Kaleidoscope Issue 55, Spring 2019 by UWC-USA

Initial Findings From the Alumni Engagement Survey and Focus Groups

No.55 SPRING 2019

The Future of the Hot Springs

Who Will Save the Internet?

The magazine of UWC-USA, The Armand Hammer United World College of the American West

VO LU M E 5 5 SPRING 2019

Chief Advancement Officer Mark Hodde ’89 Editor Carl-Martin Nelson Peer Review Editor Jose Pablo Rojas-Brewer ’06 Copy Editor Jeannine Santiago Designer Firestik Studio

Contact UWC-USA P.O. Box 248 Montezuma, NM 87731 publications@uwc-usa.org

Kaleidoscope is published biannually by the UWC-USA Advancement Office to sustain connection with alumni and the school’s extended community.

Contributing Writers Gwen Albers Amie Ferris-Rotman ’98 Delphine Ménard ’89 Gina Neff ’89 Carl-Martin Nelson Contributing Photographers Gwen Albers Chris Corrie Jagoda Maria Sokołowska ’20

Cover photo: Gwen Albers

CO NTE NTS 4

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

F E ATU R E S 8

6 SPOTLIGHT 13 ONE OF US 18 IN MEMORIAM 20 LOOKING BACK

We’re relying on our past to plan for the future.

Amie Ferris-Rotman ’98

24 INSPIRATION

Jagoda Maria Sokołowska ’20, Poland

The Future of the Hot Springs UWC-USA explores new models for managing the Montezuma hot springs.

22 CONNECTED 23 VIEWPOINT

Initial Findings From the Alumni Engagement Survey and Focus Groups

Who Will Save the Internet? Two classmates from the class of 1989 are trying to save the internet and share their views of AI.

26 PEER REVIEW

CON T EN TS

G R E E T I N G S F R O M N E W M E X I C O, This spring, during an amazing Annual Conference, we rededicated the Nelson Mandela Peace Garden in honor of the 100th anniversary of Madiba’s birth. His grandson, Ndaba, joined us. Ndaba spoke to the importance of service taught him by his grandfather. We honored his message by laying bricks commemorating five members of our staff who have given 30 or more years of service to UWC-USA: Linda Curtis, Anne Farrell, Colin Lanham, Shirleen Lanham, and Ted Reineke. All of them have given so much, each in their own way. Someone else who has given so much to UWC-USA will be retiring at the end of this year, Ravi Parashar. Recently, I learned that when Ravi’s mother blessed him before he left their home above the Castle to teach economics every morning, she said: “Bring joy and sunlight to the world.” All of us who know Ravi know that he honored his mother’s blessing. As he leaves his role as classroom teacher, we know we all have to work a little harder to live the joy he brings to campus. This power to affect the place we inhabit and the community we form is held by all of us. The ability to see what someone has given and to try to build on their efforts is both a challenge and an opportunity. I have thought about this a lot as I contemplate Ravi’s retirement. I have also thought about this as I contemplate our strategy for UWC-USA in the coming years. A strategy that builds on our collective power and potential is a strategy that will move the school and the mission forward. Whether our gift is joy and sunlight or something else, all of us have something to contribute to building UWC-USA well into the future. In the coming months, we will be sharing the plan under development to strengthen our foundation and to innovate for impact. Both these strategies come down to five things: missiondriven people to create a transformative UWC-USA experience; mission-aligned, place-based programming that is signature UWC-USA; integrated systems to support our work; a safe and inspiring campus; and funding to support our operations and aspirations. Alumni who have participated in the various focus groups held around the world will recognize their impact on the planning—and so will members of our campus community and beyond. We’ve been listening even as we have been imagining UWC-USA’s future. What greater joy for all who believe that education can be a force for good in the world? My very best,

VIC TORIA Victoria J. Mora Ph.D., President, UWC-USA

Whether our gift is joy and sunlight or something else, all of us have something to contribute to building UWCUSA well into the future.

L ET T ER FROM T HE PR ESIDEN T

BY C A R L- M A RTI N N E L S O N

Director of Marketing and Communications

When UWC-USA President Theodore “Ted” Lockwood, Ph.D., called to offer Ravi Parashar a job teaching economics in Montezuma in 1992, Ravi was not at home. But his mother answered the phone and she assured Ted that her son would accept the position and went on to inform him that UWC-USA was getting a package deal. “Wherever Ravi goes, his father and I will also go,” she explained. Fortunately, Ted saw the benefit and made arrangements for Ravi and his parents to share a duplex when they arrived that summer. Ravi chokes up when he speaks about the generosity and kindness shown to him and his parents when they moved to Montezuma, New Mexico. “When I think about the kindness and generosity everyone has shown me and mummy and daddy over the years, my heart feels so full,” he says. He further credits his parents to a large degree for his unfailing focus on being positive. Ravi recalls advice his father often gave him: “Son, there’s never any point at getting angry—it’s just an unnecessary waste of energy.” No one can really recall seeing Ravi angry, although he has on occasion expressed disappointment. “Disagreements are natural,” Ravi claims, “but love should supersede any disagreements that people have.” In Sanskrit, the word “Ravi” means sunlight, and, as in English, the word connotes illumination and insight. For many years, Ravi and his mother would say their prayers every morning after which she would bless him and issue the same command: “Ravi, bring joy and sunlight to the world.”

6 7

SPOT L IGH T

One way that Ravi contributes to the culture of the school is by memorizing the names of his students and their parents before they arrive at school. Aleyda McKiernan, who taught Spanish at UWC-USA for many years, recalls the impact this had. “Ravi has a gifted memory,” she says. “He memorizes the names of all UWC students, their parents, and siblings before they arrive in Montezuma. He remembers and celebrates his “sweeties’” birthdays.

