Page 21

Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth ’78 announced that Wesleyan University was formally ending admission preference for children of alumni, following the recent Supreme Court decision to end affirmative action, in a message to the University community on July 19. “We still value the ongoing relationships that come from multi-generational Wesleyan attendance, but there will be no ‘bump’ in the selection process,” Roth wrote in his message. “As has been almost always the case for a long time, family members of alumni will be admitted on their own merits.” The University’s decision garnered national and international media attention from many outlets,…

Two promising young scientists at Wesleyan, Aaron Berson ’24 and Jessica Luu ’24, were chosen for the distinguished Barry Goldwater Scholarship, given annually to hundreds of college sophomores and juniors across the nation pursuing research in the natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering. “Because of their degree of involvement in research, many Wesleyan undergraduates are—if their career plans align with the award—great candidates for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship,” said Erica Kowsz, Assistant Director for Fellowships at the Fries Center for Global Studies. “A real advantage of this scholarship is that it gives students a chance to learn how to write a…

Three Wesleyan students’ in-depth analysis of the causes of and possible solutions for the problem of child marriage in Indonesia won the University of Oxford’s 2023 “Map the System” Challenge. The team of Sida Chu ‘26, Sun Boonbhati ‘26, and Valensia Tandeas ‘26 were among 900 that participated in the challenge, and were chosen as one of 12 finalists to present at the University of Oxford’s Global MTS Finals. The Wesleyan team became global champions for their project “No Longer Daughters: Child Marriage in Indonesia.” “‘No Longer Daughters: Child Marriage in Indonesia’ stands out both for its depth of research, as well as the team's…

This spring several current and former Wesleyan students were awarded a National Science Foundation Award. This fellowship award is among the most prestigious available in the category. The National Science Foundation (NSF) provides about 25 percent of the federal financial support for research at colleges and universities in the United States. On average, it provides about 12,000 awards for research, education, and training at over 2,000 different institutions across the country each year. For each of the fellowships, the NSF provides an annual $37,000 stipend and $12,000 in cost of education allowance, disbursed through the institution the fellowship provides three…

A chance encounter with a scarlet tanager, a migratory songbird that travels from North to South America on a yearly basis, prompted Associate Professor of Spanish María Ospina to consider the larger topics of what animals think and feel and, ultimately, how human beings define their own concept of home. Ospina has recently released a novel written in Spanish entitled “Solo un poco aquí,” published by Random House in Latin America, where she explores how animals move across the landscapes that humans transform. Ospina’s novel has been reviewed in Spain’s most important newspaper, El País, by the renown Mexican author Emiliano…

Wesleyan's esteemed faculty, staff, and alumni often appear within media coverage to provide their expertise and experience. This was the case in July as Wesleyan voices were included in the coverage of the Supreme Court of the United State's decision on Affirmative Action by several outlets. Media Coverage on the Supreme Court's Decision on Affirmative Action The Supreme Court of the United States voted to strike down 45 years of court precedent allowing for race-informed admissions—often referred to as affirmative action—on June 29 in the case of a 6 to 3 vote along ideological lines. Following the decision, Wesleyan President…

Excerpt from #236, Emily Dickinson’s poem-letter to Susan Huntington Dickinson, early October 1883 Dear Sue — A Promise is firmer than a Hope, although it does not hold so much— Hope never knew Horizon When Dickinson wrote these lines in 1883 to her friend and future sister-in-law, Susan, she likely never envisioned that they would be published and pored over by scholars and fans nearly 150 years later, including readers in China. This letter is part of a collection of poems and letters titled Open Me Carefully: Emily Dickinson's Intimate Letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson. Soon, Chinese readers will have…

New research from Assistant Professor of Government Alyx Mark and Tiger Bjornlund ’24 shows that courts with publicly financed elections are viewed as more legitimate and less susceptible to donor influence than those that are selected through privately financed campaigns. The paper, titled “Public Campaign Financing’s Effects on Judicial Legitimacy : Evidence From a Survey Experiment,” was published May 30 in the journal Research and Politics. “There is so much focus on the U.S. Supreme Court, but there are entire other levels of courts that receive less attention that have an impact on our day to day lives,” Mark said. In Spring…

Strawberry soda and red velvet cake. They are two foods rich in flavor and in history tied to the celebration of Juneteenth—their red color represents the blood spilled by the last enslaved people freed more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. They are also the theme of Wesleyan’s table at Middletown’s third-annual Liberation Day Festival and first Juneteenth Parade on June 19 celebrating the hallmark occasion. One year after establishing Juneteenth as a campus-wide holiday, Wesleyan is excited to have been a sponsor of the event and have representatives walking in the parade—which will start on North Main St.…

Wesleyan University’s campus sustainability efforts have been awarded Gold status by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability In Higher Education’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (AASHE STARS), a self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. Wesleyan had been at a silver status since first tracking its sustainability performance in 2013. However, there had been incremental improvement at the end of each three-year tracking cycle. Jen Kleindienst, Wesleyan’s sustainability director, attributed the leap to Gold status to the University’s Sustainability and Environmental Justice Pedagogical Initiative, a concerted effort to seed these topics in all aspects…

Wesleyan welcomed to campus 14 veterans and active-duty military members, including one incoming student, for a week-long educational bootcamp with the Warrior-Scholar Project from June 4 to 9. "Recognizing WSP’s impressive impact and how veterans enrich our dynamically diverse educational community, Wesleyan was eager to both become a WSP partner and host a STEM bootcamp on campus," Amin Abdul-Malik Gonzalez, Vice President & Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, said. The Warrior-Scholar Project places former and current U.S. military in intensive classes for one to two weeks for them to begin to re-acclimate to a classroom setting. They offer sessions…

A day of celebration, demonstration, and love. Middletown Pride hit the heart of the city on June 3, as locals and not-so-locals joined together in support of love, equity, and inclusion. Wesleyan was one of four partner organizations of the Middletown Pride event, alongside the City of Middletown, Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce, and Russell Library. Andrew White, Caleb T. Winchester University Librarian at Olin Library, said that he has been attending Pride events since the 1980s and has been involved in Middletown Pride since the first event. He said it marks Middletown and Connecticut as communities striving to “be…

Media Roundup: Wesleyan Ends Legacy Admissions

Wesleyan Students Receive Goldwater Scholarship

Wesleyan Team Wins Global “Map the System” Challenge

Wesleyan Students, Alumni Earn National Science Foundation Fellowships

New Novel Explores Animal Life

Wesleyan in the News: July 2023

Going to China with Emily Dickinson and Wesleyan University Press

Publicly Financed Judicial Elections Viewed as More Legitimate, New Paper Says

Wesleyan Sponsors First Juneteenth Parade in Middletown

Wesleyan University Awarded Gold Status for Sustainability

Warrior-Scholar Project Session Hosted at Wesleyan

Wesleyan Partners, Walks with Middletown Pride