I know your classes have already started, but I wanted to welcome you informally to Wesleyan.
I have been here at Wesleyan for three years, and have had the pleasure of getting to know many of you. I want to let you know that it has been a blessing to have you around. I am sad that it’s your time to leave, but even if I cry, nothing will stop you from facing the outside world.
I was in disbelief when I got the email that invited me to speak at the fourth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U). There is no way I can share a platform with President Bill Clinton and Sean Penn, I said to myself. This must be spam. How could the former President of the United States share a panel with a Kenyan slum boy?
Social enterprise can accelerate social change by focusing on creating social capital. Wesleyan University has played a major role in contributing to social change on issues ranging from divestment in South Africa during the era of apartheid government to being at the forefront of prison education and social justice in America.
One day, when I was walking to one of my classes, my body suddenly felt strange, under-used, even disconnected. It made me think about my transition from life in Kibera slums to my privileged life in the United States.
The United States is often called a melting pot, but the signing of Arizona’s new immigration bill by governor Jan Brewer on April 23 has forced me to question the meaning of this term.