Wesleyan held its 174th commencement ceremonies May 28. Posted 05/28/06 Wesleyan University commemorated its 175th anniversary of its institutional charter during the 174th Commencement Ceremony on Sunday, May 28. Wesleyan’s charter was granted on May 26, 1831. Undergraduate degrees were conferred on 742 students. In addition, nine students received Ph.Ds, 29 students were awarded master’s degrees, and 64 Graduate of Liberate Studies degrees were conferred. Video clips of Wesleyan's 174th Commencement can be found at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/newsletter/campus/0506commencementvideo.html. In his commencement address Wesleyan President Douglas J. Bennet reflected on the long and storied history of the institution and said this class had…

Posted 05/27/06 The following is President Douglas J. Bennet's 174th Commencement Remarks presented during Commencement Ceremonies May 28.A video clip of President Bennet's speech can be found at: http://condor.wesleyan.edu/openmedia/ur-media/video/comm_06/PresRemarks.mov. Last weekend Midge and I attended a commencement at a different institution. The graduate in question was a niece who had chosen not to attend Wesleyan for obvious reasons. It was a glorious affair, as this commencement will be, but it reminded us of the value of brevity…so I will be brief. First, let me echo enthusiastically Jim Dresser and Pacho Carreno’s welcome to you, and thanks to your families and…

Edgar F. Beckham was Wesleyan's first African-American dean of the college. In 1991 he received Wesleyan's Raymond E. Baldwin Medal for service. Posted 05/25/06 Edgar F. Beckham, one of the nation's most influential and beloved leaders in higher education, died Wednesday in Middletown at the age of 72. He was a resident of North Haven. As the first African-American dean of the college at Wesleyan University, Beckham led efforts to build understanding that diversity is integral to excellence in American education. While he served as dean, Wesleyan University became a national model for excellence in education for students of diverse…

Wesleyan students received 145 awards during the Academic Awards and Prizes Reception at the Russell House May 9. The event was organized by the Dean's Office. (Photos by Olivia Drake)   Posted 05/18/06 Two-hundred-and-fifty-eight Wesleyan students were the recipients of 145 awards during the Academic Awards and Prizes Reception at the Russell House May 9. Thirty-three of these students received more than one award. The graduating class of 2006 had 175 recipients, the class of 2007 had 78 recipients, the class of 2008 had 24 recipients, and the class of 2009 had 12 recipients. Ten graduate students, eight alumni, two…

Posted 05/16/06 After attending a digital image workshop, six Wesleyan staff members are seeing picture-perfect. During the April 24 North East Regional Computing Program conference at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., participants had the opportunity to learn about digital image resource development, meeting the image demands of scholars in a changing environment, using digital maps in the classroom, creating and managing institutional digital image collections and visual storytelling among other topics. “The hope is that by assessing current practices in the classrooms, methods for more effective use of these images can be identified and implemented,” says…

Ruby-Beth Buitekant ’09 and Rebecca Chavez ’08 read from the Torah for the first time as part of their Adult B'nei Mitzvah ceremony April 29. Posted 05/16/06 In Jewish tradition, when a child reaches the age of maturity (12 years for girls, 13 years for boys) that child becomes responsible for following Jewish law. The Jewish families hold celebratory ceremonies – B’nai Mitzvah for boys, B’nei Mitzvah for girls – which acknowledge that the child has become son or daughter “of the commandment.” Nowadays, however, not everyone follows these traditions and some Jewish children go on to adolescence without going…

Lirra Schiebler '07, right, speaks on her community research project at "From the Field: First-Hand Reports of Wesleyan Service-Learning Projects" May 12 in the Center for Community Partnerships. Rob Rosenthal, center with blue shirt and tie, is director of the Service-Learning Center. Posted 05/16/06 As part of a Service-Learning project, Lirra Schiebler ’07 learned that some residents in Middletown's North End spend about 47 percent of their monthly earnings on heating and electric bills during the winter season. Schiebler presented her group's study, "Energy Costs in the North End: The Rise in Utilities and its Effect on a Low-Income Community"…

Gay Smith, professor of theater, speaks about upcoming art events during the 2006-07 Center for the Arts season in World Music Hall May 9. Pictured below, far right, Nina Felshin, curator of exhibitions and adjunct lecturer in art history, speaks with guests following the CFA's season announcement. Posted 05/16/06 A fusion of Japanese drumming and jazz, “clown”-theater, Brazilian guitar, creative conversation and West African dance are all in the Center for the Arts (CFA) pallet for the 2006-07 season. During the CFA’s annual Season Announcement May 9, Pam Tatge, CFA director, announced the center’s upcoming highlights. “We are very proud…

Sophie Pollitt-Cohen ’09 is the co-author of the book The Notebook Girls published in April. Posted 05/16/06 Sophie Pollitt-Cohen ’09 is co-author of The Notebook Girls by Warner Books. The book began the journal with her friends, Julia Baskin, Lindsey Newman and Courtney Toombs at Stuyvesant High School in New York City in 2001. The journal provided a way for the high school freshmen to stay in touch despite demanding class schedules, extracurricular activities and busy social lives. Formatted as a reproduction of the girls’ journal, the book is stocked with hand-written notes on lined-notebook paper, doodles and pasted-to-the-page photographs.…