“Ravi is the personification of the qualities that UWCers dream to become. He is brilliant, eloquent, erudite, multilingual, charismatic, and compassionate. He is a loved, respected, dedicated, demanding, and rigorous teacher who expects excellence from his students —and they achieve it.” Ravi’s philosophy of teaching and learning not surprisingly centers on love. His teaching is informed by loving your students, loving your colleagues, and loving your subject matter. “I talk about love all the time and use the word love and sweetie and baby and so on,” Ravi explains. “It’s easy to do that because we are a loving and caring institution, and we all understand that

SUN

the students need to feel that you are there for them. That’s what’s most important.” While Ravi will retire as a teacher after the conclusion of this school year, he will continue to work for UWC-USA in a limited capacity with the Advancement Office. In fact, he began some of his work already and has been charged with finding alumni who the school has lost contact with. “I call former students and ask if they remember me,” Ravi says. “They always respond ‘Of course, how could I forget you!’” Ravi will attend reunions, host alumni events, and help connect alumni to what is happening at UWC-USA. Echoing many of Ravi’s current and former students, Caterina Presi ’94 has little problem explaining what makes Ravi so special. “The more the years pass,” she says, “the more his strength of character becomes evident. Ravi is a profound example that kindness matters and that being and doing your best makes sense.” Caterina, a senior teaching fellow at the University of Leeds in England, understands the power of personal example and the importance of great teachers. “He teaches me every day not to give up being true to myself and to work toward making the world a better place,” she says. “I hope I never stop learning from Ravi.”

NLIGHT 7

BY C A R L- M A RTI N N E L S O N

Director of Marketing and Communications

Initial Findings From the Alumni Engagement Survey and Focus Groups

With a grant from the Steele Foundation, UWC-USA embarked on an extensive research project lasting over a full year with two primary objectives:

1 2

Learn more about how UWC-USA alumni perceive their UWC-USA experience in the years since they graduated. This involved a survey conducted by Performance Enhancement Group Ltd. (PEG), an organization with deep expertise and significant experience in alumni program research. Provide alumni an opportunity to share their thoughts on both the data gathered in the survey as well as the basic tenets of the strategic plan as it is being developed.

Essentially, the goal was to ask alumni to reflect on their past experiences and use that data to determine the future priorities for the next generation of students.

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The Alumni Engagement Survey The survey was designed by Jose Pablo Rojas-Brewer, director of Alumni Relations and Giving, in collaboration with Rob Shoss from PEG and his team of statisticians and experts. The questions were tested and reviewed extensively before the survey was conducted over four weeks in September 2018. Corresponding closely with schools with high participation rates, 26 percent of UWC-USA alumni completed the survey. Highlights of the survey include responses about how often alumni promote the school and what they value most about their UWC-USA experiences.

UWC-USA’s diversity and inclusivity

Younger alumni feel a much greater affinity or loyalty to the school because of “a student organization or CAS/ExEd activity I was associated with” as opposed to older alumni whose affinity is tied more generally to the school.

98% Ninety-eight percent of respondents indicate that their decision to attend UWC-USA was

is the characteristic of the school that alumni value the most and that they feel the school needs to work hardest to maintain and continually improve.

a “good” or “great” decision.

60%

Sixty percent of respondents say that they

promote the school all the time or regularly.

PEG, the company that conducts the surveys, compares data with other schools (high schools, colleges, and universities) that have answered similar questions to discern how UWC-USA’s responses compare to other schools. They have designated the following “eras” of graduating classes in the interest of consistency.

YUPPIE/ END COLD WAR (1981–1993)

ELECTRONIC REVOLUTION/ DOT-COM (1994–2001)

This era of economic growth includes the Reagan years of economic prosperity characterized by a belief in the marketplace.

This era is defined by two things: the end of the Cold War and the emergence of the computer and the internet.

Which of the following best describes your experiences as a member of the UWC movement?

In late 2008, the U.S. stock market experienced the greatest collapse since the Great Depression, leading to significant financial stress around the world.

PERCENTAGE OF PARTICIPANTS

80% 60% 40% 20% 0% BAD DECISION

FAIR DECISION

GOOD DECISION

GREAT DECISION

NEVER

OCCASIONALLY

REGULARLY

ALL THE TIME

POOR

FAIR

GOOD

EXCELLENT

50% PERCENTAGE OF PARTICIPANTS

How often do you promote (or talk about) UWC-USA to others?

At almost the same time, the “new economy” and our belief in “peace forever” ended.

100%

40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

60% 50% PERCENTAGE OF PARTICIPANTS

How would you rate your decision to attend UWC-USA?

POST-GREAT RECESSION (2009–CURRENT)

POST-9/11 (2001–2008)

40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

250

237

10 200

242

Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements regarding UWC-USA.

How well did the education you received from UWC-USA prepare you for each of the following? PREPARATION LEVEL: PREPARATION LEVEL: FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT PREPARATION LEVEL:

Number of participants, by era of graduating class

GOOD

EXCELLENT

STRONGLY SOMEWHAT SOMEWHAT STRONGLY SOMEWHAT DISAGREESTRONGLY DISAGREE AGREE SOMEWHAT AGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE AGREE AGREE STRONGLY SOMEWHAT SOMEWHAT STRONGLY UWC-USA hasDISAGREE DISAGREE AGREE AGREE UWC-USA has

a clear vision a clear vision for its future. UWC-USA forhas its future. a clear vision for its future. UWC-USA has a UWC-USA has a well-articulated mission towell-articulated achieve UWC-USA has a to achieve mission that vision. well-articulated that vision. mission to achieve that vision.

UWC VALUES

International POOR FAIR International and intercultural and intercultural understanding International understanding and intercultural Celebration Celebration understanding of difference of difference Celebration of difference Mutual Mutual responsibility responsibility and respect Mutual and respect responsibility Personal and respect challengePersonal challenge Personal challenge Compassion Compassion and service and service Compassion and service A sense of idealism A sense of idealism A sense of idealism Personal Personal responsibility responsibility and integrity Personal and integrity responsibility Action and and integrity personalAction and personal example Action and example personal Respect for the example Respect for the environment environment Respect for the environment Getting into the Getting into the higher education institutionhigher of education institution of Getting into the my choosing my choosing higher education Current of institution Current profession my choosing profession Current profession

UWC VALUES UWC VALUES

POOR

How much does each of the following SOME SIGNIFICANT CRITICAL impact your NO overallNOopinion of UWC-USA? SOME SIGNIFICANT CRITICAL IMPACT

NO Diversity and IMPACT Diversity and

inclusivity of inclusivity of UWC-USA Diversity and UWC-USA inclusivity of UWC-USA Availability of Availability of scholarships scholarships to 80% of Availability to of 80% of our students scholarships our students to 80% of Extent to which our students Extent to which UWC-USA UWC-USA is fulfilling Extent to is which fulfilling its mission UWC-USA its mission is fulfilling Outreach to its mission Outreach to community community Outreach to community

IMPACT IMPACT IMPACT IMPACT IMPACT IMPACT IMPACT SOME SIGNIFICANT CRITICAL IMPACT IMPACT IMPACT

History/tradition History/tradition History/tradition

237

155

197

242 FE AT UR E

Which of these was the most impactful?

