With 2015 now well under way and our 20th reunion just a few months away, it’s an exciting time of change for some of our classmates and their extended families!


On October 17 Shelley Arakawa and husband Jarrid Whitney welcomed son Luke Shigemi Otahyoni Whitney into the world. Luke’s name represents a true amalgamation of their rich family histories—his first name relates to the patron saint of students (since both parents work in education), Shigemi is Shelley’s grandfather’s first and father’s middle name, and Otahyoni means “wolf” in Cayuga (since Jarrid’s lineage is Wolf Clan on his mom’s side). Luke joins proud big sister Kalia, age 5, in rounding out the Arakawa-Whitney clan. They reside in Pasadena, California, where Shelley is director of regional advancement for the Punahou School and Jarrid is executive director of admissions and financial aid at the California Institute of Technology. We like to consider Jarrid an honorary Dartmouth ’96, given the fact that he and Shelley met during their shared tenure working for the Dartmouth admissions office.


In other baby news, Suzanne Leonard and her husband, Alan Billing, welcome their first child Anabelle Savannah Billing, born early on the morning of October 8. In addition to her new role as mom, Suzanne is an associate professor of English at Simmons College, where she regularly instructs classes on film studies and film theory, women’s literature, literary interpretation and feminist cultural studies and also teaches courses affiliated with the college’s honors program, the women’s and gender studies department and gender and cultural studies master’s program.


Greg Papajohn also wrote in with updates on his growing family! He and his wife, Suzanne, welcomed baby girl Maren into the world on August 25 and report that mom and baby are doing great (as are older brothers Nicholas, age 8, and James, age 3). He is absolutely not looking forward to the future Dartmouth tuition tab that his now-larger family unit represents! Greg continues to enjoy his position as managing director of a technology public relations firm in Manhattan and also added that, “if your venture capital, professional engineering firm or tech company has eyes on Re/Code and TechCrunch is buzzing with jargon such as ‘social influence content marketing,’ I can help.” 


Greg also passed along news that Dan Nicastri is back in the country following multiple tours of duty as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. Greg, Dan and Brian Crowell met up for a few “brewskies” in Greenwich, Connecticut, upon Dan’s return, and Greg said Dan “looked like Tom Cruise in his dress whites” (a point I can report Dan adamantly refutes!). After tours in Guantanamo, Afghanistan and several other hot spots around the world, Dan is now a cardiovascular surgeon (and assistant professor of thoracic surgery) at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and lives in Pelham Manor with his wife, Pamela, son Anthony, age 5, and daughter Despina, age 3. Greg reiterated he is very happy to have Dan back home safe after his many years of service so far away (as we all are).


I also heard from Bill Tovell, who reports that he recently had a freshman-year roommate reunion with Eric Schwartz and his wife, Emma, when Eric’s daughter, Lea, and Bill’s sons, William and Byron, met up for a playdate in Brooklyn. Bill indicated it is still amazing to him that he and Eric have known each other for 22 years! In less planned fashion, Bill and his wife also randomly met up with Lee Grinberg near Union Square as he was walking his dog on a Sunday afternoon in New York. 


—Garrett Gil de Rubio, 1062 Middlebrooke Drive, Canton, GA 30115; ggdr@alum.dartmouth.org