May 2015

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes was featured on the cover of the new Wesleyan magazine. Hudes is currently the Shapiro Distinguished Professor of Writing and Theater, and teaches playwriting to both beginning and advanced writers at Wesleyan. Her plays include 26 Miles, Yemaya’s Belly, the children’s musical Barrio Grrrl!, and the acclaimed Elliot Trilogy, named after a recurrent character who served as a Marine and is based on the author’s cousin. The first in the trilogy, Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue, was a 2007 Pulitzer Prize finalist, while the second installment, Water by the Spoonful, was awarded the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Hudes…

Eudice Chong '18 claimed the first-ever NCAA Division III tennis title for the Cardinals in a thrilling 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory in the title match of the NCAA Division III women's tennis singles championship in Mason, Ohio on May 23. Named the NESCAC Player and Rookie of the Year, as well as the ITA Division III Rookie of the Year, Chong completed the 2014-15 campaign undefeated in singles play (22-0), dropping just two sets all season, both of them 4-6 to Joulia Likhanskaia of Bowdoin, whom she played for the third time this year in the NCAA finals. Chong also earned All-America…

Though movie sequels had been successful in the past, it was a huge surprise when The Empire Strikes Back turned out to be as popular as the original Star Wars film, Jeanine Basinger, the Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, told the website Boing Boing for a story reflecting on Empire 35 years after it arrived in cinemas. “When you have set a level that you set with Star Wars in terms of financial success, critical success, audience success, quality of production, greatness of storytelling, you don’t really think even if the second one is going to be good that it can hit that same level twice…

Watch highlights from Reunion & Commencement Weekend 2015 in this video: View additional R&C weekend videos, including several Commencement speeches, the Board of Trustees Welcome, the recognition of retiring faculty, the Senior Class Welcome and more on the Video @ Wesleyan website.

Graduates, their families, and other members of the Wesleyan community who gathered for the 183rd Commencement ceremony on May 24 were treated to some life advice in the form of rap, courtesy of Lin-Manuel Miranda '02, this year's Commencement speaker and the composer, lyricist and star of the hip-hop musical Hamilton. "I’m going to sing a little bit, so if you made a bet that I’d be rapping during the Commencement address, your friend owes you money," Miranda joked. He drew upon the stories of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr to discuss two different approaches to life: charging forward in the…

Lin-Manuel Miranda '02 made the following remarks at the 183rd Commencement ceremony May 24: Thank you, President Roth, Provost, Board of Trustees, faculty, students, families. Wes Wings, Thai Gardens and Neon Deli. As I look across the sea of proud, sleepy graduates, who just hours ago were turnt all the way up in the tent where your families now sit—seriously, your grandmother is sitting where YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID—I can’t help but wish I had been asked to be your freshman orientation speaker instead. Over the course of your time here, you have learned innumerable lessons, large and small, but I…

Beverly Daniel Tatum '75, president of Spelman College, was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree on May 24. She delivered the following remarks: Thank you, President Roth and the Board of Trustees, the faculty, for this wonderful honor. I can’t tell you how delighted I am to be here – especially on the occasion of the 40th reunion of the Class of 1975! The years I spent at Wesleyan were transformative for me, and when I left Wesleyan, I was a confident young woman with a clear career plan. I planned to go off to graduate school, earn…

Honorary Degree Recipient Michael Price made the following remarks during the 183rd Commencement Ceremony May 24: My children would say this is an awesome moment. For me, being on this platform amongst such a distinguished assemblage is somewhere between exhilaration and terror. I now know how an actor feels on opening night, excited, honored and hoping not to fall off the stage. President Roth and the Wesleyan Community, thank you for this very special honor. To the class of 2015, I am thrilled and grateful to share this day with you, and to be in the company of Beverly Daniel…

Wesleyan President Michael Roth made the following remarks during the 183rd Commencement Ceremony May 24: Members of the board of trustees, members of the faculty and staff, distinguished guests, new recipients of graduate degrees and the mighty class of 2015, I am honored to present some brief remarks on the occasion of this commencement. On this Memorial Day Weekend, I begin by asking us all to take a moment to remember the men and women who have died while serving in the American armed forces. In recent years, military conflicts far from our own shores have cost the lives of…

Marissa Castrigno '15 made the following remarks during the 183rd Commencement Ceremony May 24: I feel immensely lucky to be able to stand here and see so many people that I love all in one place – so many people that love each other all in one place. My favorite college memory was on this very balcony two years ago when I sat with my best friend on its wide ledge and we spoke candidly for the first time about those private things that motivate and shape each of us. In that moment, among others during my first year here,…

During the 183rd Commencement ceremony, President Michael Roth awarded the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching to three faculty, and the Raymond E. Baldwin Medal to an alumnus. Three outstanding teachers are recognized annually with the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching. This year, President Michael Roth honored Michael Calter, David Schorr and Gina Athena Ulysse for their excellence in teaching. The prizes are made possible by gifts from the family of the late Frank G. Binswanger Sr., Hon. ’85, and underscore Wesleyan’s commitment to its scholar-teachers, who are responsible for the university’s distinctive approach to liberal arts education. (more…)

Jenna Starr '15, Jasmine Masand '15, and Camille Casareno '15 delivered "Senior Voices" speeches on May 23 in Memorial Chapel. Below are the texts of their speeches. Jenna Starr I am grateful to Wesleyan. After a turbulent year at a different school, Wesleyan was the second chance I urgently needed. When I first got here (literally the first day), I was scared. I was so scared that when my dad and aunt tried to leave, I secretly jumped in their car so they would take me home. (more…)

Quiara Alegria Hudes Is a Bright New Voice in Theater

Chong ’18 Claims NCAA Division III Tennis Title

Basinger Reflects on Star Wars Sequel Success

Watch Highlights from Reunion & Commencement Weekend

Wesleyan Awards 799 BA Degrees at 183rd Commencement

Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02 Delivers Commencement Address

Remarks for Honorary Degree Recipient Beverly Daniel Tatum ’75

Remarks for Honorary Degree Recipient Michael Price

President Roth Makes Remarks to the Class of 2015

Greetings for the Senior Class from Marissa Castrigno ’15

Calter, Schorr, Ulysse Honored with Binswanger Prizes; Dachs ’70 Receives Baldwin Medal

Starr, Masand, Casareno Deliver “Senior Voices” Addresses