The Focus Groups One hundred and forty-three alumni attended focus groups facilitated by Jose Pablo Rojas-Brewer. The focus groups took place in 12 cities, ranging from New York to Denver to Mexico City. Alumni were asked a series of questions about the Alumni Engagement Survey data and also were asked for their input specifically on elements of the strategic plan.

UWC-USA afforded many alumni space to explore success and, more important, failure, with the guidance and support of faculty and staff.

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“I learned that alumni are eager for faceto-face engagement opportunities,” Jose Pablo explains. “They kept talking about how ‘Montezuma is home’ and how their CAS/ ExEd activities were the most powerful growth experiences when

they were students.” Another recurring theme for alumni was a more complete realization (after they left Montezuma) that UWC-USA afforded them space to explore success and, more important, failure, with the guidance and support of faculty and staff. UWC-USA President Victoria Mora participated in three focus groups and consistently found strong support for the strategic direction the school is heading. Specifically, she referred to the four signature program areas (Wilderness, Arts and Culture, Sustainability, and the Bartos Institute) that routinely resonated with alumni. “As we continue to work on the strategic plan for UWC-USA, the Alumni Engagement Survey and focus groups have been instrumental in providing feedback and direction,” she says. “We’ll be sharing more details about the strategic plan and look forward to more alumni opportunities to both discuss and refine it in the future.”

BY GW E N A LB E R S

UWC-USA student Temazulu Zulu ’19, Kingdom of Eswatini, has received a $1,000 grant for a project that addresses the impacts of inequality when it comes to providing resources for young people in her country. Tema’s project was among 75 submitted by UWC students from the 17 campuses around the globe; 31 projects received GoMakeADifference grants. Along with Tema, UWC-USA second-year student Ieva Mackute received funding for an educational initiative in her home country of Lithuania. “There were many exceptional high-quality, creative, and original projects, which made the reviewing process difficult,” said Ann Goodwin, administrator of GoMakeADifference. Colin Habgood, who along with his wife Jill Longson, founded the program in 2001 to provide grants to UWC Atlantic College students. The concept was to allow students an opportunity to make a difference and put into practice the ideals of UWC. Tema’s winnings will benefit the Umliba New Youth Foundation, which aims to bridge the gap between rural and urban students by providing them with the resources to excel in high school. “We do this by visiting rural schools to motivate, provide past examination papers, educate them on opportunities available, and be mentors to the youth, especially in their last year of high school,” Tema wrote in her proposal. “At Umliba, we believe that no child’s future deserves to be dictated by the conditions they grow up in, in terms of the knowledge and material at their disposal.” She noted that many children who are extraordinarily talented fail to develop their strengths, leading to a loss of precious human resources that are pivotal to the development of the Kingdom of Eswatini. “It is quite unfortunate that many youngsters neglect, undermine, or downright shun their abilities and potential due to the unavailability of platforms and resources to exploit them,” Tema wrote. “Many rural schools lack the facilities and infrastructure to provide students with basic academic and extracurricular aid.”

making a difference

Executive Assistant to the President

ONE OF US

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The Future of the Hot Springs The UWC-USA Board of Trustees has agreed to explore a partnership with a nonprofit to manage the schoolowned hot springs. Friends of the Montezuma Hot Springs applied for nonprofit status in January. Its board consists of local residents who for years have volunteered monthly to help clean the springs. The goal is to empower community members to take greater responsibility for site management while reducing the legal exposure of the school.

BY GW E N A LB E R S

Executive Assistant to the President

“We want this to work, and we are grateful for the Friends organizing this,” trustee Bill Banowsky said during the February board meeting, which involved a tour of the hot baths. As part of its ongoing campus master plan, UWC-USA last fall hosted meetings to better understand how the community views the hot springs and to help residents understand the position of the school as its owner. There have been issues with inappropriate behavior, cleanliness of the hot springs, and prohibited use of alcohol and drugs. Two deaths occurred there within the past year—one was from a heart attack and the other from head injuries after a fall. “We recognize we have challenges, and we need to think about the path forward with the hot springs as we develop our strategy as a school,” said UWCUSA President Victoria J. Mora, Ph.D. “We know how important the hot springs are to the community, and we know that most people using them aren’t the problem. But when things go wrong at the hot springs, they can endanger our students. We see these meetings as an opportunity to work together.” The hot springs have long been known for their healing capabilities. UWC has owned the baths since industrialist and philanthropist Armand Hammer purchased the property and Montezuma Castle for UWC-USA, which opened in 1982. The hot springs are open seven days a week from 5 a.m. to midnight. UWC-USA security and maintenance patrol and clean the hot springs routinely.

Martin Leger, president and founding board member for the Friends of the Montezuma Hot Springs, said the state has approved the group’s nonprofit status. A Las Vegas resident and New Mexico Tourism Department retiree, Leger expects it will cost $10,000 to operate the springs the first year. Insurance is estimated at $3,300 for $2 million of coverage. The seven-member board is considering raising money by creating an association that would require minimal dues. The association could meet monthly or quarterly.

Left: Martin Leger, president of Friends of Montezuma Hot Springs, speaks during the UWCUSA board’s trip to the hot baths in February. Right: Mathew Trujillo bails water for a hot bath during a recent cleaning.

“We know there are a lot of people with interest, but we are not ready to reach out to them yet,” Leger said in March. “When we have all our ducks in a row, we will have a PR push to let them know what’s going on. There are all kinds of ways to raise money.” A couple recently soaking at the springs donated $1,000, Leger said. A fence currently encompasses the hot springs but not entirely. Leger proposes installing a gate to avoid after-hours use, while state police and the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office have agreed to increase patrols. Banowsky said he favors steps taken by the school. “I think that this is a clear step forward while we continue to study transferring the property over,” he said. “Our sole purpose is to preserve the natural state of the springs, and the historical and cultural aspect, and to preserve the use for the community and everybody,” Leger added.

