Cynthia RockwellOn April 29, Sasha Chanoff ’94, founder and executive director of RefugePoint, joined other experts in refugee affairs, and leaders from the private sector in a symposium by the UN Foundation. Chanoff participated in two panel discussions led by Raj Kumar, the founding president and editor-in-chief of Devex, the media platform for the global development community. In “Changing the Paradigm: New Solutions for The Global Refugee Crisis,” Chanoff's discussion with Ruma Bose, who leads Tent.org, he shared his excitement for "venture philanthropy"—a private-sector role in funding pilot projects—thus stimulating the growth of start-up organizations and alternative solutions. "Venture Philanthropy...can be a key…
Olivia DrakeWesleyan recently hired five additional tenure-track faculty who will begin their appointments during the Fall 2016 semester. They join eight other faculty who were hired in February. The new faculty include: Joan Cho, assistant professor of East Asian studies. Cho's BA is from the University of Rochester, and she is completing her dissertation at Harvard, titled “The Dictator’s Modernity Dilemma: Modernization and Generation Turnover under Authoritarianism.” (more…)
On May 7, Master drummer Abraham Adzenyah, adjunct professor of music, emeritus, was honored with a ceremony, farewell concerts, and reunion featuring past and present students (View photo set here). Adzenyah taught West African music, dance and culture at Wesleyan for 46 years and retired in May. During the event, Adzenyah was honored with the naming of the Abraham Adzenyah Rehearsal Hall (formerly the Center for the Arts Rehearsal Hall). This is the first time that a leading U.S. university has named a building after a traditional African musician. In addition, grateful students, alumni and friends have raised more than $225,000 to establish the…
The Office of Student Affairs hosted a Spring 2016 awards banquet for students who received academic prizes, fellowships and awards on May 4 in Daniel Family Commons. Students received awards for demonstrating outstanding character, leadership and intellectual commitment; intercollegiate debating; extracurricular participation; promoting the health, visibility, and participation of the Latino community at Wesleyan; writing the best paper that uses econometric techniques to analyze an economic problem; excellence in environmental stewardship; excellence in modern languages; exhibition in painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, photography, or architecture; and much more. To view the entire list of awards and recipients see Student Affairs Prizes…
Three teams from Wesleyan received honors during the American Statistical Association DataFest, hosted at Wesleyan April 8-10. During DataFest, students are presented with a large, complex, surprise data set and work over the weekend to explore, analyze, and present their findings. Teams of three to five undergraduate students from Wesleyan, Trinity, Connecticut College, Yale, and the University of Connecticut competed against each other. After two days of intense data wrangling, analysis and presentation design, each team was allowed only five minutes and no more than two slides to impress a panel of judges. The event, coordinated by Wesleyan's Quantitative Analysis Center, is…
The Center for the Arts hosted a West African Drumming and Dance performance May 6 in Crowell Concert Hall. The program was coordinated by Iddi Saaka, artist-in-residence and John Wesley Dankwa, a PhD candidate in ethnomusicology. Students in West African Dance I and III performed with help from drumming students. (Photos by Olivia Drake) (more…)
Middlesex United Way held its annual awards program May 5 at the Middletown Elks Lodge, and among the honorees were campaign "Coordinators of the Year:" Associate Professor of Biology Gloster Aaron and Provost Joyce Jacobsen, who served as Wesleyan's campaign co-chairs this year, and Cathy Lechowicz, director of the Jewett Center for Community Partnerships. Middlesex United Way also awarded Rob Rosenthal, director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life and the John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology, with the Community Leadership Award in January. Bill Holder, director of University Communications, is president of the Middlesex United Way Board. Since 2001, Wesleyan…
The Office of Human Resources reports the following new hires and departures for April 2016: Newly hired Deborah Katz was hired as a marketing director in University Communications on April 1. Anthony DeMarco was hired as a boiler tender in Physical Plant on April 11. Departures Toria Bobbitt, research assistant in biology Joseph Hopkins, boiler tender in Physical Plant Pamela Tatge, director, Center of the Arts Sharon Washburn, administrative assistant, Creative Writing
Bill Holder(By Charles Salas) Last fall President Michael Roth took what some thought was a risk. Appalled by the Syrian refugee crisis, he issued a challenge to the Wesleyan community, asking what can we do? How would people respond? Would they say that’s not Wesleyan’s business? Ask why this crisis and not another? Demand more of Wesleyan than it could possibly do? In fact, the Wesleyan community made some good suggestions which the university has been able to act upon, doing the kinds of things it does well: Hold panel discussions to increase understanding and awareness Sponsor student internships with organizations assisting…
Laurie KenneyHamilton, 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.
Lauren RubensteinJames McGuire, professor and chair of government, professor of Latin American studies, is the author of a new op-ed titled, "Is Brazil Better Prepared than the U.S. to Fight Zika?" Brazil is ground zero for the recent wave of Zika infections. McGuire argues that the country "is better prepared to fight Zika than many people think—and is, in some ways, better prepared to fight Zika than the United States." The Zika virus is difficult to fight, and Brazil faces some major obstacles, including a deep economic crisis, political turmoil, and an ongoing battle against other infectious diseases. Still, he writes,…
Every week, a group of Wesleyan students in the Wesleyan Alliance for Generational Exchange (WesAGE), visit local senior centers to play card games and bingo and interact with the residents. “Our residents can’t get out into the community because of mobility and safety issues,” David Frankel, activities coordinator at One MacDonough House, told The Middletown Press in a feature story about the program. “So Wesleyan students through a program called WesAGE come to MacDonough Friday afternoons rather than party with their friends. These are special young men and women. They let us know that we’re a value to the community.” “Wesleyan University has worked very hard…