A Chocolate Lab, a Golden Retriever, a lab mix and a Papillon are coming to campus this Saturday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. to play with students. They are coming as part of a Sign Language House and WesWell event to educate students about pet therapy and help them reduce their stress during finals week.
The Argus has partnered with the University’s Special Collections and Archives to begin the process of digitizing the past 143 years of The Argus
Seniors look out—this year’s Senior Commencement Speaker Margot Boyer-Dry ’11 is not afraid to do yoga poses on the floor of Pi or question the covert Moroccan government line. She recently sat down with The Argus to discuss cheese, religion, and singing.
A Bahamas native, Kara Ingraham ’11 exudes the friendly, relaxed vibe of her island homeland. She sat down with The Argus to talk about dance, the name Sex-tacy, her love of French fries, and what she thinks Wesleyan students ought to have in their backpacks.
Maritza Ebling ’12 runs at a steady clip in her Brooks Dyade 6 shoes and her new black spandex, holding her head straight and keeping an even pace, one that will need to last her a total of 26.2 miles when she runs the Boston Marathon this April 18.
“You can’t just bum around right after graduation, move to New York, and figure out what you want to do,” said Marta Pisarczyk ’11, a student from Germany.
When Darren Thomason ’11 isn’t swimming breaststroke in the Freeman pool, this team captain is getting ready to celebrate his birthday and graduation on May 22. He sat down with The Argus to dish about onesies, armored cars, and being famous in Southwest Florida.
Ah, it’s that time of year again: the 24-hour Christmas Story marathon, more cookies than you want to eat, a new gym membership because of said cookies, and advertisements everywhere for that perfect holiday gift for that special someone.
For the last week, members of the Wesleyan community have eagerly followed Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury strip as it played off of the 2008 controversy over the administration’s mandate that WestCo change the name of the annual music and arts festival Zonker Harris Day.
When Ruby Hernandez ’11 isn’t playing volleyball—and being named NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year for the second season in a row, she might be riding around the pyramids, bartering in different languages, or preparing to shoot her senior thesis film.
A relative once told me a story about an interview vetting business school applicants.
Camara Awkward-Rich ’11 is not afraid of moving at full speed towards a stationary object, tackling both verse and biomedical rhetoric, or making demands to the administration. The fearless Awkward-Rich sat down with The Argus to talk about rugby, Walt Whitman, and how the human body is portrayed in verse.
Bill Cosby P’87 donned a black sweater with a red Wesleyan “W” and performed for a sold-out crowd in Crowell Concert Hall on Friday night.
The Senior Diary column appears every now and again when seniors stop panicking and write about their last year of college. If you’re a senior and you want to contribute to the Senior Diaries contact us at acwilkinson@wesleyan.edu.
Samantha Pearlman ’11 is a vivacious triple-threat in the theater world. This actress/singer/dancer sat down with The Argus to discuss her Puerto Rican accent, the pranks she puts up with, and her future move to the city that never sleeps.
This semester 32 students in two First Year Initiative (FYI) courses, THEA 150: Plays for Performance and MUSC 125: Music and Downtown New York, 1950-1970, are gliding their fingers across brand-new iPads.
Dan Tofan ’11 is a European man – this was evident when he made me a cup of tea ,and we sat down to discuss his native land of Romania, his summer job modeling in London, his resemblance to Jacob from “Twilight.”
After only six weeks at the University as Wesleyan’s Chief Investment Officer (CIO), Anne Martin has settled into her new job, hanging photos of the Kibera School on her office walls.
If you don’t recognize Donovan Arthen ’11 from one of the many bands he plays in or his various jobs interviewing high-schoolers and dressing up as a troll, you’ll probably recognize his hair pulled back in a long ponytail and the tattoos he sports.
On July 19, Jessica Posner ’09, the Managing Director of Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), stood onstage in a blue sequined dress at The Do Something Awards live on VH1 in Hollywood. The next day, back in a pair of jeans, Posner boarded a flight to Kenya with a check for $100,000.
Welcome to Wesleyan (you’ll be hearing that a lot during the next few weeks).
Forty years ago, Nixon walked the halls of the White House, American soldiers were fighting in Vietnam, Simon & Garfunkel’s “A Bridge Over Troubled Water” topped the Billboard charts, and the students who would become members of the Wesleyan class of 1974 were anxiously awaiting word of their acceptance or rejection.
Remember the good ol’ days of having a dream and having to prove your worth in the kitchen?
The University’s endowment has rebounded from its March 2009 low of $442 million, its lowest point since 2003, to start 2010 at $523 million.
According to the Career Resource Center’s (CRC) First Destination survey, the nation’s flailing economy has motivated many recent Wesleyan grads to grab their passports and hightail it out of the states.
The results of the Career Resource Center’s First Destinations Survey, showed that 42 percent of the class of ’09 were employed, 17 percent planned on attending graduate school, 27 percent were still looking for employment, and 13 percent remained undecided.
Shuttle buses to Union Station in New Haven and to Bradley International Airport will be offered for October break courtesy of Transportation Services and the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA).
A University mission statement has been drafted as part of Wesleyan’s 2020 planning for the future framework of the institution. The University did not previously have a mission statement.
After months of renovations and construction at a price tag of $6.8 million, the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, which houses the Shapiro Creative Writing Center, is ready for the first day of classes.
In the midst of a difficult financial climate, universities across the country spent the 2008 to 2009 academic year grappling with shrinking endowments, declining contributions, and reductions in federal and state aid.
A look back at several significant events of the 2008-2009 school year.
