Class Note 1994

Professor Robert C. Bordone’s Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program was selected by the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution to be the recipient of its 2010 Problem Solving in the Law School Curriculum Award. The clinic’s director and founder, Robert is the Thaddeus R. Beal Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Along with Nancy Rogers, Craig McEwen and Frank E.A. Sander, Robert is also currently writing Designing Forum and Disputing Systems, a new text on problem-solving and dispute systems design that will be published by Aspen in 2012.


This month I also have the pleasure of having had several guest column writers—without further ado, I present the beautifully crafted stories of Dr. Mary Hayes, Marcelino Garcia, Ruth Mamaril and Rebecca Obstler.


“On March 12 Dr. Mary Hayes married Jim Lawrence in a beautiful ‘medievalesque’ wedding ceremony in an old southern mansion at the Castle Hill resort in Oxford, Mississippi. Marcelino Garcia, who served as the man of honor, Ruth Mamaril, who was a bridesmaid, and Rebecca Obstler, who read an assortment of poems both tame and erotic, all flew in from faraway places to take part in the festivities. 


“For the past five years Mary has been teaching medieval literature at the University of Mississippi, where she is an assistant professor of English and director of the medieval studies minor. She met her future husband on a boat sailing across the Drake Passage while en route to run a marathon in Antarctica in 2005. They live in Oxford with their two black labs, Chutzpah (who was the flower girl in the wedding) and Zeke (who had an untimely attack of ‘cold paws’ before the event and thus stayed home to guard the house), rescued dogs who share their parents’ zeal for distance running. As part of her work toward tenure, which she hopes to be awarded next year, Mary published two books earlier this year: a scholarly study of medieval piety and a textbook on the history of the English language. 


“Since graduation Marcelino has lived in Chicago. After working in the international relations department of Chicago 2016, the organization tasked with bringing the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games to the city, he now works as an attorney helping people going through the mortgage foreclosure process. In addition, he is also a partner with Overseas Strategies, LLC, a small company that does consulting work in the import/export trade business. An avid traveler, he has visited more than 60 countries and is always planning his next trip to a new location.


“Ruth Mamaril has worked in various aspects of the post-production industry, from post supervising to editing, both in L.A. and N.Y.C. She moved to New York City 11 years ago and currently freelances as a film/video editor. You can see what she’s been up to on her website www.ruthmamaril.com. In the last year she has enhanced her passion for travel with a new love: surfing. And she was definitely stoked to have had the opportunity to reunite with her fellow Dartmouth alums at Mary’s wedding.


“Rebecca Obstler has also lived and worked in a variety of exciting locales since graduation: New York City, Rome, Washington, D.C., and now London for the past two years. She was thrilled to be able to fly in for Mary’s wedding and to spend time with her old mates. Rebecca hopes soon to recapture the magic she shared with her fellow ’94s the day after the wedding at ‘Graceland Too’ in Holly Springs, Mississippi, the local $5 alternative to the better-known and less colorful attraction in Memphis.”


Thanks, guys, both for writing in and also for literally writing my column for me; it was a luxurious break!


—Suzie Fromer, 26 Irving Ave., Tarrytown, NY 10591; suziefromer@gmail.com