Notre Dame Class of 2008

08/08/2025

Today, August 8 (08/08), is our Class of 2008 Day of Prayer. This is an opportunity to pray for our classmates and for all those in need. Father Bill Lies, C.S.C., Provincial Superior for the U.S. Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross and our Class Fellow, is keeping us in his prayers in a special way today.
We invite you to submit prayer requests via email at [email protected] or our social media accounts, and a Grotto candle will be shining today for the intentions of the Class of 2008.

07/25/2025

Enjoy the Summer Class Notes (shown below!) and send us your updates by Saturday 7/26 at 5pm EST for the next edition. Email: [email protected].

'08 Summertime

Summertime: when the Midwest is now THE place. Do you feel like weekending in the Windy City for Lollapalooza? Laugh with Kelsey Klupchak (huge Hex Cougar fan) or Katie (HUGE Lux Pavilion fan) and Megan Scully (just likes humming show tunes). Do you want to party in slow motion on a Michigan pontoon? Please contact Mallory McMorrow (also ask her about her campaign for the U.S. Senate). Mediocre Ohio hiking? Hit up Andrew Zeiser (ask him about nothing). Cow tipping or the pitch-and-putt in Omaha, NE? Notify Mike Cimino. Downtown Erie, PA for economic development and Lake Erie fishing? Fax Drew Whiting (and ask him about municipal drainage issues). Vogelheim family reunion in Rogers City, Michigan? Make sure to beep Julia Hudac, who has the most interesting father in the world. Polka and beer garden in Milwaukee, WI? Well holler at Garrett Mandeville and Ben and Erin Clarke (ask Garrett about his road trip through the Yucatan in 2015; and Erin about her fame and insanely delicious Well Plated recipes). Minnesota? The land of 10,000 lakes? Poke Patrick Kaiser, who peaked in seventh grade but is still handsome. Do we have any 2008 alums in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula? Please holler.

By time of publication, Doug Schlarman will be wedded to Mark, who is more handsome and talented than Doug. More details will follow in the fall but the guest list is decent, with Christina Lee, Maggie Wickett-Altier, Maggie’s stunning husband Kevin, Magda (Karol) Villela, Kate (Dresser) Winnick, Laura (Campochiaro) and Dave Sena, Jenna Rogers, Colin Dunn, Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft, Jess Zarra, Cassie Belek, Sarah Geisman, Regina Gesicki, and so many more to write about later. Analisa Arizpe is doing a reading at Doug’s wedding–and has agreed to put her iPod down, even though she has not stopped listening to Natasha Bedingfield. The wedding is a reunion (of sorts) for many who went on senior spring break to Cozumel. Patrick McInerney was there. So was Pat Gotebeski, who remains as enigmatic now as he was then. Mike Reilly is jealous; so is Brian Sullivan, who has managed to lose weight in his late 30s, unlike the writer and Jesse Brawer.

Tom Bufalino and Pat Ryan still enjoy Trace Adkins’ 2008 hit You’re Gonna Miss This. But not Taylor Claggett, who still hums the Jeopardy theme song under his breath.

Dr. James Miller ’08, ’09Arch will be leaving his position as associate professor at Western Washington U to lead the Pacific regional strategy for the Maori and Pacific Housing Research Centre at the U of Auckland. His wife Elizabeth (Myers) Miller ’10 will enjoy time to write, and their three kids are excited for the adventure, playing rugby, and having an accent.

Rachel (Sehgal) and Ryan Bravo ’07, ’08MBA welcomed their son, Lucas. He arrived in time to watch his first ND bowl loss. Lucas is already a member of Mensa, enjoys math, and likes listening for ping pong balls dropping, like his father did as a Fisher Hall RA in 2007.

Congratulations to Cassie Belek on the birth of Cecily Katherine Belek in April. Cecily is already best friends with Lucas Bravo and likes throwing ping pong balls, thus keeping Ryan Bravo entertained.