After meeting with the Board of Trustees, President Michael Roth sent a campus-wide community update e-mail on Nov. 25, laying out the University’s course of action in the difficult financial climate.
In light of the nation’s current economic crisis, the University is reevaluating its expenditures and beginning a new fundraising campaign that will significantly contribute to the maintenance of scholarships and financial aid as part of President Michael Roth’s seven initiatives. Progress towards this part of the initiative was initially taken during Roth’s inaugural year as president, as loans were replaced by grants for families earning less than $40,000 a year. The University also partnered with QuestBridge, a non-profit program which links motivated low-income students with the country’s top universities.
While plans for the new Molecular and Life Sciences building have been postponed, President Michael Roth’s initiatives to expand the range of science programs offered at the University will continue. A proposal will soon be submitted to the Educational Policy Committee to create an Environmental Studies major. If approved, this major would serve as a step in planning for the more expansive College of the Environment (COE), which would examine environmental issues from a multidisciplinary perspective.
Strengthening the undergraduate experience was one of President Michael Roth’s seven proposed initiatives for faculty members to explore last year. As part of the initiative, within the next year the University will offer a new Writing Certificate and a multi-disciplinary pilot course geared at sophomores, as well as continuing to explore the idea of a senior capstone experience.
Over the summer, the University received a start-up grant of around $100,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to explore establishing a Middle Eastern studies program.
When discussions about resurrecting the Cardinal Pub took place at the end of last year, they caught the attention of WesWings owner Ed Thorndike ’89. Thorndike approached administrators and Wesleyan Student Assembly President Mike Pernick ’10 with a proposal this past summer, but zoning issues and the administration’s decision not to pursue the matter have significantly impeded its consideration.
In order to foster closer relationships between students and officers, Public Safety recently decided to implement the Adopt-A-Dorm initiative. The program assigns six officers to different residence halls, where they will facilitate activities and get to know residents and staff.
From 1974 until 1984 Wesleyan students could enjoy beer on tap at The Cardinal Pub located in Downey House, the former student center. Now, 24 years later, Mike Pernick ’10, the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) President-elect, would like to see a pub return to campus.
This past Monday, the University’s Summer Language Institute decided to cancel its French and Spanish language offerings. The decision was based on low enrollment in both languages—only six students had enrolled in Spanish while only four students had enrolled in French.
The Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) is well on its way to establishing the first student government endowment in the nation. It plans to hold an official vote on the proposed endowment on Sunday evening.
Thousands of miles away from home, Sarah Moustafa ’11, Abdulrahman Nasser Al-Amri ’08 and D’or Seifer ’10 each bring unique perspectives to campus: from Qatar, Oman and Israel, respectively. All three students have positive opinions regarding President Michael Roth’s internationalization plan and agree that the University needs to expand course offerings focusing on the Middle East.
Over spring break, Director of International Studies Carolyn Sorkin and Director of Jewish and Israel Studies Professor Jeremy Zwelling both traveled to the Middle East. Sorkin visited two programs in Amman, Jordan to look into expanding the list of University approved study abroad options, and Zwelling visited Jerusalem, Israel to prepare for the reopening of the Wesleyan program in Israel.
As part of President Roth’s push for new academic initiatives, both Roth and University faculty hope to double the number of international students on campus, as well as develop a Middle Eastern Studies Program.
This past year, poor planning scattered substance-free housing rooms on three floors of Butterfield C, making community-based living difficult. Next year, substance-free housing will be grouped together on one hall on the fourth floor of Butterfield C.
Wesleyan was among 136 of the country’s wealthiest colleges and universities to receive both written and e-mail requests from the Senate Finance Committee to answer 11 sets of questions regarding endowment, financial aid and tuition. The collected data will be used to assess how the University spends its money.
This summer, from June 2 to 27, the University will join fellow NESCAC school Middlebury College in hosting a Summer Language Institute on campus. The University’s Institute is open to non-Wesleyan college students as well as professionals seeking instruction in Arabic, French, Spanish, or Russian.
"Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave." This is Muslim chaplain (or, Imam) Sohaib Nazeer Sultan’s favorite quote from the Prophet Mohammed. He encourages all students to engage in this life-long search for knowledge. "I love working at Wesleyan," Sultan said.
Next semester, 400 students will be spending their Tuesday mornings with President Michael Roth. This spring, the president will teach a Film Studies course entitled “The Past on Film,” which will explore cinematic representations of how human beings interact with the past.
When Charlotte Cerf ’11 meandered through Usdan last Thursday night, she was confused to find cookies, coffee and tea displayed on tables downstairs. Cerf had come across a new weekly program sponsored by the Usdan Center Activities Board (UCAB). Composed of 10 students, UCAB plans events that are open to the entire student body and include free food.
Around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 9, the usual silence in Olin Library was disrupted when Alex Pfeifer-Rosenblum ’10 stripped down to his boxers, mounted a table, and played Tenacious D’s "Fuck Her Gently" on his guitar. "It took a while to realize [what was going on]," said eyewitness Emma Drew ’10.
Remember the good old days of finger painting, crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and swing sets? Most Wesleyan students don’t have to look too far for a blast from the past, and need only to pay a visit to one of the several preschools in the area.
Since the advent of the cell phone era, college students everywhere just can’t seem to hang up—between classes, in classes, and at parties, students are glued to their cell phones. The launch of Apple’s iPhone on June 29, 2007 (for the pricey sum of $599) has only increased student attachment to phones.
For now, students can continue to expect the usual large Friday night house parties on streets such as Fountain and Home Avenue, as the Social Event Registration Policy that requires registration only for parties of 50 or more students will remain in effect.