Class of 2022 Known for Creativity and Resiliency

Political upheaval. A national reckoning on matters of race. A global pandemic. Any one of these major world happenings would leave an impact on a student’s college experience. But for the Wesleyan University Class of 2022, the totality of events has been, to dredge up an overused expression, unprecedented. As Reunion and Commencement Weekend 2022 approaches, Wesleyan reflects on and celebrates a class that has shown courage, creativity, and resiliency in the face of a complicated and fraught world. “There were difficulties aplenty, but also tremendous fortitude and endless examples of sacrifice for the greater good,” said Michael Whaley, vice…

Every year, as Wesleyan students empty their rooms at the end of the Spring semester, they fill dumpsters with usable items – everything from clothing and room décor to small appliances. “There was still more waste generated than we like,” said Hayley Berliner, temporary sustainability director. “We want to divert as much as we can.” Debbra Goh ’24 and Annie Volker ’24, both eco-facilitators for Wesleyan Sustainability, have come up with an idea on how to lessen the waste. The duo will launch WesThrift at 284 High next fall, a free store for clothing and dorm essentials located in the…

Maeve Hoffman ’23 looked for a single positive outcome from every race of 2021-22 women’s indoor track season. It could be something big – like a win, of which there were many – or a technical improvement that brought her closer to her ideal performance. No matter what, she sought to find one good thing. “Running is, for me, a lot about positive momentum. If you find that one good thing and channel it, you know the next (meet) will be better. If you don’t, the weeks are going to fly by and it’s not going to go your way,”…

Every summer, Anna Fehr '23 would cherish family camping trips to the mountains in California. There, she could see something many people—especially city residents—rarely get to experience: a truly dark night sky. "I remember seeing the Milky Way and just being blown away by the sheer number of stars," she recalls. "I think I knew at the time that each star was like another sun, and it was just impossible to imagine the scope of what I could see with a naked eye. Also, my parents both have August birthdays, so we would go up to the mountains during the…

Krithi De Souza knew five years ago she wanted to apply to Wesleyan. While in eighth grade, she toured several colleges with her sister, and Wesleyan was among them. "I wasn't really paying that much attention, but I do remember really liking the vibe of Wesleyan. We were having lunch in the dining hall and I was listening to the kids laugh and mingle, and I noticed how it was more diverse than the other schools. So Wesleyan stuck out to me and I knew I was going to apply here." De Souza, a senior at Berkley High School in…

Girls who grow up in the patriarchal Massai community in Kenya are often impoverished, voiceless, and undermined by men. Although Kenya offers free public education, less than 5 percent of Kenyan women end up attending college. Diana Naiyanoi Kimojino '25, however, was determined to continue her education, even if it meant going against her family's wishes and her cultural norms. Now an economics major at Wesleyan, she's feels "an immense call of duty" to bring awareness to her Kenyan community about the benefits of college access for women. "Growing up, my education is always a point of contention with my…

It isn’t often that watching late night comedy would be considered preparation for an environmental studies senior capstone project, but that turned out to the case for Belle Brown ‘22. Regular viewing of John Oliver’s commentary on environmental issues helped inform Brown’s upcoming stand-up comedy set about the absurdities of the Monsanto Company. “Belle decided to do the comedy act as her capstone project as a way of presenting research about policy and politics related to big-agriculture in a format that might be more accessible to people. I just saw a preview, and it is hilarious as well as informative,”…

After four years of developing and honing their artistic skills, 30 art studio majors from the Department of Art and Art History have completed senior thesis projects this spring and are sharing their final works with the public. The annual Senior Thesis Exhibition, held in the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, is the culmination of a two-semester thesis tutorial. The exhibition is critiqued by the faculty advisor and a second critic, and must be passed by a vote of the faculty of the art studio program. The senior thesis allows the art studio majors to engage in a solo, rigorous, self-directed…

Silloway Gymnasium was pretty dead in the early days of the pandemic. The men’s basketball team had cancelled its season. Because of social distancing requirements, even playing one-on-one was prohibited. For the few players remaining on campus, there was nothing but drills. Lots and lots of drills. In those mundane practice sessions, the seeds were planted for a NESCAC championship. “We were practicing a new offense this year. We wanted to really get out and push the ball and just be faster than teams offensively and defensively,” said Sam Peek ‘22. And, just maybe, all that time in the gym…

By Maia Dawson '24 Study Abroad offices are basically logistics hubs. There are the regular nightmares, like visa acquisitions. Then there are the less regular nightmares, like earthquakes or tsunamis. There are even the unique nightmares; lore has it that two Georgetown students were imprisoned in Cairo during the Arab Spring and then repatriated by their study abroad officers. Wesleyan's Office of Study Abroad has had its hands full during the global pandemic. When the first wave of the coronavirus hit Italy in March 2020, there were twenty-eight Wesleyan students in Bologna. Emily Gorlewski, director of the Study Abroad program at…

In April 2019, Middlesex County EMT Livia Cox '22 recalls responding to a medical call where she encounters an unconscious and pale-faced patient. She eyes a pill bottle in the room, and although the man is dead, she begins chest compressions anyway "with every joule of energy and every compassionate bone in me," she says. Cox had met this patient before. They've discussed his comorbid chronic physical and mental pain and substance dependency at length. A former military man, he has frequent PTSD episodes. He's been prescribed opioids to ameliorate his joint pain, but help more with his insomnia. "On…

The men’s basketball team is in the midst of a prodigious season, having just matched the single-season wins record of 22. Currently, the team is just one win away from setting a single-season record, and for the first time ever, Wesleyan is the number 1 seed in the NESCAC Tournament. Silloway Gymnasium will be the host site of the upcoming NESCAC Championship weekend, with the Semifinals set for Saturday, Feb. 26 followed by the title game on Sunday, Feb. 27. “This season has been amazing so far—it exceeded my expectations personally and team-wise,” Nicky Johnson ’25 said. “I enjoy every…

Class of 2022 Known for Creativity and Resiliency

New Campus Free Store Planned for Fall Semester

Hoffman ’23 Earns All-American Honors in Women’s Indoor Track

Fehr ’23 to Study Debris Disks, Exoplanet as Goldwater Scholar

Admitted Students Explore All-Things Wesleyan at WesFest

3 Students to Conduct “Projects for Peace” in Africa

Brown ’22 Uses Comedy to Make Serious Point About Big Agriculture

Art Studio Majors Display Senior Theses at Zilkha Gallery

Peek ’22 Named Division III All-American in Men’s Basketball

Wesleyan’s Study Abroad Program Going Strong

Watson Fellow Cox ’22 to Explore Pain Management in Various Cultures

Men’s Basketball Team Shoots For Record-Breaking Season