Wesleyan in the News: June 2023

President Michael S. Roth ’78 wrote a review of an anthology of the late Hayden White’s works titled The Ethics of Narrative: Essays on History, Literature, and Theory, 1998-2007 for the Los Angeles Review of Books. Roth said White “was a consistently intelligent and engaging postmodern advocate for thinking about history as a form of imaginative reconstruction that could either constrain people or inspire their liberation.” Roth also penned an op-ed in The Boston Globe drawing parallels between education and democracy. “We must be on our guard against those who are afraid of that exploration; we must stand up against…

In the last semester of the 1960s—a decade that’s since become a shorthand for a longer era of social, political, and cultural change—385 undergraduates comprising the Class of 1973 matriculated into Wesleyan. Among them were 50 Black and Latinx students, more than double the number of students of color admitted to comparable institutions. Months later in a January 1970 cover story, the New York Times Sunday Magazine chronicled the University’s strides in those early years of affirmative action in higher education with what some say was an undue dose of derision. “We, the Black, white, Latino, Asian, and women alums,…

Wesleyan’s past, present, and future came together on campus for a weekend of parties, seminars, and performances during the University’s annual Reunion and Commencement weekend, taking place May 25 through 28. Over 2,300 alumni from the Classes of the ’3s and ’8s mingled with families and seniors about to complete their Wesleyan experience, sharing stories of their undergraduate exploits and recalling treasured Wesleyan memories. “I’m here to see my friends and revisit campus. It’s nice to be back here,” said Alana Rodriguez ’13 as she lined up for the annual Parade of Classes. Her classmate, Genelle Faulkner ’13 saw it…

In this continuing series, we review alumni books and offer a selection for those in search of knowledge, insight, and inspiration. The volumes, sent to us by alumni, are forwarded to Olin Library as donations to the University’s collection and made available to the Wesleyan community. In honor of Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, this edition of YJHTRT highlights AAPI authors and subjects. Alexander Laban Hinton ’85, Anthropological Witness: Lessons from the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (Cornell University, 2022) In March 2016, Alexander Laban Hinton was invited to serve as an expert witness at an international tribunal established to try senior Khmer Rouge leaders for crimes committed during the 1975–79…

Michael Greenberg ’76, P’14 is one of three winners of the Lundbeck Foundation’s The Brain Prize 2023—the largest personal award for neuroscience research—for his contributions to the field. Greenberg, the Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, said it was “very gratifying” for his life’s work to be recognized by neuroscientists at the highest level. He has spent more than four decades researching the brain, specifically neuroplasticity—the ability of the brain to change in response to learning, experience, or following injury. “It's also been gratifying to see the work come to fruition in ways that we think…

In this continuing series, we review alumni books and offer a selection for those in search of knowledge, insight, and inspiration. The volumes, sent to us by alumni, are forwarded to Olin Library as donations to the University’s collection and made available to the Wesleyan community. In honor of Poetry Month, this edition of YJHTRT features chapbooks and collections in verse that investigate grief, language, and the human condition. Ian Boyden ’95, A Forest of Names: 108 Meditations (Wesleyan University Press, 2020) When an 8.0 magnitude earthquake leveled China’s western Sichuan province in May 2008, tens of thousands of people…

President Michael S. Roth ’78 authored a review of “Unearthed: A Lost Actress, a Forbidden Book, and a Search for Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust” by Meryl Frank for The Wall Street Journal. The memoir details her research into her family’s history and a book inherited from her aunt, Mollie, which depicts the brutal murder of Jewish performers by Nazis—including one of her cousins. Roth told The New Yorker that reading storied texts with specific lens’ geared toward re-affirming your own beliefs is like “shooting fish in a barrel.” He spoke on the topic for a piece on Hillsdale College’s…

David Rabban ’71, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, delivered a wide-ranging exploration of academic freedom and freedom of speech at the annual Hugo L. Black Lecture on Freedom of Expression. The lecture was presented by The Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life and took place March 30 in the Daniel Family Commons. “One of the things I loved about Wesleyan when I was here was the commitment of the faculty and administration to free speech and academic freedom,” Rabban said. His talk cited a wide array of case law to show…

Tom Matlack ’86 P’16 has never felt as in the zone as he did while rowing at Wesleyan. “It's this weird thing where you're with eight other people, and you're trying to move in exact synchronicity,” Matlack explained. “There's a feeling when you're doing that well that the boat actually feels almost like it's floating. And that there's no way to tell who is contributing what to the speed of the boat. So, you have to trust that each of the other people who are rolling with you is working just as hard as you are.” For Matlack and many…

Director and Producer Stephen Talbot ’70 was an early adopter of the anti-Vietnam War movement. He first began to turn against the war as a member of the mandatory Junior ROTC at Harvard High School, now Harvard-Westlake, in California in the mid-1960s. Talbot and his fellow high school classmates were given required trainings about the war. One of their JROTC instructors was called into active duty overseas in Vietnam and was severely injured. The news shook Talbot and he slowly began to question the war. Now nearly 60 years later, Talbot has produced and directed a documentary on the anti-war…

When Taylor DeLoach ’13 was studying for her Master’s in education she went on a lot of school visits. “Alma felt different when I got there,” she recalls. From the all-staff huddles every morning to the parent focus groups, DeLoach says “there were great interpersonal relational dynamics between people.” You’ll hear the same sentiment from a lot of Alma del Mar’s teachers and staff. Since opening in 2011, Alma has become one of the highest-performing charter public schools in the region. And nearly a decade after her first year of teaching, DeLoach has taken the helm as Alma’s new executive…

Former Miami Herald publisher Alberto Ibarguen ’66, Hon. ’11, P ’97 announced he is stepping down as the president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation—a philanthropic organization that has invested in media, arts, and culture. President Joseph R. Biden nominated Lt. Gen. Michael Cederholm ’88 to be the new commander of I Marine Expeditionary Force, one of the three main Marine forces, according to Marine Corps Times. An aviator by training, Cederholm has served as deputy commandant for aviation since July 2022, according to his official bio. Neuroscientist Michael Greenberg ’76 was one of three winners of the Lundbeck…

Wesleyan in the News: June 2023

In “Two Nations Now One,” the Class of ’73 Reflects on a Pivotal Era for Wesleyan

Alumni Gather for Reunion and Commencement Weekend 2023

“You Just Have to Read This…” Books by Wesleyan Authors Hinton ’85, Ohashi ’20, and Weisenfeld ’87

Michael Greenberg ’76, P’14 Wins The Brain Prize 2023 for Neuroscience Research

“You Just Have to Read This…” Books by Wesleyan Authors Boyden ’95, Schafer ’85, and Yankelevich ’95

Wesleyan in the News: April 2023

Annual Hugo Black Lecture Explores Academic Freedom

Tom Matlack ’86 P’16: On Acorns Becoming Oak Trees and Rowing For Coach Will Scoggins

Wesleyan Alumnus to Release PBS Documentary on Anti-War Protests

Wesleyan Alumni Chart Course for Student Success

Wesleyan in the News: March 2023