Class of 2020 – Page 3

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wesleyan President Michael Roth ’78 announced that Wesleyan will delay its 188th Commencement Ceremony, originally scheduled for May 24, 2020. Wesleyan’s reunion gatherings, typically held during the same weekend, will be celebrated in alternate formats. “Although I’d been delaying this decision in hopes that we might still have an opportunity to gather together in late May, I’m writing now to let you know that we will have to find another time and place to celebrate the 2020 graduation. There is so much uncertainty about what the next few months will hold, and we don’t think…

Wesleyan's Athletic Department is celebrating student athletes' recent achievements and is honoring members of the Class of 2020. They include: Men’s Lacrosse Senior Day Women’s Lacrosse Senior Day Six Men’s Lacrosse Players Named Maverik DIII Media All-Americans Wrestling Earns Several All-NEWA Awards Walker Harris '20 Named Third Team All-American Walker Harris '20 Honored with Joe Concannon Award Field Hockey Places Nation-Leading 25 on NFHCA National Academic Team

Although Mitchell Motlagh '20 doesn't agree with every proposal pitched by former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, he respects her for expressing topics in a clear, intelligent manner and offering solutions to problems. "Between her ability to articulate thoughtful policy changes and my desire to learn more about rural communities and how they have been affected by contemporary policy changes, I decided that I had to volunteer for Warren in a rural area," Motlagh said. Motlagh, a College of Social Studies major, was one of 16 Wesleyan students who devoted their winter break to support voter registration, participate in political campaigns,…

As recipients of the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, two Wesleyan seniors will explore their academic aspirations internationally through a yearlong personal project. Inayah Bashir '20 and Luka Lezhanskyy '20 are among 47 Watson Fellows selected from 153 finalists. This year’s class comes from 20 states and eight countries, and exhibits a broad range of academic specialties, socio-economic backgrounds, and project diversity. Bashir, a College of Social Studies major with a Writing Certificate, plans to explore the histories, stories, and teachings of African spirituality through her project titled "African Spirituality: Obscured Foundations of the Diaspora." "In a world dominated by Abrahamic…

Wesleyan's winter athletic teams put a total of 80 student-athletes on the 2019–20 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Winter All-Academic Team, while eight earned a spot on the 2019–20 NESCAC All-Sportsmanship Team. In order to earn a spot on the All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must have reached sophomore academic standing and be a varsity letter winner with a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.50 or equivalent on a 4.0 scale. Transfer students are eligible as long as they have completed at least one year of study at the institution. Wesleyan ranked seventh out of 11 schools with…

Sixteen earth and environmental science majors from the Class of 2020 recently conducted field research in Hawaii as part of their Senior Field Research course. The class, E&ES 498, is taught by Tim Ku, chair and associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, and Suzanne O'Connell, professor of earth and environmental sciences. The course is open to students who completed E&ES 497: Senior Seminar, and focuses on improving scientific research skills. Past classes have conducted research in Death Valley, Calif., the main island of Puerto Rico, the Connecticut River Valley, and the Big Island of Hawaii. The field research took…

On March 8, the men’s hockey team celebrated its first-ever NESCAC Championship with a 7-2 victory over Trinity College. Although the win secured the league’s automatic bid into the 2020 NCAA Tournament, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors decided to cancel all remaining winter championships as well as the spring sports season across all divisions (I, II, and III). Wesleyan had several winter sports scheduled to compete in their respective NCAA Championships, including men’s hockey, which are affected by this news. The Cardinals scored seven goals in just over 30 minutes of action, erasing an early deficit…

On March 2, three student-run enterprises received $5,000 seed grants from the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship (PCSE). The unrestricted funding is accompanied with training, advising, mentoring, incubator workspace, and other resources from the Patricelli Center. These $5,000 awards are intended to fund the launch or early-stage growth of a social enterprise, project, program, or venture. Projects or ventures must address a social problem; be sustainable, scalable, and/or replicable; and have a potential for impact. Entries can be for-profit, nonprofit, hybrid, or have no legal structure. On Feb. 28, six finalists pitched their ventures to judges and members of the Board…

Wesleyan's Chinese community (particularly students and parents) recently banded together to help their fellow citizens who are battling with the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. From Feb. 2–15, the student-initiated group WesInAction raised more than $23,000, which was used to purchase medical equipment for hospitals affected in the epicenter of the outbreak, Hubei province, China. WesInAction members also provide the campus community with facts about the outbreak and its prevention, and work to promote awareness of racial discrimination on campus. WesInAction student volunteers have done extensive research on COVID-19 and created a brochure that highlights key facts and statistics about it,…

Over winter break, 16 students traveled to a variety of locations around the United States to support voter registration, participate in political campaigns, and work with advocacy groups as part of the Wesleyan Engage 2020 (E2020) initiative. E2020 is a comprehensive university effort to support student learning via civic engagement and liberal arts education. On Feb. 19, students gathered in Allbritton Hall to share their reflections on their winter session E2020 experiences. Some sought to educate young people about the electoral process and mobilize them to vote; others worked on issues such as immigration, criminal justice reform, housing justice, and…

Lack of reliable transportation can prevent patients from making it to medical appointments or accessing other health care services. In a recently published paper, lead author Eli Solomon '20 explored and analyzed existing research on nonemergency medical transportation interventions. The article, titled "Impact of Transportation Interventions on Health Care Outcomes: A Systematic Review," was published in the American Public Health Association journal Medical Care. Solomon, a neuroscience and behavior major on a pre-med path, wrote the paper based on research he conducted in summer 2018 with peers at the University of California, San Francisco. While at UCSF, Solomon worked for…

Wesleyan in the News Connecticut Public Radio: "The Struggle for Sleep: Why More School Districts Are Considering Later Starts" Speaking as both a scholar and a mother, Associate Professor of Psychology Anna Shusterman comments in this story on the movement to push schools in the state to start later. “People ask me, as a developmental psychologist, ‘Oh, we have this mental health crisis in the state, what are we going to do, what should we be funding, what kind of resources do we need to build in?’ And I just think it’s so silly when we have such a straightforward…

2020 Commencement Ceremony, Class Reunions Postponed

Student Athletes Celebrated, Honored

Motlagh ’20 Volunteers for Campaign in Rural N.H. as Part of E2020 Project

Bashir, Lezhanskyy Receive Watson Fellowships

NESCAC Announces Winter All-Academic, All-Sportsmanship Honorees

Earth and Environmental Science Seniors Conduct Research in Hawaii

Hockey Wins First-Ever NESCAC Championship

Patricelli Center Awards $5,000 Seed Grants to 3 Student Ventures

Wesleyan’s Chinese Community Raises Funds, Purchases Medical Supplies for Hospitals Treating Coronavirus Patients

Students Discuss Recent Engage 2020 Experiences

Solomon ’20 is Lead Author on Paper Published in Medical Journal

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