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On April 17, Wesleyan's Japanese community gathered outside the College of East Asian Studies to celebrate Ohanami, or “flower viewing." In early spring, three sakura—or cherry blossom trees—are blooming near the Japanese Garden. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual gathering was restricted to current students studying Japanese and CEAS faculty members. The cherry trees were donated in the mid-70s by Nobel Laureate Satoshi Omura, who received an honorary degree from Wesleyan in 1994. "The cherry blossoms’ timing was perfect," said event coordinator Naho Maruta, associate professor of the practice in East Asian Studies. "We had fallen cherry blossoms all…

Wesleyan’s intellectually dynamic faculty, students, alumni, staff, and parents frequently serve as expert sources for national media. Others are noted for recent achievements and accolades. A sampling of recent media hits is below: April 7 The Boston Globe - She Loves Theater, Dessert, and New Zealand — and Can’t Wait to Get to Japan. Features HowlRound director Jamie Gahlon, who is currently completing her master's degree in performance curation at Wesleyan. US Lacrosse Magazine - Behind the Whistle: All in the Family. Features Carly Randall, assistant lacrosse coach at Wesleyan. Street Insider - Avalonbay Communities news. Mentions Richard Lieb '81,…

In the spirit of sharing ideas worth spreading, Wesleyan students hosted the third annual TEDxWesleyanU conference on April 16–17. Titled "(Un)Knowing," the event's speakers included: Alford Young Jr. '88, professor of sociology, Afroamerican and African studies, and public policy at the University of Michigan Field Yates '09, NFL Insider for ESPN and co-host of "Fantasy Football" Emily McEvoy '22, College of Social Studies major, 2021 Student Speaker Competition Winner, and Middletown Mutual Aid organizer Gato Nsengamungu '23, physics and government double major from Rwanda Doug Berman '84, two-time Peabody Award-winning producer of NPR's "Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell…

Wesleyan President Michael Roth '78 will be the featured speaker during the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce's annual Business and Education Partnership and Hal Kaplan Middletown Mentor Program Recognition Luncheon. President Roth will speak from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 27 via Zoom. The talk, which will focus on Wesleyan's pandemic response, is open to the public. To join the meeting, log into: https://zoom.us/j/99052690757 (Webinar ID: 990 5269 0757)

Thirteen student-led groups are the recipients of Jewett Center for Community Partnerships Student Innovation Fund awards. These awards support community engagement projects with grants up to $750 each. “The common theme is that they all want to positively impact the greater Middletown community,” said Rhea Drozdenko, JCCP community participation coordinator. “There is no one right way to do community engagement, and the Innovation Fund supports nontraditional ideas. It's important that our grantees are grounded in the ideas of mutual respect and collective responsibility as they go out into the community." All applicants are required to read the Cardinal Community Commitment —the University's…

Ilaria Carleo, a postdoc working with Associate Professor of Astronomy Seth Redfield, co-authored a paper called “Five carbon- and nitrogen-bearing species in a hot giant planet’s atmosphere,” which details the discovery of six different molecules in the atmosphere of a hot, gas giant exoplanet called HD209458b. The paper, published in Nature on April 7, discusses known information about the exoplanet, as well as the process by which these molecules were discovered using observations from the Galileo National Telescope. “Now that the analysis technique has been optimized, we are investigating the presence of these molecules in the atmosphere of other hot-Jupiters…

Next fall, Wesleyan will require all students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine prior to returning to campus. Every student (with the exception of those who have approved medical or religious exemptions) will need to verify with the University that they are fully vaccinated prior to their arrival. For students who are currently studying on campus, Wesleyan, in partnership with the Community Health Center, is offering a Pfizer vaccine clinic on April 24 and 25 (first dose), and again on May 15 or 16 (second dose). Nearly 2,000 students have already registered for an appointment. The University highly encourages faculty and staff to…

As part of a class assignment for the spring 2021 course Topics in Journalism: The Art and Craft of Journalistic Nonfiction, students were tasked with writing short essays on the continuing battle for normalcy while attending college during the COVID-19 pandemic. The class is taught by Daniel de Visé '89, Koeppel Journalism Fellow. After graduating from Wesleyan and Northwestern University, de Visé spent 23 years working in newspapers. He shared a 2001 team Pulitzer Prize and garnered more than two dozen other national and regional journalism awards. He's also the author of three books. Journalistic nonfiction, de Visé, explained, uses…

The following essay was written by Rose Merjos '23 as an assignment for the Spring 2021 semester course Topics in Journalism: The Art and Craft of Journalistic Nonfiction. It’s a Friday night in February 2019. People are rushing down the outdoor stairwell into the lower level of a dorm. The heavy bass drum and colorful strobe lights pulse through the windows of the basement into the courtyard of West College. More than a hundred people are piled into the WestCo Cafe, barely able to move. The crowd in front of the stage lurches across the room like a wave. The…

The following essay was written by Kiran Kling '24 (pictured above far left) as an assignment for the Spring 2021 semester course Topics in Journalism: The Art and Craft of Journalistic Nonfiction. The Zoom was exactly on schedule. The gallery view was full, five minutes early. Coach Reilly ran a tight ship, and all 15 Wesleyan University basketball players, together but apart on this Wednesday night, knew the rules. “Good to see you all tonight,” Reilly begins. “Everybody give updates, freshman first this time.” Every Wednesday at 7 p.m., the nine players who chose to come to campus for the…

The following essay was written by Rory Curtin '23 as an assignment for the Spring 2021 semester course Topics in Journalism: The Art and Craft of Journalistic Nonfiction. Pulling off a winding highway into a run-down gas station, Anabel DiMartino ['23] checked her phone. An unexpected text flashed across her screen: “hey this is crazy but me and lila are looking a third roommate for an apartment in western mass this semester.” After a long, hot morning of driving with her mom, the text was the last thing she expected. The pair were en route to New York City to…

The following essay was written by Sophie Talcove-Berko '21 as an assignment for the Spring 2021 semester course Topics in Journalism: The Art and Craft of Journalistic Nonfiction. Speeding down the slopes at 20 miles per hour, Tammy Shine stopped to catch her breath and a glimpse of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. For a college senior at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, this was a drastically different start to the school morning from semesters past, frantically making coffee and rushing to class. As COVID-19 surged this winter, college seniors from across the country faced an important decision: how to…

Japanese Community Celebrates Spring with Cherry Blossom Festival

Wesleyan in the News

Alumni, Experts Discuss “(Un)Knowing” at 3rd Annual TedXWesleyanU

Roth to Speak During Middlesex Chamber of Commerce Luncheon

JCCP Awards 13 Student-Led Groups with Innovation Funds

Carleo Co-Authors Paper in Nature on Molecular Discovery in Space

Wesleyan to Require Students to be Vaccinated for the Fall 2021 Semester

Nonfiction Journalism Class Explores the Continuing Battle for COVID-19 Normalcy

Merjos ’23: “How Student Bands Live on During COVID-19”

Kling ’24: “The Call”

Curtin ’23: “Time Away Offers Clarity”

Talcove-Berko ’21: “Ski School”