Campus News & Events

Registration is now open for the Green Street Teaching and Learning Center's fall Discovery AfterSchool Program, a high-quality program for children in grades 1–5 offering a wide range of arts, culture and science classes. Faculty and staff receive a 50 percent discount on tuition. The fall program runs from Sept. 12 through Dec. 9, and includes challenging and fun classes in music, art, dance, theater, science, and more, as well as optional homework help. Classes are taught by Wesleyan students and professional teaching artists. Children may be enrolled in classes Monday through Friday, or only one day of the week.…

Hilary Barth, associate professor of psychology, and Andrea Patalano, associate professor of psychology, associate professor of neuroscience and behavior, have received a major grant from the National Science Foundation. The $1,101,456 grant will support collaborative research on quantitative reasoning conducted in the Cognitive Development Lab (directed by Barth) and the Reasoning and Decision Making Lab (directed by Patalano). The research project will be conducted in collaboration with Sara Cordes at Boston College, which will receive an additional $177,496. According to the NSF abstract, humans have an innate ability to estimate quantities yet their intuitions often contain biases that interfere with…

Wesleyan University has issued $250 million of 100-year, fixed-rate taxable bonds, refinancing the majority of its existing debt. University officials said the current market for “century” bonds offers a historically unique opportunity to obtain long-term debt at favorable rates (4.781 percent). Over the last 30 years, bond rates have been below this point less than 2 percent of the time. Wesleyan is the first educational institution in over a year to successfully issue a century bond. After refinancing the existing debt, the remainder of the proceeds will be invested alongside the endowment for future needs. The university has not made…

At the Wesleyan Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Alumni Association held during Reunion, alumni celebrate members of the community with a number of awards. This year, six were named Distinguished Alumni in recognition of their achievement in their professions; two alumni received the McConaughy Award for writing that conveyed "unusual insights and understanding of current and past events," and two alumni were celebrated for Outstanding Service. Chair of the Alumni Association Daphne Kwok ’84 presented the awards at a ceremony in Memorial Chapel, which featured newly proclaimed Distinguished Alumnus Luke Wood ’91, president of Beats By Dr. Dre, offering…

In its recent meeting, the Board of Trustees conferred tenure on four faculty members. They are Associate Professor of Government Erika Franklin Fowler, Professor of African American Studies Kali Gross, Associate Professor of English and American Studies Amy Tang, and Associate Professor of Chemistry Erika Taylor. They join eight other faculty members who were awarded tenure earlier this spring. One faculty member, Louise Neary, was promoted to adjunct associate professor of Spanish. In addition, six faculty members are being promoted to full professor: J. Kehaulani Kauanui, professor of American Studies and anthropology Matthew Kurtz, professor of psychology Cecilia Miller, professor of…

Graduates, their families, and other members of the Wesleyan community who gathered for the 184th Commencement ceremony on May 22 were offered advice on how to change the world by Bryan Stevenson, this year’s Commencement speaker, a human rights lawyer and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative. Weaving in stories from his decades of work fighting racial injustice and discrimination in the criminal justice system, Stevenson told the Class of 2016 that changing the world requires four things: Getting proximate to the places "where there's suffering and abuse and neglect"; "changing the narrative" about race in this country; staying hopeful; and…

Honorary degree recipient Kwame Anthony Appiah made the following remarks during the 184th Commencement ceremony May 22: Nearly 35 years ago I came to this country to teach at a small college down the road in New Haven. Less than a year later, the first university to which I was invited to give a public lecture, was this one. Professor Gene Golob invited me to speak at the College of Social Studies, of which he was one of the founding spirits, and I gave a talk on “Other People’s Gods.” It was about understanding the traditional religions of West Africa.…

During the 184th Commencement Ceremony, John Lemberg Usdan ’80, P’15, P’18, P’18 was honored with the Raymond E. Baldwin Medal. The award was presented by Joshua Boger ’73, P’06, P’09, chair of the Wesleyan University Board of Trustees. The Baldwin Medal, which pays tribute to the late Judge Raymond E. Baldwin of the class of 1916, is the highest honor of the Alumni Association, recognizing outstanding service to Wesleyan. John Lemberg Usdan is president of Midwood, a New York-based real estate investment and development firm. Usdan also is president of the Lemberg Foundation. Usdan’s remarkable record of service to the…

Wesleyan presented honorary doctorates to Bryan Stevenson, Patti Smith and Kwame Anthony Appiah during the University’s 184th Commencement on May 22. Bryan Stevenson is a human rights lawyer who has dedicated his life to fighting racial injustice and discrimination in the criminal justice system. He is executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), an Alabama-based group that has won numerous legal challenges on behalf of the poor and incarcerated, including a historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling holding that life-without-parole sentences for children aged 17 or younger are unconstitutional. He founded the Equal Justice Initiative in 1989 to help prisoners on death…

Patti Smith received an honorary degree at Wesleyan's 184th Commencement ceremony. Her remarks are below: Hello, everybody. Congratulations to all, and to the graduates, of course. You are asked to embrace the joy of this moment. I would like you also to embrace the worst possible moment that you experienced to achieve this moment. That worst moment, the most difficult thing that you went through, is your source of inner strength. When you go out into the world and you have a tough time, you know that you have the power to surmount it. Don’t forget that. I salute you all…

Tahreem Kahlied '16 delivered the following Senior Class Welcome during the 184th Commencement Ceremony May 22: Five years ago, when I was still living in Karachi, Pakistan, and studying for an accounting certification, I logged on to my Facebook and realized that my wall was flooded with graduation pictures. I wrote the following status in a fit of passive-aggressive jealousy (and I quote): “I just realized that I will never have a regular graduation with a convocation where I get to wear a gown and that flat hat thingy.” I wasn’t just jealous…I was extremely sad. I believed wholeheartedly that I would…

Wesleyan President Michael Roth made the following remarks during the 184th Commencement ceremony May 22: Members of the Board of Trustees, members of the faculty and staff, distinguished guests, new recipients of graduate degrees, and the very mighty Class of 2016, I am honored to present some brief remarks on the occasion of this Commencement. When you began your time at Wesleyan in the fall of 2012, the presidential elections were moving into high gear. Barack Obama, who spoke from this podium eight years ago as a presidential candidate, was arguing for a renewed mandate for change, for finding ways to make…

Registration Opens for Green Street’s Discovery AfterSchool Program

Barth, Patalano Receive Major Grant from National Science Foundation

Wesleyan Issues ‘Century’ Bond

10 Receive Distinguished Alumni, Outstanding Service, and McConaughy Writing Awards

7 Faculty Promoted, 4 Awarded Tenure

Wesleyan Awards 731 BA Degrees at 184th Commencement

Remarks for Honorary Degree Recipient Kwame Anthony Appiah

Usdan ’80, P’15, P’18, P’18 Honored with Baldwin Medal for Outstanding Service to Wesleyan

Stevenson, Smith, Appiah Receive Honorary Degrees

Remarks for Honorary Degree Recipient Patti Smith (with video)

Khalied ’16 Delivers Senior Class Welcome (with video)

President Roth Makes Remarks to the Class of 2016 (with video)