The Wesleyan Connection

Sarah-Jane Ripa '02, artistic and education coordinator at Green Street Arts Center, is an advocate of social and personal change through creative communication. She's been actively engaged in the fields of arts administration and development for more than 10 years before coming to Wesleyan this fall.

Q: Sarah-Jane, you came to Wesleyan as the artistic and education coordinator at the Green Street Arts Center in July. Is this a new position?

A: The position was created as part of a restructuring, but primarily replaced the artistic director position. My position is overseen by the Center for Community Partnerships at Wesleyan, and fits wonderfully with the service learning and outreach components of the mission of the university. All of the classes, events, workshops, private lessons and community partnership programs that happen at Green Street come under my position.

Q: Cite some examples of recent artistic- and education-related activities at GSAC that you help coordinate.

A: Green Street offers numerous opportunities for people to engage creatively in five major arts disciplines: Visual, Movement, Literary, Media and Sound. Our Opening Day event in September was a microcosm of what we do throughout the year: our visual arts teachers hung work for display, several dance classes were conducted, community musicians gathered to share music as well as perform, our literary arts group and teachers gathered for a reading and a class, our early childhood music teachers collaborated with parents and children, we conducted tours of our media arts studios and new faculty performed.  All of those offerings happen on a weekly basis at Green Street.

We are also home to an Afterschool Arts Program. The program provides 15 different arts classes over the course of the week, and students attend two class periods per day. Class offerings include Breakdance, Comic Book Creation, Digital Animation, Songwriting and Sound Recording.  We always need Afterschool volunteers. We welcome Wesleyan students to visit us for a class or to meet our Afterschool students during homework time.

We also offer an art and science track for third grade students that utilizes curriculum from the Help Yourself Foundation. We partner with the North End Action Team and other community organizations to present free lifestyle programs each season, and our teaching artists go into classrooms and organizations throughout Middlesex County.

Q: Do Wesleyan students, staff or faculty use Green Street?

A: We have wonderful relationships with a variety of departments and professors at Wesleyan who are interested in engaging the Middletown community in their work. Our Sunday Salon discussion series dedicates one Sunday a month to talks by Wesleyan professors. The next one is scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. Nov. 22. Our connection to Wesleyan has also helped bring some truly amazing teachers and programs to the community, including the arts and science Afterschool program and Balinese dance.

Q: Do you take class suggestions from the community?

A: We are always looking for suggestions from the community. When our members ask us to start new classes or programs, we do seek out new instructors, but are open to being sought out by artists who are interested in bringing their work to the community through us.

Q: What challenges do you enjoy most about your job?

A: The greatest challenge in my job is the number of people that I need to communicate with to ensure that we are doing the most we can for the community and the organization. It is important to stay closely connected with our neighborhood and campus partners, teachers, students, families and also consistently perform outreach to the public schools, the Wesleyan community, and our Middletown neighbors who haven’t visited us yet. Fortunately, talking to people about Green Street is my favorite part of my job.

Q: What attracted you to GSAC?

A: I was initially attracted to Green Street because it is the place that truly has the capacity to connect the entire Wesleyan community- students, faculty, staff and families – with the Middletown community. Middletown and Wesleyan are assets to each other, and I feel that Green Street Arts Center is the place where those assets are openly and fruitfully shared.

Q: You graduated from Wesleyan in 2002 with a double major in music and history. How did your Wesleyan degrees help prepare you for a career in arts administration/development?

A: I had the opportunity to manage the orchestra for three years, worked for the Center for the Arts in a number of positions, and had the freedom to arrange and play in performances for myself and other students and graduate students. All the while, I was taking courses that helped me develop an intellectual life for myself that has enriched everything I have done since. I would then say that my education, rather than my degree, has prepared me for my current career, and anything else I might choose to do in life.

Q: What are your hobbies and interests? Where are you from?

A: I am actively involved in efforts to create awareness about local foods and their impact on individual and collective health. I am an advocate for lifelong learning, and am currently enrolled in the GLSP program at Wesleyan and a member of the Middletown Scottish Country Dance class – a well-kept secret of Middletown that I only recently discovered.