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BY D E LPH I N E M É N A R D ’ 8 9 and G I N A N E F F ’ 8 9

New technologies, data, and algorithms have consequences for every aspect of daily life. Looking ahead, innovations in artificial intelligence, big data, and blockchain are going to transform economic, political, and cultural life around the world. The image of the internet as a free and open place where people can connect and cooperate is being chipped away at by “walled gardens” of for-profit platforms replacing community-developed collaborations. Delphine Ménard has been a pioneer at Wikipedia and Wikimedia, the nonprofit behind the online encyclopedia. She started by editing but soon got deep into the organization and the movement. Gina Neff is a professor at the Oxford Internet Institute and the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford, whose research is on the everyday practices people have around artificial intelligence and how AI will be understood by people in their workplaces. We recently met for breakfast in San Francisco, far from our homes in Germany and England, and shared our thoughts on the future of the internet. Now with the rise of AI, the fight for the future of the internet becomes even more salient: Who actually writes the knowledge that gets used as the basis of large-scale training models? How do structures of power in place shape who participates but also who decides about who can participate in making knowledge available in the future. And also, whose knowledge will be globally available?

Who will save the An ambitious vision drives Wikipedia—to gather the sum of all human knowledge, in all languages—and it is a vision that aligns well with the UWC goals. “Wikimedia really is one of the last bastions of that ideal that we thought the internet could become, made by us and for us. It is still one of the first places that Google searches land and is one of the few information platforms that is so widely available in different languages,” Delphine said. However, that vision is not guaranteed for the

Two alumnae find themselves on the same side of the fight to save the internet from itself.

future. “We already see more participation of the U.S. and Europe than anywhere else on platforms like Wikipedia. But we also have Silicon Valley–based values now migrating from California to the globe.”

supporting initiatives all over the world that attempt to shape the future of free knowledge by building a safehaven infrastructure for a knowledge world where equity will be the norm.

From self-driving cars that cannot handle rain to social media sites that amplify messages of violent and extremist hate groups, there are several ways technology companies are not prepared to fix the problems of the widespread and everyday use of algorithms and AI. “We are seeing now how the public and policymakers are ill-equipped to handle the dark side of technology,” Gina said. “What will happen when AI becomes a kind of infrastructure for our everyday lives? Problems in the code, in the data, and in social bias will become much harder to fix then.”

Gina’s work as an instructor at UWC-USA (1993-1994) played a large role in where she is today. “I always knew I wanted to look at questions of economic power, and I got absolutely hooked on teaching when I covered IB economics for a year,” she said. “I went to graduate school right as the first wave of World Wide Web companies were taking off, and I knew that was going to be the kind of contested ground to study the gap between values and economics that I was so interested in exploring.”

Gina directs the doctoral program in Information, Communication and the Social Sciences at the Oxford Internet Institute, the world’s leading center of research and teaching on the personal, collective, and institutional impact of new information technologies. “Not only am I doing my own research, but I get to coach and mentor the next generation of leaders in this space, and that’s really exciting,” she explained. Leading the fight for the internet wasn’t necessarily the pathway that either imagined they would follow when they left Montezuma, New Mexico, in 1989. “I was around at the beginning of Wikipedia,” Delphine said. “I started in Wikipedia as a volunteer editor and organized the first international Wikimedia

Our work now brings us together on a regular basis. Years after UWC-USA, we share a wide list of professional contacts. “Of course, we knew each other at UWC, but we weren’t very close even though we were in Ivan [Mustain’s] history class together and we had really good friends in common,” Gina said. “We became close friends at our 15th reunion when we realized that we had a

internet? Conference. After working in the wine business, in event management, as an intercultural trainer, and as a communications expert, I turned my activism within Wikimedia into another step in my career, and I am now responsible for the largest grant program run by the Wikimedia Foundation.” Delphine’s work as an activist and a professional plays a part in the fight to keep information free and fair,

whole host of people in common and connections with the work we were both committed to. After that, it was just a matter of time until our kids were crashing on each other’s floors and we were meeting up in random cities all over the world—just like UWCers do. The only difference is we’re talking about fixing the internet.”

Delphine Ménard ’89 (left) and Gina Neff ’89

FE AT UR E

BY C A R L- M A RTI N N E L S O N

Director of Marketing and Communications

The passing of founding UWC-USA President Theodore “Ted” Lockwood, Ph.D., on January 21, 2019, prompted a remarkable outpouring of condolences for his wife, Lu, and memories of the many acts of kindness and generosity that were the hallmark of Ted’s life. He was president from 1982 until 1993, and in those years, Ted touched the lives of thousands of students, parents, and faculty members. Many of the traditions and curricular underpinnings of UWC-USA have their roots in Ted’s work.

Doctor Lockwood was passionate about education and his students. He had that sense of global peace and warmth about him. He made us all feel proud of who we are as human beings, where we come from and our cultures. I feel I’m a better person today because of him and our United World College. I am forever grateful to him for giving me the opportunity to come to the U.S. and attend UWCUSA. We had such great teachers, built great friendships, and had some very interesting, challenging experiences and adventures. I give thanks for his many wonderful years of service to us in Montezuma and beyond. We are where we are in our lives because of him and the UWC movement. May he rest in eternal peace. May God bless him. TA K I R A PU L A N E - LY LE ’ 8 7

Ted and Lu welcomed me at the administration building on September 14, 1984. I was a late arrival, three weeks after the official start of classes. Although at that time my English was almost nonexistent and I could only understand a few of their words, they made me feel welcome immediately. I will never forget my first day in wonderful Montezuma and Ted and Lu’s warm reception. Les acompañamos en el sentimiento. Nuestro más sentido pésame.

