2009 – Fall ’21 Class Letter
2009 – Fall 2021 Class Letter
Co-Class Agents:
EMILY MEYER ’09
(920) 369-8707 / [email protected]
JOSH LEGREVE ’09
(414) 839-7222 / [email protected]
Hello All!
We hope you all had a chance to relax a bit during this past summer and enjoy the weather wherever you may be. We both had the opportunity to attend the August Alumni Weekend activities and it was great to see some of you there. It was a smaller event than normal considering everything, but it was still nice to get back on campus and see other alumni (even with the pouring rain during some of it).
It is amazing to realize that this year’s incoming Ripon College students are the Class of 2025! Here is an interesting snapshot of what our future fellow alumni look like: https://ripon.edu/2021/08/31/the-face-of-the-class-of-2025-our-new-first-years/
It is never too early to start planning to attend Alumni Weekend 2022. Next year the event will be held from June 23-26, 2022. This means Alumni Weekend starts on EMILY MEYER ’09’s birthday, so plan to come to help her celebrate while reuniting with your classmates!
As we write this, JOSH LEGREVE ’09 of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, is gearing up for his twelfth year in the classroom. He is still teaching Spanish at Green Lake School District, but this year he is also taking on the role of the district’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Program Coordinator. In this role, he will be working with juniors and seniors as they pursue the rigorous full IB Diploma.
EMILY MEYER ’09 of Fargo, North Dakota, has entered a new phase of life as the mom of a kindergartener. There is a HUGE learning curve to this phase of life, and lots of things to remember (like sending a snack every day). Aside from that, Emily is entering her fifth year in her position as the Assistant Director for Residential Education and continues to support the COVID Student Helpline at her institution. She also continues to serve as an advisor for the local Kappa Delta chapter, and is extremely excited to see what their new sorority house will look like once construction is complete next summer.
Here are some updates from the College:
Alumni Weekend:
Alumni and guests from 29 states, including Alaska and Hawaii, were on campus, Aug. 6-8, representing the classes of 1961 to 2023, for the first-ever August Alumni Weekend after COVID-19 put a pause on campus events over the past 18 months. Save the date for Alumni Weekend 2022, which will go back to our traditional end of June date: June 23-26, 2022.
Past fiscal year update:
A record-breaking 2,087 donors from all around the world supported Ripon’s fourth annual giving day on April 28, known as #OneDayRally, reminding us all that regardless of the circumstances, Red Hawks come together.
Thank you to the over 3,600 donors, including those of you from our class of 2009, who supported the College this past fiscal year through the Ripon Fund and other initiatives.
Campus upgrades:
The McCullough Family Lounge in Farr Hall of Science — a favorite location of students for studying and collaborative work — recently received an extreme makeover with the intent of making the space more contemporary and technologically friendly. The renovations were made possible by a lead gift from Trustee PHILIP MCCULLOUGH ’69/P’04, and his wife, Pat.
Also, a new Data Visualization Lab was installed in Todd Wehr Hall, which will be a great asset for the math and computer science departments.
Endowment:
Ripon’s endowment recently hit an all-time high and as of Thursday, August 19, 2021, it was at $112 million.
Class notes:
JOSH FREY ’09 of West Point, New York, is a Nuclear Engineer with the U.S. Army.
SHAWN KARSTEN ’09 and CARISSA ZUERCHER KARSTEN ’10 of Ripon, Wisconsin, welcomed a baby boy, Luther James Karsten, to their family on April 19, 2021.
NICK KRUEGER ’09 of Watertown, Wisconsin was a candidate for the State Assembly’s 37th District.
BRITTANY KAUFMAN PRATT ’09 of Nixa, Missouri, shares that she has been riding out the pandemic with copious amounts of ice cream, online shopping, Brene Brown, and Bailey Sarian. If you have completed all of the popular bingeable shows, please consider Last Kingdom, Alone, MASH, or Zumbo’s Just Desserts for your viewing pleasure. And, if anyone else has memorized Dinosaur Train’s “Dinosaurs A-Z,” she’ll be happy to sing with you at the next Class Reunion! Brittany’s recently graduated pre-doctoral interns gifted her an MTV board game in honor of “all [her] old school references.” Just in case you wanted to feel like a true elderly millennial today. Brittany would like to give a special shout out to Joe Hatcher P’16, Kristine Kovack-Lesh, TIM PETERSIK ’73/P’10, and Bob Otis for fueling her love of psychology. As President of the Missouri Psychological Association, she is proud to represent her Ripon College roots and is immensely grateful for the way our professors set us up for success. Brittany writes, “Shout out to ABBY KAUFMAN ’12 because it is awesome to go to college with your sister! Also, pretty sure she doesn’t send in class updates, but she’s back in the Fox Valley if y’all wanna hang out. All jokes aside, hope everyone is doing well. Take care of you and looking forward to seeing you when all of this is over. Give a shout if you’re ever in southwest Missouri!”
VANESSA SIEBERS ’09 is the YMCA School Age Coordinator in Appleton.
We are always looking for more updates! You can send your updates to either of us and we will make sure it is included!
Be well,
EMILY MEYER ’09
JOSH LEGREVE ’09