Q: When did you come to Wesleyan?

A: I came to Wesleyan as an assistant dean last fall after graduating from Yale in the spring.

Q: What led you into working in an admission office?

A: I have a bachelor’s of arts in psychology, but in college, I became very involved in college awareness and SAT prep outreach programs. The different programs that I worked with opened up my eyes to the complexity of admissions. After working with high school students for three years, I knew that I wanted to work on the inside as well to get a better understanding of the process before returning to the advising/counseling side again someday.

Q: What are you enjoying most about working here so far?

A: Wesleyan is a wonderful place to work, but what I enjoy most about this job is the opportunity to travel and interact with students at their schools and in their communities.

Q: Working in the Office of Admission, do you get to work face-to-face with the students and parents or are you behind the scenes?

A: Both. All of the deans in the office spend time meeting students and parents at college fairs, school visits and information sessions. But of course a lot of the work in admissions goes on behind the scenes. We spend a lot of time reading applications, coordinating alumni outreach, planning travel and putting special programs together just to name a few duties.

Q: And what about that successful WesFest?

A: It was a community wide effort that Wesleyan can be proud of!

WesFest is our admitted student’s weekend, and I was involved with the planning of it. It could be thought of as a celebration of all things Wesleyan and requires coordination between the Office of Admission and dozens of faculty and student groups on campus. Around 400 admitted students visited that weekend and I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things from both parents and students.

Q: What are your thoughts on the Wesleyan students?

A: I absolutely love working with both our prospective students as well as our current students. One of the greatest parts of this job is getting to meet so many individuals and hearing their stories and plans for the future.

Q: What are typical questions that high school students or parents have about Wesleyan?

A: Our information sessions are driven by the audience’s questions so we get asked almost everything and anything about Wesleyan. Some common themes are social life on campus, study abroad opportunities, campus culture and academic programs. One of the neat things about our information sessions is that a current senior sits on the panel with an admissions dean. Having a student on the panel is invaluable to families that are trying to find out what it’s really like to be a student at Wes.

Q: Students are also tour guides, correct?

A: Yes. Our tour guides are also excellent and we get a lot of great feedback about them. The Cardinal Key Tour Guide Program is a volunteer program and so the students who give tours really do it for the love of the university, which makes for a wonderful tour. 

Q: How does your job change throughout the year?

A: Admissions is a cyclical process, so I’ll describe the different seasons of admissions. In the fall, the deans in our office travel all over the country — and the world — to visit high schools, meet students, work at college fairs and host receptions. It’s a hectic schedule where we visit up to five schools during the day and then host a reception or attend a fair at night. In the winter, you will find most of the deans reading applications. Once decision letters go out in the spring, our office gets busy planning for WesFest, reaching out to admitted students though phone-a-thons and recruiting the next year’s class. Throughout the year, we hold daily information sessions and answer questions from students, parents and counselors.

Q: Is reading applications a pretty intense process?

A: Yes. Last winter, I often found myself reading applications six days a week, sometimes from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Most of the deans work at home to avoid office distractions.

Q: Are you involved with any Wesleyan activities?

A: The on-campus activity that I am most heavily involved in is varsity softball. I played in college and jumped at the opportunity to volunteer with the team here at Wesleyan. It’s a great way to spend more time interacting with students and sharing a passion that they have. 

Q: What are your hobbies?

A: Probably the most interesting “hobby” of mine, if you can call it that, is football. This past winter I joined a women’s professional football team here in Connecticut called the Connecticut Crush (www.ctcrush.com).  Few of the women on the team have played full-contact football before, so we put in a lot of time practicing and learning the sport. I’m also active in my church in New Haven, Christ Presbyterian, and can often be found spending time with that family on the weekends.

When Pamela Tatge became the director of the Center for the Arts (CFA) six years ago, Wesleyan had a golden reputation in the arts.  Unfortunately, not enough people in the community – or on campus  –  were taking notice.

“We were an undiscovered gem,” Tatge recalls.” I saw the richness in this institution and believed the resources should be shared with the community.”

