Alumnae News

The Class of 2019 returned to Holy Cross on Thursday, January 9 for “Tartans Come Home.” More than 60 alumnae attended and shared their first-semester college experiences with the junior and senior classes. This is the first gathering of these newest alumnae since their graduation last June.

The graduates spoke about their choices for college, selecting roommates, managing schoolwork and free time, resolving issues on their own, and the college campus cultures. Many of them noted how their experience at Holy Cross prepared them for their college work. After visiting the homeroom advisories, the alumnae reconnected with each other, current students and faculty members. Tartans Come Home occurs annually and is coordinated by the College Counseling and Alumnae Affairs Offices.

Michelle Cousté '11, who is Assistant Superintendent for Clark Construction working on the Metro Silver Line Phase 2A project in Ashburn, VA, appears on the cover of the October issue of Washingtonian Magazine as one of the Most Powerful Women in Washington. Her spotlight appears alongside the likes of Madeleine Albright and Kristi Toliver. Michelle shares that there are almost never women in the meetings she runs with the foremen of the construction site. She also relays how she navigates when to be assertive in some situations, such as a subcontractor calling her "doll face."

Read Michelle's profile here.

The Ultimate Old Bay Fan is also a Tartan! Cori Sabate Russell ’09 was selected for the Old Bay contest that took place over the summer. Cori was announced as the winner on social media on Tuesday, October 15. She had submitted photos of her custom Old Bay-themed items including a cornhole set and license plate. Cori, a U.S. Veteran, is currently living in California.

The Baltimore Sun reported that the Alia Kemet, Old Bay Creative & Digital Strategy Director noted Cori “really won us over by offering us a glimpse into her OLD BAY-led life. Cori is clearly driven by her passion for flavor. She has introduced the seasoning to her daughter and has a ton of Old Bay gear to show off her Maryland roots out West.”

Read the story about Cori at http://bit.ly/oldbaytartan

Joanne Carl '76 says her daughter Michelle Cousté '11 always loved construction sites. When Michelle was little Joanne would push her stroller to construction sites where she would be fascinated with the activity. It's no wonder that Michelle is now an Assistant Superintendent for Clark Construction working on the Metro Silver Line Phase 2A project in Ashburn, VA. Her journey began while researching civil engineering for her AP Calculus class at Holy Cross. It changed her entire plan for college. Michelle relates the story in a recent Clark Construction blog post "Michelle Cousté on Ensuring Quality as a Woman Field Leader in Construction."

At Clark, Michelle compares her job to a ballet, "At its core, I am the one coordinating and enabling all of the different trades to do their work for the day. One of the most beautiful things to me is watching two very skilled equipment operators work together with big machines to achieve something." 

Read the entire story here.

Michelle has kept in touch with her alma mater and has volunteered with the Holy Cross Robotics team, helping them prepare for their competitions and helping the team apply for a donation.

Brittany Menjivar '17 was recently selected as one of five screenwriting mentees for the AT&T Hello Lab Mentorship Program, which pairs up-and-coming screenwriters with directors and gives them the opportunity to have their short films fully funded and produced in Hollywood, under the guidance of Lena Waithe. Britt, a junior at Yale University majoring in English and Film, traveled to Los Angeles to kick off pre-production in June, and is currently doing remote work on the project. She returns to LA to shoot her film in August.

Britt credits her Holy Cross film class with sparking her love of film. She says, "I wouldn't have pursued film after high school. I wouldn't have gone to college knowing screenplay formatting; I wouldn't know anything about the Beat Sheet or film terminology; I wouldn't love movies the way I do today. I'm so grateful that I was able to take a course that prepared me for the next steps so well." In addition to this opportunity, Britt has written, directed, and acted in several plays at Yale. She has also been a music journalist for the pop culture website "The Young Folks" since her senior year at Holy Cross.

Read more about the program here.

Photos: Shayan Asgharnia