Olivia DrakeQ&As with outstanding students are an occasional feature of The Wesleyan Connection. This issue we speak with Evan Okun from the Class of 2013. Q: Evan, you'll be graduating this spring. How would you sum up your Wesleyan experience so far? A: Wesleyan University encourages interdisciplinary inquiry while simultaneously supporting student efforts to put theory into practice. Earlier this semester the Sociology Department (along with other student and administrative groups) sponsored a panel discussion on the education system featuring the brilliant rap duo, Dead Prez. This served as the action component of my Senior Essay, which addressed exclusion in academia and incorporated…
Gabe Rosenberg '16Mateusz Burgunder ’15 returned recently from competing in the 2013 Ski Mountaineering World Championships, where the U.S. National Ski Mountaineering Team finished ninth out of 23 competing teams. This year was Burgunder’s third time competing for the U.S., participating in both the sprint race and the men’s individual race. He placed 51st and 65th, respectively. The U.S. won its first medal in the world championships, with Dartmouth College alumna Nina Silitch taking a silver medal in the sprint race. The Ski Mountaineering World Championships, hosted by the International Ski Mountaineering Federation, were held in Pelvoux, France from Feb. 9–16.
Diana Windemuth, a graduate student in the Astronomy Department, received Honorable Mention as a Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award Recipient at the 221st meeting of the American Astronomical Society held Jan. 6-10 in Long Beach, Calif. The award is given to recognize exemplary research by graduate students who present a poster at the meeting. Diana's poster was titled "Dramatic Evolution of the Disk-Shaped Secondary in the Orion Trapezium Star θ1 Ori B1 (BM Ori): MOST Satellite Observations." Windemuth's advisor is William Herbst, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy. Her work included results from two former Astronomy graduate students,…
Q&As with outstanding students is an occasional feature of The Wesleyan Connection. This issue we speak with Konnie Dominguez from the Class of 2015. Q: Konnie, what are you planning on majoring in and why? A: I'm planning on majoring in biology. With a bachelors in biology, I can continue to pursue a career in biological anthropology, specifically in paleoanthropology, the study of human fossils. I've had at least one class in science ever since the sixth grade and this year, I had three - biology, chemistry and neuroscience! Q: Are you involved in any extracurricular activities? A: Most of my free time, when…
Brian KattenThree Wesleyan women's soccer players, two of whom are graduates of Newtown (Conn.) High School, took part in Soccer Night in Newtown Jan. 7 as Newtown continued to heal from the tragic incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School Dec. 14. Team quad-captain Jen Brewer '13 of Sandy Hook, Conn. and Madeline Keane '16 of Newtown, Conn. were joined by Kaylin Berger '13 of Farmington, Conn., at the Newtown Youth Academy Sports and Fitness Center for the festivities. Nearly 50 major professional soccer players, including Major League Soccer (MLS) stars Landon Donovan and Kenny Cooper, women's national team standouts Kristine Lilly,…
Three Wesleyan students joined hundreds of climate change activists from around the world to strategize with fellow youth, discuss climate change policy, engage with delegates and participate in a climate change march during the 18th Conference of the Parties (COP18) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Doha, Qatar. The convention began Nov. 26. Sophie Duncan '13, Samantha Santaniello '13 and Chloe Holden '15, accompanied by Michael Dorsey, fellow of the College of the Environment, visiting professor of environmental studies, obtained entry badges and jumped right into a panel discussion on equitable climate policies with representatives from…
Fifteen students from the Class of 2013 were elected to early-decision membership in Phi Beta Kappa during an initiation ceremony Dec. 5. Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest surviving Greek letter society in America, dating back to 1776. The organization’s Greek initials signify the motto, “Love of learning is the guide of life.”To be elected, a student must first have been nominated by his or her major department. He or she also must have demonstrated curricular breadth by having met the General Education Expectations, and have achieved a grade-point average of 93 percent. Members of the Fall 2012 class all…
This fall, the Wesleyan softball team has expanded its efforts beyond the sports field in order to help others. In November, the team "adopted" a 13-year-old Cromwell, Conn. girl who struggles with multiple health problems, and donated to the Red Cross' Hurricane Sandy relief effort. Joining the Wesleyan softball team through the Team IMPACT program is 13-year-old Stephanie Lubogo (shown seated in middle of photo with younger sister Emily on the right). Team IMPACT matches local youngsters suffering from a variety of maladies with college athletic teams to boost their confidence and sense of belonging. Stephanie was born with an…
Hannah Norman '16Q&As with outstanding students is an occasional feature of The Wesleyan Connection. This issue we speak with Claire Seo In Choi from the Class of 2013. Q: Claire, what are you majoring in at Wesleyan, and why? A: I'm majoring in art history at Wesleyan. I attended art high school before I came to Wes, and have been always interested in how socio-economic and cultural circumstances have shaped artworks, so I guess it was quite a natural choice for me. Besides my major credits, I explored many different disciplines; I learned French and German, and took various courses from the…
Between 2000 and 2011, Wesleyan garnered just four New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Players of the Year honors. The first came in the spring of 2001 when John Landay ’01 led Wesleyan to a 17-3 record in men's lacrosse and a spot in the ECAC Championship game by leading the nation in scoring with 121 points on 73 goals and 48 assists. The following fall, Alexis Keeler ’02 paced women’s volleyball to a best-ever 30-6 mark and a spot in the NCAA Division III tournament with 548 kills and a .379 hitting percentage. She was all-New England and…
Wesleyan student-athletes on the men's ice hockey team are growing mustaches in support of the Movember, an initiative that brings vital awareness to men's health issues, specifically prostate and testicular cancer. Once registered, the men started Nov. 1 clean shaven. For the rest of the month, the "Mo Bros," groom, trim and wax their way into the "annals of fine moustachery," explains the Movember website. The Mo Bros raise funds by seeking out sponsorship for their Mo-growing efforts. Through their actions and words they raise awareness by prompting private and public conversation around the often ignored issue of men’s health. The…
Glenn Stowell '13, an economics major, is the editor and translator of, and an author of, two poetry books published in 2012. Stowell recently edited, translated and wrote the introduction to Yan Jun's You Jump to Another Dream, published by Vagabond Press. Last spring, Stowell worked with Ao Wang, assistant professor of Asian languages and literatures, assistant professor of East Asian studies, on an independent study on translation of contemporary Chinese poetry. You Jump to Another Dream was the result of the independent study. Additionally, the Olin Fellowship provided Stowell with funds needed to travel to China this summer and to work…