Tatge would spend the first five years of her Wesleyan career raising the public’s awareness of arts at Wesleyan. By 2004, the CFA increased its attendance by the general public by 70 percent, while increasing student attendance by 18 percent and faculty-staff attendance by a staggering 1,720 percent. Overall ticket sales climbed 14 percent and revenues for CFA sponsored events went up 24 percent.

Tatge also spearheaded the development of the university’s Green Street Arts Center, which opened in January of 2005 in Middletown’s North End. She conducted feasibility studies, focus groups and derived the business plan.

“Nothing in my working life has been as tremendous as creating the Green Street Arts Center,” she says. “I know the institution is here to stay, and it will only grow and continue to assist children and adults.”

Her efforts have not gone unnoticed. In 2003, she was awarded the Elizabeth Mahaffey Fellowship for Arts Administration from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts. In March, the Connecticut Dance Alliance honored Tatge and the CFA with an achievement award.

In addition, the Center for the Arts was recently named a Hub Site for the National Dance Project in recognition for their ongoing commitment to the creation and presentation of new dance work. As a result Tatge will serve on the NDP Board.

But these are just the extras that Tatge takes on. As director, her main duties are to oversee programming in an arts complex that includes a theater, cinema, two music halls and a contemporary art gallery. Offerings include the Crowell Concert Series, the Breaking Ground Dance Series and Outside the Box, a series of theater performances and talks, well as several professional and student installations annually in the Zilkha Gallery.

LiLy Milroy, Dean of the Arts and Humanities program and professor of American studies and art history says her colleague devotion to promoting arts in the Middletown community is signaled by such projects.

“I think Pam is a dynamic director of the Center who has developed an exciting and innovative program of events for the Center and has as a result significantly raised the profile of the Center for the Arts both on campus and in the wider community,” Milroy says. “I enjoy working with her immensely.”

Working in the CFA is not Tatge’s first experience with Wesleyan’s fine arts. After growing up in Bethesda, Md., and Milan, Italy, the bilingual student enrolled at Wesleyan in 1980 to pursue a degree in history.

But in between courses on 20th Century Europe with Professor of History Nat Greene and psychohistory with Professor of History Phil Pomper, she took an interest in Wesleyan’s overabundance of art, dance and music classes. She acted in a play every semester, took several dance classes and sang in the concert choir. These experiences, along with a year abroad in Paris, led to a deep love for international cultures.

“These four years here were a precious time for me to take advantage of the arts and the arts faculty here,” she says. “I aimed to be a triple threat. I was going to be an actress, singer and dancer and I was determined to make my fame in New York,” she says.

After graduating in 1984, she worked for two years as an actor in New York, supporting her career by grant writing and fund-raising for several arts organizations. In time, her home life and administrative interests in the arts outweighed her desire to be cast in roles that would require her to travel.

From 1989-99, she was the Director of Development at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, where she spent 10 years developing the theater’s fund-raising  and community outreach programs, including mounting what was at the time, the most successful single year fundraising campaign in the theater’s history.

While at Long Wharf, she ran fund-raising workshops for arts organizations throughout the state, worked to create the Arts Industry Coalition and the Regional Cultural Plan for Greater New Haven, and was hired by the Connecticut Commission on the Arts to mentor first-time arts managers.

“My life experiences had taken me in many different directions, so I came back to Wesleyan, looking at it through new eyes,” she says.

She oversees a staff of 15, including an exhibitions curator, technical operators, an art director, box office manager, art studio and audio-visual technicians and the staff of the Green Street Arts Center. She’s also been recruiting artists for Middletown Dances!, a town-wide dance festival which will feature the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange. As a result of Tatge’s efforts and the interest of the dance and science Departments, GLSP and the Continuing Studies Program, among others, the dance exchange will be in residency throughout the year, culminating in world premiere of Ferocious Beauty: Genome as part of the Breaking Ground Dance Series.

“Pam has done wonders in bringing the Green Street Arts Center to life, establishing important arts connections between Wesleyan and its surrounding community,” says Eric Charry, associate professor of music. “Her great energy has helped to bring a wide array of musical events to campus that gives Wesleyan its distinctive character.”