I am originally from Sterling, Mass., which also was home to Mary of Little Lamb fame. My husband, Aaron Paige ‘04, is currently a Ph.D candidate in the in the Ethnomusicology program at Wesleyan.

Jennifer Platt, printing specialist for Information Technology Services, shows samples of posters she printed in the Cardinal Print and Copy shop located in Usdan University Center. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett Drake)

Q: Jen, when did the ITS Print Shop move to the Usdan University Center and what were the benefits of this move?

A: The ITS Print Shop closed on July 16 and opened on July 17 with a new name. We are now Cardinal Print and Copy. We have enjoyed a very loyal following with many of the departments across campus but new customers always seemed surprised to discover who we were and what we could do. Our new location solves that problem and is more convenient for most members of the Wes community.

Q: What are your thoughts on the new space? Was it difficult to leave the fifth floor of ITS?

A: The Usdan Campus Center is entirely different from the fifth floor. I now share the service window with Wes Station and feel like I really am in the center of campus. It was hard to leave the 5th floor, especially my officemate Jerry Maguda but everyone at the Usdan Center has been so warm and welcoming I can hardly complain.

Samples of Cardinal Print and Copy publications.

Q: Are printing services available to the entire Wesleyan Community? Do you prefer people stop by the Cardinal Print and Copy window or e-mail you jobs? Also, when is the shop open?

A: We are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. We print for faculty, staff, students and non profit organizations. I am currently a one person show and still do need to attend meetings so the best way to contact me is by email printing@wesleyan.edu or phone x2132. I would hate to have someone walk over to discuss a potential project and find that I am not here.

Q: What types of printing, and printing services does Cardinal Print and Copy offer?

A: We print posters, postcards and flyers in full color. We have high speed (85 ppm) black and white printing with the ability to print (more…)

Sonia BasSheva Mañjon, vice president for diversity and strategic partnerships, helped launch the beginning of a campus-wide diversity initiative with an affirmative action component.

Diversity and civic engagement initiatives play a large role in President Michael S. Roth’s Preliminary Reflections On Planning from September 2009. To that end, the Wesleyan community is fortunate to have Sonia Mañjon at the helm of the Diversity and Strategic Partnerships as Vice President. Mañjon looks forward to working with students and other members of Wesleyan as the university makes its mark on the 21st century.

Back in the 1960s and ’70s, Wesleyan earned the informal moniker “Diversity University” in reference to the Vanguard classes that attended the school and the administration’s active recruitment of students of color. Since Wesleyan was the first of our peer institutions of to admit African Americans in large numbers, Mañjon has noticed that a common on campus perspective is that since Wesleyan was a leader in creating an ethnically diverse student body, there is not a need to evaluate and/or change our current methods.

Mañjon expressed that while Wesleyan’s legacy (more…)

Holly Jacobs from the Manchester Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) left, teaches Joyce Topshe, associate vice president for facilities, at right, how to properly give a “head-to-toe assessment” on an accident victim. Stacy Baldwin, construction project coordinator, plays the role of an injured person.

An injured woman lays limp on the floor of Woodhead Lounge. She’s conscious, but immobile.

“Can you squeeze my fingers?” asks Barb Spalding, associate director of campus fire safety. “Oh, yes, you still have good strength. It appears all your pain is on the left side.”

Spalding, who was giving a “head-to-toe assessment” on acting accident victim Christine Cruz, safety coordinator, was training for Wesleyan’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program.

In the event of a real disaster, crisis or common emergency, Spalding will be prepared to assist first responders, provide immediate assistance to victims, and organize spontaneous volunteers at a disaster site. Campus CERT members can also help with non-emergency projects that help improve the safety of the Wesleyan community.

Thirteen Wesleyan staff members and four participants from Western Connecticut University and Eastern Connecticut University completed the three-day CERT Training Aug. 18-20. Four CERT (more…)

Charles G. Salas, director of strategic initiatives in the President's Office, works with President Roth and senior staff on issues and initiatives that involve the institution broadly.

