Posted 05/16/07 Beth Ogata '09 has the power – pedal power that is – to raise awareness for American housing needs. She will be one of 90 college students riding coast-to-coast this summer to support the non-profit organization, Habitat for Humanity. This is her third year making the cross-country trek. She will accompanied by Jessalee Landfried '07, Liana Woskie '10. The 13th annual Habitat Bicycle Challenge (HBC) will generate approximately $430,000 in proceeds, enough to underwrite the construction of eight Habitat homes. HBC riders will also raise awareness of Habitat's work throughout the country as they pedal to end poverty…

Posted 05/16/07 Applauded by friends, family, faculty members and administrators, Wesleyan’s graduating Mellon Mays Fellows were honored at a banquet held on May 12 in the Russell House. As participants in the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program, these students have been identified as students of great promise. Wesleyan and the Fellowship are helping them become scholars of the highest distinction as they pursue Ph.Ds in core fields in the arts and sciences. The senior Fellows are Gustavo Furtado, Meenasarani (Linde) Murugan, Acacia Stevens and Roberto (Tito) Soto-Carrión. In attendance were three of the junior fellows—Michael Bolds, Mark Leonida, and R.J.…

Posted 05/16/07 Wesleyan is donating more than $135,000 to the Middlesex United Way Campaign this year. Middlesex United Way supports critical human care services and county-wide projects that improve community conditions. Funds were raised through the annual Wesleyan Employee Campaign. This year, 45 percent of all employees made a donation, with the average gift of $252. Wesleyan has 43 staff and faculty members in the Leadership Circle. This year, these leaders gave $65,476 or 48.5 percent of the total. A number of departments had 100 percent participation including the Center for the Arts, Classical Studies Department, Office of International Studies,…

Krishna Winston, the Marcus L. Taft Professor of German Language and Literature, has been appointed the next dean of the Arts and Humanities. Posted 05/15/07 Krishna Winston, the Marcus L. Taft Professor of German Language and Literature, has been appointed the next dean of the Arts and Humanities. Winston will begin her four-year term in July. “In her 37-year career at Wesleyan, Winston has proven to be a tireless university citizen,” says Joe Bruno, vice president for Academic Affairs and provost. Winston has served on many committees and is currently the chair of the Educational Policy Committee. She coordinates the…

Wesleyan President-Elect Michael Roth '78 speaks to the Wesleyan community during his introduction April 27 in Memorial Chapel. Reposted 05.02.07 Though it was gray and soggy outside, the inside of Memorial Chapel glowed with laughter and applause as the campus community was formally introduced to Wesleyan’s 16th president, Michael S. Roth ‘78. Roth, who will come to Wesleyan from the presidency of California College of the Arts, spoke to a capacity audience of students, faculty, staff and Middletown residents. The event was webcast and is archived at (Quicktime needed): http://condor.wesleyan.edu/openmedia/webcast/archive/roth.mov As Roth entered the chapel, he was met with an…

Assistant Professor of Art Leslie Snipes is one of 10 faculty participating in The Faculty Show in the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery through May 27. Posted 05/02/07 Through a three-dimensional art piece made of carpet spools and mobile platforms, Jeffrey Schiff, professor of art, explores movement and stability, and the desire to exert control and temptation to escape.Schiff and nine of his colleagues are showing their work at The Faculty Show, an exhibition that showcases the work of studio art faculty in Wesleyan’s Art and Art History Department. The first of its kind in more than a decade, the…

Psychology major Nikko Marko Lencek-Inagaki '07 will study in France this summer as one of 57 Humanity in Action Fellows. Posted 05/02/07 Nikko Marko Lencek-Inagaki '07 is a first-generation American: his father is Japanese and his mother is Italian-Slovene. With his mother he celebrates the arrival of St. Nick; his father made obento for lunch in high school. He also is "quite gay," he says. A psychology major facing "politics of difference", Lencek-Inagaki always asks "Why? Why do people do what they do, think what they think?". "Because I am sensitive to and critical of how differences are construed," he…

More than 40 students, staff, faculty and alumni participated in a recent squash tournament at the Rosenbaum Squash Center. Posted 05/02/07 All but one player got ‘squashed’ for the grand prize during the WesFest Squash Tournament April 21 in the Rosenbaum Squash Center. The community-inspired tournament was open to all faculty, staff, students, family, alumni and friends of the university. This year, a crowd of 45 players spanning all levels of skills and age ranges, took part in the event. “It was great to see such a cross section of squash playing community present at the same time,” says co-coordinator…

Posted 05/02/07 Two distinguished faculty members will be appointed leadership roles in university centers for the next three years, with terms beginning on July 1, 2007.Suzanne O'Connell, left, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, has agreed to assume the directorship of the Service-Learning Center for a three-year term. O’Connell will be replacing Rob Rosenthal, professor of sociology. O'Connell studies climate change, coastal processes, and diversity in the geosciences. She is the author of more than 50 refereed publications and the recipient of more than $1 million in National Science Foundation grants. Most recently she was the Principle Investigator on…

Posted 05/02/07 A scholar in philosophy and a scholar in literary studies can pick up the same book, read the same words, and come away with completely different perceptions about the contents and messages of the text. It is this phenomenon that is the focus of a conference being held at Wesleyan from May 9-10, titled, “Philosophy and Literature: Reading Across the Disciplines.” The idea behind the conference is to gather scholars from both academic areas and compare how each interpret the same text. This is the first year of our conference and the positive response has far exceeded our…

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal speaks with Joe Bruno, vice president for Academic Affairs and provost; Barry Chernoff, director of the Environmental Studies Certificate Program; and Midge Bennet prior to his talk on global warming April 18. Posted 05/02/07 “Connecticut’s Role in the Fight Against Global Warming” was the topic of Wesleyan’s Earth Day celebration April 18. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal delivered the keynote address to a Memorial Chapel-full of students, faculty, staff and members of the local community. Blumenthal, the 23rd elected AG of the state, had worked as a federal prosecutor for several cases against environmental polluters.…