Tatge lives in Madison, Conn., with her husband, artist Jerry Zinser, her two children and two step-children. She also spends time as a Madison Foundation board member, a volunteer at her children’s schools, and attends events that the CFA sponsors.

She regrets not having the time to sing, dance or perform. However, she still sneaks in an occasional jam session with her family.

“I still love to dance,” she says. “I still love to rock out.”

Ernesto Verdeja joined the Department of Government and College of Social Studies as an assistant professor of government in August 2004.

”I was attracted to Wesleyan because of its reputation for promoting research and teaching among its faculty,” he says. “And the students are fantastic.”

Verdeja earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin and his master’s and Ph.D in political science/political theory from the New School for Social Research in New York City. His dissertation, which Verdeja is turning into a book manuscript, focuses on reconciliation after mass political atrocity.

“In it, I try to conceptualize the requirements for a theoretically satisfactory model of societal reconciliation that is also empirically possible,” he says. “I do this by looking at the role of truth commissions and trials, as well as the role of political and civil society actors.”

Verdeja’s main areas of interest are in modern and contemporary political theory, with a strong focus on issues of justice in transitional societies, meaning societies that are emerging from a recent history of political violence. He is currently writing two articles, one on public apologies for mass violence, and a second on reparations for victims of violence.

Verdeja anticipates teaching courses in political theory as well as more specialized classes on transitional justice, mass violence and justice and reconciliation. 

Verdeja lives in New Haven, and enjoys listening to music and playing guitar in his free time

It’s been a “bon voyage” for Madame Joyce O. Lowrie.

After a 39-year career at Wesleyan, the professor of romance languages and literatures has announced her retirement at the end of this semester. But she’s not saying “au revoir” just yet.

“You could say my retirement is more of an ‘a bientôt  ‘ I’ll be seeing you soon,’” she says from her third floor office on High Street, a room that once housed President Doug Bennet in the converted all-male fraternity house Alpha Chi Rho. “I’ll be taking trips to Paris, but I still plan to be around.”

Professor Lowrie, who came to Wesleyan in 1966 as an assistant professor, says she will continue her research on French literature after her retirement. She’ll also finish the book she has been writing, which is already 300 pages long.

“I have spent my life doing research and I hope not to have to stop, at least for a while yet,” she says. “This is my passion.”

Lowrie taught courses both at Wesleyan and in Paris, including a senior seminar, “Introduction to French Literature, Middle Ages to the 18th-century,” “Narrative Strategies in 19th-20th-century French Literature,” “A Question of Time,” and her signature class, “The Mirror in the Text,” which featured sections from her forthcoming book, “Sightings:  Mirrors in Texts — Texts in Mirrors.” The book emphasizes her research, which is on the function, significance and meaning of chiastic and interlocking structures in French prose fiction. 

“I’ve always loved teaching courses that cover literature from many centuries,” she says. “I could do that in these classes. I simply love helping students learn how to appreciate such beautiful and challenging usages of the French language, and to understand the ideas they portray.”

Deirdre Stiles ’87 of Sussex, England took senior seminar with Lowrie and the two have been e-mail correspondents ever since. Stiles still remembers Lowrie engaging her in class discussions.

“She treated us as colleagues,” Stiles says. “She listened and was truly interested in what each of us had to say about what we had read. She had a wonderful sense of humor which enlivened the dialogue. And she was fully engaged in what she taught – she loved it and it showed.”

Although her courses were taught in French, Lowrie says the classes touched a broad spectrum of students in different majors. 

Ari Zito, ’05, who will double major in the College of Letters and French Studies, took two classes with Madame Lowrie during his Wesleyan career.

“I know that in the future, when I think back to my academic experience at Wesleyan, I will recall sitting in the seminar room in 300 High Street, drinking tea with a dozen other students, and listening to Madame Lowrie talk about Proust,” Zito says. “I know that I am only one of many people who will miss her very much.

