Olivia DrakeCelebrate graduating seniors and reminisce with former classmates during the 2011 Reunion & Commencement Weekend May 19-22. This year, classes ending in “1” and “6” will celebrate their reunions, and the Class of 2011 will become Wesleyan’s 179th graduating class. "As always, I’m looking forward to R&C – it’s such a fun and celebratory time for the entire Wesleyan community, with over 150 events during three days," says Gemma Ebstein, associate vice president for external relations in University Relations. "In addition to another incredible array of WESeminars, we’ll enjoy great live music from Grammy-nominated Jazz singer Tierney Sutton ‘86, performances…
David PesciDr. Paul Farmer, known worldwide for co-founding Partners In Health to serve the world’s poor, will receive an honorary degree and deliver the commencement address at Wesleyan University’s 179th Commencement in May. Wesleyan's other honorary degree recipients at Commencement include a legendary singer of the American Songbook, an alumnus envisioning the future of online journalism, and two local friends of the institution long dedicated to serving the Middletown community. (more…)
John W. Hickenlooper ’74, MA ’80; Ruth J. Simmons; Stanley Cavell; and Richard Winslow ’40 received Honorary Degrees at the 2010 Commencement Ceremony May 23. John W. Hickenlooper received a Doctor of Laws, presented by Rob Rosenthal, the John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology. A geologist turned entrepreneur who had never run for political office (not even student council), Hickenlooper was elected mayor of Denver in 2003 and re-elected in 2007. In April 2005—less than two years into his first term—Time Magazine (more…)
Bill Holder If you’ve enjoyed attending Wesleyan events, chances are that you have Gemma Fontanella Ebstein to thank. As associate vice president for external relations, she has had an ever-evolving set of responsibilities, but one constant has been ensuring that events for alumni, parents and the campus community are first rate. Under her direction, for example, Wesleyan merged Commencement and Reunion weekends into one event that rapidly has become a valued Wesleyan tradition. “Gemma has great management instincts and I can absolutely count on her to get things done,” says Barbara-Jan Wilson, vice president for university relations. “We can’t have successful…
More than 5,000 alumni, family and friends of the university are expected to attend Reunion & Commencement Weekend on campus. The traditional series of events begins Thursday, May 20 and culminates with Commencement on Sunday, May 23. “We have several new and exciting events this year including a benefit concert by Santigold (Santi White ’97) on Friday under the Andrus tent, and a MoConathon concert on Saturday featuring three student bands, celebrating McConaughy Hall,” says Deana Hutson, director of events and R&C weekend. “We’ll have numerous WESeminars featuring alumni, parents, faculty and students on topics that appeal to anyone.” The…
Denver Mayor and Colorado gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper '74 will deliver the commencement address at the university’s 178th Commencement in May. Wesleyan will award honorary degrees to Mayor Hickenlooper; Stanley Cavell, distinguished philosopher and professor emeritus at Harvard; Ruth J. Simmons, president of Brown University; and Richard K. Winslow, Wesleyan class of 1940 and professor of music emeritus. John Hickenlooper ’74 A geologist turned brewpub pioneer who had never run for political office (not even student council), John Hickenlooper was elected mayor of Denver in 2003 and re-elected in 2007. In April 2005—less than two years into his first term—Time…
Novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anna Quindlen P'07 did not apologize for her generation leaving the Class of 2009 with a failed economy, poor job market and uncertain housing market. Instead she charged the graduates with the opportunity to remold the nation and its spirit. "On behalf of your elders and the entire country, I was expected to say I was sorry," Quindlen said. "I’m not going to do that. I think, perhaps more than any generation in memory, all of you have an unparalleled opportunity to remake this nation so that it is stronger, smarter and makes more sense."…
Douglas Foyle, Irina Russu and John Seamon were honored with the 2009 Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching May 24. The Binswanger Prize was inaugurated in 1993 as an institutional recognition of outstanding faculty members. Prize recipients are chosen by a selection committee of emeriti and current faculty members and members of the Alumni Association's Executive Committee. Douglas Foyle, the Douglas J. and Midge Bowen Bennet Associate Professor of Government, joined the Wesleyan faculty in 1998, after serving as a postdoctoral fellow in international relations at the Mershon Center for the Study of International Security at Ohio State University. He…
Thank you faculty, President Roth, Anna Quindlen family, friends. And of course congratulations to the class of 2009. I am scared. We probably all have good reasons to be scared right now. When the nation was scared many decades ago, FDR said, “This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today.” The truth is climate change is no longer merely a distant threat, it is happening now. The truth is Social Security and Medicare will likely be insolvent before 2020. We are…
(The Commencement Address by Anna Quindlen P’07 also is on video.) When I was first asked to give the commencement address to the Wesleyan class of 2009, I knew I was going to have to begin with an apology: I am not, as you can see, Barack Obama. But as the months passed between the invitation and this event, prevailing wisdom was that I was not only going to have say I was sorry for not being last year’s speaker, but for so much else. On behalf of your elders and the entire nation, I was expected to say I was…
Members of the board of trustees, members of the faculty and staff, distinguished guests, new recipients of graduate degrees and Class of 2009, I am honored to present some brief remarks to our graduates on the occasion of their commencement. This year I’ve continued my “second Wesleyan education,” but I am still very much an underclassman. You seniors often asked me: “Roth, what are you going to major in? What are you focused on?” My focus as an undergraduate was on how people make sense of the past. My focus as your president is on how to link our sense…