I still remember very clearly the first time my family and I met Ted in Montezuma during the summer of 1982. We traveled through the U.S. and stopped at the college while the grounds were still bare earth. We were all very impressed by his welcoming presence and sincerity. I remember him very fondly as a role model, visionary, and courageous leader for our college. I hope I can pass a part of his wisdom to my children so they can carry on his example in their communities and the world in their own way. R A J E E V H A M P O LE ’ 8 4

During my first year at UWC, a big dinner event took place to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the school. I remember that we (the students) had a pizza party while the outside guests had a fancy dinner in the Castle. Two of my friends and I decided to suit up, climb up to the Castle and pretend to be guests! We actually got away with it, and I got to sit next to a man who happened to be Ted Lockwood! We spoke about university, and he recommended a small school, which ended up being my alma mater years later. ADRIAN JUL ’08

Ted inspired, supported, and mentored so many of us. He advised me to take some time between college and starting a professional career, and teach. I listened and am deeply grateful for that advice, for it has deeply shaped my life in a positive manner. M U D IT T YAG I ’ 8 8

I remember Ted always wearing his gentle smile when walking around campus or talking to people. Back in the mid-1980s when the Indonesian island where I grew up had very few phone lines, communication was patchy, as we had to rely on regular posts. There was a time when my letters didn’t reach my parents and they were worried about me. They had sent a letter to the school to inquire, and Ted hand-wrote a response explaining to my parents my whereabouts and that I was fine. Years later, when I visited home, they showed me that letter. Both my parents have passed away, and I don’t know what happened to Ted’s letter, but now, being a parent myself, I truly understand and appreciate what Ted’s gesture meant to my parents at that time. Thank you, thank you, Ted! I hope you know that you are much appreciated and thought of fondly. V E R A S I R E GA R ’ 8 7

N U R I A PA S TO R - S O LE R ’ 8 6

Remembering Ted Lockwood

IN MEMOR I A M

Sharing & Discovering Rebecca Hussey ’19, Jamaica, planned on becoming a lawyer before coming to UWC-USA. She now has her sights set on a career in stage management. Rebecca joined the tech ExEd during her first year on the Montezuma campus, knowing little of what to expect. As a second-year, she helped lead the ExEd and backstage management for performances, including the ever-sopopular cultural day shows. Every student participates in at least one Cultural Day show during their two years at UWC. Three out of six regions of the world are showcased annually during the two-hour full-length stage productions. They include North America, Caribbean and Latin America, Middle East and Indian subcontinent, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Preparation is intense. Students practice skits, music and dance into the wee hours of the morning, sometimes missing classes and ExEds to catch up on sleep. The week of the Saturday night show, Dining Hall workers serve meals representing the featured culture. The night before the show, students lead a global affairs discussion. And when the show curtain comes down, they party and dance the night away. Some type of cultural show has been a part of UWC-USA since its opening in 1982. Auditorium tech Ted Reineke, who has been working for the school since August 1983, said the inaugural year featured an International Day. “I believe they told me 5,000 people showed up for the International Day,”Ted said. “This was something new. They put

on a little show. They didn’t have a theatre. It was outside where the auditorium is now.” After a few years, interest in the International Day waned, and the cultural shows were born. “Then all the cultural shows were done in the cafeteria, which is the IT center now,” said Ted, who has done everything from helping with lighting and sound to building sets, creating props, and troubleshooting. “When we had the North American culture show, this was a daylong event with games, brunch, movies, a formal dinner in the evening, and the show.” In those early days, rehearsals required removing all tables and chairs from the cafeteria, and setting up sound, lighting, and a backdrop. “Then we had to tear it all down and move everything back so we could have breakfast in the morning,” he said. “We would do that for a week or 10 days.” Ted remembers shows from the early years, including Latin American Day, African Day, Scandinavian Day and Commonwealth Day for the British students.

BY GW E N A LB E R S

Executive Assistant to the President

“Then in 1984-85, the one I remember was World Leftover Day,” Ted said. “This was everybody who wasn’t in a prior Cultural Day. This was the year we changed to the continents.” Things got a little easier with the construction of Kluge Auditorium; the cultural shows moved there in 1989. The student talent has always amazed Ted.

“You see these people heavy into science sit down and play the piano like you’ve never heard before or do a skit, sing, or dance,” he said. “You just wouldn’t realize they had it.” Melinda Russial, director of arts and culture and the International Baccalaureate music program at UWC-USA, oversees the cultural shows.

Melinda, who has undergraduate and graduate degrees in music performance from Northwestern and the University of Minnesota, respectively, noted the shows are entirely student-led.

American show, where there are a lot of shared cultures,” said Cristian, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico. “How do you actually present this? What does representative truly mean?”

“From start to finish, rehearsals, production, and performance,” she said. “My role as an advisor is guidance and support. I do not take credit for the running of the event. Students take care of everything. It’s really remarkable.”

Piotr Kostanecki ’19, USA-MN, loved participating in the Europe and North American cultural shows. Piotr participated in the European show during his first year because both his parents moved to the United States from Poland. He was a leader for the North American show last fall.

She sees the shows as a way for students to be engaged with the UWC mission. “What happens is the things they learn about themselves in terms of leadership in the community,” Melinda said. “It’s so powerful. It helps them get a better understanding of how they fit into the world and what it means to be part of an international community.” Cristian Mendoza Gomez, ’18, USA-CA, was involved with the North American, and Caribbean and Latin America cultural day shows this year. “The rehearsals involved tense moments, especially for the Caribbean and Latin

“As a general leader, you organize and manage the other components of the show, insuring that everyone completes their tasks on time,” he said. As a general leader for the Caribbean and Latin American show, Rebecca experienced putting everything into a show that best represented her region. “I learned so much that I couldn’t learn in a classroom,” she said. “That’s something I value from the Cultural Day shows. The biggest things I gained was confidence in my leadership abilities and being comfortable with going onstage and knowing people will be watching.”

LOOK ING B ACK

BY GW E N A LB E R S

Executive Assistant to the President

postcards letters & packages Sheila Montano is often the first to hear about college acceptances at UWC-USA— even before students. She isn’t a psychic but a seasoned postal worker who can quickly recognize that a thin envelope is a rejection letter and a larger packet means an acceptance. Montano has worked at the Montezuma post office for 20 years, where 80 percent of her customers are UWC-USA students. As a postal-supporting employee, she has made a career out of helping UWC-USA students with packages, postage, and any and all questions related to mail. Born and raised in Las Vegas, New Mexico, the 43-yearold’s friendly demeanor and willingness to help makes her an instant friend to students. All students have post office boxes, and at least 85 percent check them daily. Montano learns the names of most students and where they are from. And she bakes cakes for some on their birthdays. “I love Sheila with all my heart,” said Libbie Farrell ’18, Canada. “She is one of the kindest people I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of getting to know. I think a lot of students and other people on campus don’t realize how important she really is to the community. “But just like every other member of the campus community who helps things function, Sheila helps the community gain access to the rest of the world through helping us get our mail.” As a student, Libbie went to the post office daily even when she wasn’t expecting mail just to spend time with Montano. On Libbie’s birthday, Montano made her a cake and delivered it to the Montezuma campus on her day off.