Sarah and Patrick Lasseter welcomed their third child, Mae Catherine, in April. Her brothers are excited.

Megan and Nolan Kane welcomed their third child and third daughter, Kendall Brielle Kane, in March.

Patrick O’Brien [email protected]

Photo of the week: Summer Silence
📸: Matt Cashore ’94

04/13/2025

Enjoy the Spring Class Notes (shown below!) and send us your updates by Thursday 4/17 at 5pm EST for the next edition. Email: [email protected].

08 Trip to Toledo

This is written a few days after Jan. 20. While our team did not prevail on the field, our fans prevailed in the tailgate lots. Just ask Tim Flannery, Katie Rose Hackney Flannery ’09, Tom Bufalino, Chris Garibaldi, Laura Amburgy, Meghan Sweeney Bean, her stunning husband Brett Bean ’11JD, Kate Napleton Kysiak, Chris Cugliari ’10, Garrett Mandeville, Ben Clarke and many other good people. Marcus Freeman, our classmate, is on his way to legendary status.

Analisa Arizpe continued listening to music from her old college iPod. Recently, she listened to “Everytime” by Britney; she loved it. Doug Schlarman has Britney as his iPhone wallpaper.

Pat Ryan never hollered; neither did Didier Lewis. It’s fine. I’m fine.

Dr. Sagar Navare ’07 is an anesthesiologist. He puts people to sleep, like he did to other boxers in 2007. More importantly, he is a huge 2008 Class Notes fan.

Will Kearney and Dr. Emily Donelan bought a place in NH, close to the ski mountains. There are bears; Will promises to fight them. On top of the garage is a ski chalet: Contact Will for a weekend getaway.

Dan Straface built a house in Morgantown WV and has barred several folks from visiting because of their college reputation. If you don’t know who it is, it is you.

Zach Przystup was in Francisco Castillo-Fierro ’10MEd’s wedding, which was almost as big as the birth of his new twins, Annie and Theo. Zach told this writer to include the announcement in the last Class Notes, but Pat O’Brien did not because he forgot. Zach went to Toledo, Spain, in spring 2007 with Kait Levine-Brown, Tara Carey Schuppig, Rachel Sehgal Bravo, Garrett Mandeville (el peligroso), Rachel Maly Goldrick, Joey Validivia (he also never hollered), Brendan Ryan (spoke great Spanish almost rarely), Chris Liedl (liked to say “pues”), Kara Fessler Graham, Carolyn Sarb, Emily Rickert, Kimmy and Brendan Venter (later these two married, but it all started in the basement of La Boveda in April 2007), Dan Husack, Corey Collins Heroux, and several others.

Jesse Brawer and Drew Whiting were not allowed to study abroad. Neither was Lawrence Sullivan. Despite Jon Wood ’07’s attempted collusion with Michael Gilbert, Andrew Marchese returned as champion in their fantasy football league. The league will be renamed the Andrew Marchese Invitational and not one person needs the logistics expertise of Dr. Andrew Zeiser (not a real doctor) whose team (co-managed by Dr. Frank Ragukonis, a medical doctor [yes, we are also shocked] and childhood movie star in A Boy, A Ball, A Dream) failed to make the playoffs.

Summer is coming. Make sure to get your abs and calves in order, or, if you are like the writer, don’t. Lastly, many of us will be turning 40 this year: Don’t make it an existential crisis. There are bigger things going on in the world. Instead, let’s make a plan to concelebrate at a fall football game this year, preferably September or October. Dan Husack, our Class party planner, will let you know. Chat this summer.

— Patrick O’Brien; [email protected]

Photo of the Week: Stepping Up

01/20/2025

Happy Game Day, '08!

Enjoy the Winter Class Notes (shown below!) and send us your updates by Tuesday 1/21 at 5pm EST for the next edition. Email: [email protected].

