Class of 2020

In 2021 Wesleyan began construction on a reimagined southeast corner of Andrus Field. At the core of this work is an extension and gut renovation of the Public Affairs Center (PAC), and a new Davison Art Center gallery building. This latter project is part of a broader effort to expand the arts at Wesleyan beyond the Center for the Arts and to make them part of an inclusive, accessible, and interdisciplinary network of buildings at the core of campus. On June 4, as part of the Class of 2020's Weekend Celebration, Alan Rubacha, assistant vice president of construction and infrastructure…

The Class of 2020 engaged in a bit of time travel over the course of their long-awaited in-person Commencement Celebration Weekend, which took place June 2-5, 2022. In the warmth of the perfect weather, the former classmates lounged on Foss Hill, gathered in the residence halls, shared meals and events together, and danced under the tent on Andrus Field. For a few days, they were able to interrupt daily life and experience the end of senior year feeling that COVID-19 took away. “I wanted to meet the special group of people who had decided to redo the past, this time…

Professor of Biology Sonia Sultan recently co-authored an article titled “Transgenerational effects of parent plant competition on offspring development in contrasting conditions” with BA/MA student Robin Waterman ’20. The article, published in Ecology on Sept. 8, examines the relationship between parent plants and their offspring, especially how competition among such parent plants can alter the next generation. “Conditions during a parent’s lifetime can induce phenotypic changes in offspring, providing a potentially important source of variation in natural populations. Yet to date, biotic factors have seldom been tested as sources of transgenerational effects in plants,” reads an excerpt from the paper’s…

After graduating from Wesleyan last May, Zoe Garvey '20 had plans to conduct research at a local hospital, but the COVID-19 pandemic hindered that plan. As an aspiring physician who is taking a gap year before enrolling in medical school, Garvey began browsing the Wesleyan Alumni Directory, looking for any potential, comparable leads. "I wanted to see if any Wesleyan alumni who were physicians would be able to offer me opportunities to work with them during my year off," she said. And that's when she connected with Dr. Robert Abel Jr. from Wesleyan's Class of 1965. Abel, Garvey learned, was…

Olin Library's newest resident is looking for a good book to sink his tusk into. The skull of a one-toothed walrus, which was installed in the Campbell Reading Room on Jan. 20, is the University's latest exhibit on display from the former Museum of Wesleyan University (1871–1957). The piece was donated to Wesleyan 145 years ago by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History but has spent about half of its university life in storage. The 26-pound skull, which is missing its right tusk, belonged to a Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) living along the Ugashik River in Alaska in…

On Nov. 23, the Geological Society of America's (GSA) Geobiology and Geomicrobiology Division awarded earth and environmental sciences graduate student Yu Kai Tan '20 with a student presentation award. Tan presented his poster, "Freshwater Mussels in North America: Museum Collections and Pre-Industrial Biogeography," on Oct. 29 during the GSA's annual (virtual) meeting. Andy (Dick Yee) Tan '21 collaborated with Tan '20 on the poster. Their advisors are Ann Burke, professor of biology, and Ellen Thomas, Harold T. Stearns Professor of Integrative Sciences, Smith Curator of Paleontology of the Joe Webb Peoples Museum of Natural History, and University Professor in the…

Michael Meere, assistant professor of French, and Sophie Dora Tulchin '20 are the co-authors of “Filling In the Gaps: Identity, Exile, and Performance in 1962 and Babel Taxi by Mohamed Kacimi,” published in the Journal of the African Literature Association, Vol. 14, Issue 3, on Nov. 12, 2020. This article explores issues of identity, exile, and performance in 1962 (1998) and Babel Taxi (2004), two foundational plays by the Algerian-born author Mohamed Kacimi. 1962 is an autobiographical play written during Algeria’s “black decade” about the effects of Algeria’s independence on two particular characters, while Babel Taxi allegorically retells the legend…

Wesleyan students, graduate students, and recent alumni will present research posters during the annual Geological Society of America meeting Oct. 26–30. The virtual event will allow for a five-minute presentation followed by a five-minute period to answer questions. Earth and environmental sciences graduate student Yu Kai Tan '20 and Andy (Dick Yee) Tan '21 will present their poster, titled "Freshwater Mussels in North America: Museum Collections and Pre-Industrial Biogeography," at 5:15 p.m. Oct. 29. Their advisors are Ann Burke, professor of biology, and Ellen Thomas, Harold T. Stearns Professor of Integrative Sciences, Smith Curator of Paleontology of the Joe Webb…

Last March, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to plague the United States, Dr. Amy Fogelman '97 became engrossed in the country's lack of understanding about the virus, and even more so in the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. "At certain hospitals in Massachusetts masks were required, but in others, physicians were told that they were not allowed to wear masks, even if they personally supplied them, because administrators were afraid that the masks would 'scare' the patients," Fogelman recalls. "I watched as my colleagues on social media shared their fears for their lives, and their patients’ lives,…

On July 20, recent alumnus Eunes Harun '20 was chosen to join the first cohort of the Governor’s Innovation Fellowship (CTGIF) team. CTGIF offers ambitious, high-achieving recent college graduates the opportunity to work at top, innovative companies developing their career while working together as a community of fellows, growing together professionally and personally to create a cohort of talent, camaraderie, and growth in the State of Connecticut. The fellowship comes with a $5,000 award. Harun, a government and economics double major, will be joining McKinsey & Company in Stamford, Conn., as a business analyst and will be participating in the…

As part of the University's efforts to "activate campus," a third prehistoric creature has taken up residence at Wesleyan. The new Mosasaur exhibit is on permanent display inside Olin Library and is a collaboration of faculty, student, and staff efforts. Mosasaurus hoffmannii Mantell (Mosasaur), a marine lizard, lived in the oceans during the Late Cretaceous period (66 to 68 million years ago) when the last dinosaurs walked the Earth. Mosasaurs had long, snake-like bodies with paddle-like limbs and flattened tails. Some specimens grew to be more than 50 feet long. In 1871, chemist Orange Judd of the Wesleyan Class of…

On June 19, Anthony Price '20, a government and American studies double major, was featured in Complete College America's #20for20Grads Campaign. CCA selected outstanding graduates from around the country who come from diverse backgrounds—from first-generation college students to parents, returning adults, and more. During his time at Wesleyan, Price was the recipient of a 2020 Fulbright award and a Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellowship, and served as a Congressional Black Caucus Intern in Washington, D.C. He's also the founder and executive director of Be The Change Venture, a Cleveland, Ohio-based nonprofit that teaches young people networking skills to support their…

Class of 2020 Alumni Receive a Perimeter Tour of the Renovated PAC, Art Gallery

Class of 2020 Returns to Campus for an In-Person Commencement Celebration

Sultan, Waterman ’20 Co-Author Paper on Plant Reproduction

Garvey ’20, Abel ’65 Collaborate on Mind-Eye Connection Research

Single-Tusked Walrus Skull Settles into Olin Library

Tan ’20 Honored by Geological Society of America for Poster Presentation

Hot Off the Press: Meere, Tulchin ’20 Explore Identity, Exile in Kacimi’s Plays

Students, Alumni to Make Presentations at Geological Society of America Meeting

Wesleyan Alumni, Students Take Action during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Harun ’20 Receives Governor’s Innovation Fellowship

Prehistoric Marine Lizard Exhibited Permanently in Olin Library

Price ’20 Featured in #20for20Grads Campaign