Olivia DrakeWesleyan tennis coach Ken Alrutz, right, teaches his son, Graham, a few techniques on the Wesleyan tennis courts Aug. 24. Posted 08/24/06 Q: Ken, you will be entering your third year as the mens and womens head tennis coach. What attracted you to Wesleyan?A: When my wife and I contemplated a move, I decided I wanted to coach both women and men, to work at an academically distinguished school, and to finish my career at a small institution similar to the place where I began my professional life. Q: What months does the tennis season span? When do you…
Posted 08/15/06 Noah Lior Simring, originally a member of Wesleyan's class of 2007, died recently in New York City, his hometown. He was 21. Noah, who was on leave from Wesleyan for the past two years, graduated from the Horace Mann School in New York City where he enjoyed fencing. His interests included the sciences, theater, music, wilderness living, animation and rocketry and volunteerism. He is survived by parents Ruth and James Simring and sister, Mia Simring. Donations in his memory may be made to the Horace Mann School or Children International.
Friends and family celebrated Kay Butterfields 100th birthday July 27 in the Office of the President. Kay Butterfield is the wife of the late Victor Butterfield, who served as Wesleyans president 1943-1967. Pictured above is Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano declaring July 27 Kay Butterfield Day in the City of Middletown. Posted 07/28/06 Kay Butterfield, wife of former Wesleyan President Victor Butterfield, turned 100 July 27. She celebrated the day with friends and family during a celebration at the Presidents House. Kay has lived a life of idealism and service. She was born July 27, 1906 in Brooklyn, N.Y., the daughter…
Max Schenkein '08 chats with an alumnus during a Wesleyan Fund fund-raising drive. Below, Sean Collins '08 and Ana Lombera '09 request gifts for Wesleyan. The student callers, along with staff in University Relations, helped raise more than $35 million this past year. Posted 07/28/06 Wesleyan enters its 175th anniversary year celebration with a tremendous gift from its alumni, friends, and other supporters: a record-breaking $35,054,196 in cash gifts, surpassing the 2005 record by $3.7 million. These funds will support financial aid, faculty, facilities, and programs. Fifty-four percent of alumni participated in giving to Wesleyan in 2006, equaling 2005's participation…
A new Iberian Studies major will enable students to focus primarily on Iberia, mainly Spain, but includes Portugal and former colonies. Posted 07/28/06 Iberian studies will be introduced as a new major by the Spanish section of the Romance Languages and Literatures Department this fall. The major is designed for students interested in studying the literature, history, culture and society of the Iberian peninsula. The new major will complement the current Spanish major, which provides students with a broad knowledge of the Spanish-language literatures of Spain and Latin America. "Over the years students have repeatedly expressed an interest in a…
At top, Anda Greeney 07 and Suzanne OConnell, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, prepare to deploy a bathyphotometer, an instrument that measures bioluminescence, into a bay in Vieques, an island off Puerto Rico.At right, Tim Ku, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, shows students how to drill a core sample in a bay they are studying. Posted 07/28/06 Ten miles off the east coast of Puerto Rico, on the island of Vieques, three mangrove-lined bays are illuminated with unicellular marine life known as dinoflagellates. One of the bays has an unusually high abundance of these microscopic creatures…
Barbara Juhasz, assistant professor of psychology, studies readers' eye movement. Posted 07/28/06 Barbara Juhasz has joined the Department of Psychology as an assistant professor. Juhasz studies the psychology of reading. Her main task in investigating word recognition is to measure readers' eye movements as they read sentences on a computer screen. The duration of readers' eye fixations on words provides detailed information on how easy or difficult words are to understand, she explains. While her research is usually conducted on literate adults, it has applications to the teaching of reading and the understanding of reading disorders. In my opinion,…
Patricia Klecha-Porter, head womens field hockey coach, offers her team advice during half-time. She also is the assistant squash coach, and has worked at Wesleyan for more than 20 years. Posted 07/28/06 Q: How were you first introduced to field hockey and squash, and at what age did you begin playing?A: My older sister was involved in the sport of field hockey. After her practice she would play with me. Organized training began in ninth grade. Squash was introduced to me at Wesleyan under the Head Coach Don Long. He mentored and gave me a solid foundation of skills,…
The American Story Project, a theater company comprised of Wesleyan students and alumni, will perform We Can't Reach You, Hartford at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland Aug. 7-19. Posted 07/28/06 In 1944, the Hartford Circus Fire caused more than 150 deaths during an afternoon circus performance. Although the cause of the fire remains officially undetermined, five employees of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus were charged with involuntary manslaughter, and the circus was forced to accept full financial responsibility for the fire that occurred during their show. This tragic, yet compelling story, will be retold…
Posted 07/28/06 Immigration, race and the history of U.S. citizenship are just a few of the topics that will be discussed during a summer institute presented by the Center for African American Studies for secondary school teachers from Aug. 7-10. Race and Membership: A History of United States Citizenship, has pre-registered more than 20 social studies teachers, most hailing from Connecticut. The four-day institute is open to all secondary school educators (grades six through 12), support staff, curriculum specialists and school librarians. The institute aims to foster a sustained and in-depth discussion among the participants about how to teach United…
Marcy Herlihy will be promoted to associate director of Wesleyan Fund Internal Operations. She's spent the past two years working with the fund and Data Services. Posted 07/28/06 In just under five years at Wesleyan, Marcy Herlihys role has changed three times. Next month, her responsibilities will change again, all for the better of the university. Herlihy was hired in October 2001 as the assistant director of The Wesleyan Annual Fund, which is now known as The Wesleyan Fund. Two years ago, she took over the role of manager of URs Data Services, but has continued to divide her…
SUMMER SERIES : East L.A.-based Quetzal performed as part of the Center for the Arts Nights series June 29. The group was found by guitarist/jarana/bajo sexto player Quetzal Flores, who brings a grass-roots approach to fusing the folk styles of Mexico and Cuba along with elements of rock and blues. Quetzal's beats got the audience dancing in the aisles of Crowell Concert Hall. The concert was intended to be outside but rainy weather moved it indoors. Quetzal kicked off the CFA Night Series, which also includes upcoming performances Eclipse: Visions of the Crescent and the Cross Forces of Nature Dance…