The world became slightly better this past September when Megan O’Hara and her husband, Jonathan, welcomed their son Milo to the world. Milo screamed in glee after meeting fellow 2008 classmates Bridget Keating, Kim Schoemaker and Peter Tooher shortly after his arrival. Welcome, Milo! And welcome Marcus Freeman to the Class of 2008! In September, John Donovan, Mike “Feeny” Randolph, Drew Whiting, George Klupchak ’10MEd, Kevin Powers ’10MEd, Nicole (Koors) Burns, Pat Burns, Chris Cugliari, Jesse Brawer and John Biddle reunited for the Stanford game and downtown South Bend thereafter. Pat O’Brien also attended the Stanford game with his daughters. He rented an Airbnb that smelled like smoke. Nobody made it into the game (just like Brian Sullivan and Andrew Zeiser in 2007) due to child meltdowns, so Pat walked two miles back to the car which was parked in Lawrence Sullivan’s parents’ driveway and took the kids to Pizza Hut. Pat Miller had bleached-blond hair freshman year. Andrew Zeiser invited the ACE 30 Cleveland teachers to dinner, but they politely declined. Bob Costa did very little this fall as chief election and campaign correspondent for CBS News (kidding). In fact, he interviewed President Biden in the White House residence for CBS News Sunday Morning, the president’s first interview since he announced he would not seek reelection. Rachel (Maly) and Tom Goldrick ’07 welcomed their third child, George, in May. He joins siblings and chaos creators Vera and Charles, and in typical middle child fashion, the parents forgot to proclaim the birth of Charles in 2021, so here is that announcement. Rachel, you are a wonderful mother. Tom would not have remembered to announce any of the three. Isaac Garcia and Desiree Zamora had their third child, Mary Claire Garcia, in October 2023. Congratulations and God bless your backs and knees. Also, Mary Claire (Sullivan) Mandeville approves of this name. Speaking of sore knees and backs, Elisabeth (Rowley) and Billy Sullivan had baby number five, Ann Marie, in April. They officially now have “too many children if anyone was curious” (their words, not the writer’s). Luckily, legends Rev. Patrick Reidy, CSC, and Jennie Motto Mesterharm are the godparents and came to Nashville TN for the Baptism. To ensure that the godparents were up to the godparenting task, Elisabeth and Billy created a feats-of-strength game, which included freestyle swimming. Both passed. Another baby legend was welcomed to the world. Georgia Steenberge and her husband welcomed baby girl Solveig. Big sister Svea is pumped! Georgia reports that she and her family are enjoying the stereotypical life in Sweden, with free healthcare, bad weather and lots of Pippi Longstocking. Garrett Mandeville is thinking of starting an urban yurt company in Milwaukee, but everyone thinks it is a bad idea. Lastly, sharing news is not always easy. Our classmate, a loving husband and father, and Canada’s finest, Hudson Sullivan, passed away in August. Our sincerest condolences to all of his family and friends. If you get a chance to light a candle in his honor at the Grotto, please do so. Pat Ryan, Kait Brown, Kerry Maguire ’09 and Joey Valdivia, holler at us. — Patrick O’Brien; [email protected]

Notre Dame Magazine has something to say about the state of the world. We offer good reading, literate conversations in print and online about what makes you think, what makes you feel, what touches your soul.

01/14/2025

It's the biggest game since 2013 and we have heard zero from YOU. Who is going? Who is hosting a tailgate and inviting classmates? Who is bringing their kids (bless you)? Will Andrew Zeiser go?

10/03/2024

Enjoy the Fall 2024 '08 Class Notes (shown below!) and send us your updates by October 15 for the next edition. Email: [email protected].

Garrett Mandeville had dinner with Kevin Powers ’12MEd, Greg O’Donnell and John Biddle on June 25. They hit up The Exchange in downtown South Bend (check it out), ran into a merger/acquisition party that was private, acted like they were part of the merger, and came away with some tight lanyards.

