Class Notes

Charis Railey, GR22, runs a small dance company in St. Louis centered around the arts of the African diaspora, specializing in dances of Brazil, the U.S. and the Caribbean. She makes the company’s dancers available for Carnival/Mardi Gras, school shows, bachelorette parties, dance history lectures and other Black dance-focused events.

Sarika Talve-Goodman, SW20, edited Your Hearts, Your Scars (Bellevue Literary Press, January 2023), a book of essays by her late sister, Adina Talve-Goodman, LA09, that was published posthumously. Adina, who was born with a congenital heart condition and had survived multiple operations including a heart transplant at the age of 19, died in January 2018. The book’s seven essays are filled with curiosity, humor and compassion, and they tell the story of her chronic illness and her search for meaning and love, never forgetting that her adult life was tied to the loss of another person, her donor.

Aliza Shatzman, LW19, president and ­co-founder of The Legal Accountability Project, visited more than 20 law schools in fall 2022 to share her nonprofit’s resources, designed to transform the clerkship application process — and the legal profession — for the next generation of attorneys. She will visit more law schools, including WashU Law, this spring. At these events, Shatzman shares her negative clerkship experience to foster honest dialogue about the clerkship experiences on law school campuses.

Meenakshi Jha, GF19, won the Mother Art Prize 2022’s International Artist Award. The award comes with a group show at Zabludowicz Collection, London; an International Residency Award consisting of a one-month residency at the Mother House Studios in London; and mentoring sessions with Sylvie Gormezano, director at Picture This Productions and chair of the Association of Women Art Dealers. 

Bambi Hall, GL19, was named public affairs director for the State Bar of Texas. She’s finally able to marry her legal education with her work, having more than 25 years’ experience as a marketing and communications professional. A certified master public information officer, Hall has held positions with the city of New Orleans; the state of Louisiana; Gulf Engineers and Consultants, Inc.; and Texas Southern, Dillard and Xavier universities.

Maya Sorini, LA18, won the 2023 Press 53 Poetry Award for Boneheap in the Lion’s Den, which beat out almost 400 other manuscripts. Press 53 is publishing her book this month, and Sorini will receive a $1,000 advance and 53 copies.

Emma Tyler, LA15, was promoted to associate director for governmental affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Transportation. As a presidential appointee, Tyler supports Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s engagements with members of Congress and the implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Zack Kessinger, BU15, LW18, an All-American college baseball player at WashU, was selected to be the next associate counsel for the Texas Rangers baseball team at their stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Catherine (Rafferty-Millett) Quatrano, LA12, and Alexander Quatrano, LA12, welcomed a second child, David Ralph Quatrano, in October 2022. David shares his middle name with his great-grandfather Ralph Quatrano, emeritus dean and the Spencer T. Olin Professor Emeritus of Biology. 

Andy DeSoto, GR11, GR15, the newly appointed senior adviser for the social, behavioral and economic sciences directorate of the National Science Foundation, is working to establish partnerships within and outside of NSF to grow these sciences opportunities to advance the NSF’s mission.