As a first generation, low- income, woman of color the truth is that Wesleyan did not feel like home. There was a point in my educational journey where I questioned the purpose of education –then I found the AFAM Department. AFAM made me believe I could survive, that I belonged, and that one day I […]
My last year at Wesleyan, I was talking to Joel Pfister in the Center for Humanities, and he remarked that the biggest gift Wesleyan gives to its students is the ability to observe openly and think critically about the world around us. No department was more essential to developing that faculty for me and my […]
I’ve worked with reentry and education programs in jails in NYC since graduating from Wesleyan in 2009. My educational background almost always comes up in conversation as I do transition/reentry counseling and talk to incarcerated folks about going back to school. When I tell people I majored in AFAM, they almost always raise their eyebrows, […]
I was shocked and saddened when I first read the news about Wesleyan’s cutbacks in the African American Studies department. As an American Studies major who took many courses in African American Studies, the news also held a significant irony for me, since I am currently in the middle of workshops with a major European […]
My sole memory of my first week of class at Wesleyan is when I miraculously ended up in Professor Ann duCille’s “Introduction to African-American Literature” course – I remember thinking, “Oh. Yes. This is It.” It was why I came to Wesleyan and what I was looking for in a liberal arts education. In that […]
Re: “WSA Adopts Resolution Supporting Divestment From Israeli Military Occupation of Palestine.” Your news report neglected to mention what I found to be the most interesting aspect of this story, namely that the WSA apparently passed this controversial measure by a secret ballot. The secrecy of the vote was especially ironic in light of the […]
The Wesleyan campus should be a space in which everyone’s opinions are heard, valued, and respected. My experiences over the past few weeks have reinforced that this is not the case. A variety of controversial conversations have been taking place on campus for the last several weeks, including those regarding sexual assault, Greek life, and […]
We are writing this piece in our capacity as student activists, dedicated to an end to the Israeli occupation, and in recognition that the greater cause of peace is not served by another campus debate mired in polarization, which frames the debate in terms of absolute rights and absolute wrongs. In the last week, as […]
On Sunday night, May 4th, a resolution was brought to the WSA entitled: “Wesleyan Divestment From Companies Profiting from or Contributing to Illegal Occupation of Palestine.” As Wesleyan students and Israel supporters who voiced our opinions against the resolution, we felt marginalized and targeted for our beliefs. The room was full of incredible hostility, despite […]
We are excited to urge Wesleyan students and Wesleyan Student Assembly members to support, and vote yes on, Resolution X.35: Wesleyan Divestment from Companies Profiting from or Contributing to Illegal Occupation of Palestine. At a pivotal moment when many people and institutions are promoting divestment, the WSA will be voting on Sunday whether to stop […]