Class Note 2009

I’m truly sad to report that our classmate and friend Xavier Engle tragically passed away on November 30 in a kayaking accident in Washington State. Xavier’s mother, Pam Engle, and his life partner, Kaitlyn Kennedy, have created a website to post photos, text and videos celebrating Xavier’s life. Visit xavierengle.tumblr.com to share your thoughts and memories. 


Other news from ’09s includes Minal Caron moving back to Boston last fall after spending the previous year clerking in his home state of Maine. He’s now working as an attorney at Ropes & Gray, primarily in the firm’s healthcare group. Ibrahim Elshamy married Nawal Siddiqui at a sunset ceremony on December 21, 2014, in Valencia, California, after proposing to Nawal at Occom Pond during reunion weekend. Alim Shaikh was the best man and Bryan Chong and David Nutt served as groomsmen. Several other ’09s were in attendance: Diana Lopez, Joshua Mirkin, Kathryn Fay and Rehan Muttalib, along with Daniel O’Brien and Kaite Yang and Ian Dumont and Lauren Breach Dumont. He wrote, “The dance floor never was the same after ‘Blame It on the Boogie.’ ” Eric Lauritsen passed the California bar exam and is working as an associate in the Costa Mesa, California, office of Latham & Watkins. He’s doing copyright and trademark work, still with the hope of one day practicing more directly in the music industry. Lilian Mehrel is wrapping up her first thesis year as an M.F.A. candidate in film directing and writing at New York University. She is writing a comedy series inspired by her mockumentary project, taking viewers behind the scenes of a made-up British nature show, and is watching a lot of Planet Earth. Andrew Seidman is out in San Francisco. He cofounded a digital marketing company called Digital Reach and also still plays a little bit of poker. Emily Esfahani Smith is getting married in Hanover this summer.


Keep a look out for mini-reunions in your area and don’t forget to follow ’09s on Facebook (“Dartmouth College Class of 2009”), Twitter (@Dartmouth09) and Instagram (@dartmouth09). Want to share a picture with the class? Send it to dartmouthsocial@gmail.com.


—Liz Doolittle Kahane, 255 Patroon Creek Blvd., Apt. 2219, Albany, NY 12206; (617) 909-7669; elizabeth.d.kahane@gmail.com