Laurie Kenney – Page 5

On Saturday, Oct. 29, members of the Wesleyan community gathered at the Goldsmith Family Cinema during Family Weekend 2016 to watch a screening of Hamilton’s America, directed by Alex Horwitz ’02. While Horwitz was not able to attend the screening, we were able to catch up with him for an exclusive Q&A. If you missed the screening, Hamilton's America is streaming on PBS through Nov. 18. Hamilton’s America was several years in the making. When did you approach Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02 and Thomas Kail ’99 with the idea to document the making of what became Hamilton: An American Musical—and what prompted…

On Friday, October 21, at 9 p.m., PBS will debut Hamilton's America, a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the smash musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda '02. The documentary is directed by Miranda's Wesleyan roommate, Alex Horwitz '02, and features footage from the Broadway show along with interviews with Miranda, Hamilton director Thomas Kail '99, and an array of others, including President Barack Obama, President George W. Bush, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Questlove, Black Thought, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Sondheim, and more.

This fall, the Office for Equity and Inclusion will coordinate five Wesleyan cohort programs: the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, the Wesleyan Math and Science Scholars Program (WesMaSS), the Upward Bound Math-Science Program, and the Posse Veteran Scholars Program. The initiative is called Pathways to Inclusive Excellence (PIE). "It makes sense organizationally to place these programs under the same umbrella, in order to increase a sense of community amongst students, faculty and staff,” said Antonio Farias, vice president for equity and inclusion/Title IX officer. “Our vision is to increase the flow of students in grades 9…

Last month members of the Cardinal community joined together to secure an additional $1 million for financial aid for students during Wesleyan’s $1 Million Cardinal Challenge. The success of the challenge provided a strong finish to Wesleyan's THIS IS WHY fundraising campaign, which came to its close on June 30. The Cardinal Challenge was funded through the generosity of John L. Usdan '80, P’15, ’18, ’18, who pledged $500 for financial aid for every gift of any amount to any Wesleyan cause received during the month of June, for a total of up to $1 million for financial aid. The challenge inspired 2,831…

More than 200 members of the Wesleyan community—decked out in red and black—gathered in Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Terminal in New York City on June 16 to celebrate the success of the THIS IS WHY campaign, which draws to its end on June 30, 2016. The event was hosted by THIS IS WHY campaign chair John Usdan ’80, P’15, P’18, P’18. At the event, President Michael Roth ’78 acknowledged some of the campaign leaders—including Usdan; Joshua Boger ’73, P’06, ’09, retiring chair of the Wesleyan Board of Trustees; Ellen Jewett '81 P’17, trustee emerita; Alan Dachs ’70, P'98, Hon…

This month, the Cardinal community is joining together to secure up to $1 million for financial aid for Wesleyan students by taking the $1 Million Cardinal Challenge. “Thanks to the generosity of John L. Usdan '80, P’15, P’18, P’18, this is the perfect time to make a gift to Wesleyan,” says Chuck Fedolfi ’90, director of annual giving for the Wesleyan Fund. “John will give $500 for financial aid for every gift of any amount to any Wesleyan cause received this month—for a total of up to $1 million.” So far, more than 568 people have accepted the challenge, which translates to $284,000 so far for financial aid.…

On June 18, a 23-piece all-star band performed the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album in its entirety at Chapman Hall at Middlesex Community College at a benefit concert in memory former Wesleyan Center for the Arts intern Stephanie Nelson, of Middletown, who passed away last year at the age of 25. This was the second annual benefit concert held in Nelson’s name. The first, held last summer, featured the Beatles’ White Album and raised almost $5,000 to establish the Stephanie Nelson Scholarship at Middlesex Community College (MCC), Nelson’s alma mater. This year’s concert was organized by Andy Chatfield, press and marketing…

Hamilton, written by and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02, Hon. '15 and directed by Thomas Kail ’99, won 11 Tony Awards, including the award for Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical (Kail), Best Actor in a Musical, Best Book (Miranda), Best Original Score (Miranda), Best Featured Actor in a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Best Costume Design of a Musical, Best Choreography, Best Lighting Design of a Musical, and Best Orchestrations, at the 70th Annual Tony Awards ceremony held at the Beacon Theater in New York on June 12. The award-winning musical, which tells the story of the life of…

Graduates, their families, and other members of the Wesleyan community who gathered for the 184th Commencement ceremony on May 22 were offered advice on how to change the world by Bryan Stevenson, this year’s Commencement speaker, a human rights lawyer and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative. Weaving in stories from his decades of work fighting racial injustice and discrimination in the criminal justice system, Stevenson told the Class of 2016 that changing the world requires four things: Getting proximate to the places "where there's suffering and abuse and neglect"; "changing the narrative" about race in this country; staying hopeful; and…

Hamilton, written by and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02 and directed by Thomas Kail ’99, received a record-breaking 16 Tony Award nominations on May 3, including nods for Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical (Kail) Best Actor in a Musical (Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr.), Best Book (Miranda), Best Original Score (Miranda), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (three nominations), Best Actress in a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Best Scenic Design of a Musical, Best Costume Design of a Musical, Best Choreography, Best Lighting Design of a Musical, and Best Orchestrations. The 16 total nominations broke the previous record of 15, shared by Billy Elliot (2009) and The Producers (2001). The Producers holds the current record for most Tony Award wins for a musical, with a total of 12.

On April 6, artists and visitors gathered at the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery for a reception for week three of the Senior Thesis Exhibition. This week's exhibition features work by seniors Sophie Becker, Casey Herrick, Samantha Ho, Gla, and Zach Scheinfeld from the Department of Art and Art History's art studio program. The exhibition will be on display through April 10. (Photos by Hannah Norman '16)

On Friday, April 1, almost 70 students and 38 expert advisors (including 31 Wesleyan alumni and parents) came together for one-on-one speed networking sessions during Connect@WES: Creating Connections in Beckham Hall. Sponsored by the Gordon Career Center, the annual event is designed to teach students how to develop professional relationships outside of the Career Center and Wesleyan. This year’s event included advisors representing Peatix, RNSights, Northeastern, JP Morgan, NBC Universal, Merrill Lynch, Planned Parenthood, the State of Connecticut, Aon Hewitt, Epsilon, Perella Weinberg, FCTRY, Citi and many others. (more…)

Horwitz ’02 Documents Hamilton for PBS

Hamilton’s America, Directed by Horwitz ’02, Debuts on PBS Oct. 21

Office for Equity and Inclusion Coordinates Pathways to Inclusive Excellence Initiative

$1 Million Cardinal Challenge Exceeds Expectations

Campaign Celebrated at Grand Central in NYC

Wesleyan’s $1M Cardinal Challenge Is On!

Wesleyan Staff Perform in Beatles Benefit Concert

Hamilton Wins 11 Tony Awards

Wesleyan Awards 731 BA Degrees at 184th Commencement

Hamilton Breaks Tony Award Nomination Record

Art Studio Seniors Exhibit Theses at Zilkha

Connect@WES Helps Students Develop Networking Skills