by SkyDance Media—the company behind Mission: Impossible, Jack Ryan, Jack Reacher—for development as a television series. He said, “We’re still a long way from a green light, but this is an exciting step for a story I truly love.”
—Garrett Gil de Rubio, 1062 Middlebrooke Drive, Canton, GA 30115; ggdr@alum.dartmouth.org
With respect to new arrivals, Michael Roberts and wife Alisha Davis announced the birth of their daughter, Sylvia Davis Roberts. “Little Sylvie was born January 8 at 5:15 a.m. Mom, dad, and big sister Alice are all over the moon with joy!” Also, Elizabeth Meyer Kelley (who in her “spare time” is director of class activities of the College) celebrated “Rennie Day” on January 17—the day when her daughter legally became a Kelley (though Rennie was truly theirs at 2 weeks old). The family now features “three kiddos within 33 months of each other” and Elizabeth proclaimed the experience as being “like the Iron Man of parenting.” And lastly, Melinda Holl Young and fiancé Greg White were engaged on December 24! Welcome to the ’96 family, Sylvie, Rennie, and Greg!
Jami Papa brought news of an exciting change in her life and career. Jami, a foreign service officer for the U.S. Department of State, announced, “After two crazy years, I am leaving Kabul today for the last time! Next stop will be Nairobi—visitors are welcome!” This change comes after 15 years of service in six countries and across three administrations. Matt Little also had a major change of his own. After five years as executive director of the Cascade Forest Conservancy in Washington State, Matt announced that he would run as an independent for the Clark County council—check out his website at mattlittle4clarkcounty.org.
Corby Thomas was gearing up for release of his first children’s music single, “Fun in the Yard,” in December. He has been the owner-operator of New York live music venue and restaurant Session 73 for 20 years. When son Jackson was born in early 2019, Corby started composing music and creating “Tunesy Time” jam sessions with his family. He will release additional singles in 2020 with the goal of “inspiring young imaginations and invoking a spirit of both curiosity and collaboration.” After a Kickstarter campaign, he headed to the studio to record his new compositions and worked with animators to produce accompanying music videos.
Congrats to Brandon del Pozo (the former chief of police of Burlington, Vermont). In January Brandon successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at the City University of New York. One of Brandon’s mentors paid his defense the highest compliment when he said, “We’d be in a better place in the nation if the police gave as much careful thought to how we should serve citizens as was laid out in the dissertation.”
Lastly comes news of several class authors (from each other no less!). Brad Parks, one of our class literati, was presenting at the Library of Virginia Literary Awards, where he ran into another of our prized writers, Erika Meitner. Erika’s work, Holy Moly Carry Me—a work Brad describes as “totally worth a read if you enjoy deeply human poems that grapple with everything from parenting to race relations to religious identity”—was nominated for the poetry prize at the ceremony. Erika has been traveling the country conducting readings at universities, bookstores, bars, and lecture halls for the better part of the past year. Probably the most amazing endorsement of her literary prowess came from our own Kerry (Fiacco) White, whose son, Thomas, needed a book of contemporary poetry for his AP English course—for which Kerry wholeheartedly recommended an autographed copy of a certain ’96 author’s Holy Moly Carry Me.
Not to be outdone, Brad had amazing news of his own, announcing that his The Last Act had been optioned by SkyDance Media—the company behind Mission: Impossible, Jack Ryan, Jack Reacher—for development as a television series. He said, “We’re still a long way from a green light, but this is an exciting step for a story I truly love.”
—Garrett Gil de Rubio, 1062 Middlebrooke Drive, Canton, GA 30115; ggdr@alum.dartmouth.org