Wilkinson College of Humanities & Social Sciences
Alumni Success Stories
Please send your stories and photos to
WilkinsonCollege@chapman.edu
 Fiona Beitdashtoo '06
"Thank you for contributing to my education and personal development. Beyond my major in PR and advertising, the general education courses, especially in sociology and statistics (I never thought I'd admit that), biology and religion have become increasingly important to my understanding of the diverse and complex world in which business takes place. So, "thank you," to those professors who helped me understand subjects I had little knowledge of before I came to Chapman."
 Tyler Malotte '05
BA in Political Science, Honors Minor
A cum laude graduate of the Political Science and Honors programs, Tyler Malotte has been accepted into Teach for America, through which he will teach special education in an under-resourced high school in Los Angeles for two years. Following his years of service, Tyler will attend graduate school. He recently served Chapman University at the 2005 Scholar Recognition Day, participating on a discussion panel that addressed the Chapman experience.
 Nadar Baroukh '04, '05
Nadar is the Deputy Associate General Counsel for Immigration at the Department of Homeland Security, Office of the General Counsel.
 Katie Vlietstra '03
Living and working in Washington, D.C. has proven to be an exhilarating experience for Katie Vlietstra. After completing her graduate degree at George Mason University, Katie went to work for an Arizona based public affairs firm, Triadvocates. In her role, she is responsible for coordinating the day-to-day operations of the office as well as providing legislative support to the firm's federal clients. Katie serves as Treasurer of the State Society of Arizona and remains active with her national sorority, Phi Sigma Sigma. In the fall of 2007, Katie hopes to return to academia to pursue a join M.A./M.B.A. at John Hopkins University.
 Megan MacDonald '02
BA in Sociology
In September 2004, Megan MacDonald accepted a new position with the County of Orange Health Care Agency as Executive Assistant to the Director. She previously served as Government and Community Relations Advisor for County Supervisor Tom Wilson. Megan interned for the County Supervisor's office during her senior year at Chapman and later became the Executive Assistant to the Chairman. Her new position involves overseeing all health care issues as well as the county's responsibilities for harbors, beaches, and parks. Megan reports that, as a sociology major at Chapman, "I knew I wanted to enter the realm of public policy, and I have enjoyed beginning my career at the County level, where State and Federal legislation and funding are put into action."
 Daylanne Markwa '02
MA in English and Creative Writing
Daylanne recently recieved an acceptance letter from the University of Arizona's doctoral program in Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English. She was one of the nine applicatns accepted from a pool of 60. She has also been awarded a graduate teaching assistantship.
 Yael Marwah '01
Yael is working at CBS Evening News in New York as the assistant to the executive producer and also helps the broadcast manager and senior producer of stories.
"I love that I can take the job and explore all my interests," said Marwah. "The most exciting part of it is being in the pitch meetings. In these meetings the senior producers and the executive producer decide which stories to pursue and I actualy get a say. I happened to mention in one meeting the growing rate of AIDS in the elderly, and my boss turned to me and said, 'that's a story.' The next few days they sent people to shoot it and it actually aired the next week."
 Jason Moore-Brown '00
BA in Political Science, Law Specialization
Jason enrolled in the ROTC while attending Chapman and was assigned to the Military Police Corps upon graduation in May 2000. He has been assigned to Fort Lewis, WA since and has deployed to Guantanamo (GTMO) Bay, Cuba in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Jason was then transferred to Central Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom I where he found another Chapman alum, Mike Hong. He is currently serving in Northeastern Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 05-07.
Jason Moore-Brown is a Korean-American who exemplifies so many of the virtues Chapman promotes. His career has afforded him opportunity to interact with people from over 35 countries, safeguard detainees on two continents, fight insurgents in Iraq, and train Iraqi Policemen and Corrections Officers. His education at Chapman has prepared him for the experience.
 Amy Fulton Martinez '00
BA in Political Science
Amy Fulton Martinez has worked for the Second Harvest Food Bank for four years, a professional relationship she began while working on her bachelor of arts degree in Political Science with a Political Communication emphasis. She now serves the food bank as the Community Nutrition Intern while she attends the Chapman University School of Law. Ranked second in her law school class, Amy intends to practice public interest law so that she can continue to serve the community.
 Jessica Cioffi '99
BAs in Religious Studies and English
Just months after graduating from Chapman, Jessica Cioffi accepted the position of Assistant to the Director, Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education, where her responsibilities include program planning, events coordination, and Rodgers Center communication and promotion. In this role, she helps coordinate the Center's Annual Holocaust Art and Writing Contest, inspiring thousands of students from Southern California junior high and high schools. With Jessica’s help, the Center opened its Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library in fall ‘04 in the Orange campus Leatherby Libraries.
"It is very satisfying work to bring an understanding of the Holocaust to the community through remembering and honoring the survivors, victims, and rescuers," she explains.
Maria Tafoya '99
BA in Religious Studies, Sociology Minor
In 2003 Maria Tafoya received a Master of Divinity magna cum laude from Christian Theological Seminary of Indianapolis, and she is currently the Pastor of the Delhaven Christian Church, a Disciples of Christ church in La Puente, California. She describes her congregation as "one of the truly multi-ethnic DOC congregations," with a population that is 40% Caucasian, 40% African American, 15% Hispanic, 3% Asian, and 2% American Indian." The inclusive church also welcomes gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons.
"My experiences at Chapman prepared me well for dealing with many different cultures and with social justice issues--a primary concern of my congregation." But she cautions, humorously, "Lest anyone ascribe great humanitarianism to my initial involvement in multicultural events at Chapman, I should explain that when my husband and I first arrived at Chapman we had $1.37 and no jobs. Until our first paychecks came we went to all the events where food was served, and it happens that multicultural events had the best food. When we could afford to feed ourselves, we continued attending the events because we had become interested in the issues."
Still committed to spiritual life at Chapman, Reverend Tafoya serves the university as a member of the Fish Interfaith Center Advisory Council.
Erin Rybacek '98
Erin has been hired as the Change Manager for Cisco's Worldwide Manufacturing organization. She is working to develop and deploy a Change Management framework throughout the manufacturing organization as well as throughout their internal and external partners to drive business strategy, acquisition integration, metrics and controls, training and development, and cross-organizational linkages. She is excited to use the organizational development, consulting, and business process skills she has learned at Chapman to make the best of the company.
"It is a tremendous opportunity with a truly amazing company and I'm ready to play a very strategic role in its development. I'll be using my organizational development, consulting, and business process skills to the fullest... and pushing myself and the organization to the next level. EXCITING!"
 Shannon Crogan '97
BA in Sociology, Social Work Emphasis
Proving that a liberal arts education can lead to success in many venues, Shannon Crogan expected that her sociology degree would be good preparation for a career in social work. But she answered another calling and has found a gratifying career in college admission services and now holds a master of science degree in human resources.
 Shannon is the Assistant Director of Recruitment and Admissions for the UCI Graduate School of Management Fully-Employed MBA Program. Prior to joining UCI, Shannon served Chapman University as the Associate Director of Admission.
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