CONNEC T ED

Montezuma postal worker Sheila Montano shares a plant Maite Vignau ’16 gave to her when she left campus.

“She even made my favorite kind,” the 20-year-old said. “The cake only proved exactly what I already knew about Sheila: She’s a beautiful soul.” Over the past two years, Montano and Marek Kampa ’19, Poland, have become close friends. That’s because Marek visits the post office five days a week to send and pick up postcards. The 18-year-old participates in Postcrossing, a free postcard exchange that invites everyone to send and receive postcards from random places in the world. “I love working with Sheila,” Marek said. “Whenever I go there, she’s a person who doesn’t work for the school, but I’m making contact with a person who’s outside the UWC bubble. I talk with her about everything. Sometimes we even discuss the postcards.” “A lot of them don’t know how to send packages,” she said. “That’s part of my job—to help them. And I like seeing their faces when they get their packages.” When it’s college acceptance time, Montano says the students stop daily. “Some will open [their letters] right here and share [the news],” she said. “We give hugs, we jump up and down, and give each other high-fives.”

BY A M I E F E R R I S - ROTM A N ’ 9 8

The News

Journalism is facing more peril today than it has in modern memory. The past two decades have seen enormous upheaval in journalism, affecting both those making the news and those consuming it.

When I entered journalism, starting out as a business reporter in early 2005 in London, the turmoil in the industry had already started. Today, news companies are under constant pressure to evolve and adapt in an extremely unpredictable environment.

So how can we ensure that the fourth estate survives? It may be simpler than you think: Pay for content. You’d be astounded by how few news consumers view journalism as an actual product, as something valuable that is produced by a group of experts in their field. Would your average person expect to walk into a shop and pick up free items? How about hiring an electrician to install wiring in your new flat for no money? Of course the answer is no. This should be the same with journalism. If readers and viewers don’t pay for their content, they shouldn’t be given it. Large companies need paywalls. Smaller ones need subscribers and exclusive revenue streams.

The threat to professional storytelling is threefold and can be boiled down to these main problems: financing (erupted around 20 years ago when the advertising market collapsed, with many ads moving to free online sites), the explosion of fake news and disinformation in mainstream media (approximately three years ago), and the U.S. president’s assault on media professionals (started two years ago). It’s also worth noting that the last two have considerable overlap.

We saw a silver lining to President Donald Trump’s relentless lambasting of the media as “the enemy of the people”: Major newspapers witnessed a spike in digital subscriptions. The New York Times’ readership grew by hundreds of thousands in the months following Trump’s win— and continues to steadily

After graduating from UWC-USA, when I was a university student, I got my news the way my parents had, and theirs before them: I paid each day for a local newspaper, watched a nightly news program on television (usually the BBC), and listened to the radio in the morning. There were no iPhones then, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram.

climb. The paper where I work, The Washington Post, has also seen a surge in subscriptions as people’s desire to be better informed grows. As the world becomes more polarized and the rules of politics get rewritten, the need to hold the powerful to account has never been greater. This has led to a flurry of new small news organizations being created, as well as jobs opening up at traditional media outlets. Support them. Buy gift subscriptions for the holidays. Sign up for their newsletters. And ask yourself the next time you’re reading something interesting in the news, Where did this item come from and did I pay for it? Would I pay for it? The answer may surprise you.

Amie Ferris-Rotman graduated from UWC-USA in 1998 and is the Moscow correspondent for The Washington Post. She was previously a Moscow correspondent for Reuters from 2007 to 2011 and returned to Russia in 2016 for a second tour, first as a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and then for Foreign Policy. Amie has covered Afghanistan for Reuters and the Ukraine conflict for The Atlantic, Politico, and Die Zeit. She holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in Russian studies from the University College London.

V IE W POIN T

INSPIR AT ION

Women’s Empowerment on Threads

is artwork inspired by the exceptional power, diversity, and courage constantly emanating from the extraordinary women at UWC-USA. These are characteristics that consistently astonish me. Women’s Empowerment on Threads aims to depict the miraculous phenomenon that regardless of age, culture, wealth, family situation, skin color, or religion, women from the most remote parts of our planet are able to come together to create change. Each of the four black-and-white photographs of four different girls (my friends from Greenland, Senegal, Spain, and Japan) represents all four cardinal points of the world. Tangled white threads at the bottom with white threads evenly folded around the white glassy cube structure and the ones shaping perfect petals along with ascending colorful threads form one ideal flower on the top. The formation symbolizes all the obstacles facing women every day being proudly overcome as a successful, powerful, sublime female unity. JAG O DA M A R I A S O KO ŁOWS K A ’ 2 0, P O L A N D

PEER REVIEW 26

CLASS OF 1985 Andrés Reséndez led a fireside chat on his 2016 book The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America. The book was a finalist for the 2016 National Book Award and winner of the 2017 California Book Awards in nonfiction and the 2017 Bancroft Prize from Columbia University. 1

Charlotte Brenner Zeile lives in Asperg, Germany, and she is the senior vice president at Robert Bosch GmbH.

2 1

CLASS OF 1986 2 Anthony (Tony) SpearmanLeach became the new director of corporate and foundation relations for Make-A-Wish MidAtlantic on October 1, 2018.

Sergio Ripamonti lives in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida.

CLASS OF 1987 3 Amit Mital and his son (Axel) were in Japan for a ski holiday and managed to meet up with David James and his wife Hiroko Morita James ’90 in Kyoto in March.