Born in Brazil, Lowrie was raised bilingual in Portuguese and English as a child, but learned Latin and French in school, “with a strong Brazilian accent.”  Her accent was corrected when she attended college at Baylor University in Texas, where she graduated magna cum laude in 1957. That same year, she received a Fulbright scholarship to study French literature at the University of Bordeaux. 

“That experience changed my life,” she says. “Although I was interested in many other subjects, it was French language and literature that I loved most. I also fell in love with the country, its culture, its mores, its cuisine, its people.”

Lowrie returned to the United States in 1958 to earn her Ph.D. in French at Yale University. There she met her husband-to-be, Ernest. They have one daughter, Michèle, who now teaches classics at New York University. 

Lowrie was the first woman professor “to rise through the ranks” and obtain tenure at Wesleyan. In 1972, Lowrie became associate professor, and in 1977 she became a full professor.

She taught French in smoke-filled classrooms at the then all-male university. Even President Colin Campbell’s office had “snazzy” ceramic ashtrays, she recalls. 

“It was quite a different institution then,” she says.

While much has changed, Lowrie’s vibrant and witty personality has remained the same.

“Joyce is an irreverent, fun-loving bon vivant, an Epicurean with a taste and talent for making superb food and scandalous jokes,” says colleague Andrew Curran, associate professor of romance languages and literatures.

Ellen Nerenberg, associate professor of romance languages and literatures and associate professor of women’s studies, considers Lowrie’s sense of humor sly and puckish.

“You could even call it wicked,” Nerenberg says. “Yet despite this, or perhaps because of it, Joyce has a keen sense of decorum. She balances deliciously between the two poles.”

Lowrie is the author of 19 articles, five translations, 12 reviews and one book under her own name, “The Violent Mystique” published by Droz Press, Geneva. She has contributed substantive chapters to three books and her book in progress. She earned a fellowship to work on her present book at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France, in 1995.

Lowrie has sat on more than 20 university committees.  She also served as a freshman, sophomore, and a French major advisor. She was a liaison with Foreign Language Teaching Assistants, chair of her own department of Romance Languages and Literatures, and she served as the Resident as well as campus director of the Vassar-Wesleyan Program in Paris.

“Many of my students decided to spend some time in France through this program,” she says. “There is nothing like a year abroad to help students to learn to speak colloquial French, and to understand French literature and culture. “

Lowrie has obtained many academic honors over the years. She was awarded an University Fellowship at Yale University between 1959-1962; a Wesleyan fellowship at the Center for the Humanities in 1973; she received a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant in 1989-90. She has been a member of several professional organizations including the American Association of Teachers of French, the Modern Language Association, and the Northeast Modern Language Association of America. She has presented papers in all of these venues.

After retiring, Lowrie is planning on “doing exactly what I most love doing, and that is reading, doing research, writing, and traveling to France,” she says.  She will continue to reside in the Middletown area. She doesn’t want to wander far from her colleagues, friends and Wesleyan students.

“Wesleyan students: I love them! That says it all,” she says. “They are so bright and so full of ideas. They are the reason I have wanted to stay at Wesleyan all of these years. Being around students keeps one young.”

Q: When did you come to Wesleyan, and were you always a computer operations specialist?

A: I started July 7, 1977 or 7/7/77. A lucky number? I was hired as a computer operator, and in time my title changed to production manager for administrative systems. I left Wesleyan in 1982, because at that point in my career I felt I needed more exposure to ever changing technology. From 1982 to1985 I worked 2nd and 3rd shift jobs for different employers ranging from a computer operator to a plastics mold injection operator. During that same time I worked as a daytime temporary employee for Wesleyan for what was then known as the Computing Center processing and printing materials at the peak times during the academic and fiscal calendars. When a permanent job became available in 1985, I was hired permanently. I had just two requests, that the salary was at least the same and it was first shift only. The administration agreed, so I came back as a permanent employee in the role of computer operator.

Q: What does your job title, computer operations specialist, mean exactly?

A: During the years the responsibilities have changed, but basically I respond to and resolve requests in the request tracking system operations@wesleyan. I also support ITS’ desktop support, help desk and technical staff by adding and removing computer accounts, processing printing requests, restoring files, solving access issues and creating and adjusting e-mail lists.

