Rachel Wachman ’24

Tom Matlack ’86 P’16 has never felt as in the zone as he did while rowing at Wesleyan. “It's this weird thing where you're with eight other people, and you're trying to move in exact synchronicity,” Matlack explained. “There's a feeling when you're doing that well that the boat actually feels almost like it's floating. And that there's no way to tell who is contributing what to the speed of the boat. So, you have to trust that each of the other people who are rolling with you is working just as hard as you are.” For Matlack and many…

When Frances Ostensen ’24 set sail aboard the SSV Robert C. Seamans this fall, she knew she was in for an adventure. Ostensen, a biology and Science in Society Program double major who spent the semester abroad with the Sea Education Association (SEA), learned more about the environment, human civilizations, and their endless connections than she ever expected. Her chosen program, called Sustainability in Pacific Island Communities and Ecosystems, began in Woods Hole, Mass. in October. After flying to the South Pacific in November, Ostensen set sail in a loop around Polynesia alongside seven other students, professors, and crew members…

Sometimes the best learning can happen outside of the classroom. In June 2022, Assistant Professor of African American Studies Garry Bertholf traveled to the Dominican Republic for two weeks with seven students involved in the Africana Research Collective, a group of first-generation low-income students of color who study the African diaspora. The Collective, founded by Yohely Comprés ’24 and Gissel Ramirez ’24, explores the effects of colonialism in the Americas and considers the repercussions of race beyond the United States, through on-campus research and international travel. Other student members include Ethan Barrett ’24, Ayer Richmond ’24, Edmund Jurado ’24, Finn…

Community 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.…

As we kick off another academic year and say goodbye to summer, Rachel Wachman ’24, an English and French double major from Massachusetts, takes over reviewing books written by alumni and offers a selection for those in search of their next great read. The volumes, sent by the alumni authors, are forwarded to Olin Library as donations to the University’s collection and are made available to the Wesleyan community. Steve Almond ’88, All the Secrets of the World (Zando, 2022) When Lorena Saenz and Jenny Stallworth, two girls from vastly different backgrounds, are partnered together by their teacher for a…

During the annual Hugo L. Black Lecture on Freedom of Expression, keynote speaker Keith Whittington discussed how free speech has been a politicized issue since early America, and he expanded on early conceptions of free speech as it developed. “Rather than simply seeing how many people will follow you to the battlefield to beat up or kill the other side, wouldn't it just be easier if we just counted up how many people were willing to go to the battlefield, resolve those issues that way and skip the beating up part?” Whittington asked the audience. The lecture, which has been…

Each year since 2013, the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship (PCSE) awards three $5,000 grants to students creating a social impact through business ventures. This year, PCSE Seed Grants were awarded Handom (Aldrean Alogon ’23 and Leonard Majaducon ’25), Nebula (Kya Lloyd ’22 and Jahmir Duran-Abreu ’20), and Outspoken (Akansha Singh ’23). From a mentorship program for students in the Philippines, to a digital marketplace for black entrepreneurs, to an online literacy program for women and girls in rural India, this year's winning projects are shaping their communities in unique ways. Each year since 2013, the PCSE awards three $5,000…

Silence fell upon the crowd of students and staff assembled outside Usdan University Center as Ukrainian native Julia Kulchytska ’24 stepped up to the microphone. “The new norm is to live in a constant state of fear that I’m going to wake up and I’m going to get a message that my home was bombed,” Kulchytska said during a rally held March 4. She expressed feeling a deep sense of guilt that she is not in Ukraine with her family and described how numb and afraid she has been feeling since the war began. Kulchytska organized the Ukraine Rally for…

Associate professor of Science in Society Anthony Ryan Hatch specializes in health systems, medical technology, and social inequalities. His recent paper, titled “The data will not save us: Afropessimism and racial antimatter in the COVID-19 pandemic,” published in Big Data and Society on Feb. 23, combines his areas of expertise in an analysis of disparities in racial health exacerbated by the pandemic. The paper begins with a staggering statistic: “According to the CDC Covid Data Tracker, 89,713 Black people have died from complications due to COVID-19, about 13.7% of total deaths (as of 2/11/22, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,…

The men’s basketball team is in the midst of a prodigious season, having just matched the single-season wins record of 22. Currently, the team is just one win away from setting a single-season record, and for the first time ever, Wesleyan is the number 1 seed in the NESCAC Tournament. Silloway Gymnasium will be the host site of the upcoming NESCAC Championship weekend, with the Semifinals set for Saturday, Feb. 26 followed by the title game on Sunday, Feb. 27. “This season has been amazing so far—it exceeded my expectations personally and team-wise,” Nicky Johnson ’25 said. “I enjoy every…

Royette Tavernier Dubar, assistant professor of psychology and director of the on-campus Sleep and Psychosocial Adjustment Laboratory, recently authored a commentary called “#NoJusticeNoSleep: Critical intersections of race-ethnicity, income, education, and social determinants in sleep health disparities,” published in Sleep Health on Feb. 1. Dubar’s work in #NoJusticeNoSleep examines the link between racial, ethnic, and socio-economic factors relating to inequality and how well people sleep. Her commentary uses the COVID-19 pandemic as a launching point for further exposing inequality in the United States and bringing it to the forefront of public discourse through social movements, with a new emphasis on health.…

When Diane Goldstein Stein ’81, P’16,’21 traveled to Guatemala for the first time in 2018, she became acquainted with a non-profit that empowers indigenous female artisans. The organization, MayaWorks, helps girls, women, and their families achieve self-confidence and economic stability through various financial and educational initiatives. “Seeing the gorgeous and colorful tapestries and other items that they handcrafted wowed me,” Diane said. But so did their kind-hearted, warming personalities. “They're making lunch for us [while] we're meeting their friendly, polite, and affectionate children. They melted my heart. And that was just the start.” In 2020, Stein, who had befriended many…

Tom Matlack ’86 P’16: On Acorns Becoming Oak Trees and Rowing For Coach Will Scoggins

Exploring Sustainability, Building Community, and Fostering Connections: Frances Ostensen ’24 and Her SEA Semester

Africana Research Collective Reflects on Summer Travel and Future Goals

Celebrating Community Voices: The Route 9 Anthology

“You Just Have to Read This…” Books by Wesleyan Authors Almond ’88, Sonenberg ’82, and Vidich ’72

Princeton’s Whittington Delivers Annual Hugo L. Black Lecture

3 Student Ventures Win $5,000 Patricelli Seed Grants

Wesleyan Rallies in Solidarity with Ukraine

Hatch Examines Racial Health Disparities, COVID-19, and Data in New Paper

Men’s Basketball Team Shoots For Record-Breaking Season

Dubar Pens Commentary #NoJusticeNoSleep for Sleep Health Journal

Alumni Collaborate on Tapestry of Music Benefit Concert for Guatemalan Women