Looking Back and Moving Forward

Have you ever gone to an event that was so good you never wanted it to end? For many, the 2025 All-Class Reunion, October 3–5, 2025, was that event. How can we tell? Alumni are at the center of two major initiatives that were born at Reunion and are continuing on in expanded forms. 

The success of both the Life After Bennington and Speed Networking sessions gave Director of Alumni and Constituent Relations Shay Totten ’91 the idea that he needed to find ways to make connections between students and alumni more regularly. 

“Students are the best ambassadors for alumni reengaging with the College,” said Totten. “When we bring students and alumni together, I don’t have to do much of anything at that point. They click. And meeting alumni while in college is our best hope for keeping students connected after graduation.”

Life After Bennington

To continue the vibes and the benefits, Totten and Dean of Faculty John Bullock designed a 2-credit course called Life After Bennington. The class invites the 30 enrolled students to hear from a different alum every week and reflect on how the guests’ stories may affect their own career or life trajectory. Students can have pre-class conversation with the guest over dinner before class starts. 

This past term, students heard from Executive Director of Bennington Theater Kaiya Kirk ’20, State Legislator Will Greer ’24, Ceramicist Jackie Sedlock ’93, Software Developer and Business Owner Wyatt Kirby ’10, Dance Artist/Food Systems Leader Lynn Ellen Schimoler ’03, Medical Nonprofit Founder Audre Wirtanen ’16, Head of Global Security Jeff Williams ’91, two-time Tony Award nominated actor Brooks Ashmanskas ’91, and several others. Those interested in coming to campus as a part of a future class should contact Shay Totten at shaytotten@bennington.edu. 

"I like that the speakers have had different Bennington and post-Bennington trajectories,” said Isabella Cohn ’26. “Getting to hear their stories and journeys and hear and how they got to where they are is something I find really valuable about the class. They have spoken about the importance of the alumni network, both how helpful it can be and how, once you get out into the world, you’ll meet more alumni and people connected to Bennington than you’d think." 

A New Alumni Association

At the Alumni Coffee Hour event, Totten joined Jeannie Cross ’72, former trustee (1991-1992) and past president of the Alumni Association (1988-1992); Wendy Liff ’77, past president of the Alumni Association (1992-1996); and Trustees Ciaran Cooper ’87 and Sekka Scher '90 for a discussion about revitalizing the Alumni Association, which was disbanded in 1997. 

Cross, a transfer student, said that she didn’t get enough of Bennington as a student. She had to focus on her Plan and didn’t have the chance to take dance, for instance. The Alumni Association of the past gave her access to fellow alumni.  

“Through the Alumni Association, I got to meet all of these people and learn about what they were doing and see them at all different stages in all different areas of interest: art, dance, social work, politics…,” Cross said. “It was so valuable to me to be able to continue that education and continue learning from this unbelievably diverse, exciting group…. So I want to get that back.” 

The event went well, according to Totten. “People asked a lot of good questions. Jeannie and Wendy had so much knowledge to share,” he said. 

In addition to the people who attended the session and those who have been involved in the past, many others have stepped forward, including those in Bennington, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC. 

“We have the makings of chapters around the country at this point,” said Totten. “My aim is to provide what these alumni need to help build a self-sustaining volunteer-led association with support from the Alumni office.”

Totten is working to finalize bylaws and organizational charts and writing a chapter handbook for chapter leaders. The group is choosing an executive committee and committee chairs. Totten hopes to help hold inaugural events for as many as possible and have the infrastructure in place in time for the next College president to do a national listening tour. 

“There are a lot of alumni who want the connection. They miss it,” said Totten. “If you are one of them, this is a great time to get involved. I am excited about what the new Alumni Association can, and will, do, especially leading up to the College’s Centennial. We can leave a mark on Bennington again.” 

Those interested in participating in Life at Bennington or in the new Alumni Association should email alumnirelations@bennington.edu.

24-Hour Plays

24-Hour Plays, incredible performances—written, directed, and acted by alumni and friends within the course of just 24 hours—made their debut on campus! Approximately 30 alumni and 10 students participated. All proceeds supported the Spencer Cox ’90 Field Work Term Fellowship for Student Activists and the Nicky Martin Memorial Scholarship for Performing Arts.

Winterpills Concert

Winterpills, fronted by Phillip Price ’85, previewed their eighth full-length album This Is How We Dance on Saturday night. The band formed in 2003 in Northampton, MA.

Milestone Breakfast

Lisa Kraus ’75 came back to campus twice since graduation, both times to dance. The last time she visited, before All-Class Reunion, was 38 years ago. “So I walked into Commons Theater, what was Commons Theater, which is the space where I spent most of my time at Bennington, and immediately saw how vast the renovation had been, how light and open the space is, and how accommodating. But at the same time, I was heartbroken because it had been a place where there were magnificent teachers working: Judith Dunn expressing a beautiful phrase across the floor and Bill Dixon playing the piano in the corner... I just experienced the fullness of the past in the present,” she said. “Here we are today in the same room. The space is beautiful and totally functional for what the College needs now. There's a reset in coming and well wishing to the people who are now inhabiting these spaces and benefitting from what this College offers.”