Q: What’s a typical day like?

A: Most of my time is spent on my computer. I communicate mostly via e-mail and phone. The only direct contact I have on a regular basis is with ITS staff.  On any given day I could spend a lot of time on unanticipated issues, as well as routine technical maintenance. 

Q: What are typical problems you help people solve?

A: People contact me with a variety of problems. It can be anything from “my e-mail isn’t working” to “the Internet is down,” or “Saturn is down.”  “PeopleSoft gives me a blank screen,” “I am getting denied access to these files,” or  “I have lost a couple of files, can you restore them from last Tuesday?” They’ll also say that MeetingMaker is suddenly asking them for a password, and that it hasn’t done that in two years, and they want to know what their password is, or “I am a new faculty calling from California, are my computer accounts setup yet? How do I access them from here?”

Q: What has been one of your most memorable problems?

A: One of my most unique calls was from someone saying, “I keep getting denied dial-in access so I went out and bought a new phone, can you help me?”

Q: What lead you into computer-type work?

A: After high school in 1974 I worked at Fafnir Bearing in New Britain and my coworkers, who had been in factory work for many years, all told me that I should get out of factory work.  I have since realized this was very good advice. I checked out the Computer Processing Institute, CPI, in East Hartford. It no longer exists, but I went there in 1976, and earned a diploma in operations. At that time I trained on IBM mainframes 360/370.

Q: What are typical programs or programming languages you use at work?

A: Visual BASIC is still being used in the programming area somewhat, but now it’s mostly    C++, SQR, Procedural Language/SQL, Java and COBOL. These are mostly for business applications. There are different languages for math and statistical and web applications.

Q: Do you prefer PCs or Macs?  

A: I prefer PCs. My first computer was a Mac, which I liked, but Macs are mostly used to start your computer exposure in grade schools or high school, or if you work in publications or art. 

Q: Do people ever use their keyboard trays for coffee mug holders and end up with disasters?  

A: Of course, haven’t you? I can get an entire lunch just by turning my keyboard over and shaking. Desktop support specialists deal with this all the time.

Q: At home, are you on a computer much or do you try to stay away?

A: I do have a computer, a PC. This is where I do personal stuff like emailing friends and relatives, banking, buying stuff and research. I’m not much of a computer game player, and don’t spend much time ‘surfing.’ There are times when I do work-related projects from home, but not often. It’s funny how different your mindset is when you’re on your computer at work versus home.  

Q: What are some of your hobbies?

A: My hobbies seem to center around physical activities. I like to play squash here at Wesleyan, and have met many people in other departments who also play that otherwise I would not have met. I feel fortunate to work for an employer that provides opportunity and encourages exercise at lunch time. Also, I have played racquetball for years at the YMCA in New Britain. I like to rollerblade, play tennis and lift weights. 

Q: Where did you grow up and where are you living now?

A: I was born in Kensington but I have lived in Southington for about 12 years now. I have four sisters and a brother. Three sisters and their families are local. One sister and her family lives in Massachusetts. My brother lives in Cape Coral, Florida.

Q: What do you like best about working at Wesleyan? 

A: To choose something I like best is difficult because I like so much of what I do.  But mostly I enjoy working with a diverse and interesting population. In a given hour I can speak with students, faculty, alumni, parents, staff or vendors. I like that each phone call and each e-mail request exposes me to a different challenge in my work day. I never know what is in store for me. That’s the beauty!

Q: When did you start at Wesleyan?

A: About eight years ago. I had been laid off from an office-job and was looking for work and there was an opening at the campus center. Cooking was always a hobby of mine, so I applied, and got a job behind the line.

Q: And when did you start working for the University Club?

A: The University Club has been in existence for many, many years, but I moved over there about four years ago. Then, the University Club was inside the Downey House. It was a place for faculty and staff to eat, and at one point it was for students, too.

Q: And what brought it here, to the Mt. Vernon Street location?

