Olivia DrakeWesleyan has reached the gold standard in sustainable structures. On March 15, the U.S. Green Building Council awarded Wesleyan's newly-renovated Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life building a Gold Certification based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. LEED is an internationally-recognized green building certification system that verifies that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. "The Gold Certification demonstrates Wesleyan’s…
The Institute for Human Centered Design in Boston, Mass. included Wesleyan's Memorial Chapel, Zelnick Pavilion, Patricelli '92 Theater complex in their Universal Design Case Studies collection. The Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD) is an international educational non-profit organization committed to advancing the role of design in expanding opportunity and enhancing experience for people of all ages and abilities. The institute recognized how Wesleyan rejuvenated its historic core campus by providing new centers for community and student life. The total cost of the project was $23 million and it was completed in 2006. Wesleyan's design contractor, Robert Olson + Associates,…
With a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 2, Wesleyan unveiled a facility that enables Wesleyan to focus resources, encourage curricular innovation, original research and scholarship, and foster greater public understanding and responsibility. The Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, which occupies the renovated Davenport Campus Center, will emphasize its academic engagement with the public sphere. The center continues Wesleyan’s commitment to preparing students for lives as active citizens and for leadership. It seeks to support Wesleyan’s tradition of the scholar-teacher by encouraging faculty research in a manner that directly benefits and enhances student learning. The Center reflects changes that have…
“Every university should have a labyrinth, for it represents our desire to unravel the essential mysteries of human existence. It is a problem to be solved, a question to be answered, a paradox to be considered. Each labyrinth has a center and, as a diagram of learning, its tangled patterns lead us to that hidden core. Even as the pursuit of knowledge follows many diverging paths there is also a basic symmetry to these designs, a unified whole that pleases the eye and piques the mind.” - Stephen Alter '77 This month, the Wesleyan community can leave the stress behind…
When one of Olin Library's books becomes tattered or torn, Preservation Services helps restore the book, making it again available for circulation. In April, the one-room shop located in Olin's basement received its own facelift. "We outgrew the space that we had," explains Michaelle Biddle, head of preservation services. "Our carpet was saturated with dirt and mold, and we needed more space and better lighting." The renovation included removing a wall between Preservation Services and a storage room formerly used by Special Collections and Archives. The storage area was merged with the current preservation lab, adding an additional 180 square…
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When John Chambless was rummaging through a pile of old books at his mother's home in Newark, Del., one mammoth album with an ornate and intertwined "WU" stuck out. Curious, he opened it up and discovered an album containing more than 50 black and white hand-laid photos of students, staff and campus buildings dated 1873. Intrigued by the mysterious book that lacked attribution, Chambless began a series of internet searches in attempt of finding the book's origin. (more…)
The Davison Art Center/Richard Alsop IV House, located at 301 High Street in Middletown, was designated a national historic landmark in January. The site was recognized for its role in U.S. history. The landmark was suggested by the National Park System's advisory board and designated by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. The historic Alsop House is a distinguished architectural monument of the pre-Civil War period. The lot was acquired in 1835 and the house was built between 1838-1840 by Richard Alsop IV, son of the poet and "Hartford wit," Richard Alsop III. Originally built for Alsop's widowed mother, Maria Pomeroy Alsop…