Alumni Updates | Oberlin MRC

Alumni Updates and Accomplishments

Baraka Noel, OC’06 – just release CD The Mixtape Philosophies Of Mushroom Black; for a rave review check out Okayplayer.com.

Rashne Limki, OC’05 – doctoral student at UCSD in Ethnic Studies; previously A/PA Community Coordinator in the MRC 2005-2006.
Nancy Nguyen, OC’05 – Fulbright Fellow in Vietnam, 2005-2006.

Reginald Patterson, OC'05 – class elected member of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees and doctoral student in Romance Studies at Duke University; previously Fulbright Fellow in Guadeloupe, 2005-2006.

Desiree Pipkins, OC’05 – Research Director, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Washington, D.C.

Vivek Bharathan, OC’04 – Shansi Fellow, The American College, Madurai, India, 2005-2007.

Ilana Cerna-Turoff, OC’04 – graduate student at UCSF in Ethnic Studies; previously Si Se Puede Fellow, Youth Media Council, Oakland.

Kate Eubank, OC’03 – Director of Development/Associate Director of Facilities, The Mikva Challenge, Chicago; previously LGBT Community Coordinator in the MRC 2003-2005.

Grace Han, OC’02 – M.A. student at Yale University in Religion/Religous Studies; previously A/PA Community Coordinator in the MRC 2002-2003.

Joey Plaster, OC’00 – creator of the Oberlin College LGBT Community History Project.

Farnell Newton '00 – a trumpeter and jazz composer/musician; just released CD Sense of Direction by the Farnell Newton-Marcus Reynolds Quintet.

Khary Polk, OC '00 – doctoral student and McCracken Fellow in American Studies at New York University; published on Nerve.com and in Think Again, Corpus, If We Have To Take Tomorrow and the Journal of Negro History.

Diepiriye S. Kuku-Siemons, OC’97 – doctoral student at Delhi University School of Economics in the Department of Sociology, and AAKAR Fellow and consultant for Oxfam (India) Trust working on HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support strategies for rural youth in four high prevalence Indian states.

Adrian M. Fenty OC'92 – Mayor of Washington, D.C.; previously Ward 4 D.C. Council member. Check out the Washington Post article.

Alison Bechdel, OC’81 - author of the critically acclaimed graphic memoir Fun Home and of the syndicated comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. Check out the Oberlin the News synopsis.

Nancy Giles, OC’81 – writer/contributor to the Emmy award-winning CBS News Sunday Morning. As an actress, she spent three seasons on China Beach and has guest appearances on The Jury, LA Law, Spin City, Law and Order, Dream On, and Fresh Prince.

Victor L. Hymes, OC'79 – member of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees; Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer Legato Capital Management, LLC San Francisco; Director, Montgomery Street Income Securities, Inc.; Board Member, Earthjustice and the University of California Merced Foundation; MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business.

James McBride, OC’79 – award winning writer and composer; his memoir, The Color of Water, won the 1997 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Literary Excellence; his written work has appeared in The Washington Post, People Magazine, Boston Globe, Essence, Rolling Stone and The New York Times; as a musician, he has written songs for Anita Baker, Grover Washington Jr., Purafe, Gary Burton, and the television character Barney.
Robert J. Frascino, OC’74 – alumni elected member of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees and President/Founder of the Robert James Frascino AIDS Foundation.

Diane C. Yu, OC’73 - alumni elected member of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees and Chief of Staff/Deputy to the President at New York University; founding member of the Asian American Alliance student organization.

Wendell P. Russell, OC’71 – President of the Oberlin College Alumni Association.

Avery Brooks OC’70, H’95 – actor and educator; played Captain Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; first African-American to earn a MFA in Acting and Directing from Rutgers University.

Michael J. Lythcott, OC’70 - alumni elected member of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees and President of the Lythcott Company.
Johnnetta Betsch Cole, OC ’57 - President of Bennett College; previously President of Spellman College; Bennett College and Spelman College are the only two historically black women’s colleges in the U.S.