Class Notes

Danielle “Dani” Williams Kruer has been living in Chesapeake, Virginia, with her husband Gregg Kruer and their children, 12-year-old twins Evan and Alexis and eight-year-old Lucas.  Since November 2015, Dani works as a staff attorney for the Chesapeake Circuit Court.

Reena Desai recently got accepted into the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (UNA-NCA) Graduates Fellows Program. She is only one of 20 graduate students, out of all graduate schools the D.C. metro area, to be selected for this fellowship.

The UNA-NCA provides an opportunity for Washington area graduate students interested in international affairs, development, trade, finance, and related disciplines to explore the role of the United Nations within the context of modern global affairs and other international organizations.

The UNA-NCA Fellows Program offers participants the chance to build strong professional and academic skills through relevant internship experiences and a series of 10 seminars on global issues and focusing on pertinent current issues facing the United Nations system, including reform challenges, and featuring leading figures working on those issues.  Congratulations Reena!

Kate Amy Degnan recently changed jobs and is now an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Catholic University in D.C.  Kate and her husband, Matt Degnan ’99, have two kids, ages eight and five, and live in Falls Church, Virginia.

John Friday, who  graduated (BLS) in 2000 (and MALS in 2003), has several updates to share—On November 1, 2015  he released his fourth album of original music; on April 13, 2016 his second grandchild (and first granddaughter) was born; and on July 9, 2016 he got married!

Robb Easton-Mullins continues to work as a freelance scenographer, opening a world premiere at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. He also continues to be a part of Wake Forest University’s Department of Theatre and Dance as an Associate Professor of Design and as the Associate Chair of the Department. By the time you are reading this, he will have completed his fourth charity motorcycle ride with Long Reach Long Riders, raising money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Behind the Scenes.

Benjamin Preston married Juliana Schatz—a documentary film producer and classmate from the Columbia University journalism school—in September 2014. They live in Brooklyn, New York, along with an unlikely pile of well-used surfboards and “vintage” cars. After a two-year stint as web editor of the New York Times’ now-defunct Automobiles section, Benjamin dove headlong into freelance work. He now writes business stories for the Guardian, auto industry analysis for Car and Driver, and is directing a video series for Time featuring his own misadventures restoring a rusted out Toyota Land Cruiser, among a great many other journalistic and automotive projects.

Kristin Branson and her husband Jonathan welcomed their daughter, Emerson, who arrived in June.  Congrats to the new mom and dad!

Daniella Kelly Sicuranza and her husband, Chris Sicuranza ’99, celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary this October.  In honor of the milestone, they said sayonara to the kids (now six and four), for a week in July and went north to the Canadian Rockies for a week of high-flying adventure heli-hiking, glacier trekking, and zip lining.

From Daniella: I’ve been honored to serve as your class agent for the past several years, but the time to pass the baton has come. If anyone is interested in taking on the role please email classnotes@umw.edu. I wish everyone and their loved ones a happy holiday season!