Q: Charles, your title is Director of Strategic Initiatives and you work in the President’s Office. When did you begin?

A: I retired from the Getty in Los Angeles last fall and began here on Dec. 1, 2008.

Q: This is a new, temporary position. What is the objective of your role and with whom do you work?

A: Where other members of Cabinet are responsible for particular parts of the university, I work mostly with President Roth and senior staff on issues and initiatives that involve the institution broadly.

Q: Can you say a bit about these issues and initiatives?

A: I began with the initiatives launched by President Roth and explored by faculty task forces: Civic Engagement, Creative Campus, College of the Environment, Internationalization and Strengthening the Undergraduate Experience. Unsurprisingly, I quickly found (more…)

Anne Marcotty is a senior designer in the Office of University Communications. She is a member of the Wesleyan Web Redesign Team, which is redesigning the university web site, starting with the homepage, the major landing pages and the Office of Admission site.

Q: Anne, you came to Wesleyan in 2001. What were you hired in as, and what is the objective/purpose of your position?

A: I was hired as senior designer in the Office of University Communications. I design and produce many of the print pieces and some of the web sites for various departments in the university.

Q: Who are your “clients” on campus? Does this repeat year to year?

A: I have worked with many of the academic departments and programs over the years, but much of my recurring work is with University Relations, particularly the events staff and the Wesleyan Fund.

Q: What are a few examples of recent projects you’ve been working on?

A: The Reunion & Commencement brochures (more…)

The following promotions and appointments have been made to the Office of Diversity and Strategic Partnerships in July.

Trisha Gordon has been promoted to the position of affirmative action specialist/administrative manager. She will oversee the Office of Affirmative Action and specifically work with Human Resources on staff issues, diversity and sexual harassment prevention trainings, and work with me to develop a campus-wide affirmative action plan. She will oversee the Office of Diversity and Strategic Partnerships and manage all strategic initiatives. She will also continue to assist me in day-to-day operations, meetings, and special project. Gordon has been with Wesleyan since 2001 and has worked in the Office of the Vice President/Secretary of the University. Trisha earned her B.A. in history from Central Connecticut State University, a M.S. in business management from Saint Joseph College, and is a certified middle school teacher and affirmative action professional.

Frank Kuan has been promoted to executive director of the Center for Community Partnerships and will manage the Green Street Art Center and the Office of Community Service and Volunteerism. He will continue to represent Wesleyan in the community, on committees, and at special events, and continue to work closely with the Office of Service Learning. Kuan has been with Wesleyan since 1998 and has worked in various capacities throughout Wesleyan including director of community service, interim director of the Green Street Arts Center and director of community relations. Kuan earned a B.A. in biology, chemistry and Asian American Studies, and a M.S. in counseling from California State University, Fresno. He also serves on many board, commissions and committees in Middlesex County and in Middletown including Middletown Youth Services Bureau, Commission on the Arts, Middlesex United Way and the North End Action Team.

Renee Johnson-Thornton has been appointed to the position of dean of diversity and student engagement. She will focus on student issues campus-wide, manage the Dwight Green Interns, WesDEF and other student lead initiatives. She will continue in her role as associate coordinator for Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program. Johnson-Thornton has been with Wesleyan since 1998 and has served as associate director of the McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program, assistant to the dean of the college, assistant dean of the Student Academic Resource Network (SARN), and associate coordinator of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program. She earned her B.A. in English and African American Studies from Binghamton University, SUNY, M.A in liberal studies from Wesleyan University, and Ph.D (ABD) in education from the University of Rhode Island. Johnson-Thornton also is a board member of the Middletown School Board of Education.

The following recent Wesleyan employees have announced their retirement:

Carol Kosloski, Rosalind Eastaway, Rene Rinaldi, David Boule, Lisa Davis, Dianna Dozier, Linda Secord, Jane Tozer and Janice Guarino. Alan Nathanson will retire on July 17.