It’s Wesfest: the time when streakers attack the tours, chalking reappears and hordes of enthusiastic prefrosh ask for directions to MoCon. For a weekend, Wesleyan lives up to its caricatured reputation from the outside world of crazy naked liberals. Wesfest is a test for prefrosh: if you love it here now, at ultra-Wesleyan, you’ll be just fine here for good.
The seniors on the editorial board want to reassure the prefrosh thinking of coming, or those second-guessing their decision, that there really is something here for everyone. If you want to get naked and do an interpretive dance, no one will stop you. Or, if you’d prefer to wear sweats every day and immerse yourself in physics or political philosophy, you won’t be alone doing that either. And rest assured, Wesleyan is not this wild all year round. That’s not to say Wesleyan is not fun. There’s always something to do, but Jonathan Demme isn’t usually wandering around campus either.
What makes Wesleyan different, we think, is the enthusiasm its students and alumni have for the school. You’ll meet lots of students who are passionate about Wesleyan, and not just happy they went to a small liberal arts college in New England. At times, the passion is almost evangelistic. The staff recalled many students encouraging them to come when they were prefrosh, and they now do the same to this year’s prefrosh. And the alumni network is full of graduates who are eager to meet current students, share stories and help them get ahead in the real world.
But for now, we have ultra-Wesleyan, as far from the real world as you might be able to get. WesFest is not only a time to get a feel of the campus and attend panel discussions but also the time to get to know other students who will become your classmates and friends. As the seniors, some of whom are probably the ones who streaked your tour, prepare to leave, they’re looking to you to properly take their place. Look around here, think about what you like about it, and figure out how you can keep that alive. Those of us sticking around will see you in August, but those of us leaving will have to trust that, in a few years, you’ll shock your share of tours too. Make us proud.
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