2009 – Fall ’19 Class Letter
2009 – Fall 2019
EMILY MEYER ’09
(920) 369-8707 / [email protected]
Hello Everyone!
First of all, thanks to everyone who was able to come back to attend any part of Alumni Weekend, and a special thank you to those of you who attended our dinner. Congratulations are also in order for JENAN KHARBUSH ’09 who received one of the Outstanding Young Alumni awards, and BRITTANY DICK ’09 and JOSH KRAEMER ’09 who were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame! It is so exciting to have three of our classmates recognized for their accomplishments in the same year.
I also had a lot of fun catching up with a lot of you who came for some or all of the weekend; I hope you had as much fun as I did! I also enjoyed introducing our son, James, to a number of you throughout the weekend (Lily stayed with grandma and grandpa and played in the pool, which was more exciting for her than hanging out with mom). I hope those of you who came had as much fun as I did, and that you’ll plan to return for our 15th reunion in what will feel like just a few short years. Of course, you’re more than welcome to attend Alumni Weekends between our formal reunions, there are always lots of people to connect with and things to do.
Our family has been quite busy since my last letter; we bought a house in Fargo, ND (and within 2 days we had to buy a snow blower….), moved (during the threat of an ice storm), spent several days at home due to campuses being closed due to the bitter cold, welcomed James to our family, and have just been generally busy since 2019 started. I hope that things will slow down in the next few months.
A couple of you sent me some updates you wanted to share with the class as well…
BRITTANY KAUFMAN PRATT ’09 lives in Nixa, Missouri, with her husband, Jeremy, and two-year-old daughter, affectionately nicknamed “Tiny Human” on social media. TH is thrilled to become a big sister in November 2019! Brittany was recently voted President Elect-Elect of the Missouri Psychological Association and will serve as President during the 2021-2022 term.
ANGELA TWAROSKI ’09 writes, “I’m about a month away from being with United Healthcare (UMR) for 5 years, the last 3 as an account manager/customer specialist. I work with one of UMR’s largest and most unique customers. Every day is a challenge, but most days I love what I do. Late last year, I was selected as one of UHC’s 2018 Service Heroes. Out of the approximately 400k UHC employees eligible, only about 400 are selected. We got an all-expenses paid trip to Florida, staying at Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club for three days. The mornings were spent collaborating with other Service Heroes and UHC leadership about new directions to take the company in order to better serve our members, building bookshelves to benefit an Orlando non-profit supporting families of kids going through cancer treatment, listening to a few speakers, and being celebrated for our hard work and dedication. And the afternoons were spent exploring Disney parks and Universal Studios with my sister, REBECCA ANN TWAROSKI ’13, and my brother’s girlfriend.”
Updates that were shared with the college include:
HALEY MOERER MADSON ’09 of Ripon, WI has been named the new Director of Communication and Special Events for The Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership. Madson will serve as the primary contact for media relations, organizational communication and special events. Madson brings more than 10 years of non-profit management experience in addition to her knowledge of communication, social media, web development, and relationship management to the DFP. Madson holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Ripon College with an emphasis in nonprofit management.
HANNAH EMANUEL JAHN ’09 and JASON JAHN ’07 announce the birth of daughter Miranda Rose Jahn on December 16, 2018. Hannah is an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Milwaukee and Jason is a Network Architect at Rockwell Automation.
THOMAS MILLER ’09, has been on staff for the University of Minnesota Crookston football program for the past three seasons and has been promoted to defensive coordinator. Miller will also retain his title as assistant head coach.
TANYA LISKO BLATY ’09 of Golden Valley, Minnesota, writes, “I graduated from an endocrinology fellowship at UW Madison in June of 2018 and am currently working as an endocrinologist in the Twin Cities. My husband and I welcomed a daughter, Charli, in our family this past December.”
CHARLES BELT ’09 was named the next William Woods University men’s basketball coach, as announced by director of intercollegiate athletics Jason Vittone Friday afternoon.
“I am pleased and excited to welcome Charles Belt to the William Woods University family,” stated Vittone. “I think he’ll make a great addition to our university and our community. I believe he’s the right fit at the right time for our university, department and men’s basketball program. I’m eager to watch our program grow under his leadership.”
“I’m extremely excited and blessed to be given the opportunity to join the William Woods University family as the head men’s basketball coach,” commented Belt. “I want to thank Jason Vittone for his belief in me being the person to lead this program moving forward. I want to thank the entire athletic department staff, admissions, Dr. Mitchell and everyone who was a part of the search process for trusting and believing in me with this responsibility. I look forward to bringing an exciting brand of basketball to William Woods and the community of Fulton. We will recruit players with tremendous character who are eager to learn, grow and graduate. I can’t wait to get started. Go Owls!”
Belt comes to WWU after spending six seasons with the NCAA Division II Northern Michigan University Wildcats. He was the Head Assistant Coach for three seasons after spending three seasons as the second assistant. This past season, he helped lead the Wildcats to the GLIAC Tournament semi-finals. The team made their first postseason appearance in the 2017-18 season after an 11-year drought. In his six years with the Wildcats, the team garnered six all-GLIAC honors and 16 GLIAC academic awards.
Prior to NMU, Belt spent two seasons (2011-13) as an assistant coach at Beloit College. He helped lead the program from 17 conference wins in five years to 19 conference wins in two years. As a recruiter, he brought in a Midwest Conference honorable mention selection as a true freshman who ranked in the top 10 in seven statistical categories.
Belt also coached the boys 17U and 16U AAU Wisconsin Shooting Stars teams from the Ripon/Oshkosh, Wis. area and individual development camps for high school boys and girls in Wisconsin.
Belt played four years as the point guard for NCAA Division III Ripon College. He graduated from Ripon with a degree in business administration.”
A friendly reminder, if you are on Facebook, please make sure you’re a part of the Ripon College Class of 2009 page. Please also remember to keep Ripon College updated if you move or if you have exciting news to share with our class.
Take care!
Emily