On May 26, a Wesleyan Argus 150th Anniversary Celebration was held at Russell House during Reunion & Commencement Weekend. Current students and alumni, who contributed to the Argus from the 1970s through the present day, shared memories, caught up with old friends, and discussed the state of journalism today. (Photos by Tom Dzimian and Olivia Drake.)
The reception was held at Russell House, and was cosponsored by Wesleyan’s Writing Certificate.
Many students and recent grads who worked on the Argus attended. From left, Jess Zalph ’16, Molly Schiff ’18, Erica DeMichiel ’17, and Max Lee ’16.
Miriam Gottfried ’05 and Xiomara Lorenzo ’05 served as coeditors-in-chief in fall 2003. Gottfried is now a reporter at The Wall Street Journal , and Lorenzo is a corporate strategist and product manager of Society of Grownups.
Jennifer Finney Boylan ’80, far left, spoke of “wonderful memories of camaraderie. They’re different for every generation, but we all have that in common and it goes back 150 years.” She added, “I learned as much from [my fellow Argus ] students about what it means to be a writer as I learned from any class I took.” Also pictured are Eric Segal ’80, center, and David Luberoff ’80, right.
Hillary Rosner ’93 was a reporter at the Argus and now works as a freelance journalist specializing in long-form stories about the environment. Her work has appeared in publications including National Geographic, Wired, The New York Times , and Scientific American .
Aaron Stagoff-Belfort ’18, pictured with his parents, was coeditor-in-chief of the Argus in fall 2017 and helped organize the 150th celebration.
A group of current editors created a display in Usdan University Center highlighting issues of the Argus from 1868 through today.
The first issue of “The College Argus” was published on June 11, 1868. It featured an article on new buildings, such as Memorial Chapel, and stats on the Class of 1868 (of the 23 men graduating, only one had a full beard, whereas seven had only mustaches. One was married, six were engaged, and nine were “disdaining bait.”)