TRADING SPACES: Some frosh were reassigned to new rooms before their arrival due to a reported misunderstanding within the administration about a new gender-neutral housing policy. Interim Dean of the College Peter Patton said he was not aware that the policy would potentially allow male and female students to live in the same room. Until further review, all first-year students may only live with a roommate of the same gender.
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT: In September, the student body voted in favor of adding the gender neutral pronouns “ze/hir” to the WSA constitution, which had previously included only “he/his” and “she/her”.
WESLEYAN BUILD: In a rare public appearance, film director Martin Scorsese inaugurated the new Center for Film Studies building on September 10. The state-of-the-art screening and teaching facility is the first new academic building on campus in more than thirty years. In January, the renovation of the 160 year-old Downey House was completed, becoming the center of Wesleyan’s humanities district, and the doors were opened at the expanded and upgraded Freeman Athletic Center, complete with new team facilities and workout equipment. January also saw the opening of the Green Street Arts Center in Middletown’s North End.
FUNDRAISING: In October, the four-year Wesleyan Campaign reached its goal of raising $250 million in donations. President Douglas Bennet initiated the campaign to increase the money available for student financial aid, expand and improve academic programs, and renovate the Wesleyan campus.
VOTE 2004: Throughout autumn, the 2004 Presidential election became a central part of campus dialogue. Students gathered in large groups to watch the three Presidential debates, and many participated in voter registration drives and swing-state canvassing. The day after the election, approximately 200 students gathered in front of Olin Library for an anti-war rally. In January, nearly twenty Wesleyan students traveled to Washington, D.C. to protest the Presidential inauguration.
ON THE RADIO: In November, President Bennet announced a controversial plan to affiliate Wesleyan’s student-run free-form radio station WESU 88.1 with National Public Radio (NPR). Bennet, a former president of NPR, cited that WESU was neither financially viable nor in accordance with FCC regulations. After a brief hiatus and much debate, WESU returned to the airwaves in February with 50 hours of NPR programming a week, new equipment and a new General Manager.
ABUSE ALLEGATIONS: In a University-sponsored English as a Second Language (ESL) class, several Wesleyan janitors wrote accounts of racial degradation, safety endangerment, and physical intimidation by one of their on-site supervisors. After a review by Wesleyan’s janitorial contractor, American Building Maintenance, the supervisor was fired.
STUDENTS REVOLT: On a rainy afternoon in early December, over 250 students blockaded President Bennet in his South College office while issuing a variety of demands related to a perceived lack of student input in administrative decisions. Hundreds of students participated in two tense and sometimes chaotic forums with administrators voicing a litany of student concerns including the WESU/NPR deal, chalking, gender-neutral housing, hate crimes, the need for a multi-cultural dean and an ethnic studies major.
FULL EXPOSURE: In early January, syndicated columnist John Leo P ’04 published a column describing his perception of Wesleyan and his daughter’s education there. Leo described a “naked dorm,” “pornography-for-credit course,” “obscene sidewalk chalking,” and “the campus club named crudely for a woman’s private part.” He also criticized the University’s “determination to accommodate as much sexual confusion as possible” and “the Wesleyan campaign to stamp out diversity.” The column incited a large written response from faculty, alumni and current students, and six letters were printed in U.S. News and World Report.
THE WAR IN IRAQ: In February, the Wesleyan Memorial Chapel was filled to capacity when Ralph Nader and singer Patti Smith came to campus to advocate an end to the war in Iraq and encouraged students to become more politically active. Also in February, WesPeace sponsored a four-day teach-in to assess the United States’ involvement in Iraq. In March, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh gave a well-attended lecture that forecasted a protracted war in Iraq, an inflexible president, and an economic collapse.
CANCER: In February, President Bennet announced that he was in the early stages of prostate cancer, but that his doctors promised a full recovery.
STAFF CHANGES: In April, Maria Cruz-Saco, Interim Dean of College and Professor of Economics at Connecticut College, was appointed the new Dean of the College.
FEMALES IN FRATERNITIES: In May, housing policy changes forced Psi Upsilon (Psi U) to accept off-campus status for not allowing women to live in its house, while Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) voted to allow women boarders and was granted on-campus status.
SPRING FLING: Cee-Lo headlined Spring Fling in early May. The act was preceded by Deerhoof, the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra and the Wesleyan band Spirit Marines.
COMMENCEMENT: Dr. Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania, gave the keynote address to the newest graduates at Wesleyan’s 173rd Commencement on May 22. She was presented with an honorary doctorate of letters at the event.
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