Andrina “AJ” Ong reached her 175th country: Yemen, where she spent a week off the grid and camped underneath the stars and dragon’s blood trees. As mentioned in June, she is in the running for Class of 2008 most interesting member. Also in the running are Louis Gularte and Cassie Belek. There are several classmates who are not in the running. These folks include: Andrew Zeiser.

Rick Loesing is the new director of mission advancement for the Napa Institute and was a featured speaker along with his former dorm mate, Matt Paprocki ’05, at the institute’s annual conference.

Erin Locke dropped us a line and reports that she went to graduate school, worked hard and earned her MD. She practices medicine and public health in Topeka KS and lives with two males: her husband, Ian, and their 7-month-old infant named Finnian “Finn” Locke Cummings. Finn is pumped to be a member of the ND Class of 2041.

In March, Erin Buckley spent a fun DC day visiting Mike Jordan Laskey, director of communications at the Jesuit Conference. Included in the visit was a tour of the AMDG podcast recording studio. Check out the Jesuit Media Lab online as a gathering spot for creatives ignited by the Ignatian spirit. Erin is also looking forward to a June trip to Salt Lake City to visit ND roommate Natalie (Rodden) King and her family.

Christina (Holmstrom) Valenzuela published her first book with Our Sunday Visitor in the spring. The title is The Language of Your Body: Embracing God’s Design for Your Cycle, merging her love of biology and theology, which both flourished under the Dome. She hosted her very first book signing with fellow ND author Jessica Mannen Kimmet ’09 at the Hammes Bookstore. Andrés Valenzuela didn’t publish a book, but he did celebrate an advancement to principal research scientist within the Atlas team at Boston Dynamics. What he is most famous for, however, is Mallorca in April 2007.

Caitlyn (Caster) Bentrott and her husband, Mark, welcomed their third daughter, Molly, on May 13. Her big sisters Annie and Emily are in love with their new baby and look forward to showing her around campus at the Stanford game. Go Irish, beat Cardinal!

Michael Hennig ’07 wants to be in the Class of 2008. So does Nate Origer ’06.

Rev. Sarah Smith is the next head chaplain at Holland Hall Preparatory School in Tulsa OK. Sarah will also serve as an assistant strength coach and division chair of religion at Holland Hall and as an associate priest at Christ Church Tulsa. Sarah is a sixth-generation Oklahoman and is in the running for most famous Class of 2008 member, along with Mary Claire (Sullivan) Mandeville.

Kara Brennan is still impressive.

Nick Kluesner continues to embarrass his legendary wife, Megan (Julien) Kluesner, who continues to receive remarkable accolades for her volunteer work. She (does not) love(s) the attention.

Kelsey (Montalto) Klupchak and Julia (Vogelheim) Hudac are sharing a hotel room for Francisco Castillo-Fierro’s wedding in November. They roomed together in ACE; their room was a converted living room with no doors and many windows.

Didier Lewis, Zach Labrecque and Liz Brown Lockwood did not holler at us.

Analisa Arizpe found her old iPod from college. The iPod had Bubba Spar###, which she listened to.

Drew Whiting and Lawrence Sullivan sent Andrew Zeiser 8x12 signed photos of themselves via registered mail, which Andrew did not sign for.

Did anyone get Pangborn or Fisher Hall bricks? If so, holler.

— Patrick O’Brien; [email protected]

State of the Union: For our autumn issue, in the mail now and available today at magazine.nd.edu, we invited experts from various disciplines to address the divisiveness in American politics and other issues facing the country this election season: https://magazine.nd.edu/issues/2024/autumn-2024/

08/08/2024

Today, August 8 (08/08), is our Class of 2008 Day of Prayer. This is an opportunity to pray for our classmates and for all those in need. Father Bill Lies, C.S.C., Provincial Superior for the U.S. Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross and our Class Fellow, is keeping us in his prayers in a special way today.

