From the Editor

My dog is shedding a blizzard, a sure harbinger of warmer weather and longer days. Despite the extra lint rolling and vacuuming, this is more welcome than usual because we’ve had an unexpectedly cold winter here on the banks of the Chester River. 

In January and February, Chestertown got blasted with enough snow to shut the schools and the College and clog the streets. Although the town is clearly not used to handling that much snow, it looked beautiful, and with plentiful food and drink, a good book to read, and a solid pair of snow boots, it was quite fun. At least, my high schooler, puppy, and I enjoyed it. 

When the temperatures uncharacteristically remained below freezing for weeks, the unexpected was not quite as much fun.

If you live in Maine or Colorado, you are probably wondering what I’m whining about. First, I’m from Ireland and my natural disposition is to complain about the weather. Second, I didn’t move to the Eastern Shore for its snow.

My real point is that the unexpected can have a silver lining—thanks to the unexpected freeze, I appreciated the Eastern Shore’s temperate winters and the imminent arrival of spring all the more. Good job, weather gods! 

That brings me to this issue of the magazine. I planned a feature article on cryptocurrency—is it a Ponzi scheme, a necessary asset in any investment portfolio, or something else? Washington experts would share their insights and answer the most pertinent questions. An alum who had been involved with cryptocurrency since its early days and who is a policy and legal expert in the field turned out to be a particularly insightful and informed source. I interviewed him and several professors and only needed a few more interviews and clarifications to write the piece.

However, every day from December through January, in an industry already notorious for volatility, reputable media outlets, business leaders, members of Congress, and an array of crypto prophets penned stories about the enormous pro-crypto changes coming with the new administration. I had anticipated these changes and planned to incorporate them into the article.

Then, the unexpected happened. Just days before his inauguration, the crypto promoters were stunned when the President announced Trump coins. Far from boosting the digital assets industry, his actions undermined what the advocates had sought—legitimacy and respect.

The timing was terrible for my article. While I still expect the administration to follow through with promises to boost cryptocurrencies, we have postponed the story until the dust settles.

The unexpected is to be expected when you plan content for a magazine, and I make sure to keep backup stories in the wings. Luckily, the other surprises in this issue were all good. We discovered Harris Whitbeck ’87 had become Guatemala’s minister for tourism and was willing to share his remarkable story with us. And a story about Terumi Kohwi-Shigematsu ’71 and how she gives back to the College by offering internships at her lab to Washington students every year expanded. It became the story of how she overcame numerous obstacles to become a leading researcher and discovered a protein that changed our understanding of nuclear mechanisms and could lead to treatments for numerous cancers. And finally, we got an unexpected and fantastic last-minute story when professors Rebecca Fox and Brian Scott returned from a study abroad trip to Ecuador replete with beautiful photographs and journals written by students.

Planning the content for a magazine issue is an act of optimism. Uncovering unexpected and surprising stories, as we did here, is a tremendous reward. I look forward to enjoying warm weather, finally writing an article about cryptocurrency, and finding more unexpected gems as I explore more Washington stories.

Thank you, 
Darrach Dolan, Managing Editor

Volume 72 No. 2
Spring 2025
ISSN 2995-2573

Managing Editor
Darrach Dolan

Editor
Mark Jolly-Van Bodegraven

Executive Editor
Brian Speer

Contributing Writers/editors
Hillary L. Bitting, Clayton Black, 

MacKenzie Brady ’21, Tim Corrao,
Darrach Dolan, Dominique Ellis Falcon, 
Heather C. Fabritze ’25, Todd Farley,
Courtney Hardy, Julie Jans,
Mark Jolly-Van Bodegraven, Brian Speer,
Andraya Sudler ’26

Design
Morgan Gilpatrick, Jennifer Quinn, Brian Speer

Contributing Photographers
Daniel Corey, Tim Corrao, Pamela Cowart-Rickman, Irene Moore, Brian Scott

Contributing Illustrators
Julija

Administration
Michael Sosulski
President

Brian Speer
Vice President for
Marketing and Communications

Susie Chase ’90 P’21
Vice President for Advancement, Alumni and Constituent Engagement

Emily Kate Smith ’10
Associate Vice President for 
Alumni and Constituent Engagement

The Washington College Office of Marketing and Communications publishes Washington College Magazine (USPS 667-260) four times a year: February, March (admissions), June, and October. Periodical postage paid at Chestertown, Maryland, and at other offices. 

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