Olivia DrakeLucy Diaz, administrative assistant to the academic deans, is co-chair to the Administrators and Faculty of Color Alliance (AFCA). Posted 11/02/05 Q: When were you hired as the administrative assistant to the academic deans?A: I started at Wesleyan in October 2001.Q: What are some of your duties?A: The majority of my day is spent on the phone responding to inquiries from faculty and staff, reconciling accounts, gathering financial data, and maintaining various files and databases.Q: What goes on during a day in the Office of Academic Affairs? A: My job is a little different each day and I really…
Editorial StaffBy Maia Bronfman '24 Seven students at different stages in their startups delivered pitches to potential partners and funders on Friday, April 14, at Beckham Hall during the Patricelli Center’s New Venture Awards Finalist Showcase hosted by Interim Director Ahmed Badr. “The public showcase of the New Venture Awards is a key priority of the Patricelli Center, as it presents an opportunity for students to introduce their work to the larger campus community, as well as alumni working across sectors. The gathering kicks off a series of engagements between students and alumni, and is always followed by new friendships, mentorships,…
Steve ScarpaKeleki Logoh ’23 lived in Togo, located in West Africa, until she was seven years old. In 2021, she went back home for the first time since she was a little girl. “I was shocked by the state of the country,” Logoh said. Food scarcity was an issue since over 60 percent of the citizens experienced moderate to severe food insecurity. Imported vegetables were expensive. People had trouble balancing financial burdens with feeding their families. Just a few months later, Logoh was back at Wesleyan going down an internet rabbit hole of videos of different kinds of farming techniques. When…
This fall, Wesleyan welcomes 60 new faculty members to campus. The group contains 24 new visiting faculty members, 20 assistant professors, four Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral fellows, three Distinguished Writers in Residence, six teaching fellows, one university and one associate professor, and a Van Vleck post-doctoral fellow. The new faculty bring a diverse skill set to campus. Among them are experts in art, multi-lingual ASL, astronomy, biology, chemistry, dance, digital storytelling, economics, education, environmental studies, fiction, French, German, government, Italian, mathematics, media literacy, music, philosophy, physics, poetry, psychology, public history, public policy, religion, Spanish, and theater. Bios of the new…
Two first-generation college students are working to help the planet, one garment at a time. As cofounders of the sustainable fashion startup, Infinitely, Nimra Karamat ’23 and Ashley Cardenas '23 are creating high-quality, affordable clothing that is "ready to take down the world of fast fashion." "Brands that greenwash and benefit off of the backs of underpaid workers in underdeveloped countries are the top sellers in fashion," Cardenas said. "This shouldn’t be our reality. Through Infinitely, we want to inspire people of all backgrounds and identities to lead sustainable lives and help people understand how fast fashion is damaging for…
Four members of the Class of 2021 are recipients of NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium awards. Kimberly Paragas '21, Ben Martinez '21, Molly Watstein '21, and Mason Tea '21 each received a $5,000 Undergraduate Research Fellowship for their ongoing research. They're among only seven students statewide to receive the honor. "I have never seen an institution be so successful at these very competitive grants, and was so proud and impressed by the student applicants," said Seth Redfield, associate professor of astronomy. Paragras is working with Redfield on her project titled "Gas Giant Atmospheric Mass Loss." According to the abstract, "Atmospheric mass…
In the economically disadvantaged Northern Region of Ghana, only 6 of 100 high school students enroll in college, leaving many otherwise bright students trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty. As recipients of the 2019 Davis Projects for Peace Award, four Wesleyan students who make up the Young Achievers Foundation Ghana are helping low-income students in the region access and apply for scholarship programs within Ghana and beyond. The grassroots group is led by Cofounder and Executive Director Ferdinand Quayson '20 and members Afrah Boateng '20, Abdallah Salia '22, and Alvin Kibaara '22. The $10,000 Projects for Peace grant is awarded…
Himeka CurielThere’s a certain sense of effortlessness that Alex Levi ’90 remembers from his rowing days at Wesleyan—that feeling of being perfectly in sync and in so doing achieving something better and greater than any individual effort could reach alone. That feeling came back to inspire Levi in a recent project, designing a collective office space that serves as the administrative hub for four sports-based youth development (SBYD) nonprofits in New York City. The 10,000-square-foot open workspace in the middle of Manhattan’s Garment District is home to the offices of VitaSports Partners, the collective umbrella under which Row New York (rowing),…
Cynthia RockwellIan Boyden ’95 received an NEA Literature Translation Fellowship of $12,500, one of only 25 such grants for 2019, to support the new translation of poetry and prose from 17 countries into English. Boyden’s fellowship will support his work translating from the poetry collection Minority, written in Chinese by Tibetan poet Tsering Woeser, considered one of China’s most respected living Tibetan writers. In 2013, John Kerry of the U.S. State Department honored Woeser with an International Women of Courage Award. In 2010, the International Women's Media Foundation had given her a Courage in Journalism Award. Boyden, an artist, writer, curator, and…
Two Wesleyan faculty were honored for their artistic excellence by the 2018 Artist Fellowship Program. Nicole Stanton, associate professor of dance, African American studies, and environmental studies, and Noah Baerman, director of the Wesleyan Jazz Ensemble, each received a $3,000 grant in the program's Performing Arts category. The Artist Fellowship Program recognizes individual Connecticut artists in a variety of disciplines and allows these artists the opportunity to pursue new works of art and to achieve specific creative and career goals. The program is highly competitive: for the 2018 round, more than 235 applications were received and reviewed by 48 professional panelists…
David Lubell ’98, founder and executive director of Welcoming America, was recently named the 2017 recipient of the prestigious Charles Bronfman Prize, which “recognizes young humanitarians whose work is inspired by their Jewish values and is of universal benefit to all people.” Welcoming America is a non-profit organization that helps communities across the United States become inclusive to immigrants and refugees. Created in 2009, the organization has developed an award-winning social entrepreneurship model, using a local approach to ease tensions and build understanding between new and long-time residents. As rapid demographic shifts are changing communities, Lubell's nationwide network helps newcomers of various backgrounds…
Lauren RubensteinWesleyan's Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship was honored in May as U.S. Senator Chris Murphy's “Innovator of the Month.” It is the first educational institution to receive this recognition. Founded in May 2011, the PCSE provides workshops, training, mentoring, and networking opportunities to Wesleyan students and alumni who are tackling social problems using entrepreneurial solutions. PCSE also hosts a year-long fellowship course for undergraduates and an annual $5,000 seed grant competition. With support from foundations and individual donors, PCSE is now an endowed program and a permanent part of Wesleyan University. “Wesleyan’s PCSE is a one-of-a-kind program,” Murphy said. “PCSE…