We invite you to submit prayer requests via email at [email protected], our social media accounts, or texting 570.239.9745, and a Grotto candle will be shining today for the intentions of the Class of 2008.

04/11/2024

Hey! We need Class Note content for the Notre Dame Class of 2008 notes. What are you waiting for?

Send updates to [email protected]!

01/10/2024

The Winter edition of is now online. Enjoy the '08 Class Notes and send us your updates by January 15 for the next one!

08 Winter Wishes

Congratulations to the Honorable Judge Mimi Kendrick! After five years as a probate court magistrate, Melanie “Mimi” Kendrick was chosen and appointed by the governor of Indiana to be a judge of the Marion County Superior Court in Indianapolis. Mimi presides over family law cases, including but not limited to divorces, child in need of services cases, paternity cases, termination of parental rights and juvenile delinquencies.

Taylor Claggett made ND proud on Jeopardy! in July, winning $34,000! Earlier in the year, Taylor helped coach Highland Park men’s lacrosse to a Division 1 state championship. Taylor also helps coach the Dutch men’s national lacrosse team, which he started doing when he lived in Amsterdam in 2014. In 2023, the team finished 14th in the world, eight spots higher than their prior world performance. Gefeliciteerd, Taylor!

Carolyn Plou Rodriguez is still living in beautiful San Diego with her two spunky daughters, Elena and Zoey, and her husband, Andrew. She is a pediatric physical therapist providing free therapy to patients paid by San Diego County. “Here Come the Irish” randomly came on in her car the other day, and it brought a smile to her face!

Caity Schneeman founded her own 501(c)(3) nonprofit theater company, Theatre 202, with a mission to create social justice theater with, by and for young changemakers in our nation’s capital. Caity serves as executive director while continuing to teach theater at Cardozo Education Campus in DC. Check out theatre202.org.

Joy and Tim Rooney welcomed baby Luke and are officially outnumbered. Siblings Hannah and Noah love their baby brother and can’t wait for him to actually do stuff.

José Manuel Gustavo Beguiristain was born in April 2023. Parents Jessica Rodriguez Beguiristain and Joseph Beguiristain are anxiously waiting for the next 18 years to see whether he will be a Domer or a ’Cane.

Farley’s Finest Kelsey Montalto Klupchak, Amelia Ulmer Saettele, Molly King, Shannon Morrison Shriver, Eri Tsukamaki Haworth, Caitlyn Caster Bentrott, Kristin DeAmbrosio Brandtner, Shields Duss Hoida and Meghan Sweeney Bean reunited in NYC for their annual “Camp Farley” tradition. Like true Farley girls, they spent most of the weekend sober in a common room without any boys in sight. Last year they reunited in Cabo San Lucas where the same theme applied — very minimal debauchery, but plenty of camaraderie!

Drew Whiting, Andrew Zeiser, Brian Sullivan, Pat McInerney, William Kearney, Matt “Spicy” Mattare and Chris Garibaldi spent June arguing about the existence of giraffes: how are they actually real with horse-like features, leopard spots, necks 10 times larger than a horse’s neck but with the disproportionate leg size? Similarly, how are sharks and crocodiles relatively immune to evolutionary change? Andrew also asked how it is possible that narwhals and rhinos are real, but unicorns are not. Spicy likewise asked how tunnels are made to span large bodies of water: is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel humankind’s greatest achievement? Drew believes that pandas should not exist: their fur is the opposite of camouflage. Drew likes wearing camouflage pants because his favorite band, Lit, sometimes wore them. Send us your updates at [email protected] - Patrick O’Brien

01/03/2024

Check out this Good Morning America feature on our University of Notre Dame '08 classmate Dr. Sean Cullen. Notre Dame Class of 2008 Notre Dame Alumni Association Notre Dame Science Notre Dame Club of New York - NDNY

Health officials are reporting a rise in respiratory illnesses like RSV across the U.S.