1200x660-Fulbright.jpg
Sarah ParkeFebruary 13, 20247min
The U.S. Department of State has released its list of Fulbright Program Top Producing Institutions for the 2023-2024 academic year and Wesleyan University has earned a spot for the fifth consecutive year. The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's flagship international academic exchange program. Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections, and work to address complex global challenges. Six Wesleyan University students were selected for Fulbright awards for academic year 2023-24,…

MLK-11523.jpg
Mike MavredakisJanuary 15, 202410min
When he came to Wesleyan University’s campus on January 14, 1962, many people thought Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., Hon. 64, was in a moment of defeat. Uncharacteristically for King, the Albany Movement, which he helped lead after it was started by protestors, struggled to gain a foothold in the media. But if King were feeling defeated, no one could tell by the impassioned address he gave before interested students and faculty. In December of 1961, many protesters were arrested in Albany, Georgia and intentionally declined bail to attempt to crowd jails and spotlight inhumane conditions. However, Albany…

1200x660-PSafe-stuff-a-cruiser.jpg
Mike MavredakisDecember 22, 20232min
Wesleyan’s Public Safety collected over $2,000 worth of donations and a full cruiser of toys at the sixth annual week-long Holiday Toy Drive. The toys and proceeds were delivered to eight families in need, including 29 children, on Dec. 17. Public Safety collaborated with the Middletown Fire Department and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to sponsor the drive. “The Wesleyan Community has been so generous during our Stuff-a-Cruiser event, we are humbled by the outpouring of support we have received from the students and staff on campus,” a representative from Public Safety said. “Without the students, support from the department, and…

Irani-Live-Like-a-Philosopher.jpeg
Steve ScarpaDecember 13, 20239min
Students from high schools across the country are getting the chance to “live like a philosopher” thanks to a Wesleyan course taught by Tushar Irani, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Letters. The course is offered through Wesleyan’s partnership with the National Education Equity Lab—an initiative that seeks to democratize college access and advance education justice by providing college-level courses to students attending Title 1 high schools across the country. (The New York Times wrote about the program previously.) There are six high schools participating in the course—from Albuquerque to El Paso to the Bronx—with a total of over 75 students…

1200x660-9-25-23-sylvain-owens-ten-eyck-harris-babou-1.jpg
Andrew ChatfieldDecember 12, 20237min
Four prototype mosaics sit on display in storefront windows along Main Street’s Downtown Business District this fall. The quartet are a sample of what Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art and Art Studio Technician Kate Ten Eyck will install in the pedestrian tunnel connecting downtown Middletown to the Connecticut River as part of a new public art project. The ongoing multi-year mural installation project, called “Mosaics on Main/TunnelVision," will showcase 200 million years of local history. Ten Eyck’s mosaic depicts the dinosaur Anchisaurus, one of the few fossilized skeletons found in the region, in Manchester and East Windsor. Ten Eyck held…

1200x660-DIA.jpg
Editorial StaffDecember 6, 20232min
Author and academic Michael Eric Dyson will offer the keynote address at Wesleyan University’s Democracy in Action Convening, a weekend exploration of the convergence of higher education and democracy. The event will be held February 16-17, 2024, and is free for Wesleyan students and $25 for all other attendees. Registration is now open. Across two days of thought leadership and engaging activities, participants will hear from a collection of scholars, community leaders, experts, and peers. Following a Friday afternoon filled with student-centered engagement opportunities, the Convening opens to all with Dyson’s keynote address that evening. Saturday will be filled with…

Robyn-Autry.jpg
Steve ScarpaDecember 5, 20235min
Hoping to expand the diverse ways the Wesleyan community engages in public discourse, Associate Professor of Sociology Robyn Autry has been named director of the Center for the Study of Public Life, at the Allbritton Center. “Provost Nicole Stanton has trusted me to do something new with the CSPL (Center for the Study of Public Life). I am still figuring out what I want to do, but it is connected with a lot of the public writing I’ve been doing for the past few years,” said Autry, who is a critical sociologist. The new role dovetails with Autry’s research interests…

1200x660-badr-2.jpg
Steve ScarpaNovember 27, 20236min
Poet and social entrepreneur Ahmed M. Badr '20 has been named the new director of the Patricelli Center, an organization he considered a home while attending Wesleyan. After serving in an interim capacity, Badr took on the permanent role in August. “I hope that the folks going through the classes and the program realize their own capacity to create a direct impact in the world,” Badr said. Badr’s road to helping students find their way to change the world through the Patricelli Center began with finding his own voice. His family came to the United States in 2008 as refugees from…

P1120780-copy.jpg
Editorial StaffNovember 22, 20236min
By Rose Chen '26 On Saturday, November 11, the Bailey College of the Environment (COE) hosted “Mobilizing Power: Community Building for Environmental Justice,” an event which brought together individuals to exchange knowledge, build relationships and skills for community organizing, and collaborate on action for environmental justice.  Malana Rogers-Bursen, the Project Coordinator for Food Security, Environmental Justice, and Sustainability at COE, and Hannah Phan ’25 created the event along with a small group of student leaders and faculty from Sunrise Wesleyan, the Environmental Solidarity Network (ESN), the COE and the Office of Sustainability, as well as community leaders from Save the…

Saaka-dance-2.jpg
Andrew ChatfieldNovember 15, 20237min
Assistant Professor of Dance Iddi Saaka is teaching the fundamentals, history, and cultural importance of African drumming and dance to a group of adults over the age of 55 at the New Britain Public Library this fall. His group gathers in the downstairs Stanley Works Community Room for 90-minutes on Thursday afternoons. Over the course of eight weeks, the library class is learning two Ghanaian recreational dances, “Kpatsa” and “Kpanlogo.” Saaka previously taught “Kpatsa” to Wesleyan’s Class of 2027 during their new student orientation “Common Moment” on Andrus Field the day after they arrived on campus at the end of…

Campus-aerial-shot-1280x853.jpg
Steve ScarpaNovember 13, 20234min
Wesleyan University has made significant strides in reducing its carbon footprint, cutting its carbon emissions by a third. In addition, more than half of the student body have participated in sustainability courses and activities over the past year. The University’s progress was documented in its first Sustainability Strategic Plan annual report, recently released by the Wesleyan Sustainability Office this week. A full text of the annual report is available at bit.ly/sspreport2023. Thanks to its renewable energy purchases, carbon offsets for air travel, and campus upgrade from steam to hot water pipes, the University reduced its carbon footprint by 35 percent…

chase-williams-1280x819.jpg
Mike MavredakisNovember 10, 20238min
The path from military service to the classroom varies from veteran-to-veteran. Some spend four years in active-duty service straight out of high school and then utilize their educational benefits immediately. Others spend decades serving the country before venturing out to pursue personal enrichment through academia.   Regardless of a veteran’s journey to education, Wesleyan University offers its student-veterans a holistic approach to reintegrating them into the classroom.  The path for Chase Williams ’25 was a long and winding one. He first came to the United States in Aug. 2001, a month prior to the Sept. 11 attacks. He took an English…