Campus News & Events

#THISISWHY Nearly everyone who attended Wesleyan has fond memories of time spent on Foss Hill. Whether it’s sledding in the winter, studying or lounging with friends on a sunny day, taking in a great concert, or engaging in a spirited political debate, Foss Hill has been a central part of the Wesleyan experience for generations of students. This year on April 2, Wesleyan will celebrate the inaugural Foss Hill Day. The theme of the day will be “Foss Hill: Our Common Ground,” and the university will share Foss Hill facts, student profiles and experiences of Foss Hill on social media and elsewhere.…

The Exley Science Center’s first level, which underwent renovations earlier this year, has been outfitted with all new furniture, offering a variety of seating options. According to Brandi Hood, senior project coordinator with Construction Services, the lobby boasts 34 new lounge seats with end tables (each with USB and power outlets); four tables with 15 low-top study seats; six tables with 24 high-top café seats; and nine standing countertop kiosks for those looking to charge a cell phone or take a quick break. “This seating was chosen to provide a variety of comfortable, single and group seats, (more…)

On Feb. 27, representatives from seven Wesleyan athletic teams visited Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Middletown to promote the anti-bullying message "if it's mean, then intervene" with about 300 seventh and eighth graders. The student-athletes worked with the school's RAM Pride Patrol program, which is run by seventh grade teacher and Wesleyan alumnus Anthony Albrech '08. Albrecht organized the participation by Wesleyan athletes with Jeff McDonald, assistant football coach. McDonald drafted 16 student athletes from the men's and women's lacrosse teams, men's hockey team, football, men’s tennis team, women’s basketball and men’s track to come to the school for two separate presentations.…

Mateusz “Matt” Burgunder ’15 recently competed in the 2015 Ski Mountaineering World Championships in Verbier, Switzerland where the U.S. National Ski Mountaineering Team finished in 10th place overall. This was Burgunder's fourth time competing for the U.S., participating in three events. Competitors race by climbing up and skiing down mountains at a rate of approximately 3,000 feet per hour. The 2015 Ski Mountaineering World Championships, hosted by the International Ski Mountaineering Federation, were held Feb. 6–12. More information about the U.S. Ski Mountaineering Association and the 2015 World Championships can be found online. See photos of Burgunder's events below: (more…)

This month, Wesleyan's men's basketball team was crowned NESCAC champs and played in the NCAA Division III Championship for the first time in history. However, the team came up short at Nationals after losing to Skidmore in a first-round game March 6. The field of 62 teams in the NCAA championship was announced March 2. Wesleyan’s team claimed the NESCAC title after defeating Amherst 74-70 in overtime on March 1. Wesleyan led most of the game but had to fend off several Lord Jeff rallies to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. In that game, Jack Mackey ’16 broke…

At its meeting Feb. 28, Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees voted to increase tuition and residential comprehensive fees by 2.1 percent for the 2015–16 year, reflecting the third year of linking tuition increases to the rate of inflation. The increase is based on the three-year national CPI average of June 30, 2014, the latest full fiscal year available. As a result of this policy, Wesleyan’s student charges for first-year students and sophomores currently rank 14th among a peer comparison group, compared to 1st in 2011. A further decline is anticipated. “We remain committed to keeping Wesleyan affordable for all students,” said…

Wesleyan's Slam Poetry Team, WeSlam, took first place at the Yale Regional Poetry Slam Feb. 28 in New Haven, Conn. Wesleyan competed against five other teams from Yale, Brown University, Columbia/Barnard, Middlebury College and Emerson College. "Our team brought important pieces about racial and religious identity, sexual violence across the gender binary, and gender roles," said former WeSlam member Mike Rosen '11, who serves as the team's advisor. Poets include Giorgia Peckman '18, Jon Logan-Rung '18, Hazem Fahmy '17, Rick Manayan '17 and Max Friedlich '17. Fahmy received a standing ovation for his poem about popular culture's portrayal of Islam. For more information on…

In its most recent meeting, the Board of Trustees promoted seven faculty members. The BOT conferred tenure on Lauren Caldwell, associate professor of classical studies; Stephen Collins, associate professor of film studies; Paul Erickson, associate professor of history; Matthew Garrett, associate professor of English; Brian Northrop, associate professor of chemistry; Julia Randall, associate professor of art; and Seth Redfield, associate professor of astronomy. The promotions are effective July 1, 2015. Brief descriptions of their areas of research and teaching appear below. Lauren Caldwell Caldwell’s research focuses on Roman social history, Roman law, and Greco-Roman medicine. Her recent book, Roman Girlhood and the Fashioning of Femininity (Cambridge University Press,…

Wesleyan’s Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship announced the winners of the 2015 PCSE Seed Grant Challenge. These student-led social ventures will each receive $5,000 in unrestricted funds as well as training, advising, mentoring, incubator workspace and other resources from the Patricelli Center. Recipients were selected from a strong pool of finalists who submitted written business plans and pitched to a panel of expert judges comprised of alumni, students, faculty and staff. Applicants were assessed on their project design, leadership qualities and potential for social impact. The 2015 Seed Grant recipients are: (more…)

As a 2015 Humanities Research Centre Visiting Fellow, Associate Professor Jennifer Tucker will study Victorian sustainability, photography, law and river pollution prevention reform at Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Australia. Her appointment will be May 15-July 15. Tucker's ongoing research, tentatively titled “Science Against Industry: Photographic Technologies and the Visual Politics of Pollution Reform,” traces the historical roots of the use of visual evidence in environmental science and pollution reform. Using nearly 300 visual representations (drawings, engravings photographs, and graphs) from archives and libraries, many of which have never previously been studied, she analyzes the scientific impact of new forms of visual representation in chemical climatology and examines the…

Beginning this month, Wesleyan's College of the Environment, Center for the Arts and other outside partners will present "The Elements: An Annual Environmental Film Series." The first film, Elemental, will be screened at 7:30 p.m. March 30 in the Center for the Arts Hall. The award-winning film follows three activists as they work to protect air, water and earth around the world, and offers a call for global action. The second film in the series, WATERSHED, will be screened at 7 p.m. May 4 in Middlesex Community College's Chapman Hall, 100 Training Hill Rd. in Middletown. Executive produced and narrated by Robert Redford, this film tells the story…

It is Feb. 24, 10:20 a.m., and Mike Whaley, vice president for student affairs, steps out of a meeting in the President’s Office to take a phone call. He returns two minutes later, takes his seat, and in an emotion-laden voice tells the group that a student whose life was endangered by poisoning from a variant of the drug Molly (MDMA) was improving. It was a moment so many had been waiting for. As of Tuesday evening, eight of the 10 Wesleyan students hospitalized Sunday had been discharged. Two, however, remained hospitalized. There was more news Tuesday night: four Wesleyan students…

Support Students on Foss Hill Day April 2

Exley Offers New Study Space for Students

Student Athletes Promote Anti-Bullying at Local Middle School

Burgunder ’15 Competes in Ski Mountaineering World Championships

NESCAC Win Sends Cardinals to NCAA Championship

Wesleyan Sets 2015–2016 Student Charges

WeSlam Poetry Team Takes Victory at Regional Slam

7 Faculty Promoted, Awarded Tenure

PCSE Awards Seed Grants to Student-Led Ventures

Tucker to Study Victorian Sustainability, River Pollution Prevention Reform as Visiting Fellow

New Environmental Film Series to be Presented by COE, CFA

Wesleyan Students Hospitalized