Wesleyan Offers a Free Semester for Students from University of Puerto Rico

Responding to the ongoing tragedy in Puerto Rico, Wesleyan is offering a free semester of study in the spring of 2018 to students enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico. Students will be expected to pay tuition at their home institution, and Wesleyan will offer free housing and meals as needed. Many other institutions across the country are stepping up as well and the University of Puerto Rico has developed a standard framework for this project.

Students enrolled at other institutions in Puerto Rico may be eligible as well, and should contact Wesleyan at gueststudent@wesleyan.edu for more information.

“Opening our campus to students from Puerto Rico is a meaningful way we can provide assistance that will make a real difference in the lives of some students,” said President Michael Roth. “It’s so evident that the need for help is overwhelming, and I know our campus community will welcome students with open arms.”

The offer is meant to enable students whose lives have been disrupted to continue their education until they can return to their home institutions and, as such, applies only to the upcoming spring semester. Details are available here, including information regarding how to apply, given that many students may not have access to transcripts and other materials normally used in a college admission process.

In addition, responding to a request for faculty across the United States who could teach online in Spanish for students at the University of Puerto Rico, James Lipton, professor of computer science at Wesleyan, will be teaching a course in programming in Spanish through videoconferencing software that will be supported by the Center for Pedagogical Innovation.

Wesleyan previously hosted students from Tulane in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

In addition, the Center for the Arts in collaboration with the College of the Environment, invites an artist or artists from areas affected by the hurricane season of 2017 to campus for a short-term residency in April 2018. Artists working in all disciplines from Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands may propose a project that explores the evolving human relationship to water.