A: When they started remodeling the Downey House into classrooms, we were relocated here. This house was owned by Wesleyan and Henry Abelove, professor of English and American Studies, lived here. He had moved out, so they moved the University Club in here.

Q: How would you describe the dining atmosphere of the University Club?

A: The University Club has always been a nice place to meet, or just get away from the office and have a nice meal. Faculty and staff can network here, and build community.

Q: What would you tell people that haven’t seen the new University Club?

A: If you ever want to take a stroll around campus, and pass by, by all means, come by and take a look. There’s plenty of parking here, but it’s also a nice walk. I’m happy to show people around.

Q: How is business?

A: Business could be better, and I blame that on our move. Many faculty and staff think that after we left the Downey House we didn’t exist anymore, but we’re still here. It is farther off campus, and we’re in a residential neighborhood, but we are so close to the Center for Film Studies and fine arts, and I’m surprised we’re not at least getting those crowds.

Q: What are the advantages of being here?

A: When we were in the Downey House, it was very dark. Dark paneling and tiles. Here, we have redecorated and it has a cozy, homey feel to it. And there’s lots of light.

Q: What kinds of meals are served here?

A: People have the option of getting soup and salad, a sandwich or wrap, buffet, dessert and beverages, or combinations of those items. They can dine in or grab and go.

Q: How do people know what is being served every day?

A: We have a menu line at x3090, option 5. Or they can call me directly at x6300.

Q: How do employees pay?

A: They can pay by cash or check, but they can also charge it to their ID cards for payroll deduction.

Q: What is a typical day like for you here?

A: I come in at around 9:30 a.m. and unload the dishwasher, make sure the tables are set, take care of any special needs or prepare for groups that have reserved a table, I set up the whole buffet, and then assist the student workers with dishes and clearing tables. During lunch, I greet people at the door, run the cash register and take telephone reservations.

Q: Can faculty and staff can display their artwork here?

A: Yes. We will display artwork, books, crafts, pottery or other forms of art free of charge. They can display it for show, or they can try to sell it here.

Q: So it’s just you and the students who run this place?

A: Yes. Six students and myself. We keep it nice and small.

Q: Do you get to do much cooking at home?

A: No, not so much anymore. I work another part-time job in a library, and I spend a lot of time knitting, gardening and training my Airedale, so there’s not much time left to cook.

Q: When did you join the Physical Education Department as an adjunct assistant professor and what are your responsibilities?

A: I came here in July 2004. I’m head coach of the women’s soccer team, assistant coach of the Lacrosse team and I teach physical education classes.

Q: What is your educational background?

A: I have a bachelor’s degree in graphic communications from Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire, and I’m currently taking classes through Wesleyan’s GLSP program in social sciences.

Q: Why did you make the switch from graphic design to athletics?

A: I worked as a graphic designer but realized that sitting behind a desk, in front of a computer 10 hours a day under constant time pressure and stress was not for me. My college coach had moved from New Hampshire to Hartford and asked me to work for him at the University of Hartford. I jumped at the offer and decided to trade the money for a much healthier work environment. That’s how I ended up coaching and teaching phys ed instead.

Q: And what did you end up doing at the University of Hartford?

A: I was the assistant soccer coach for three years and the head coach for three.

Q: You’re a former member of the Swedish National Soccer Team. Tell me more about that experience.

A: I played most of my career in Sweden with a couple of years on the Swedish National team and six years in the Swedish Premier League, which is the highest women’s league. I moved to the U.S. in 1992 and started college at the age of 24, more for the overall experience than the education at first. I ended my soccer career with my four years at Franklin Pierce where I was named the 1992 National Player of the year and was a three time All-American and two-time Academic All-American.

Q: What attracted you to Wesleyan?

A: I liked its diverse student population, academic reputation and athletic facilities. It makes my job of bringing in talented student-athletes much easier when you have brand new state-of-the-art facilities to show them. The new Freeman Gym is very impressive.

Q: When you’re not working, do you continue to watch the sport?

A: I like to watch games live, or on television. But when there’s not a game on, I enjoy reading books and working around my house. I live in Meriden with my husband, Rudy.