Campus News & Events

For her six years of service to the nation, Afghanistan veteran Kyle Foley '18, a Posse Scholar at Wesleyan, received a quilt from the local Quilts of Valor Foundation during a ceremony Dec. 3 at the Emblem Club in Middletown. Since 2003, Quilts of Valor have become a national community service effort to bring the home front to wounded soldiers and to honor returning Veterans. Quilts of Valor members pay tribute to those who have been touched by war by giving them a symbol of comforting and healing. During her six years in the Navy, Foley was a Seabee, specifically a construction mechanic, and was…

Five groups of students enrolled in the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Service Learning Laboratory course E&ES 324 presented their semester-long research Dec. 1 in Exley Science Center. Fellow students, faculty, staff, community members and community partners attended the presentations.

A new Energy Conservation Policy, adopted by Physical Plant and the Office of Sustainability, will ensure that Wesleyan's energy use is consumed in the most sustainable manner possible while maintaining indoor temperatures that are safe and comfortable for teaching, research and operational purposes. The policy aims to minimize the university’s energy consumption and direct/indirect carbon dioxide emissions while defining standards for reasonably comfortable indoor environments within each building. The policy promotes environmental, financial and social sustainability. (more…)

Conor Hunt '16, Trevor Dorn-Wallenstein '15, Girish Duvvuri '17, Coady Johnson '15 represented Wesleyan as student speakers at the 2014 Undergraduate Research Symposium of the Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium held at Swarthmore College on Nov. 8. A total of five faculty members and eight students from the Astronomy Department, including Greg Schulman '17, currently at Clark University, joined colleagues from around the northeast at this annual event.

Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth and Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Whaley distributed the following announcement to the campus community today: To the Wesleyan Community: In the beginning of this semester, Wesleyan announced a series of changes aimed to make residential Greek organizations safer and more inclusive. Public Safety now has full access to the houses, and many fraternity members, like other students, are now participating in bystander intervention training and other programs to curb gender-based violence. In addition to these safety measures, in order to become more inclusive all Greek residential organizations are required to present a plan…

In November, the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston named Associate Head Football Coach Dan DiCenzo the Division III assistant coach of the year. In addition, NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year Jake Bussani '14 received a Joe Zabilski Award for being the top Division III defensive player in New England. The honor is annually awarded to New England's best collegiate players in Divisions II and III. Bussani was one of four NESCAC players chosen for the New England Football Writers Division II/III all-star team. The last Cardinal to grace the NEFW all-star squad was Shea Dwyer '10 during the 2010 season. Bussani is currently enrolled…

Jesse Lieman-Sifry '15 received a $5,000 Undergraduate Directed Campus Scholarship from the Connecticut Space Grant Consortium, funded by NASA. The award will be applied to his financial aid package and support his ongoing research in the Astronomy Department.

Eighteen Wesleyan students, research assistants, alumni and one professor attended the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting, held Nov. 15-19 in Washington D.C. The student group included Wesleyan lab technicians/research assistants Felicia Harrsch and Adam Lombroso and biology graduate students Kemal Asik, Jyoti Gupta, Swechhya Shrestha, Chris Chen, Nickesha Anderson, Meghan van Zandt, Chelsea Lassiter, Samantha Maisel, Julian Gal and Chris Suriano. The alumni group included XiaoTing Zheng '14, Eniola Yeates '10, Efrain Ribiero '10, Michaela Tolman '13 and lab tech/research assistant Katharine Henderson. Most of these alumni are enrolled in Ph.D. or MD/Ph.D neuroscience programs at other universities. Jan Naegele, professor of biology, professor of neuroscience…

During the 2014 Society for Ethnomusicology's 59th Annual Meeting, held Nov. 13-16 in Pittsburgh, Pa., Wesleyan graduate students collaborated to present the first panel dedicated to Taiwanese identity and music. The panel, titled "How Taiwanese Should I Be? Contesting Taiwanese Identities in Local, Regional and Global Contexts," comprised of Ph.D. candidates Joy Lu and Po-wei Weng, and graduate student Ender Terwilliger. Su Zheng, associate professor of music, chaired the panel. Covering Taiwanese opera, Pili Budaixi, and fusion performances, the panel explored the process of identity formation when promoting Taiwanese identity in politically delicate situations domestically and overseas. In addition, Ph.D. candidates…

It turns out that teaching language arts, math and science to fourth graders is not the same as manufacturing cars on an assembly line. That is, the microeconomics principle of economies of scale—or the cost advantages that businesses get by increasing the scale of production—do not always apply to educational interventions. Put another way, an intervention that works great in one specific educational setting cannot necessarily be “scaled up” to work in many other settings. This is the finding of a major new study funded by the National Science Foundation, on which Associate Professor of Psychology Steven Stemler collaborated with…

On Nov. 9, a group of Wesleyan staff and students visited the Veterans' Home in Rocky Hill, Conn. They participated in an interfaith service and the singing of patriotic songs in honor of Veterans Day. They also distributed certificates of appreciation to the veterans. "The engaged and caring students showed the veterans, the oldest of which was 100 years old, such incredible compassion and respect," said Tracy Mehr-Muska, the university Protestant chaplain. "I was so proud of our students and was incredibly glad that they took advantage of this opportunity to thank the veterans for their service during this special…

The Office of Human Resources reported the following new hires, transitions and departures for October 2014: Newly hired Samantha O’Neill was hired as marketing and outreach coordinator in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program Office on Oct. 1. Scott Rohde was hired as director of public safety in the Office of Public Safety on Oct. 1. Anya Backlund was hired as exhibitions coordinator/institute for curatorial practice in performance coordinator in the Center for the Arts on Oct. 6. Jonathan Farrar was hired as senior investment associate in the Investment Office on Oct.14. Roney Thomas was hired as post doctoral research associate in the Physics Department…

Posse Scholar Foley ’18 Recipient of Quilt of Valor

GIS Service Learning Class Shares Field Research, Projects with Community

New Energy Conservation Policy Promotes Environmental, Financial, Social Sustainability

Students Represent Wesleyan at Keck Astronomy Consortium

Psi U Suspended from All Social Activities

Gridiron Club Honors Assistant Coach DiCenzo, Bussani ’14

Scholarship Helps Lieman-Sifry ’15 Study Gas Planet Formation

Students, Alumni Attend Neuroscience Meeting, Reunion Dinner

Graduate Students Speak on Taiwanese Music at Ethnomusicology Meeting

Stemler’s New Study Finds Educational Interventions Cannot Be “Scaled Up”

Staff, Students, Posse Fellows Thank Local Veterans for their Service

Staff on the Move, October 2014