Alumni News: March 2023
Hello fellow alumni,
I'm starting my third month at my alma mater and continue to be amazed by the academic programming Friends offers. I've also appreciated the warm welcome from the teachers and staff I've gotten to meet and those that I knew ten years ago. Ms. Countess even let me borrow her centurion helmet and her Medusa statue.
We have quite the collection of alumni stories this month, which I have been excited to share with you all. We also are excited to announce that registration for Alumni Weekend is now open. I hope you all enjoy this month's Alumni News.
Safe travels to those of you who are enjoying spring break!
Best regards,
Matthew Potter '13
On Campus
Are you ready for Alumni Weekend?
We are excited to welcome the classes ending in 3 and 8 back to campus to celebrate their reunions. Click here to see the full Alumni Weekend Schedule, class reunion information, hotel room blocks, and to register (NOW OPEN).
Senior Work Projects
Do you want to mentor a student in what you do for the month of May? Are you near Baltimore? We are looking for volunteers to host senior students for four weeks at their place of work. Mentors have a major impact on the students they host, giving them a first look at the working world. Are you interested? Email alumni@friendsbalt.org.
Spend the Summer at Friends
Registration is now open for our popular day camp, Summer at Friends. Camps are available for ages 4 to 13. Imagine your child spending summer days enjoying Sports Camp on Deering Field or on stage in the Forbush Auditorium. With more than a dozen camps to choose from, there’s bound to be a whole lot of summer fun! Find out more and register online on our website. We encourage you to register your children early as spaces are filling quickly.
Looking for a Summer Job?
Come back to campus! Summer at Friends is hiring seasonal staff for Summer 2023. Available positions include special area teachers (art, science, music), coaches, swim staff (lifeguards, water safety instructors, pool ops), nurses, and group staff (head and assistant counselors). Find out more at friendsbalt.org.
News
Jason Berman ’02 is Producing for the Stars
Mandalay Pictures President Jason Berman ’02 is known for producing feature films that have debuted at premiere film festivals around the globe, including the Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, SXSW, Tribeca, Berlinale, and Edinburgh. Berman produced Edson Oda's Nine Days starring Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz, Bill Skarsgård, and Benedict Wong, Olivier Megaton's The Last Days of American Crime starring Edgar Ramírez, Prentice Penny's Uncorked, Cindy Chupack's Otherhood, Clark Johnson's Juanita, Jonathan Helpert's IO, Gerard McMurray's Burning Sands, Ryan Koo's Amateur, Eli Craig's Little Evil, and Nate Parker's The Birth of a Nation. Most recently, he has produced Air, the story of a shoe salesman who revolutionized the world of sports and contemporary culture by putting all of his chips on a player who had never even set foot on a professional basketball court: Michael Jordan. The movie, which stars Matt Damon, Jason Bateman and Ben Affleck, premiers April 5, 2023. You can watch the trailer here.
Berman's past producing credits include Approaching the Unknown, Mediterranea, The Benefactor, Little Accidents, The Dry Land, Jess + Moss, Seven Days in Utopia, Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best, LUV, and Struck By Lightning. Prior to producing, Berman worked at the William Morris Agency, MGM Studios, and for writer/director Gary Ross. Berman is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and the Producers Guild of America. He is a 2006 graduate of the University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts, where he is now an adjunct professor. Berman helped to develop and start the Catalyst program at the Sundance Institute.
Lisa Corinne Davis '76 Awarded Prestigious Fellowship
Lisa Corinne Davis ’76 has been being awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship! This honor had nearly 2,500 applicants, with the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Board of Trustees recognizing only 180 people. The fellowship provides awardees time they would not normally have to dedicate to their work.
Lisa is no stranger to recognition. Her works of abstract art are included in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. She has received accolades including The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant, a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artist Fellowship and three Artist Fellowships from The New York Foundation for the Arts. In 2017, she was inducted into the National Academy Museum & School as a National Academician. Previously a Yale University painting professor, Lisa is currently a Professor of Art and Co-Director of the MFA program at Hunter College in New York.
Sander Schulhoff '20 Aims to Educate on Artificial Intelligence
The world of artificial intelligence (AI) is an intimidating one to enter. We’ve all seen the movies and read the books, but where does AI fit into our lives outside of science fiction? If you want to learn more about it, where do you start? Sander Schulhoff ’20 saw that people who may not have a great technological understanding were looking for answers. This gave him the idea to write a course for a University of Maryland English class on the subject of AI, which he then published online as Learn Prompting. The guide is text based and split into sections by complexity. It is also free to access, which over 200,000 people have appreciated since the site launched. His digital community on Discord, a VoIP and instant messaging social platform, has grown to nearly 15,000 users. Sander’s work was recently spotlighted by The Diamondback, UMD’s independent student newspaper. Congratulations, Sander! We look forward to seeing what else you accomplish.
Endeavor Promotes Christian Muirhead '97 to Co-Chairman
Christian Muirhead ’97 has been promoted to Co-Chairman of Endeavor. Formally known as William Morris Endeavor, the company represents artists and companies in music, television, movies, and publishing, such as the National Football League and the National Hockey League.
Christian, who graduated from Friends in 1997, graduated from Boston University with a degree in International Relations. After beginning his career at Warner Brothers, he joined William Morris in 2004 and was named Chief Communications Officer of Endeavor in 2014. Endeavor and William Morris merged in 2009.
“Having started my journey at WME, I’ve had a front row seat to the evolution of the entertainment business and the growing influence of talent in shaping it,” Muirhead said. “I look forward to leveraging the full scale and depth of Endeavor’s network on our clients’ behalf, forging connections and creating opportunities to help them build industry-leading brands and businesses.”
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) at Friends
Monthly Update from the DEI Office
For the latest update from the DEI Office, click here.
Development News
Pepe’s Palooza is March 29th – Support the Class of 2023 and their Senior Family Gift!
On Wednesday, March 29th, consider ordering lunch or dinner from Pepe’s on Falls Road because 20% of all Friends School orders will be directed to the Class of 2023 Senior Family Gift. All you have to do is mention “Friends School” when you order over the phone or put “Friends School” in the comments when ordering online. Check out Pepe’s menu here. Thank you in advance for supporting the Class of 2023 and their fundraising.
If you would like to help with the school’s fundraising efforts, please email Rachel DeWeese, Assistant Annual Fund Director at rdeweese@friendsbalt.org or Caroline Rayburn P’23, Director of Annual Giving at crayburn@friendsbalt.org.
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