4 Ana Beatriz Campos Mora and Maite Basulto were able to catch up in Santiago, Chile, in January. 5 7 April Dewees and Ron Gibbs ’86 joined Karen Taylor in celebrating her 50th birthday in Washington, D.C., last December. Also, April and Morgan Dewees ’86 welcomed Jennifer Horne to their home for a Sunday dinner. 6 Arild Drivdal and Norman Dlamini had a nice visit in South Africa in August 2018.

10 8

Balazs Kralik and Manolo Espinosa are all smiles in Amsterdam in October 2018. Manolo reconnected with Matteo Salvadori in Berlin in February. Although it’s been about 20 years since the two friends saw each other, shared interest in music remained one of the topics of conversation. 10 Carla Castellanos, Emeka Okoro, and their respective families enjoyed a delicious meal together in April 2018.

12 David Neidel and wife Joy (not in photo) split time between the Philippines and the U.S. They enjoyed a Peranakan dinner in Singapore with Chor Jye Lee ’88, Mieneke Smit - van Dixhoorn, Wayne Menezes, and Vera Siregar and her husband Carlos.

11 Hugo Contreras-Zepeda and Priscilla Maloney spent time together in Panama in February. 13 Jay Perlas and Karen O’Leary (Tyson House buddies) met up in Dublin in September 2018.

14 KC Kung, Jay Perlas, Fiona Siu ’86, Charmaine Lee ’88, Tong Jiang ’88, and Jose Pablo Rojas-Brewer ’06 caught up over a meal in Hong Kong in January. 15 Isabelle Trop’s family enjoyed a Christmas 2018 feast. 16 Manolo Espinosa and his family visited David Neidel and his wife Joy in Carmel, California, in October 2018.

17 17 Mariano Martinez had a wonderful Christmas 2018 with his family. 18

18 Marisa Leon, Ivan Mustain, and Hugo Contreras-Zepeda were able to catch up over dinner in Stockholm in September 2018.

PEER R E V IE W

1 2 Mieneke Smit - van Dixhoorn and Vera Siregar welcomed Mandy Garber to Singapore. In addition, Mieneke’s daughter (Florencia) shared a wonderful meal with Jennifer Hendricks last fall.

4 3 Raphael Valdivia met up with Wayne Menezes in his latest visit to Singapore. Raphael and Miguel Herrera ’88 attended Carla Castellanos’s birthday celebration last summer. 5 Sebastien Ramseyer, Manolo Espinosa, and Mieneke Smit - van Dixhoorn had a nice visit in Paris last summer.

7 Traci Clarida enjoyed her birthday with Dana Thordarson, who was visiting Salt Lake City in November 2018. 6 8 Wayne Menezes, Vera Siregar, and Mieneke Smit - van Dixhoorn (all live in Singapore with their respective families) were happy to welcome Jay Perlas to Singapore in February. Wayne met up with Nina Methi and Inger-Johanne Bauer ’88 in Oslo, Norway in February.

9 Yvette Drayton, Vera Siregar, and Vera’s husband (Carlos) met in Chicago last summer.

CLASS OF 1988 Jairo Valverde is the Costa Rican ambassador to Brazil and lives in Brasilia.

CLASS OF 1989 Mark Hodde joined the UWC-USA team as the new chief advancement officer.

CLASS OF 1990

CLASS OF 1994

Bauke Vriesema lives in Arlesheim, Switzerland. He is a partner at Varanah Ventures AG. Varanah supports large pharma/biotech companies in expanding their pipeline and small biotech companies with finding partners for growth.

Frederico Gil Sander lives in Washington, D.C. Frederico is a senior economist at the World Bank.

CLASS OF 1991

Ilyanna Kreske lives in Denver. Ilyanna is a seventh-grade grade science teacher at Hill Campus of Arts and Sciences. Today, she is inspired by her students and notes that her UWC experience made her more aware of taking political action in later years.

C L A S S O F 1 9 92 Mukul Chadda lives in Mumbai, India. Cagri Tanriover lives in Portland, Oregon. Cagri is a research scientist in wireless sensing technologies working at Intel Corp.

C L A S S O F 1 9 93

10 In August 2018, Sofie Arneberg, Bridget Hagan (Flynn), Sadhbh Goodhue (O’Connor), Yael Mor, Toma Tasovac, and Mathis Winkler met with their partners and children at a lake near Berlin. “There were 22 of us (and two dachshunds), and even though we had not seen each other for decades, it felt like we’d never parted. We’re determined to make this an annual event—and will hopefully all get together again at next year’s reunion in Montezuma!”

Martin Mok lives in Hong Kong. Martin is a partner and head of EQT Mid Market Asia’s advisory team. His two sons are his biggest inspiration today.

CLASS OF 1996 Lana Nasser lives in Tegelen, Netherlands. She recently received her master’s degree and continues to write and perform.

C L A S S O F 1 9 97 11 Eleanor Beaton hosted the UWC Benefit Gala in New York City last November.

Julia Keutgen lives in Brussels. Julia is the senior transparency advisor at Westminster Foundation for Democracy. Tyler Davis and his wife welcomed their first baby, Blake Davis.

CLASS OF 1999 Nyoko Muvangua lives in Johannesburg. Nyoko is practicing law as an advocate for the High Court of South Africa.

CLASS OF 2000 Saiki Lucy Cheah lives in New York City. Saiki is a scholar, researcher, and practitioner in the areas of teaching philosophy for children, civic citizenship, and education for environmental sustainability. Saiki is inspired by establishing relational care in human relationships and generating a sense of wellbeing and growth through self-cultivation and with others.

PEER R E V IE W

C L A S S O F 2 0 02 2 Celene Ibrahim recently published her book One Nation, Indivisible: Seeking Liberty and Justice From the Pulpit to the Streets. The book comprises the wisdom of dozens of scholars, poets, activists, and artists and highlights principles and practices for counteracting antiMuslim bigotry and xenophobia.

Matt Farwell recently presented a fireside chat on campus about his book American Cipher, an explosive narrative of the life, captivity, and trial of Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier who was abducted by the Taliban and whose story has served as a symbol for America’s floundering war in Afghanistan. Matt is a freelance writer who lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas. 1

Trudy Reber welcomed her first baby Toshihiro Nand Jha in February.

C L A S S O F 2 0 03 Gladys Onyango lives in Nairobi, Kenya. After receiving a Master in Development Practice from the University of California, Berkeley, she is now the director of programs for the Segal Family Foundation.

