IMG-1662-760x506.jpg
Steve ScarpaDecember 9, 20218min
Anna Nguyen ’22 believes that if you want to have a local impact, your thinking and decision making can’t be divorced from considerations of the wider world. Time spent in the United States, England, and China – as well as her home country of Vietnam – taught her to be a true global citizen. “That is why I chose not to stay in my own country, as much as I love it. I need to be able to see it from a zoomed-out perspective before I know what the problems are. By being in so many countries, I see issues…

soccer-1-1280x422.jpg
Editorial StaffDecember 6, 20215min
The incredible postseason run for the Wesleyan women's soccer team came to an unfortunate end in the national semifinals on Friday as the No. 14 nationally-ranked Cardinals were defeated by the No. 1 ranked TCNJ Lions, 1-0, from the UNC Greensboro Soccer Stadium. Wesleyan (18-2-2) concludes a historic season that featured program-firsts and records galore while the Lions (21-0-2) will vie for the fourth NCAA title in program history tomorrow against Christopher Newport. Facing a juggernaut of an opponent in the top-ranked Lions, the Cardinals were the ones on the front foot right from the opening whistle as Wesleyan generated…

traversesquare-760x507.jpg
Steve ScarpaDecember 6, 202110min
A couple of days before Thanksgiving, Diana Martinez and a few of her colleagues from the Jewett Center for Community Partnerships (JCCP) were up early at Usdan to fill their cars with 200 pies, destined for the Middletown Community Thanksgiving Project. The project, housed at Fellowship Baptist Church on Saybrook Road, distributes the trappings of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to people across the community. “There is value in the communal aspects of coming together for a common cause. I think that is the feeling we are trying to imbue into all of our students,” Martinez said. While Martinez, the assistant…

cam_fall_drone_10282020_225-copy-760x507.jpg
Olivia DrakeDecember 3, 202110min
Wesleyan’s intellectually dynamic faculty, students, alumni, staff, and parents frequently serve as expert sources for national media. Others are noted for recent achievements and accolades. A sampling of recent media hits is below: In The New York Times, Wesleyan President Michael Roth '78 writes an op-ed titled "Anxiety About Wokeness Is Intellectual Weakness." Like all stereotypes, "the image of the woke college student suppressing the speech and thought of others is wildly misleading. My 40 years in higher education have shown me that no student wishes to fit such a stereotype, and the reality is that few actually do." (Nov.…

brumbergerslide-760x888.jpeg
Rachel Wachman '24December 3, 20216min
Haley Brumberger BA/MA ’21 captured an image through a microscope of tiny crustaceans called ostracods in sediments of a volcanic lake in Oregon during the 2019 program for Wesleyan Summer Research in the Sciences, which she participated in as a summer research fellow through the College of Integrative Sciences. The image first won the Summer Research in the Sciences Image Competition for 2019 before winning this year’s image competition for The Micropalaeontological Society (TMS). They announced her win on Twitter, as well as through the RedBubble merchandise they’re selling of the image. Brumberger, who majored in earth and environmental sciences…

Amby-Steve-Gates-Manchester-2021-760x643.png
Steve ScarpaDecember 3, 20215min
Amby Burfoot ‘68 believes that every race he runs is a gift, perhaps even more so at the age of 75. Burfoot, a former Boston Marathon champion, Wesleyan cross country star, and editor-in-chief of “Runner’s World” magazine, finished his 59th straight Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving, setting a new race record. “The race was great. I ran every step with an old friend and Manchester resident, Steve Gates, who was running his 52nd in a row. We finished hand in hand,” Burfoot said in an e-mail after the race. His time was good enough to win the 75 to 79…

lucier-760x507.jpg
Editorial StaffDecember 1, 20213min
Alvin Lucier, John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, Emeritus, died on Dec. 1 at the age of 90. Lucier received his BA from Yale University and his MFA from Brandeis University. He joined the Wesleyan faculty as a visiting professor in 1968 and as an associate professor in 1972. He taught here for 43 years before retiring in 2011. A pioneering composer, Lucier was at the forefront of American avant-garde music. He lectured and performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. In 1994 Wesleyan celebrated his career with a five-day multimedia festival, Alvin Lucier: Collaborations, which included new work…

Editorial StaffNovember 29, 20211min
"Benedetta," a film based on the book, Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy (Oxford University Press, 1986) will debut Dec. 5 in Middletown. Tickets are free of charge and available from the Usdan Box Office. Written by Judith Brown, professor emerita of history, Immodest Acts shares the documented story of Sister Benedetta Carlini, Abbess of the Convent of the Mother of God, who had a lesbian affair with another nun, Bartolomeo. Brown will discuss the film and her book at 5 p.m., Dec. 7 in Russell House. More information is below:

DSC07518-760x608.jpg
Steve ScarpaNovember 24, 20216min
(By Madi Mehta '24) A group of students came together for a unique picnic on the Alpha Delta Phi Lawn on Saturday Nov. 20. On the menu: bugs of all types.  Welcome to Wesleyan’s first-ever Bugsgiving.  Bugsgiving brought students together for tasty bug dishes prepared by Brooklyn Bugs Chef Joseph Yoon and a host of activities and presentations surrounding the benefits of entomophagy - the scientific term for eating insects.  The event was led by Megan Levan ‘22 and sponsored by the Green Fund, the College of the Environment, and the Office of Sustainability. Levan, environmental studies and South Asia…

Steve ScarpaNovember 24, 20214min
One of the archetypal images of the college experience is a student, toting bags of laundry, waiting for a train or a bus to get home for break. For many Wesleyan students, at the least the first leg of that journey can be free. Starting this semester, Wesleyan students are able to use their college ID cards to ride all local Middletown Area Transit (MAT) and 9-Town Transit buses for free via the WesPass program in a collaboration between the University and Middletown Area Transit taking place during the 2021-22 academic year. Funded through Wesleyan’s Finance Office, Allbritton Center for the Study…

eve_mathjam_11182021002-copy-760x507.jpg
Rachel Wachman '24November 22, 20217min
Math doesn’t always come easily to every student, but this semester, Professor of Mathematics Ilesanmi Adeboye relaunched Math Jam, a supportive space for students to seek peer assistance for their math-related school work. “Math Jam is an additional resource for students taking math classes intended to complement the Math Workshop, CA sessions, and professor's office hours,” Adeboye said. “The difference is in the set up. Space is available for students to come on their own, or in a group, to work on homework sets or study for exams. Experienced tutors are available to answer questions as they come up. One…

autryspeaking-760x507.jpg
Olivia DrakeNovember 19, 20218min
While it's considered acceptable, or even expected, for women to cover fine lines and wrinkles with makeup, creams, injectables, or undergo cosmetic procedures like facelifts as they age, the idea of altering skin tone—especially for Black and brown people who are the most likely to face colorism—is a newer, and oddly popular, skincare craze. "For [some] Black people it’s not about whether our skin is dewy, glowing, or glassy, or whether we're trying to conceal acne scars or minimize the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. It’s about whether we're trying to appear closer to white," said Robyn Autry, associate…