Olivia DrakeMakaela Kingsley will become director of the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship. Makaela (Steinberg) Kingsley graduated from Wesleyan in 1998 with a degree in neuroscience and behavior. After a brief stint doing public relations for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, she returned to Wesleyan in 2000 to join the alumni and parent relations team in University Relations. During the past 13 years, she has collaborated with colleagues in U.R. and across campus, as well as students and alumni. For the past two months, she has been serving as interim director of the Patricelli Center. Her short-term goal is to…
The new Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship will offer students an opportunity to serve the public good by developing innovative social ventures. Wesleyan dedicated the center during a ribbon cutting ceremony and celebration Nov. 5 in the Allbritton Center. The Patricelli Center is supported by a $2 million leadership gift from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation. Robert "Bob" Patricelli ’61, chairman and chief executive officer of Evolution Benefits and of Women’s Health USA, and his wife, Margaret Patricelli, president and chief executive officer of the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation, were honored at the dedication ceremony. "The Patricelli…
Bill HolderWesleyan University is establishing the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, which will support students who want to create programs and organizations serving the public good – anywhere in the world. The Patricelli Center and its programs are supported by a generous $2 million leadership gift from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation. Robert E. Patricelli ’61 is chairman and chief executive officer of Evolution Benefits and of Women’s Health USA and an emeritus trustee of Wesleyan. Margaret Patricelli is president and CEO of the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation. The Center will provide workshops, speakers, and networking opportunities…
Mike MavredakisThree impactful student organizations—the Mudanza Dance Project, Pyari, and Nailepu Foundation—each received $6,000 New Venture Awards from the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship on April 22. “The 2024 Patricelli Center New Venture Awards were the most competitive in the Center’s 13-year history," said Ahmed Badr, director of the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship. "We’re proud to have provided funding for all the applicants, for a total of $44,000. For the first time, all applicants received [at least] a $1,000 grant towards their ventures.” Diana Kimojino ’26 founded the Nailepu Foundation with one goal in mind—to elevate the women and girls…
When Gad Nkurunziza ’27 excelled in sixth grade in the Burera district of Rwanda, his school’s headmaster gave him a chicken for his academic achievements. That single chicken introduced Nkurunziza’s family to poultry farming and transformed their lives, he said. Soon, Nkurunziza will bestow the same gift onto other families in his village, with the hopes it will help bring prosperity to his home community. “We as youths are able to not only impact our own lives, but also impact others,” Nkurunziza said. “I believe that society can change for the better. This [can] be done if we put creativity…
President Michael S. Roth ’78 wrote an op-ed for Inside Higher Ed on his recent letters to state representatives calling for them to redouble their efforts to bring peace in the Middle East and to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. “Silence at a time of humanitarian catastrophe isn’t neutrality; it’s either cowardice or collaboration. We don’t need institution-speak, but we do need leaders of academic and cultural institutions to call on our government and our fellow citizens to address this crisis.” Roth joined the Yale University Press Podcast to talk about his book the history of the student, current crises…
The fourth annual Narratio Fellowship performance at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City took place over the summer. This year's fellows came from cohorts in Syracuse, New York and Richmond, Virginia. They worked all summer to create art books, self-portraits, and poems that were inspired by artifacts in The Met's Ancient Near East Collection. The fellows performed by the Temple of Dendur, but they will continue to work on their pieces throughout the year before exhibiting them in the spring in Syracuse and Richmond. The Narratio Project was founded by Ahmed Badr ’20, Interim Director for the…
Steve ScarpaThree Wesleyan students’ in-depth analysis of the causes of and possible solutions for the problem of child marriage in Indonesia won the University of Oxford’s 2023 “Map the System” Challenge. The team of Sida Chu ‘26, Sun Boonbhati ‘26, and Valensia Tandeas ‘26 were among 900 that participated in the challenge, and were chosen as one of 12 finalists to present at the University of Oxford’s Global MTS Finals. The Wesleyan team became global champions for their project “No Longer Daughters: Child Marriage in Indonesia.” “‘No Longer Daughters: Child Marriage in Indonesia’ stands out both for its depth of research, as well as the team's…
Keleki Logoh ’23 lived in Togo, located in West Africa, until she was seven years old. In 2021, she went back home for the first time since she was a little girl. “I was shocked by the state of the country,” Logoh said. Food scarcity was an issue since over 60 percent of the citizens experienced moderate to severe food insecurity. Imported vegetables were expensive. People had trouble balancing financial burdens with feeding their families. Just a few months later, Logoh was back at Wesleyan going down an internet rabbit hole of videos of different kinds of farming techniques. When…
For Eugene Gato Nsengamungu ’23, his homeland of Rwanda is everything. Guided by the example of his late father, a soldier who fiercely loved his country, it’s only natural that when Nsengamungu thinks of a problem to be solved, he thinks of how he can do so back home. “This is a spirit I got from my dad,” he said. Nsengamungu, a Government and Physics major, was recently awarded a Davis Project for Peace grant from the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship to create the Rwanda Youth Tech Informants (RYTI) project, a program that will equip high school students in…
Rachel Wachman '24Community can be defined in many ways—shared interests, shared experiences, a shared zip code. For Oliver Egger ’23, founder of the student-led Route 9 Collective writing community, Middlesex County provided fertile ground from which to examine the different voices that populate this small Connecticut county spanned by Route 9. In early September, Wesleyan University Press (WesPress) and the Route 9 Collective published Route 9 Anthology: A Collection of Writing from Wesleyan Students, Faculty, Staff, and Middlesex County Residents, compiled and edited by Egger, who has dreamed of fostering community through art in this manner since his first year at Wesleyan.…
Two first-generation college students are working to help the planet, one garment at a time. As cofounders of the sustainable fashion startup, Infinitely, Nimra Karamat ’23 and Ashley Cardenas '23 are creating high-quality, affordable clothing that is "ready to take down the world of fast fashion." "Brands that greenwash and benefit off of the backs of underpaid workers in underdeveloped countries are the top sellers in fashion," Cardenas said. "This shouldn’t be our reality. Through Infinitely, we want to inspire people of all backgrounds and identities to lead sustainable lives and help people understand how fast fashion is damaging for…