CLASS OF 2004 Aubrey Bodden and Dan Stuber ’05 still live in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. Aubrey is now the head of internal communication and engagement for the Cayman Islands government.

Hadar Meltzer lives in Even Yehuda, Israel. After 14 years of military service, he is now a middle-school English teacher. “My most vivid memory is sitting in Chum day room making hummus,” Hadar recalls. “It was I, Nadine from Lebanon, Nader from Egypt, and Adriana from Jordan. A surreal experience of Middle East togetherness.”

CLASS OF 2005 Yuliya Daniels recently celebrated her Pakistani wedding to Ali Abdullah and is planning for their second wedding in Spain this spring. Yuliya is the director of global claims at Liberty Mutual Insurance.

Shannon O’Connor will be joining the pediatrics team at the Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut. Big year for the Chavezes and Wilsons in Ohio. Aynara Chavez and John Wilson welcomed their second baby, Sofia Renee Chavez Wilson. Also, Aynara will be a pediatric neurology resident at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital starting in June.

CLASS OF 2006 Brittany DuChaussee lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Brittany is the assistant attorney general for the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General. Caitlin Mills-Sheehy welcomed her baby Hettie Maria Sheehy Galmes in January. Hillary Borcherding got engaged to Eric Farrell. Stephanie Brown lives in San Francisco, still works for Amazon, and was named Top 30 Under 30 in Sustainability by Corporate Knights.

CLASS OF 2008

C L A S S O F 2 0 12

Manuel Jimenez lives in Washington, D.C. Manuel is a financial institutions investment associate at Inter-American Development Bank.

Andrew Nalani lives in New York City and recently got engaged to Rachel Thompson.

Tara Prendergast lives in Tucson, Arizona. She is working as a research associate at the Center for Policy Research.

CLASS OF 2009 Asaf Zilberfarb was named a Stanford University KnightHennessy Scholar, which is the largest fully endowed graduate-level scholarship program in the world.

CLASS OF 2010 Kareem Alhusaini lives in Ontario, Canada. Luisa Gonçalvez lives in Berlin and works as product manager for Zalando. She also volunteers for the Portuguese UWC National Committee.

Hailee Robinson lives in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. Hailee is an articled clerk.

C L A S S O F 2 0 13 3 Emilio Rodriguez Caceres came by campus to get a muchdeserved Ravi Parashar hug. Emilio works as an elementary school teacher in Paraguay. He travels three hours per day to teach his kids. He loves his job and does it with great passion.

Erim Yildir lives in Pennsylvania. Faten AlMukhtar lives in Dubai and volunteers for the Arabian Gulf National Committee. Faten is an integrated designer at J. Walter Thompson Dubai. Frida Dyred and Sofie Bak ’15 co-run the selection process for UWC admissions in Denmark.

C L A S S O F 2 0 11

CLASS OF 2014

Marcin Stanek pursued his passion for geography and went on to get an MA in geography from the University of Edinburgh in the U.K. Marcin taught IB geography briefly at the International School of Geneva. “Currently, I am finishing my Ph.D. in geography/ education—I research the politics of secondary education in urban Bolivia at Durham University in the U.K.,” he says.

Abdul Rahman lives in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He volunteers with the Syrian UWC National Committee and currently works in health-care management and administration. Alexandra Hemmer lives in Northfield, Minnesota, where she is a web content specialist for Thomson Reuters. Alexandra is inspired by creative and artistic entrepreneurs.

Bingyi Wang was named a Stanford University KnightHennessy Scholar. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in physics. Carlin Ring lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she works for the Nebraska Department of Education. Lorena Rebon Rincon lives in Telde, Spain. She graduated from the College of Idaho with a degree in music. Nadia Esham lives in Washington, D.C. Nadia is a trade and economics intern for Asia Society and continues to pursue her master’s in international economics and Southeast Asian Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Olasubomi Olusegun-Lartey lives in Richmond, Virginia. She attended the University of Richmond and received her bachelor’s degree in accounting and economics. Praxedes Quintana is an admissions counselor for Haverford College, and she visited the Montezuma campus last fall. Reem Ladadwa moved back to Ramallah, Palestine. Sam Haddad works as a Princeton in Asia fellow at Population Services International in Laos. “My position primarily involves engaging the private health sector in Laos to accelerate elimination of malaria in the country,” he says. Zoe Galanis lives in Toronto, where she is pursuing her master’s degree in management from the Schulich School of Business at York University.

CLASS OF 2016 4 Alejandro Flores is a sophomore at Williams College in Massachusetts. He joined fellow alumni from UWC-USA and UWC Dilijan in Boston for a Thanksgiving celebration.

Ana Pereda is a junior at the University of California, Berkeley. Lukas Baeskow graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. Tenzin Gyalpo, Tenzin Thoesam ’19, Tenzin Gyaltsen ’20, and Ken Kawamura ’18 met in New York City for the 12th Annual Machik Weekend, a unique threeday global forum for dialogue, exploration, and understanding for Tibetans, Chinese, and global citizens who share a passion for the ideals of service and innovative approaches to civic engagement for Tibet.

C L A S S O F 2 0 17 Jada Lewis is studying at the University of Florida. She is a public relations major with a focus in political science and a minor in leadership.

CLASS OF 2018 Rani Baidoun lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he attends college. His most vivid memories of UWC-USA are the lovely nights spent with people from all over the world—sharing ideas and thoughts to make the world a better place.

PEER R E V IE W

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID ALBUQUERQUE, NM

The Magazine of UWC-USA, The Armand Hammer United World College of the American West

P.O. Box 248 Montezuma, NM 87731-0248 USA

www.UWC-USA.org

UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.

Over 130 pictures

were submitted for the 2019 Project Week Photo Contest. Students were asked to capture the action and energy of a Project Week trip in their submissions. 1

FIRST PLACE Aminn Josue Mercado ’20, Paraguay | Blue Range Wilderness in Utah SECOND PLACE Hong “Erica” Yiu Lee ’20, Hong Kong | Bisbee, Arizona and Mexico trip THIRD PLACE Jonathan Xu ’20, China | The Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, Ramah, New Mexico

PERMIT #1888