Welcome Home for Quincy Springs IV ’02

Quincy Springs (from WDBJ)

WDBJ-TV, Roanoke’s CBS affiliate, had a heartwarming feature about the homecoming of a Washington and Lee alumnus Quincy Springs after eight years serving in the military, including this last year in Afghanistan. As the story details, Quincy, a captain in the U.S. Army, was married a year ago just prior to his last deployment when he was involved with eradicating poppy from Afghanistan. As Quincy told the WDBJ reporter, “There are a lot of scars [in Afghanistan], not only in the country but also in the people.” Quincy majored in philosophy at W&L and was president of the Interfraternity Council in his senior year. You can watch the video below:

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Missouri Mad Men

Brent Beshore (from Columbia Business Times)

We’re guessing that Washington and Lee alumnus Brent Beshore (Class of 2005) doesn’t necessarily have three-martini lunches a la Don Draper of Mad Men. But an article in the Columbia (Mo.) Business Times suggests that Brent’s early success as an adman is mindful of TV’s Draper, the creative director of Sterling Cooper. In Brent’s case, the firm is called Pure Marketing and Media. Brent is the 26-year-old CEO and co-owner of the Columbia, Mo., based company that has about 50 clients, projected annual revenue of more than $3 million, two subsidiary companies and 26 employees. The W&L politics major was working toward a master’s degree in business administration and law at the University of Missouri when he began a company called Event Solutions. Eventually he would pair up with a partner to form the new group, which is distinguished by including an audio and video production company, Arable Entertainment, and a research company, Insight. You can compare Brent’s work with Don Draper’s on the Pure Marketing Web site.

Washington Post Profiles W&L Law Alum

Jonathan Keiler (from Washington Post)

Jonathan Keiler is a 1984 graduate of the Washington and Lee School of Law. After four years as an Army Judge Advocate General officer and then moved to a private law firm in Bethesda, Md., before he changed course altogether and began teaching social studies at Bowie High School in Prince Georges County, Md. Earlier this week Jonathan was the subject of a fascinating article in the Washington Post where education columnist Jay Mathews disclosed how Jonathan nearly lost his job because he didn’t have the requisite credits for certification. What was particularly interesting is that, according to Mathews’ piece, the school system was giving him no credits for his three years at W&L’s School of Law, which Mathews called “one of the nation’s top law schools.” Just as Mathews’ piece was going to press, the school system relented, and Jonathan won’t lose his job. The certification issues notwithstanding, this is a profile of an excellent teacher and coach of the schools’ Mock Trial team. You can read Mathews’ story, “When a Gifted Teacher Has to Jump Through Hoops Just to Keep His Job, Change Is Needed,” here.

Is It the Shoes?

Coye Nokes

Coye Nokes graduated from Washington and Lee in 1997 with a major in business administration and worked for a time in London as a financial consultant. As the story goes, the part of the job that Coye found most difficult was finding a pair of shoes that were appropriate for her business attire and didn’t hurt her feet. The solution? The Coye Nokes collection of shoes debuted this fall and has quickly garnered impressive reviews in the fashion press. For instance, Daily Candy praises Coye’s shoes as “a collection of sleek styles in various heights that is as comfy as it is classy.” In a story in FootwearPlus, Coye says that “work shoes don’t have to be dull and boring.” Her shoes are handmade in the Marche region of Italy and are available online at the Coye Nokes Website.

Cooking (and Thinking) with Brys Stephens

Brys Stephens '95 from Cookthink

What are you craving? That’s what Washington and Lee alumnus Brys Stephens of the Class of 1995 wants you to ask yourself when you go to the Web to search for a recipe. Brys and a longtime friend Chip Brantley are the creators of the Web site, Cookthink. As they explain, “We wanted to create a cleaner, smarter recipe website, something with consistently good recipes, more efficient search, better resources and friendly advice.” So if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking to cook, Cookthink lets you search by categories like mood (eg, hangover-friendly), ingredient (eg, chicken), cuisine (eg, Tex-Mex) and dish type (eg, quesadilla).  In an article in the Birmingham News about Cookthink, Brys explained that he had completed a clerkship with a judge in Washington, D.C., when he talked with friends who had started an Internet company, and he decided to try one with food as the theme. Try out the site but don’t miss the blog where Brys and his partner post on everything from how to cook fresh shrimp to such unusual recipes as Savory Parmesan Quinoa Cakes.

Kaylee Hartung Unplugged

Kaylee Hartung

Earlier this year CBS News began a new Web-only video feature called Washington Unplugged, a weekly, 15-minute program hosted by veteran newsman Bob Schieffer. More recently, they’ve added a new segment called “Unplugged Under 40,” which is hosted by Washington and Lee alumna Kaylee Hartung of the Class of 2007. Kaylee is Schieffer’s assistant on Face the Nation and visited W&L with her boss last spring when he spoke to journalism students. With Unplugged Under 40, she’s getting her shot in front of the camera and has done some really interesting interviews with a variety of up-and-comers in Washington. Some of her interviews have included the 28 year-old executive editor of DC magazine, “The Washingtonian,” Garrett Graff, White House Deputy Press Secretary Jen Psaki, 28-year-old Illinois Congressman Aaron Schock, and chef and restaurateur Spike Mendelsohn. Be sure to check out the view comments left at the end of those videos, too.