Aluminum Pour

Alumni, students, families, and staff shared in the experience of molten aluminum being poured into sand mold prepared by students in the sculpture course Examining Space. Some early attendees were able to make a mold for themselves. 

“It was and is incredible to encourage these students. While our immediate goal was to have a successful and safe pour, the most exciting and rewarding byproduct of this experience is observing the self confidence built within the students. To sweat and be nervous and to create with one another is like nothing else,” said John Umphlett, faculty member in Sculpture.

Alumni Dinner 

The Hudas Schwartz Liff '47 Award for outstanding volunteerism was presented to Trustee Mary Bucksbaum Scanlan '91. She has served on the Board of Trustees since 2017 and is co-chair of Bennington’s innovative Art for Access initiative.

“Mary holds a deep commitment to strengthening the alumni network,” said then-President Laura Walker during the presentation. “She is constantly seeking ways to connect alumni to each other throughout the years and to connect Bennington’s work to the wider world.”

Mindful Rhythms for All

Bennington faculty member in Music Michael Wimberly and percussionist Sarah Tenney ’71 led participants in a creative, meditative musical experience during Mindful Rhythms for All on Sunday morning. 

Steve Redmond ’71 participated in the storytelling, aluminum pour, and Mindful Rhythms for All events. He primarily studied literature, along with music, when he was a student. He was a bass and harp player in the band Pure Lard with Nick Pearson and Marsha Winsryg ’72 and remembers getting classical organ lessons from faculty member in Math, Reinhound Van der Linde. “Playing again was great. It was so open and friendly,” he said. He enjoyed meeting fellow alumni, or non-resident students, as he calls them. “Even after you graduate, there’s something of Bennington that you take with you and continue to use. I never stopped learning in the ways Bennington taught me.”

Walloomsac Inn Tours 

On Saturday afternoon, Rafe Churchill '91, P ’25 ’28 and his wife and business partner Heidi Hendrick, of architecture and design firm Hendricks Churchill, shared their architecture and design work. This workshop, titled Distinctly American, was accompanied by photographs from their book by the same title. On Sunday, they offered tours of their latest project, a renovation of the historic Walloomsac Inn in Old Bennington. They have created a hospitality brand and plan to restore the property into a functioning inn, anticipated to open in 2028. 

Speed Networking 

“The speed networking event was far more popular for both students and alumni than I anticipated,” said Director of Alumni and Constituent Relations Shay Totten ’91. “It opened the possibility for students to see alumni out there as having value for mentoring them when they leave Bennington and to imagine what’s possible for them after they graduate. For alumni, it gave them the sense that they still have a lot to offer students in terms of how to take a Bennington education and make it work in the world.” 

Redmond attended. He has had a varied career as a news journalist, a boatbuilder and designer, a columnist for WoodenBoat magazine, a French chef, as director of software development at Omega Optical, and as an artist. In 1990 he built a studio house boat that he sailed down the East Coast, across Florida and painted aboard over a period of 10 years. “I am an example of what a Bennington education does to a person. You get curious about everything,” he said. He has been painting for four decades and has shown in galleries and universities in Vermont, Florida, and Louisiana. He still paints aboard his houseboat, on land now, and exhibits mostly in Brattleboro, VT, near where he lives.

At the Speed Networking event, he could sense students’ nervousness about finding a job after graduation. “You could see it in their eyes. There’s this anxiousness that they are going to sink and disappear if they don’t find a way to use their studies immediately.” He wanted them to know that a “loose approach” to life can work as well. “Don’t be afraid. You already have this knowledge in these fields. It may take some time to get your bearings. Get some experience. You will likely work in the field you studied eventually.” 

Abraar Arpon ’26, who studies Computer Science and Public Action, attended and met several helpful alumni, including Jeff Williams ’91, Head of Global Security at software company Avast. “I told him what certifications I was doing, and he guided me toward others I should look into,” said Arpon, who has used his skills in computer science, geographic information systems, and mapping to help people visualize information they need to make decisions. An alum at the event, who works as a lawyer, prompted Arpon to consider how he could put his skills to work for law firms who need help creating visuals for their clients to use in cases. “He encouraged me not to limit myself to public policy or AI or machine learning. The interactions I had broadened my idea of how I can use my skills.” 

Life After Bennington 

The Life After Bennington panel featured a mix of alumni from across generations—Dania Clarke ’15; Wyatt Kirby ’10; Ayesha Raees ’18; Valerie Marcus Ramshur ’89, P ’27; Jeff Williams ’91; Audre Wirtanen ’17—talked about what they studied at Bennington, what they do now, and how those two things connect.