Profiles in Courage

Six disruptors making history from the ground up. Portraits by Miles Ladin ’90.

Making history from the ground up is a key message CC Magazine often explores, including in the Winter 2018 issue, which featured a photo essay documenting alumni who are creative disruptors, “those who dream things that never were and say why not?”

Continuing our series of disruptor portraits, we have documented alumni who through legal or political means have changed, and are changing, the way we see the world. Those selected have presided over war crime tribunals at The Hague, been appointed to serve on presidential commissions and led rallies of over 300,000 protesters at women’s marches, while one alum is just starting her career in Connecticut politics. By no means an exhaustive list, we hope to photograph more of our disruptors in forthcoming issues.

These portraits were printed in black and white with the exception of Patricia McGowan Wald ’48, who appears above (and on the cover of the print edition). Wald is the first woman appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (by President Jimmy Carter in 1979) and the first to serve as chief judge on that court. Wald later served on the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague, which rendered, among other rulings, judgment that the crime of genocide was committed in Srebrenica, and that General Radislav Krstic was guilty of genocide. In 2004, President George W. Bush appointed Wald to the President’s Commission on Intelligence Capabilities of the U.S. Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, which investigated U.S. intelligence surrounding the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. In 2013, President Barack Obama awarded Wald with the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Eduardo Castell ’87, trustee emeritus, is a managing partner at MirRam Group, a consulting firm that helps clients navigate the labyrinthine landscapes of New York’s political, corporate, labor and nonprofit worlds. Castell served as campaign manager for Bill Thompson for NYC Comptroller in 2001 and as lead consultant for Eric Gonzalez for Brooklyn District Attorney in 2017 and for Letitia James for NYC Public Advocate in 2013. From 2001 to 2009, he served as Executive Deputy Comptroller for the City of New York. Previously, he worked for U.S. Representatives Nydia Velázquez, D-NY, and Ted Weiss, D-NY, as legislative director and chief of staff. In 2017, Conn awarded Castell the Agnes Berkeley Leahy Award, honoring those who have contributed outstanding service and sustained active participation in Alumni Association activities.

Chakena Sims ’16 spoke in front of 300,000 activists at January’s Women’s March in Chicago. A young alumni trustee, Sims is the board vice president of Chicago Votes, an organization working to build a more inclusive democracy by empowering young Chicagoans. She has registered voters throughout Chicago, including at the Cook County Jail, in order to “bend the moral arc toward fairness and equity.” Sims is Political Director for Lori Lightfoot’s Chicago mayoral campaign. She previously served as Director of Millennial Outreach for JB Pritzker’s gubernatorial campaign and Deputy Press Secretary for Chicago Public Schools.

Bruce Hoffman ’76 has been studying terrorism and insurgency for more than four decades. He’s a tenured professor at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service and a visiting professor of terrorism studies at University of St Andrews, Scotland. Hoffman was appointed by the U.S. Congress as a commissioner on the 9/11 Review Commission. He has been scholar-in-residence for counterterrorism at the CIA; adviser on counterterrorism to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq; and adviser on counterinsurgency to Multi-National Forces-Iraq Headquarters. He’s the author of numerous books, including Inside Terrorism and Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947, named Jewish Book of the Year for 2015. He’s currently working on Rollback: Reagan’s Cold Warriors and America’s First War on Terrorism, due out in 2020.

Miriam “Mims” Butterworth ’40 is a trailblazer. Mims authored My Felonious Friends, about her experience visiting prisoners and the need for prison reform. As a member of the People’s Delegation, Mims attended the 1971 Paris Peace Talks. She helped organize Connecticut’s support for the Nuclear Freeze Movement, aimed at halting the nuclear arms race. Appointed by Gov. Ella Grasso in 1975, Mims served as commissioner of the Public Utilities Control Authority, and she went on to become acting president of Hartford College for Women. In 1984, she traveled to Nicaragua as an official observer of the first elections under the new Sandinista government.

The former communications chair for Conn College Democrats, Britt Foulds ’17 is just starting her career in politics. Foulds serves as the regional Get Out the Vote & digital lead for U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, D-CT, and the Connecticut Democrats. She creates new ways to reach out to voters and volunteers online, while assisting with logistics for the largest statewide GOTV operation in Connecticut’s history.