WDCSA Newsletter – August 2019

This month’s newsletter is available for download in PDF format.

Events Calendar

  • August 4 – DC United Game
  • August 10 – Washington Spirit Soccer Game
  • September 8 – Washington DC Book Club Discussion
  • September 10 – Baltimore Book Club Discussion

Upcoming Events

DC United Game

Sunday, August 4, 7:30 pm  (Gates open at 6)
Audi Stadium, Washington, DC

SEE WAYNE ROONEY AT A DC UNITED MATCH AT THE NEW AUDI STADIUM!

Stanford soccer fans will be gathering for the DC United match vs. Philadelphia Union at the exciting new Audi Field in downtown Washington. This event has sold out!

Questions? Contact Chris Shinkman at C.Shinkman@verizon.net 240-383-8357

Washington Spirit Soccer Game

Saturday, August 10, 7 pm (Gates open at 5:30)
Maureen Hendricks Field, 18031 Central Park Cir, Boyds, MD

Treat the family and bring a friend to a Washington Spirit National Women’s Soccer League game. Kids are welcome!

There will be four Stanford alumnae playing:

  • Washington Spirit: Andi Sullivan ’18,
  • Washington Spirit: Jordan DiBiasi ’19,
  • Washington Spirit: Tegan McGrady ’19
  • Chicago Red Stars: Tierna Davidson, ’20 (left Stanford early to go pro, playing for U.S. National Women’s Team at World Cup in France)

Stanford alumni can purchase discounted tickets ($20 instead of $25 General Admission). Follow this link: https://www.fevo.com/edp/Stanford-Alumni-Night–Washington-Spirit-vs-Chicago-Red-Stars-UHAXtbTH

Jennifer Bryson ’89 has arranged a post-game photo and Q&A with the Stanford players at the Fieldside.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Bryson at jennifersbryson@gmail.com

Parking: use lots for Fields 8 & 10

Stanford in the News

  • A search committee has been appointed to seek a successor to Hoover Institution Director Thomas Gilligan, who has announced his intentions to depart the post next year. Gilligan, the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution, will have served at the helm for five years, having assumed his role in 2015.
  • Stanford Literature Professor Roland Greene has been named the new director of the Stanford Humanities Center. He will begin his term on Sept. 1, 2019. Greene’s appointment was announced by Stanford’s Vice Provost and Dean of Research Kam Moler and Debra Satz, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences at the beginning of July.

WDCSA Basketball

Pictured from left to right: Jackson Brossy ‘06, Micki (Ream) Alipati ‘09, Jenny Patten ‘07, Gregory Billings ‘88, Lindsay Caldwell ‘09, Michael Starr MS ‘16, Vivi Gregoric, Jesse Umalla
Not pictured: Matt Hafer, Whitney Martin

The 2019 Washington DC Stanford Association Cardinal Alumni Basketball season was one for the history books! Stanford won handily against teams that we expected to beat (UCLA & Duke), and even pulled out wins against large State schools (Indiana and Georgia). While we put up vigorous defenses against perennial powers (American, William & Mary and Pittsburgh) and newcomer (Temple), Stanford ended up losing those contests to finish with 4 wins and 4 losses in the regular season.       

The Cardinal put up a good fight in the tournament against Indiana, but fell short. Overall, Stanford players enjoyed the season and developed new relationships, as they welcomed alum Lindsay (Caldwell) Umalla, her spouse Jesse Umalla, and Vivi Gregoric (non-alumni Macalester College varsity player) to the team this year.

WDCSA Book Club Corner

Washington DC Book Club Discussion

Sunday, September 8, 5-7:45 pm
Annandale, VA

The book group will discuss Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, by Steven Pinker.

“My new favorite book of all time.” – Bill Gates

If you think the world is coming to an end, think again: people are living longer, healthier, freer, and happier lives, and while our problems are formidable, the solutions lie in the Enlightenment ideal of using reason and science.

In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and, instead, follow the data. In seventy-five jaw-dropping graphs, Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide. This progress is not the result of some cosmic force. It is a gift of the Enlightenment: the conviction that reason and science can enhance human flourishing.

For more information, contact Suzanne Harris at szharris56@gmail.com.

Baltimore Book Club Discussion

Tuesday, September 10, 7:30 pm
Mother’s Federal Hill Grille
1113 S. Charles St
Baltimore, MD

The September selection is My Dear Hamilton:  A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie. This historical fiction is rated 4.8 out of 5.0 stars by over a thousand Amazon readers. Through the lens of Alexander Hamilton’s wife, intimately get to know many of the founding fathers and their wives, and the issues and struggles during the formative years of this United States of America. The November selection is Bad Blood:  Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou.

Questions/RSVP: Helene Myers, Ph.D., P’14, at cedarhouse@comcast.net

Event Spotlight: WDCSA Alumni Potluck Dinner Series

The July 14th installment of the WDCSA Alumni Potluck Dinner Series was a hit with the15 Stanford alumni and friends of diverse Stanford departments/schools, ages, interests, vocations, and backgrounds. 

This dinner’s theme was summer sports, and women’s soccer in particular. The group met at the Bethesda home of Chris Shinkman, P ’98, and as with our prior potluck dinners, the conversations continued to flow long after the scheduled end time.   

Several alumni had just returned to or had newly moved to the DC area.  James Yan ’18 located to DC for a new job, for which he will be setting chemical hazard guidelines for the EPA. Empty nesters Elliot Gersh and Lynn Foltz ’76 had just returned from Southern California and shared, among other things, their interest in international dance. Blair King ’88 had also just moved back to the area from Nigeria where he enjoyed doing development work with USAID.  

We hope to get to meet you at one of our next Stanford Potluck Dinners!  If you are able to host a dinner at your home, please contact Stephanie Tan ’94 at stephanie.tan@stanfordalumni.org.